Middle Eastern Food
Middle eastern food encompasses many different cooking styles from a number of different countries. Moroccan, Syrian, Greek, Arabian and have many differences.
The food of the Middle East is a celebration of life, no matter which country.
The spices and flavours of Middle Eastern food are those that awaken the senses, richer tastes of the main ingredients. Mints, lemon, garlic, and rosemary – all have a fresh, astringent quality give taste. Throughout the region, the cuisine varies – but these things remain the same: fresh ingredients, spices, olive oil, and little meat.
Lebanon contributions to the cuisine of the entire Middle Eastern region of the world are unmistakable. The flavours that spice the foods of all the surrounding lands can be found here in abundance – olive oil, lemon, garlic and mint. Lebanese cuisine features such staples as kibbeh (ground lamb with bulghur wheat) and tabouleh (parsley, mint and bulghur wheat salad). The food is simply prepared, with the flavors blending together into a complex medley of earthy, fruity tastes and scents.
Syria had contributed nothing else to the world cuisine but pita bread and hummus, it would still be worthy of note. There’s far more to the cuisine of this small Middle Eastern country, though. Baba ganoush (pureed eggplant), stuffed olives and figs, peppers in olive oil – Syrian food celebrates the fruits of the earth and blends them to bring out the textures and flavors in surprising ways. Shish kebab and rice pilaf are two of the more well-known dishes, and while most people think of Greece when they hear baklava, the Syrian claim that it is based on their own dessert of batwala.
Throughout the Mediterranean Middle East, the cultures and people have intermingled and carried with them their foods and traditions of eating. In no other place in the world can there be found a blending of cultures that has mingled so much – yet maintained such distinct, national flavors. Healthful, fresh, delicious and life enhancing, it’s little wonder that the cuisine of the Middle East is among the most popular with diners the world over.
Northern European Food
The northern European diet generally consists of a large serving of meat, poultry, or fish, accompanied by small side dishes of vegetables and starch. The traditional diet is high in protein, primarily from meat and dairy products. The diet tends to be low in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Immigrants from this region of the world brought this eating pattern to North America and it still influences the “meat and potatoes” American meal. The influence of each country’s food habits on each other is also extensive.
The Northern European food cultures rely heavily on meats, dairy products, wheat, and root vegetables. The Northern Europeans are famous for their flower gardens, but they are also known for their kitchen gardens, which yield an abundance of herbs and vegetables. Breakfast is very hearty and generally consists of bacon, eggs, grilled tomato, porridge, preserves and fried bread.
German food has influenced most of the Northern European culinary tradition cuisine. As a meter of fact beer, sausage, sauerkraut, and goose are very popular.
Lunch is often skipped due to the Northern European work culture and most people eat a quick sandwich or salad.
Northern European Pubs are known throughout the world for their vibrant and friendly atmosphere. There are many different types of pubs, including dining pubs, music pubs, and pubs with accommodations.
Caribbean & Latin American Food
Latin American and Caribbean cuisine is not about the finest cuts of meat or the sexiest sauces. It is about feeding yourself your family and your neighbours with what’s available. It focuses more on the rituals of gathering as a community and a family.
Latin America also features some of the world’s largest cities: Mexico City and Sao Paulo for example. Within these booming megalopolises there has been a rise in fine Latin cuisine in the past 20 years. Like many fine cuisine chefs around the world, the trend towards incorporating various techniques into local cuisine is common.Latin American cuisine is becoming increasingly popular with an increase of Latin immigration all over the world.
Thanks for accompanying our crew as we delve into the food and culture of Latin America and the Caribbean. Skip breakfast. It’s going to be a big meal.
Latin American and Caribbean food is an interesting combination of traditional Native American recipes, European techniques, with African influences. Each nation has its on unique cuisine and little generalization can be made about Latin America and Caribbean food culture.
Most popular cuisine includes: Mexican food, Argentinean, Brazilian and Caribbean food. But most not so well-know culinary tradition are also worth exploring such as Peruvian, Ecuadorian, and Colombian; the list is endless and delicious.
Mediterranean Food
The Mediterranean can be divided into three culinary regions: North African (especially Morocco), eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey), and southern European (Italy, France, Spain).
Seafood remains at the core of the cooking heritage. Fish served in the region include swordfish, monkfish, eel, cuttlefish, squid, and octopus.
Smaller animals, like lamb, goats, sheep, pork, rabbit, and fowl, provide most of the meat. Sheep and goats give forth dairy for rich yogurts and cheeses.
The Mediterranean food has been around for hundreds of years if not thousands.
Mediterranean food in recent years, however, has also gained recognition as being the healthiest cuisine in history. Mediterranean food which includes delicious soups, fabulous salads, incredible fishes, mouth watering meats, incredible desserts, whole grains, vegetables and dried fruits is as delicious as it is healthy. Mediterranean food is delicious and healthy but it also requires the right ingredients and that is why we consistently test new products as they become available to determine if they should be offered to our valued customers.
Mediterranean food can be enjoyed all day and every day. Mediterranean food is perfect for casual dining or special occasions. You can truly enjoy a wonderful meal of Mediterranean food and a great bottle of wine with family or friends and remember how nice it is to share a meal and a table with those that mean the most to you. The flavors in Mediterranean food are robust, clear, and free of complicated sauces and heavy cream and butter. This uncomplicated preparation of food enhances goodness and taste. Vegetables play an important role in Mediterranean cuisine. Onions, garlic, tomatoes, eggplants, squash, peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, artichokes, okra, and various greens and lettuces are mainstays in this diet. Legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, fava beans (Egypt), green beans (France), and white kidney beans (Tuscany) are also a fundamental ingredient in this cuisine. The use of fresh herbs including rosemary, basil, cilantro, parsley, mint, dill, fennel, and oregano give flavor and color to dishes. Also, cooking with olive oil is very popular in some Mediterranean cultures.
