Acuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctiveingredients,techniques anddishes, and usually associated with a specificculture or geographic region. Regionalfood preparation techniques, customs and ingredients combine to enable dishes unique to a region.[1]
Used in English since the late 18th century, the word cuisine—meaning manner or style of cooking—is borrowed from the French for 'style of cooking', as originally derived from Latincoquere, 'to cook'.[2]
A cuisine is partly determined by ingredients that are available locally or through trade. Regional ingredients are developed and commonly contribute to a regional or national cuisine, such asJapanese rice inJapanese cuisine.
Some factors that have an influence on a region's cuisine include the area'sclimate, the trade among different countries,religious orsumptuary laws and culinary culture exchange. For example, a tropical diet may be based more on fruits and vegetables, while a polar diet might rely more on meat and fish.
The area's climate, in large measure, determines the native foods that are available. In addition, climate influences food preservation. For example, foods preserved for winter consumption bysmoking,curing andpickling have remained significant inworld cuisines for their altered gustatory properties.
The trade among different countries also largely affects a region's cuisine. Dating back to the ancient spice trade, seasonings such ascinnamon,cassia,cardamom,ginger andturmeric were important items of commerce in the earliest evolution of trade, and India was a global market for this. Cinnamon and cassia found their way to the Middle East at least 4,000 years ago.[6]
Certain foods and food preparations are required or proscribed by the religiousness or sumptuary laws, such as Islamic dietary laws and Jewish dietary laws.
Culinary culture exchange is also an important factor for cuisine in many regions: Japan's first substantial and direct exposure to the West came with the arrival of European missionaries in the second half of the 16th century. At that time, the combination of Spanish and Portuguese game frying techniques with an East Asian method for cooking vegetables in oil, led to the development oftempura, the "popular Japanese dish in which seafood and many different types of vegetables are coated with batter and deep fried".[7]
Cuisines evolve continually, and new cuisines are created by innovation and cultural interaction. One recent example isfusion cuisine, which combines elements of variousculinary traditions while not being categorized per any one cuisine style, and generally refers to the innovations in many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970s.[9]Nouvelle cuisine ('New cuisine') is an approach to cooking and food presentation inFrench cuisine that was popularized in the 1960s by the food criticsHenri Gault, who invented the phrase, and his colleaguesAndré Gayot andChristian Millau in a new restaurant guide, theGault-Millau, orLe Nouveau Guide.[10]Molecular cuisine, is a modern style of cooking which takes advantage of many technical innovations from the scientific disciplines (molecular cooking). The term was coined in 1999 by the FrenchINRA chemistHervé This because he wanted to distinguish it from the nameMolecular gastronomy (a scientific activity) that was introduced by him and the lateOxford physicistNicholas Kurti in 1988.[11] It is also named as multi sensory cooking, modernist cuisine, culinary physics and experimental cuisine by some chefs.[12] Besides, international trade brings new foodstuffs including ingredients to existing cuisines and leads to changes. The introduction ofhot pepper to China from South America around the end of the 17th century, greatly influencingSichuan cuisine, which combines the original taste (with use ofSichuan pepper) with the taste of newly introduced hot pepper and creates a uniquemala (麻辣) flavor that's mouth-numbingly spicy and pungent.[13]
Aglobal cuisine is a cuisine that is practiced around the world, and can be categorized according to the common use of major foodstuffs, including grains,produce and cooking fats.
Regional cuisines can vary based on availability and usage of specific ingredients, local cooking traditions and practices, as well as overallcultural differences.[14] Such factors can be more-or-less uniform across wide swaths of territory, or vary intensely within individual regions. For example, in Central and North South America, corn (maize), both fresh and dried, is a staple food, and is used in many different ways. In northern Europe, wheat,rye and fats of animal origin predominate, while in southern Europeolive oil is ubiquitous and rice is more prevalent. In Italy, the cuisine of the north, featuring butter and rice, stands in contrast to that of the south, with its wheat pasta and olive oil. In some parts of Greece, gyros is the staple, while in others this role is filled by bread. Throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean, common ingredients includelamb, olive oil, lemons,peppers and rice. The vegetarianism practiced in much of India has madepulses (crops harvested solely for the dry seed) such aschickpeas andlentils as important as wheat or rice. From India to Indonesia, the extensive use of spices is characteristic;coconuts and seafood are also used throughout the region both as foodstuffs and asseasonings.
African cuisines use a combination of locally available fruits, cereals and vegetables, as well as milk and meat products. In some parts of the continent, the traditional diet features a preponderance of milk,curd andwhey products. In much of tropical Africa, however, cow's milk is rare and cannot be produced locally (owing to various diseases that affect livestock). The continent's diverse demographic makeup is reflected in the many different eating and drinking habits, dishes and preparation techniques of its manifold populations.[15]
TypicalEthiopian andEritrean cuisine:Injera (thin pancake-like bread) and several types ofwat (stew)
Due to Asia's vast size and extremely diverse geography and demographics,Asian cuisines are many and varied, and includeEast Asian cuisine,South Asian cuisine,Southeast Asian cuisine,Central Asian cuisine andWest Asian cuisine. Ingredients common to East Asia and Southeast Asia (due tooverseas Chinese influence) include rice, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, chilies, dried onions, soy and tofu, withstir frying, steaming anddeep frying being common cooking methods. While rice is common to most regional cuisines in Asia, different varieties are popular in the different regions:Basmati rice is popular in South Asia,Jasmine rice in Southeast Asia, and long-grain rice in China and short-grain rice in Japan and Korea.[16]Curry is also a common ingredient found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia (notablyJapanese curry); however, they are not popular in West Asian and Central Asian cuisines. Those curry dishes with origins in South Asia usually have ayogurt base, with origins in Southeast Asia acoconut milk base, and in East Asia a stewed meat and vegetable base.[17] South Asian cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisine are often characterized by their extensive use ofspices andherbs native to the tropical regions of Asia.
Due toGuangdong's location on the southern coast of China, fresh live seafood is a specialty inCantonese cuisine. Such markets selling seafood are found across East Asia.
TraditionalNorth Indian vegetarianthali with variouscurries from India. Various curry dishes are found across South Asia.
A market stall at Thanin market inChiang Mai,Thailand, selling readily-made food. Market stalls selling food are found across Southeast Asia.
A Tajik feast. A large feast is commonly associated with cultures of Central Asia.
TypicalAssyrian cuisine; an example of a type of meal found in West Asia
European cuisine (alternatively, "Western cuisine") include the cuisines of Europe and otherWestern countries. European cuisine includes non-indigenous cuisines of North America,Australasia, Oceania and Latin America as well. The term is used byEast Asians to contrast withEast Asian styles of cooking.[18] When used in English, the term may refer more specifically to cuisinein (Continental) Europe; in this context, a synonym isContinental cuisine.
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