Culinary Expeditions
Exploring the world, from my kitchen
Asia - in the year 2020, it is home to over half of the world's current population. Its place in ancient history is cemented as the cradle of civilization in the Old World, birthplace of agriculture and all major world religions. Covering vast parts of the tropics and sub-tropics, many of the ubiquitous spices in our kitchens are native to Asia. The world's two most important cereal crops - rice and wheat were first domesticated here. From West to East, the influence of these abundance of spices and these ancient grains is evident in the foods from Turkey to Japan, from China to Sri Lanka. Benefiting from thousands of years of extensive trade and travel, Asian cuisines have been very versatile in always incorporating new ingredients as they were introduced. It is in Asia, that we must begin our Culinary Expeditions!
To pay homage to the the country of my birth, I begin this journey in India! India - a country itself forged from even smaller countries, straddling vast regions from the Himalayas to the tropical shores of the Ocean named after it. Within this imaginabinably ethnically, geographically, linguistically, religiously diverse nation, is a contained several regional cuisines - each, further, with their own dimensions of variety. These regional cuisines of the regions and states that make up the modern Republic of India, together make up what is essentially termed 'Indian Cuisine'.
Deep within the African continent lives the origins of humankind itself. Africa is the only continent that straddles north and south from the Equator in equal measures. It is truly tropical and sub-tropical, home to expansive grasslands, scrublands, and rainforests. The world's most beloved breakfast beverage - coffee - has it origins in the highlands of what is today, Ethiopia. Many types of millets - another type of ancient grains - were cultivated in many semi-arid regions of the continent, and continue to influence the cuisines of the various nations that exist it on it lands. After a many turbulent and painful years of European occupation, many of the young nations of Africa are only now finding their own voices. An expression of the rise of this continent is its native cuisines becoming popular around the globe. Let us explore this diverse and giant continent at the crossroads of the Old and New World!
The smallest of the continents surely has no dearth of intriguing culture and history. Across the breadth of Europe, the cuisines are a product of their history and location, perfecting breads, cheeses, and many types of desserts. Due to it location firmly in the cooler parts of the world, Europeans often had to look outward for ingredients with stronger flavours. The quest for routes for the lucrative spice trade eventually led Spain and Portugal to conquer the Americas, and from there they carried exoitc produce back to the Old World. Let's explore Enchatning Europe!
Finally, we move to the countries of the New World, whose native civilizations were forever changed after European contact. This contact also had a tremendous impact on the cuisines of kingdoms and empire far away in the Old World. Fruits, spices, and vegetables that were native to the Americas were introduced to Africa, Asia, and Europe during the Age of Exploration. Think of chili peppers, chocolate, pineapples, potatoes, maize, tomatoes, to name a few. Today, from Canada to Argentina, the cuisines of the vast and diverse countries of North America and South America have been molded by the genius of their native Pre-Columbian civilizations as well as Old World ingredients introduced by Europeans. Let's explore the last frontier of world cuisine - the New World!
