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Best-selling author Dan Buettner debuts his first cookbook, filled with 100 longevity recipes inspired by the Blue Zones locations around the world, where people live the longest.

Building on decades of research, longevity guru Dan Buettner has gathered 100 recipes inspired by the Blue Zones, home to the healthiest and happiest communities in the world. Each dish–for example, Sardinian Herbed Lentil Minestrone; Costa Rican Hearts of Palm Ceviche; Cornmeal Waffles from Loma Linda, California; and Okinawan Sweet Potatoes–uses ingredients and cooking methods proven to increase longevity, wellness, and mental health. Complemented by mouth-watering photography, the recipes also include lifestyle tips (including the best times to eat dinner and proper portion sizes), all gleaned from countries as far away as Japan and as near as Blue Zones project cities in Texas. Innovative, easy to follow, and delicious, these healthy living recipes make the Blue Zones lifestyle even more attainable, thereby improving your health, extending your life, and filling your kitchen with happiness.

Sardinia, Italy. “It’s a spring afternoon at a small farm outside of Urzulei, ground zeo of Sardinia’s blue zones hot spot, home to the world’s longest lived men. We’re on an island 200 miles off the western coast of Italy in the central highlands that were originally settled by Bronze Age people. Today sunbeams angle through blossoming cherry trees, pooling warmly on terraced gardens of herbs and spring vegetables. Across a leafy valley, a granite-tipped mountain peak looms large.

Inside a small plaster-and-stone farmhouse, a slight woman with a shock of wild area and a floral apron stirs an earthen pot. ‘Minestrone’ she explains with a smile…Minestrone possesses all the characteristics of world class longevity food. The Sardinian version – a pot of healthy amino acids – delivers all the protein necessary for human sustenance.”

Cannonau di Sardegna wines have attracted considerable attention in the last few years, not necessarily for their quality, but for their association with longevity. Sardinian locals tend to live well into their 90s and in many cases to over 100, and diet on the island is usually given as a key factor in this. Cannonau de Sardegna wines tend to be high in anthocyanins and polyphenols, antioxidant-rich compounds which have been linked to heart health.

Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from the Island of Sardinia

By Letitia Clark

‘There is no escaping it, Sardinia gets under your skin. I’m not the only person to have felt it, the renowned food writer, Claudia Roden, said of the island:

‘I don’t know if it is because Sardinians are unbelievably generous and hospitable, and their land is so beautiful, or because their food evokes the simple life or a remote past, or because it is simply so good, but it provokes a strong emotion of the kind you never forget’

Others bewitched by Sardinia’s subtle charms include Anthony Bourdain, D. H. Lawrence and George Clooney. Wild, mysterious and ancient, separated from Italy by language, culture, history and geography, this idiosyncratic island, ‘lost in the Mediterranean’, has much to offer anyone searching for something a little less ordinary.

Though Sardinia is famed the world over for its azure waters and lily-white sands, there is much more to this island than beaches (though it boasts some of the most beautiful in the world). The food culture is totally unique and remarkably undiscovered. Like the island itself, it is theoretically Italian, but it is also a world unto itself. Sardinian food shares many of Italy’s philosophies: the focus on ingredients and on extreme freshness, the peasant roots that make each dish simultaneously comforting, simple and abundant. However, Sardinian food seems truly a distilled version of Italian food; somehow even simpler, more rustic, more wild.

The emphasis on tradition and the importance of eating well is even more pronounced on this forgotten island. Even more of its delicacies are preserved, even more of its produce made at home. It is truly a place where time stands still. Eating is taken very seriously, and meals consume the best part of most days, accompanied as they are by fruity, full-bodied red wines or deliciously crisp Vermentinos. Peppery local olive oil flows freely, cheeses and cured meats of all shapes and sizes are eaten at every meal, and unique breads and pastas form a major part of the diet too.

Sardinians are renowned for their long lives, and this longevity is often attributed to their relaxed lifestyle and excellent diet, so you can easily while your days away eating and drinking in the Mediterranean sunshine with a clean conscience, knowing that really, this is good for you.’

In Bitter Honey: Stories and recipes from the island of Sardinia, Letitia Clark provides a unique insight into the undiscovered gems of Sardinian cooking. This book, however, is not just a collection of delicious and different recipes: with its stunning photography and joyful anecdotes throughout, this is an imagined holiday, a cookbook and a captivating food and travel journal all rolled into one.

About the Author

Letitia Clark is a trained chef, painter and the author of acclaimed cookbook, Bitter Honey, which is a unique collection of stories and recipes from Sardinia. Having been first seduced by Sardinia on a holiday when she was 18, after a chef career in London Letitia returned to the island to live three years ago. She now continues to write, paint and cook freelance from her home in Oristano, as well as cooking most seasons at Melisses retreat in Andros.

Letitia is available to cook at your villa during your stay in Sardinia, and also provide cooking lessons for your group.

www.letitiaclark.co.uk