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OT - Fusion Friday

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Cronuts. Waffle tacos. Pad Thai pizza. These are just a few food items that have emerged from the fusion cuisine trend.

Although the term “fusion cuisine” is relatively new, the concept has been around for many centuries. In fact, according to Natasha Geiling at Smithsonian.com, fusion cuisine, defined as “the blending of culinary worlds to create new, hybrid dishes,” has been around for centuries, ever since the beginning of trade. As cultures began to overlap, it was only natural that new dishes were created, when people shared and combined cooking styles and ingredients to create new concepts and flavor profiles. A classic example of early fusion is Italian spaghetti, which would have never existed without Italy’s exposure to the Chinese noodle.

Modern fusion cuisine is usually traced back to the 1980s, when chefs like Roy Yamaguchi and Wolfgang Puck began to intentionally combine flavors from different cultures. Puck combined his affinity for Asian flavors with his European upbringing and training to create innovative dishes that quickly gained popularity in California and across the United States. Soon after, phrases such as Pan-Asian, Cal-Asian and Pan-Pacific emerged in an attempt to define these new food styles. Wolfgang Puck noted in an interview with Perry Garfinkle of The Wall Street Journal, that he doesn’t think these new concepts need to be defined, saying “As soon as it’s named, it becomes a ‘trend’ that everyone can jump on and imitate, rather than innovate. It’s not as simple as adding ginger and soy sauce, and voilà, Asian fusion.”

Do you have a favorite fusion food?

Comments

DaizyDuke's picture

WTH? I've never heard of any of this?! I have heard of a walking taco, they are big at horse shows, and actually quite yummy. But then again, I hate to cook and really don't eat out much and am a bit of a plain Jane when it comes to food, so probably why this is all greek to me. Wink

advice.only2's picture

It's actually really good Smile It's something that our local pizza place came up with a looooong time ago and now people have caught on to it. Or maybe it's just a west coast thing Smile

DaizyDuke's picture

So they put the peanut butter on the pizza or give you like a peanut butter dipping "sauce"? I live in NY and have never.... I'm thinking it's a West Coast thang Wink

advice.only2's picture

Lol, they put the peanut butter on the crust, then the sauce, then toppings and bake as usual...it's really good.

lieutenant_dad's picture

Sushi burritos. Actually, it's not really fusion so much as just a really big sushi roll you eat like a burrito.

I had someone tell me that enjoy vanilla ice cream with green olives for a sweet and salty treat. :sick:

Aniki, as an aside, can we start having "Forn Fridays" where you just supply us with food porn for the weekend? I believe Gimlet was the one who called you out on your Fifty Shades of Food and Wine... Wink

agitated's picture

Cheese Puffs and Chocolate Pudding! YUMMY!!!!!! I also put a dab of mustard on every plain potato chip I eat.

Tuff Noogies's picture

the closest i get to fusion is chili spaghetti. but the possibilities really are endless, just using a format from one type of cuisine and the flavors of another can be called 'fusion' - for example we have a typical american meatloaf with mashed potatoes, so to have 'fusion meatloaf', you could do curry meatloaf with basmati rice, or teriyaki meatloaf with lo-mien, or sausage-infused meatloaf with mustard-potato salad, or cajun meatloaf with dirty rice.

and i'm sorry, advice, but as a born-and-raised NYer, peanut butter on a pizza is blasphemy. *shudders*

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Barbecue spaghetti is my sister's current Must Have dish. Mmmmm...kay. lol