Food: It's Art, It's Culture, It's Life
They say the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but let’s try a much truer statement: the best way to a people’s culture is through their kitchen! Think about it. Every culture has its own signature style, spice palette, or dish. French wine and cheese, Japanese sushi, Chinese bird nest soup, Indian curry, Greek gyros, American…um…Twinkies. The list goes on. And everyone, regardless of background, appreciates good food.
Entire industries are based solely on food-focused travel. The top of anyone’s travel to-do list almost always includes trying out local dishes because it’s the easiest way to immerse yourself into a foreign land. No matter where people live, how their society develops, their values, or what the environment is, everyone needs food from day one. That’s why local cuisine gives you a good “read” on a society. In food, you see their values reflected. You taste the historical influences in what ingredients became staple and what was phased out as wars and famines afflicted the people. You see how the environment and the terrain affect what they grow and eat.
If the region is rocky and mountainous, people learn to make food from what materials thrive in that harsh environment. If you’re in a hot climate, people create dishes that help cool them off. In a country where the cow is sacred or a place where pork is frowned upon, you learn to make food masterpieces with alternative meats. On an island, you better learn to love seafood.
Take sushi, for example. As an island nation, Japan’s diet is heavily reliant on fish. Japanese culture also highly values neatness, discipline, and attention to detail. They can take any simple thing and perfect it all the way down to the last grain of rice—which is completely true of authentic sushi. Visit any real Japanese sushi bar and you’ll see how the chef pays painstakingly close attention to every cut he makes in the fish, ensures each piece is expertly rolled—not too tight, nor too loose—and artistically presents each plate as a masterfully neat work of art with everything in its exact place. Japanese sushi is deceptively simple, yet every possible aspect is perfected beyond belief. The Japanese turn food into a cultural art gallery that fills both your eyes and your stomach.
And that’s just one example of food reflecting culture! Many countries in the Middle East are famousfor being alcohol-free, but would you believe that Arabian Gulf countries like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have some of the most beautiful, complex-tasting cocktails you’ve ever seen? Ok, they’re alcohol-free so, technically, they’re “mocktails.” You might initially think that a country with no bars or liquor wouldn’t have much by way of fancy beverages, but every culture finds a way to express themselves through what they eat and drink.
No one likes drinking water all day every day and, in a place as hot as the Arabian Desert, the locals tend to look for new ways to refresh themselves. That’s why the best tasting mint lemonade you’ll ever drink is in Doha. And don’t forget to follow it up with a triple layer real fruit smoothie where each of the colors are perfectly stacked one above the other like the colors of a flag.
In the snowier Scandanavia climate, you’ll find hearty dishes designed to keep you warm in the brutal winters, such as kaffeost —coffee with a big ‘ole lump of cheese in it (don’t gag until you’ve tried it, because kaffeost is scrumptious and perfect at giving your body some extra…layers…to brave the cold). From the Middle East to the North Pole, the climate influences the cuisine.
Even the portions and size of the dishes are a reflection of a society’s values. A dinner in the family-focused midwestern United States might have meals big enough to feed ten-person families—giving each member enough fuel to toil out in the farms from dawn til dusk. In the land of plenty—everyone eats their fill. Visit a café in Paris, however, and you’ll find lovely little works of art in the form of pastries—perfect for a quick, reserved bite.
You could spend your entire life researching and learning about the history of cultural dishes and how a culture’s values, environment, and history shaped the foods they eat today. Or, you can go out and taste it! Step out of your culinary comfort zone and eat something different to learn about the communities that are different from yours. Open-minded exploration never tasted so good!