National cuisines are defined by the interplay of culture, customs and traditions of the country that evolved over extended periods of time, the locally available ingredients and spices, and the manners of food preparations and presentations of meals. Most cuisines are readily defined by the use of certain ingredients or spices.
According to Dan Kopf of Priceonomics in the blog What Are the Defining Ingredients of a Culture’s Cuisine?, “Defining a national or cultural cuisine is tricky business. .. But just because it’s difficult to define, doesn’t mean we can’t try…”
What Priceonomics did was to use the popular recipes from Epicurious with a “cuisine” tag to understand which ingredients make certain cuisines distinct – the “Greek” as a Greek or the “Indian” as an Indian. Just as what makes “Thai,” “Jewish,” “Mediterranean,” etc. distinct in their tastes. [Read more…]
