Culinary Cousins

Language may be the best way to trace the development and globalization of the food we eat. We all have to eat, even when far away from home, and being omnivores, we are often eager to try unfamiliar types of raw ingredients and the role they play in local food cultures, no matter how foreign they might seem.

We have a tendency to think that the globalization of food is a new phenomenon, but travelers, whether sailors, merchants, or migrants, have always brought their culinary traditions with them from place to place. Over time, other ingredients were substituted for the original ones, recipes evolved, and the names of the dishes were gradually transformed as they became embedded in their new surroundings.