According to the Mediterranean food guide pyramid (a traditional, healthy, varied, and balanced diet), shellfish and white meat are beneficial food for our organism when eaten in their fair share, in other words, sometimes.

Shellfish, also called the fruit of the sea, are invertebrate aquatic animals, edible and with an exoskeleton. There are crustaceans (they have a carcass) and mollusks, with or without shell. Shrimps, prawns, octopus, cuttlefishes, squids, clam chowder, oysters and mussels are the most eaten in the whole of Europe and they are easy to buy in the markets. You can buy them fresh or refrigerated but also cooked, frozen and canned, ready to eat dishes to be heated or just give them the last touch in the kitchen.

However, our Mediterranean diet also offers us the opportunity to eat white meat, which is low in fat and makes it very healthy for our organism. They are called “white meat” because of the low level of hemoglobin in the blood.

White meat comprises rabbit meat, domestic poultry, not wild poultry, and lean pork. Short age mammals like milk-fed veal, suckling pigs and lambs can be considered within this category since they have only eaten mother´s milk. In Spain, the dish made from suckling lamb that is, using meat from unweaned lambs, is called “lechazo”.

Farm poultry, from the family of the gallinaceous poultry, are many and varied. They offer us a wide pallet of culinary possibilities. They can be roasted, fried, sauté, grilled and boiled in soups or stews.

The most representative species are hens, poularde, chicken, ostrich and turkey.

Lean pork is considered white meat due to its low fat, particularly so the loin and tenderloin.

Despite its high level of hemoglobin, we can also consider within this category beef stifle, rump or beef tenderloin.

According to the Mediterranean Diet Foundation, it is recommended to eat shellfish and white meat twice or three times per week because they provide us with the essential nutrients for a balanced diet.