Is Your Cooking Fused?

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

10 Apr 2007 11:51 AM

Fusion cooking is a culinary technique that combines regional and ethnic techniques and ingredients in order to create new and innovative tastes. Tex Mex, Shish Kabobs, and California Rolls are all examples of fusion cooking. I have to be honest and say I'm not (or rather I wasn't) sure what all the fuss is about. It seems to me that this has been going on for centuries. People move from homeland to new land. People cannot find same spices and/or ingredients. Ingenious, aforementioned people improvise creating a new dish that is similar but uses slightly different ingredients.

Oh. . .but was I wrong! Fusion 'purists' insist that fusion cooking is all about pushing the boundaries in the kitchen. Until I read up on fusion cooking I thought that I was pushing the boundaries when I catered a party for 120 using an itsy bitsy New York City kitchen. Not so--say the fusion purists. (Although I am not sure any of those aggrandizing purists would even attempt such a feat!) It's about using your creative genius to come up with something completely different. Won Tons with guacamole any one? Strawberry-Banana Salsa served with blackened grilled chicken?

After reading something about fusion cooking I realized why I had never heard of it. . .my kids would not touch this stuff with a ten foot pole. While fusion cooks across the globe are trying to awaken their taste buds to a world of endless possibilities. . .I'm still trying to convince my daughter that the seeds in the strawberry are supposed to be there. . .that it still tastes good and that if I put it in a smoothie she'll forget all about the seeds. Perhaps when she accepts strawberries as part of her diet we'll move onto wasabe and edamame.

I researched thoroughly to see if it was fusion cooking if a dish is both both husband and kid friendly. Unless the husband is from one country and the kid is from another and their tastes are eccentrically diverse. . .it is not in fact fusion cooking.

So call me a party pooper (or I guess technically I'd be a kitchen pooper), but my cooking will remain practical, nutritious, and above all have the unique quality of making both my husband and my kids happy and full. However, if you, unlike me, feel like your life needs a little more fusion; you can always check out a Wolfgang Puck cookbook. He is one of the pioneers of fusion cooking. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing when he pioneered all this stuff--he didn't have picky eaters to contend with.

Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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