The International Cuisine

The wonderful cuisine of Jamaica could undoubtedly be the most colorful, unique and spicy blend that you will ever taste in the Caribbean islands. The blending of the natural spices and herbs on this island is to some extent a reflection of the motto of Jamaica, which is “Out of Many, One People”. The Jamaican people are a combination of ancestors from all over world and include inhabitants such as African, British, Spanish, East Indians, Chinese and South American. All of these cultures come together and they each brought special cooking, spices, flavors which uniquely blend with the crops of Jamaica.

When you examine the rich history of this island, you will see that the first inhabitants were the Tainos, believed to be from South America. But after the arrival of Christopher Columbus and his Spanish men, these people were extinguished because of hard work, poisoning and European disease. However, they left the legacy which is the popular style of cooking the jerk and bammy, just to name a few.

The Spaniards also influenced this colorful cuisine and they brought seasonings, particularly vinegar and hot peppers which are the main ingredient for the escovitech fish which is still popular today. When the British arrived in the 1600 they took control of the island and cultivated mostly sugar cane, most of the plantations can still be found on the island today. They influenced the popular patty that is loved by most Jamaicans, plus they brought the wines, menus, recipes, pudding and other sweet and savory. Read the rest of this entry »

Italian cuisine came to the United States with Italian immigrants, most of who came from the south of Italy and arrived in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The culture in the United States has altered traditional Italian dishes since this time, examples of which include toasted ravioli from St Louis, Missouri and muffuletta sandwiches from New Orleans.

A lot of people emigrated from Sicily and Naples and made their homes in big American cities like Boston and New York. Ones from the south of the country would use ingredients like dried pasta, olive oil, and tomato sauce. Ones from the north would prefer fresh pasta, rice, and butter. A lot of steakhouses have been influenced by Italian cuisine because they were set up by Italians.

You can get a lot of different kinds of convenience food such as canned pasta sauce, heat-and-eat spaghetti and frozen pizzas and this is part of the reason why this cuisine has the mistaken reputation for being “all pasta and pizzas” when that is not true at all.

There is no doubt that the traditional food has been influenced by the American diet and, along with Mexican and Chinese cuisine, this cuisine is one of the top three international cuisines in the United States. More than nine out of ten people have tried these cuisines and enjoy them regular and, according to a survey, the average American is more concerned about the flavor and pricing of the international food that whether it is authentic. A lot of American style pizzas and pasta dishes would be unrecognizable to an Italian. Read the rest of this entry »