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That's the subtitle of an irresistible new book that showed up in the RealAge offices a week ago. Called Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too, it was written by Melissa Kelly, an admired American chef who inherited her love of cooking from her Italian grandfather, Primo Magnani. (Her flagship restaurant is named Primo.) Unlike many chefs, Kelly has managed to stay vibrantly slim and healthy over the years, thanks to a few rules she cooked up for herself:
- Become a food snob. By which Kelly means, turn up your nose at junk food, highly processed food, or any mediocre food. "Cultivate your inner food snob. Don't waste time or calories on anything but good food."
- Be picky. "Why eat something that doesn't fill you with pleasure? Even if it's healthy -- fish or green beans or apples -- don't eat it if it isn't delicious."
- Slow down. Kelly's a new fan of some old advice: "Chew your food. Taste it. If you enjoy every morsel, you'll find you don't eat as much."
- Buy the best you can afford. "Paying more for quality food really is an investment in health and pleasure" -- and if it means you get a little less quantity, well, those extra calories won't wind up on your waist!
- Don't confuse size and flavor. "Have you ever noticed that the more expensive the restaurant, the smaller the portions? And the cheaper, the bigger?" asks Kelly. Yet nobody leaves a great restaurant starving, but how many times have you heard people moan as they exit a jumbo-plate restaurant, "I ate too much."
- Believe the recipe. If it says it serves four, don't split a dish between two people! "Serve yourselves a fourth each and put away the rest before you start eating."
- Follow the three-bite rule. "When a luscious treat comes along -- a fresh pastry, a warm batch of cookies made by someone who loves you, a scoop of delicious gelato -- follow this rule. The first three bites of a treat are always the best anyway, so just eat those three and stop. No guilt allowed."
Finally, says Kelly, "If you make food with love and savor it with restraint, you'll truly be living la dolce vita." Smart woman.
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