Cuisine

A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region.

Some factors that have an influence on a region's cuisine include the area's climate, the trade among different countries, religious or sumptuary laws and culinary culture exchange.

For example, foods preserved for winter consumption by smoking, curing and pickling have remained significant in world cuisines for their altered gustatory properties.

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.

The term was coined in 1999 by the French INRA chemist Hervé This because he wanted to distinguish it from the name Molecular gastronomy (a scientific activity) that was introduced by him and the late Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti in 1988.

Regional cuisines can vary based on availability and usage of specific ingredients, local cooking traditions and practices, as well as overall cultural differences.

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 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.

Throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean, common ingredients include lamb, olive oil, lemons, peppers and rice.

The vegetarianism practiced in much of India has made pulses (crops harvested solely for the dry seed) such as chickpeas and lentils as important as wheat or rice.

The continent's diverse demographic makeup is reflected in the many different eating and drinking habits, dishes and preparation techniques of its manifold populations.

Ingredients common to East Asia and Southeast Asia (due to overseas Chinese influence) include rice, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, chilies, dried onions, soy and tofu, with stir frying, steaming and deep frying being common cooking methods.