Cuisine – Cuisines Cuisine refers to a specific set of cooking and preparation styles and practices often associated with a specific culture. The word itself is French meaning cooking or culinary art and derived from the Latin word coquere meaning to cook. A particular cuisine is often influenced by the types of foods and spices available in the region in which the food is made. Popular types of cuisines include:
- American
- Thai
- Chinese
- Japanese
- Ethiopian
- Indian
- Caribbean
- Italian
- French
- Vietnamese
- Persian
- Russian
- Mexican
- Cuban
A particular type of cuisine often has its own style of preparing food and specific spices and seasonings central to that culture. For instance, Indian cuisine is known for its use of curry while Asian cuisine is known for its use of soy sauce and garlic sauces. Cuisines are often known for certain dishes such as pad thai in the Thai cuisine and Spaghetti in Italian cuisine.Cuisine not only refers to specific dishes but the beverages and desserts as well. It also governs what types of food are most typically eaten in that region. Mexican and Italian cuisine tend to incorporate the use of cheese yet each prepares dishes with cheese in a totally different manner. Italian cuisine incorporates cheese on top of breaded chicken (Chicken Parmesan) while Mexican cuisine uses cheese as a topping for tacos and burritos. The difference between cuisines can be a stark different or it can be very similar as in the case of Asian cuisines. All of the Asian cuisines (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc) use a lot of rice in their cooking because that is what is most accessible in that area of the world. Cuisines and their style of preparation can definitely morph due to the mixing and integrating of different cultures.
