Comparative Gastronomy

I’ve always been fascinated with similarities found in techniques and dishes in cuisines from around the world. The fact that these similarities even exist, stretched across continents from one end of the globe to the other, has to be some sort of proof that we all really did come from the same place, that we as a species share a culinary genetic memory.

Or maybe, it’s just dumb luck.

A cuisine is loosely defined as a collection of ingredients, common recipes, and common techniques from a particular geographic region. Well before Whole Foods and Amazon.com, people simply made do with the ingredients that they had available, with the occasional exotic ingredient brought from afar. Locavore wasn’t a word, it just was.

Over time, as cooks in their respective regions traded and refined their techniques and recipes, the personality of those cuisines began to emerge, with recognizable flavors and dishes we know and can identify today. Sometimes, a dish is so heavily identified with a particular cuisine, it becomes iconic. Everyone reading this knows that Chicken Paprikash is Hungarian, Sushi is Japanese, Tacos are Mexican, Pasta is Italian, Biltong is South African, and Gefilte Fish is Jewish. But, the styles of cooking and the basic composition of those dishes are frequently repeated in other cuisines. Chicken Vindaloo is Indian, Dolmades are Greek, pita bread is Middle Eastern, Mein are Chinese noodles, Beef Jerky is American, and Quenelles du Poisson are French. And the Chinese have an analog for almost everything.

As the world grew smaller and ingredients were sold further and further from their port of origin, culinary horizons expanded. Any American schoolchild can tell you Columbus was searching for a new trade route to India. Later on, Spanish conquistadors brought corn from the New World back to Europe. Cumin is shared by both Mexican and Middle Eastern cuisines. Refined sugar revolutionized cuisines throughout the known world. Cuisines adapted to the influx of new ingredients. The fusion cuisine fad tried to jump ahead in the natural progression of culinary evolution, but as it turned out, no one really wanted to eat Reindeer Sushi Burgers after all.

Techniques, on the other hand, would be harder to export. Some, like grilling meat on a stick, are obvious enough, but how is it that wontons, kreplach and tortellini are almost identical, the differences being in the variation of regional ingredients? Inquiring minds want to know.

So, did Marco Polo bring pasta back from the Orient in his hat, or was it Arab marauders who brought dried itriyah with them to eat while not out pillaging and raping? Before you stop eating macaroni and cheese, itriyah is actually first mentioned in the Talmud Yerushalmi, so it turns out they stole that as well.

I am going to embark on a series of articles that collectively I’m categorizing as Comparative Gastronomy. In each article I’ll discuss the methods of preparation, the regional names, and the ingredient variations. It isn’t meant to be exhaustive, rather my own observations with a bit of research thrown in. And, of course, recipes.

A word about the word “authentic”: to a chef, the word is meaningless. Differences and variations in recipes across related cuisines, or even within a single cuisine, make it ludicrous to label one version over another as authentic. “Authentic barbecue”? Oh really? Would that be Texas, North Carolina, Kansas City or Tennessee? You want to start another Civil War? Try saying “authentic grits” within earshot of a group of Southerners. Leave it for the marketing people.

Funnily enough, there are some dishes that are mistakenly ascribed to a cuisine. This is most common in, but not limited to, American cuisine. Nachos are not Mexican, nor is chili. A “curry” is not Indian, and Chicken Tikki Masala is a British national dish. French fries did not come from France. Spaghetti and meatballs aren’t Italian, and your beloved morning croissant? Austrian, made in commemoration of their defeat of the Turks in 1683.

Or so the story goes.

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