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A cuisine (from the French word for "kitchen") is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often
associated with a place of origin. Religious food laws can also exercise a strong
influence on cuisine. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade. The
"chinese" dish chop suey clearly reflected the adaptation of chinese immigrant
cooking styles to the different ingredients available in North America.Many people think that Chop Suey was invented in America.
In fact it probably originated with Chinese farmers who used to eat a dish of stir-fried vegetables after a long day working in
the fields. Chop suey is primarily a vegetable dish; the meat is included to add a bit of flavor
The last century or so has produced enormous improvements in food production, preservation, storage and shipping. Today almost
every locale in the world has access to not only its traditional cuisine, but also to many other world cuisines, as well. New
cuisines are constantly evolving, as certain aesthetics rise and fall in popularity among professional chefs and their clientele.
In addition to food, a cuisine is also often held to include beverages, including wine, liquor, tea, coffee and other drinks.
Increasingly, experts hold that it further includes the raw ingredients and original plants and animals from which they come. The
Slow Food movement is a global effort to preserve local plants, animals, and
techniques of food preparation. It has 70,000 adherents in 50 countries.
There are also different cultural attitudes to food, for example:
- In India, consumption of food is regarded as an offering, a Yagna. Thus the
stomach is considered to be a homagunda (holy fire) and all the food consumed is an offering to the holy fire.
- In Japan, Tea drinking is a fine-art and there is
an elaborate ceremonial about it. Not drinking tea in the right way is considered to be an act of barbarianism.
The following section is an overview of world cuisines. It is incomplete. It is organized roughly by geographical area,
starting in the Western hemisphere and working Eastward and from North to South. Please help complete it.
Most of these cuisines are based on the cuisines of the countries from which immigrant peoples came, primarily Europe. However, the traditional
European cuisine has been adapted to a greater or lesser degree and many local ingredients and techniques have been added to the
tradition.
See also: Canadian
cuisines
- First nations
cuisines
- Quebecois
- Atlantic Canada
See also: Cuisine of the United
States
Cuisines of Mexico
See also: Mexican cuisine
Cuisines of the Caribbean
See also: Caribbean cuisines
- Cuban cuisine
- Jamaican cuisine
- Puerto Rican cuisine
Cuisines of South America
See also: South American cuisines
- Argentine cuisine
- Andean cuisine
- Brazilian cuisine
See also: European cuisines
See also:
- Albanian
- Catalan
- Croatian
- Greek
- Italian excluding Sicily
- Portuguese
- Sicilian
- Spanish
- Turkish
See also: African
cuisines
See also: Middle-Eastern cuisines
- Arab cuisine
- Kosher cuisine
- Lebanese cuisine
- Persian cuisine
See also: Asian cuisine
Cuisines of India
See also: Indian cuisine
- North Indian
- Rajasthani /
Gujarati
- Punjabi
- Kashmiri
- Benarsi
- South Indian
- Kerala
- Andhra
- Canarese
- Tamilian
- Maharashtrian
- Eastern
Non-regional cuisines
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