The term “Mediterranean Diet” — Attibakha al-Moutaouassittiya in Arabic — is popularly used internationally to describe a form of healthy eating drawn from the traditional foodways of the Mediterranean region. Of the seven countries that nominated the diet to UNESCO and therefore emblematic of the diet, the only North African country listed was Morocco. Couscous proves how the North African origins of Mediterranean cuisine have been dissolved into a diet attributed to Europe. Israeli couscous, though popular on Mediterranean diet websites, isn’t actually couscous at all. Irrespective of how the term is applied, it is essential that we remember that Mediterranean food is also North African food.