Although the Mediterranean is increasingly over-fished and polluted with chemical and toxins, seafood is still at the core of traditional Mediterranean cooking. Shellfish is used in soups, stews, and pastas. Anchovies and white-fleshed fish (i.e., sole, flounder, and grouper) are very popular. Swordfish, monkfish, eel, cuttlefish, squid, and octopus are also eaten. Smaller animals such as lamb, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbit, and fowl are the main meat sources.
Diets rich in Mediterranean food are quite healthy. Extensive research has been conducted on the traditional diets of inhabitants of countries like Greece and Southern Italy because of the low incidence of chronic illnesses and the high life-expectancy rates of these people. Research has shown that traditional Mediterranean food has been essential to the long-term health and vitality of these populations. Mediterranean food helps define the cultures of many groups of people. This variety of tastes and preparation of food makes for a wonderful culinary experience. More importantly it is not only good to eat but it can be good for your long-term health and vitality.
Asian Food
Asian food is diverse and full of flavours. While neighbouring Asian countries may share similar ingredients and cooking styles, their cuisine is unique and individual.
Asia can be divided into three regions, based on their culinary similarities:
The North East – China, Korea, Japan
The South West – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma
The South East – Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei
Being a very large and diverse continent, Asia represents and contains a large variety of peoples, cultures and different culinary tradition. Traditionally Asian diet is mainly vegetarian, while food from animals is less common. Foods commonly consumed in Asia include rice and other grains, fruits and vegetables, sea vegetables, noodles, nuts, seeds, beans, potatoes, various soy foods, flatbreads, legumes, vegetable and nut oils, herbs and spices.
This diet is very various and rich in vitamins, fibres and minerals and all the substances believed to promote health.Another important component of this diet is soy. Soy foods provide a main source of protein in the Asian diet. Soy foods such as tofu, miso and tempeh are widely available in the Asian diet.
Most Asians drink pots of tea, both green and black, on a daily basis. This tea acts as a mild diuretic, which helps to flush the body of substances and free radicals that cause stroke and heart disease while lowering the level of fluids in the body.
Pasta with Tomato Souce
This a very easy and quick way of cooking pasta with tomato sauce to respond to our busy lifestyle but still managing to eat healthy.
Ingredients:
Basil, Crashed Chillies, Olive Oil, Onions, Pasta, Salt, Tomato sauce
How the World Eats
In the face of urbanization and westernisation, families across the globe are abandoning ancient diets and dining habits
By Brian Walsh
Originally the food of emperors, the cuisine known as kaiseki is the pinnacle of Japanese eating—and few restaurants serve a more refined menu than Kikunoi, in the former imperial capital of Kyoto. The experience begins before a single plate is served, with the setting: a tatami-mat room, bare save for the tokonoma, the alcove in the corner that displays a single scroll of calligraphy and a seasonally appropriate flower, today a lily. Then the food begins to flow, course after course of carefully trimmed portions, delivered by a kimono-clad server: a single piece of sea-bream sushi wrapped in bamboo leaf, a tiny grilled ayu fish with water-pepper vinegar, fried prawns and bamboo shoots with an egg-yolk-and-cream sauce. Kaiseki dining is the product of centuries of cultural evolution, but though Kikunoi is high-end—as the bill will indicate—its cuisine is meant to be a grand elaboration of the basic Japanese home meal: rice, fish, pickles, vegetables and miso soup, artfully presented in small, healthy portions. “I believe that Japanese cuisine is something embedded in Japanese people’s DNA,” says Kikunoi’s owner, Yoshihiro Murata. Reed more…
—With reporting by Elisabeth Salemme/New York, Toko Sekiguchi/Tokyo, Ishaan Tharoor/Hong Kong and Christopher Thompson/LondonTime, June 25 – July 2, 2007
What is African Food
Traditionally Africa food uses a combination of locally available fruits, grains, and vegetables, milk and meat products. In some parts of Africa, the traditional African diet has a predominance of milk, curd, and whey. In much of tropical Africa however, cow’s milk is rare and cannot be produced local.
Differences are noticeable in the eating and drinking habits across the continent of Africa – African food differs in different parts of Africa, and East Africa, North Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and Central Africa each have their own distinctive foods. They are very well known for their distinctive cooking styles.Northern Muslim Africa, along the Mediterranean from Morocco to Egypt is part of the Mediterranean culinary rim. Saharan Africa is for the most part subsistence.
Certain regions are distinctive for the development of indigenous cuisine, or incorporation of outside influences. These were distinctive by trade, colonization, or adaptation of imported foods, such as the New World peppers, peanuts, and corn. They are: Ethiopia, Nigeria, East and West Africa, the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique, and South Africa. You, the adventurous traveler, are encouraged to seek out local restaurants, outside of the large tourist hotels, to savor African cuisine.
The prime characteristic of native African meals is the use of starch as a focus; accompanied by stew containing meat or vegetables, or both. Starch filler foods, similar to the rice cuisines of Asia, are a hallmark. Cassava and yams are main root vegetables. Steamed greens, mixtures of hot spices with root vegetables, stew with and without meat, particularly chicken, all are African inspired. Peanuts, called groundnuts in Africa, feature heavily in many dishes from a garnish to peanut soups. Melons, particularly watermelon, are popular.
