# Why does the Italian culture almost have a monopoly on the mediterranean ambient? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340 "2022-05-12T19:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/41 "2022-05-14T13:38:07Z")
If I see “Mediterranean Restaurant” I assume it will be Greek or Lebanese. If they don’t have falafel I would be surprised. In fact I just punched Mediterranean Restaurant into Google maps and every single result is a Greek or Lebanese restaurant, except for one which is (self described as) Palestinian Halal. No Italian, no Spanish, no Moroccan. Though we have all of those in the area, tons of Italian of course but we have a tapas place and a popular Moroccan place within five miles. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/42 "2022-05-14T15:28:37Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > For example I’ve sometimes seen “the mediterranean diet” explained as the diet of Italian peasants. Odd. For me, if someone mentions a “mediterranean diet” I think of Grecian food, not Italian, and if I were to go to a mediterranean restaurant I would expect it to be decorated with a meander pattern (also known as Greek key design). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/43 "2022-05-14T15:45:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Food-wise, I associate “Mediterranean” with Spain and Southern France, not Italy. As for me, Greece with all of that fresh seafood, cheeses and wine. Everywhere you have a view of the Med and all of the islands to visit. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/44 "2022-05-14T15:52:49Z")
Just from googling term “Mediterranean” seems to be used differently in “Mediterranean Restaurant”, “Mediterranean Diet”, “Mediterranean Culture” and “Mediterranean Climate” with each successive one being broader in scope, with of course the climate one applying to areas around the world (Parts of Australia, South Africa and South America) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/45 "2022-05-14T19:40:50Z")
Count me as another person who thinks of the Levant (in the original “The Med East of Venice” sense) when they hear “Mediterranean cuisine” If thinking of a Mediterranean _place_, I will think of a Greek island, because _My Family and Other Animals_ was a formative book for me. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Does this look more Italy or more Greece? Italy. If it were Greece, I’d expect all the houses to be white. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/46 "2022-05-14T19:58:34Z")
When I think of Mediterranean I think of underground digging, caves, and catacombs. This is most definitely due to the word sounding similarly enough to subterranean and my odd-brain never having any goddamn sense. sigh. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/47 "2022-05-14T20:23:45Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > When I think of Mediterranean I think of underground digging, caves, and catacombs. This is most definitely due to the word sounding similarly enough to subterranean and my odd-brain never having any goddamn sense. sigh. _Mediterranean_ is from the Latin _mediterraneus_ , ‘inland’ (_medius_, ‘middle’ + _terra_, ‘land, earth’). In Greek it’s “mesogeios”. On holiday it’s “fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun”. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/48 "2022-05-14T21:14:46Z")
Like others here, I skew the question due to ethnocultural baggage – the notion “Mediterranean” was not imprinted in my mind through an anglo-american filter. So as others mentioned I don’t default to “Italian” necessarily, except perhaps in a very regional sense. Now sure, in free association there will be some stereotypical things that pop to my mind: Bright sun on a rugged coast; olives, wine, cheese, lamb, octopus; passionate living (“never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line”, anyone?); leisure and high rolling in the Riviera and Monaco and the various Costas; Serrat’s “tears of a hundred peoples from Algeciras to Istambul”. I can think of a Greek Salad and kebabs and gyros but also of a paella valenciana. (BTW, I don’t know visions of Vespas would even come in my top 20 associations with “Mediterranean”.) However,yes, for those of the Anglo-American sphere, the trope “Meditterranean” has been strongly associated with the Tyrrhenian coast and islands of Italy, and with Greece and coastal Turkey, because of these locations having been highly accessible to their travelers for a long time and referenced a lot by English-language writers. