Local Cuisine

Daily writing prompt

What food would you say is your specialty?

View all responses

The world of cuisine is a world centered on colossal pilferage. A saying in the social sciences sums it up: “If you steal from one, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many, it’s research.” So, the world of food must be one of the most thoroughly researched in history because no national cuisine seems genuinely local when you look at it closely. That spicy oomph in that dish you love so much? It’s borrowed from someone else’s cuisine about three thousand miles to the east.

A few years ago, someone put forward the thesis that the end of the Roman Empire was accelerated by a severe balance of payments issue. The empire owed more for the exotic spices they imported than they could pay. 

We take our shelves full of herbs and spices for granted. Got pepper? Sure. Just remember that wars and piracy are part of the history of your spice shelf. Got table salt? Look up the El Paso Salt War if you think that salt was always a cheap available commodity.

My culinary year is rounded out in the late fall as I prepare the family fruitcakes I’ve baked since the early 1970s. Let’s see – ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, mace, and cloves are among the spices. Although my recipe borrows heavily from Western traditions in the UK and Germany, I’d be hard-pressed to make it without the mingling of herbs and spices from far-distant parts of the world.

Our tastes in food are worldwide, even when they are local.