Fusion Food

“Fusion cuisine,” an American term, was coined in the 1970s to describe the combining of ingredients, flavors, and culinary techniques from two or more cultures (for example, French techniques with American Southwest ingredients) to create totally new dishes. The Florida chef Norman Van Aken takes credit for inventing the phrase, borrowed from jazz vernacular, in which “fusion” means a blending of jazz with other musical elements, such as rock. Continuing this musical analogy, The New York Times food critic William Grimes described fusion at its best as “the culinary version of counterpoint, in which precisely defined flavors talk back and forth to each other rather than blending into a single smooth harmonic effect; it keeps ‘your palate on edge’.”