Cross cultural cuisine: A fusion food

Cross-cultural cuisine, also known as fusion cuisine, describes foods that acquire their succulent uniqueness of flavor from a creative combination of dishes that breach cultural, ethnic, and geographic barriers. It goes beyond the traditional cultural exchanges in cuisine that has been going on for centuries. This type of food fusion is a deliberate combination of two or more distinct cuisines to create a delicious unity out of contrasting cultural essences. Cross-cultural cuisine includes such fusions as Chinese-Caribbean cuisine, Asian-Mexican, and East-West mixings that create an explosion of flavor and becomes a piquant celebration on the palate.

The most popular places for fusion cuisine to thrive are metropolitan cities with large, diverse populations. There usually exists such fierce competition among restaurants that owners must create unique menus in order to stand out from the crowd. The patrons who often visit these restaurants are saying foodies who have been exposed to varied foods from wide cultural origins, and while they have discriminating tastes, they are also eager to try new flavors.

In order to please this audience of foodies and critics, chefs must ensure they thoroughly understand each of the flavors and cuisines they are trying to combine. The risk would be to create a confusion of clashing flavors that lead to culinary disgust, while the reward would be a complementary burst of contrasting flavors, each of which brings out the best in the other.

A chef or restauranteur may take several approaches to meld different cuisines. One might introduce a single flavor from one cuisine into a complete dish from another. This might be as simple as using Mexican jalapeno peppers to spice up a British shepherd’s pie. It might also be as complex using pancakes as a canvas for Asian art, where the various spices constitute the “paints” used for mixing colors. With so many cultures, cuisines, and dishes to choose from, there is no end what a pinch of knowledge and a serving of creativity can bring to the table.

Like the most of fusion dishes, Menus are consist of Protein, carbs and vegetable. Fusion cuisine usually serves as a course or these days it’s very common to serve various small dishes like the “Tapas” style.

Sushi Fusion

The Japanese culture brings sushi to the table in this East-meets-West fusion. The succulent sushi is laced with a thin and delicately cooked strip of bacon for a zesty tang of savory flavors. The bacon is light so that it complements rather than overpowers the more delicate flavors in the sushi. Then the spices are sprinkled to add both color and zest, which both increase the visual and gustatory appeal of the dish.

Seafood Pilaf

This seafood pilaf has Spanish, Indian, Asian, and Cajun influences. The dish uses rice as a base coated with eggs and infused with green, red, and yellow peppers. Also included are shallots, chopped green onions, and garlic—which combines flavors and methods found in Cajun seafood gumbos, Asian fried rice, and Spanish pilafs into a dish that straddles more than three cultures. On the side, this gumbo mixture is hidden inside dark-colored shells to add a more hands-on dimension to the meal and a shadowy contrast to the lightly tinted and colorfully decorated rice.

Quesadilla Pizza

This taco-quesadilla-pizza mixes Italian and Mexican cuisines and gives you three scrumptious dishes all in one. With a gooey, cheesy and beany sauce topped with strips of beef and finely chopped olives, this Tex-Mex pizza is beautifully garnished and mouth-watering. The golden-brown crust is actually pita bread, so it throws a bit of a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavor into the mix, as well. So, what we have is this all-in-one taco-pizza-quesadilla that elegantly and creatively brings together palates from two hemispheres and four cultures—without compromising the spirit of any of the dishes.

Indeed, culinary concoctions that meld many cultures have the potential to make your restaurant a very bit hit. But remember that creativity must be supported by a thorough knowledge of the individual dishes you’ll be adding to the mix. This will ensure that you maintain the spirit of each dish, even while jazzing it up and introducing new flavors enhance and bring out the best in all of them.