Not a food fad: our day-to-day kitchen. UNESCO Intangible Heritage since 2010, backed by decades of scientific research, and cooked with our own hands in Sabadell since 1998.
✓ Extra-virgin olive oil throughout · ✓ Pulses twice a week · ✓ Fish twice a week · ✓ Fresh market fruit
The Mediterranean diet is neither a regime nor a nutritional protocol: it is a food and cultural model developed over centuries by the populations of the Mediterranean basin. American researcher Ancel Keys was the first to document it systematically in the 1950s in his celebrated Seven Countries Study, observing that people in Crete, southern Italy and Spain had cardiovascular disease rates well below those of the US and northern Europe.
On 16 November 2010, UNESCO declared it Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity — recognising that it is not only a way of eating but a set of practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and techniques that go from the orchard and the market all the way to the shared table. Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Croatia, Cyprus and Portugal signed the joint nomination.
Its pillars are simple and always the same: olive oil as the main fat, abundance of vegetables, fruit, pulses and whole grains, fish and seafood as the preferred animal protein, moderate dairy (especially yoghurt and aged cheese), occasional red meat and — very important — eating with time, in company, and in season. At Gumen this is simply our way of cooking since 1998.
Consensus version by the Mediterranean Diet Foundation (FDM) and updated in 2022. Each level indicates recommended consumption frequency — not absolute amount.
Occasional red meat (beef, lamb, pork). Sweets, pastries and soft drinks: kept for celebrations, not daily.
Eggs (preferably free-range), lean meats (chicken, rabbit, turkey). Lower-footprint protein sources than red meat.
Oily fish (sardine, anchovy, mackerel) and white fish, seafood and pulses (chickpeas, lentils, beans). Fish provides omega-3; pulses provide plant protein and fibre.
Plain yoghurt, fresh cheese, kefir, aged cheeses in small portions. Preferably goat or sheep if you have mild lactose intolerance.
At least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Olives, almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts as snack or ingredient. Fibre is the microbiome engine.
Whole grains as the main energy source. Preferably sourdough, whole-grain and traditional milling.
Water as the main drink (1.5-2 L/day), extra-virgin olive oil as the main fat (raw and cooked), and aromatic herbs to reduce added salt.
Source: Mediterranean Diet Foundation (dietamediterranea.com) · Gumen visual adaptation.
Six daily decisions we never compromise on. If they fail the pillars of the Mediterranean diet, they don't leave our kitchen.
We never use sunflower oil, palm oil or butter to cook. All the sofrito, all the frying and all the vinaigrettes come from a single cooperative-sourced jug of EVOO.
Chickpeas, lentils or beans appear on the menu at least on Tuesdays and Fridays. Not as a side dish: as a first course with vegetables and a whole-grain accompaniment.
Oily fish (sardine, anchovy, mackerel) at least once, white fish or seafood the other. Always fresh, never industrially frozen — bought at Sabadell Central Market.
When beef, lamb or pork appears, it is a weekly secondary dish — not a regular protagonist. Chicken, turkey and above all fish and pulses dominate the menu.
The first course always contains vegetables — soups, escudella, escalivada, spinach with chickpeas. We buy at the market in the morning; the menu adapts to what is in season, not the other way round.
Plain yoghurt or fresh seasonal fruit as the main option. Sweet desserts (flan, crema catalana) as an alternative, not as a rule.
Popularity has brought misunderstandings. These are the four we hear most often and that we want to clear up before a client picks a menu.
Not all olive oil is equal: only EVOO (extra-virgin) retains the polyphenols and vitamin E that deliver the benefits. Refined or pomace olive oil has lost most of them. At Gumen we only use EVOO from a Catalan cooperative.
False. Traditional Mediterranean cooking includes fried dishes (croquettes, squid), sofritos, roasts and stews — always with olive oil, never butter. Frying in EVOO is perfectly compatible when occasional and the main dish carries vegetables.
No. The Mediterranean diet includes fish, seafood, poultry, eggs and dairy. Red meat is limited (max. 1×/week), but not eliminated. It is an omnivorous diet with a plant-led emphasis, not a vegetarian one.
Whole grains are the base of the pyramid. Cutting them is going against the model. You can choose whole-grain versions (sourdough bread, whole-grain pasta, whole rice) to improve quality — but not eliminate the entire category.
The questions we're most often asked about how we cook according to this food model.
What's being cooked today in Sabadell, applying these pillars: EVOO, market vegetables, artisan bread and fruit dessert.
On-site delivery with menus that respect Mediterranean pillars. Coverage in Vallès, Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat and Maresme.
Home-style Mediterranean food to take away — no account needed, bread included, free pickup at our Sabadell shop.
Quick guide so the dish reaches you with its original flavour: microwave, oven or stovetop, all in 90 seconds of reading.
No need to cook yourself — we apply the Mediterranean diet to our daily dishes, from the market vegetables to the seasonal fruit dessert. Artisan bread included.
Availability: different menu every day · pickup in Sabadell or delivery to companies in Vallès, Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat and Maresme.
