What is the minimum number of calories needed per day to survive indefinitely? For adult males, it is around two-thousand calories per day. And it is about two-hundred calories less for adult females. What does this mean in terms of actual food? It depends on where one lives, but in Istria and its surroundings it means a bowl of stew made of potatoes, sauerkraut or sour turnips, and beans, for example. A little bit of salt and pepper, olive oil, and a slice of bacon or a spare rib are also needed for taste. A slice of dark bread can be added for good measure. This sort of stew is known as jota in Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy (“Jota,” October 19, 2006). And it is perfectly sufficient to survive indefinitely around the forty-fifth parallel, as untold generations in Istria and its surroundings have demonstrated beyond any doubt. Add a cup of wine, and you are all set. Wherever one lives, one should learn what was survival food in the past. And then one should learn how to grow the ingredients and make them last for a year. This done, the cooking will come all by itself.