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/49 "2022-05-16T15:58:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I wonder. Does this look more Italy or more Greece? Ignoring the stuff in the foreground which looks American, the houses dotted in the hills look like places I’ve been to in Greece (Ionian islands such as [Kefalonia](https://www.google.com/search?q=kefalonia&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB976GB976&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjF7MeOseT3AhVJecAKHSNMA6UQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1779&bih=902&dpr=2) in particular, which are heavily influenced arcitecturally by Venice), [The Amalfi coast](https://www.google.com/search?q=amalfi+coast&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB976GB976&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ2Pq_seT3AhXUilwKHXjWA4gQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1779&bih=902&dpr=2) in Italy, and the [turquoise coast in Turkey](https://www.google.com/search?q=kas+turkey&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB976GB976&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjTvo2useT3AhVSPcAKHQxYBsUQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1779&bih=902&dpr=2). ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/50 "2022-05-16T16:04:42Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Italy. If it were Greece, I’d expect all the houses to be white. In the Cyclades group of islands, for sure - they manage to do a great job of claiming the universal image of Greece. But parts of Greece look very Italian (and in [Puglia, Southern Italy](https://www.google.com/search?q=white+houses+puglia&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjth-3asuT3AhWi8IUKHf_ZBZ4Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=white+houses+puglia&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIGCAAQCBAeMgYIABAIEB46BggAEAcQHjoICAAQCBAHEB5QAFiPDmDwFGgAcAB4AIABRogB5QSSAQIxMpgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=43WCYq2KMaLhlwT_s5fwCQ&bih=902&biw=1779&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB976GB976), visa versa). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/51 "2022-05-16T16:22:01Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > they manage to do a great job of claiming the universal image of Greece Exactly - when comparing, as Senegoid asked, it’s stereotypes you’re dealing with. _This_ Greece [![](https://www.greeka.com/photos/greece/villages/general/santorini-oia-480.jpg) ](https://www.greeka.com/photos/greece/villages/general/santorini-oia-480.jpg) vs _this_ Italy [![](https://theculturetrip.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/gettyimages-506414708.jpg) ](https://theculturetrip.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/gettyimages-506414708.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/52 "2022-05-16T16:35:37Z")
And this is Ibiza [![](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/distrito-del-sa-penya-en-ibiza-40070424.jpg) ](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/distrito-del-sa-penya-en-ibiza-40070424.jpg) and this is Casares, close to Málaga [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/52/7b/e8/527be836484365c0bfcf44b7c964bdd1.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/52/7b/e8/527be836484365c0bfcf44b7c964bdd1.jpg) and this is Ronda [![](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/casas-blancas-de-casares-espa%C3%B1a-26320254.jpg) ](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/casas-blancas-de-casares-espa%C3%B1a-26320254.jpg) and now, having just come back from a 6 week journey around Spain I want to go again. And I am hungry. At least @JRDelirious knows Serrat, I was fearing I was the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/53 "2022-05-16T17:09:41Z")
We’re headed to Barcelona and the Costa Brava in July. I’ll report back. We’ve spent time in Italy so I’ll have something to compare to. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/54 "2022-05-17T07:26:44Z")
This thread is making me feel desperate for a holiday. Luckily will be in the South of France in 3 weeks! Looking more Italian than Greek. [![](https://www.theluberon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/roussillon-village-luberon-40-1024x683.jpg) ](https://www.theluberon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/roussillon-village-luberon-40-1024x683.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/55 "2022-05-17T11:00:00Z")
> [@JakeRS](#): > > - Positano and the Amalfi coast > - Vespa’s > - Narrow Italian streets > - Italian cypress > - Sicilian music > - Pasta and pizza When I hear the word ‘Mediterranean’, I tend to think: Rocky coasts with blue sea Seafood, olive oil, tomatoes, peppers, rosemary - not really pizza or pasta Sunshine Stone-built architecture (OK, I suppose you get that one, but I’m thinking of the backstreets of Seville or Granada, not Italy - they’re similar I suppose) Dark-haired people who seem, to me, to have a strong sense of home and family I think you’re just expressing your own biases, which is fine - everyone has them. I don’t think yours are universal. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340/56 "2022-05-17T22:51:48Z")
and for France and somewhat Italian one thinks of the “Riveria” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-italian-culture-almost-have-a-monopoly-on-the-mediterranean-ambient/964340.md?page=2)