Taste of Asia (Asian Cuisine) Part 1 – Road Junkie Snippets 164
Asian cuisine styles can be broken down into several regional styles that have roots in the peoples and cultures of those regions. The major types can be roughly defined as East Asian with its origins in Imperial China and now encompassing modern Japan and the Korean peninsula; Southeast Asian which encompasses Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Viet Nam, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines; South Asian derived the states that once made up British India — Burma, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well as several other countries in this region of the continent;[1] Central Asian and Middle Eastern. Indian cuisine is the general name for the foods of the Indian subcontinent, characterized by the extensive use of various spices, herbs, and other vegetables, and sometimes fruits grown in India and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society. Each family of Indian cuisine includes a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, it varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically-diverse subcontinent. Hindu beliefs and culture have played an influential role in the evolution of Indian cuisine.[1] However, cuisine across India also evolved as a result of the subcontinent’s large-scale cultural interactions with Mongols and Britain making it a unique blend of some various cuisines.[2][3] The spice trade between India and Europe is often cited as the main catalyst for Europe’s Age of …
