The Mediterranean Journey of Fusion Cuisine: New Generation Orient Tastes

It is not realistic to think that culinary art will remain the same in a world that is constantly changing and transforming, is it? Curiosity brought by the concept of the future has influenced people in every period of history and humanity owes its development to this curiosity. When experimentation, discovery and curiosity come together in the kitchen, the concept of fusion cuisine, which is the new trend of today, has emerged. Of course, change and transformation have not radically changed the cultural representative flavours of the countries. Traditional dishes and classic flavours whose recipes have not changed for decades are still on their thrones. In this article, we examined how these concepts that sound like belonging to different worlds form the connection between them. We talked about fusion cuisine and orient cuisine.

Although the first use of Orient was for Eastern Rome and beyond, it gradually became a word used for the Middle East region. Though, most of us know this word from the legendary Orient Express between London and Istanbul.

You can bring some parts of Turkey and the Arab countries like Palestine, Syria and Israel into your mind. We can also say that when these national cuisines, where pastry, legumes and meat products are predominant, come together, they are gathered under the title of orient cuisine. This region, whose appetiser culture is also highly developed, has dozens of different types of hot and cold appetisers. The taste, presentation and service understanding, which is quite different from other continental cuisines, also makes the Oriental cuisine interesting around the world by not losing its historical characteristic texture.

While Orient continues to impress most people with its blend of culinary history, other people in pursuit of the new and different have raised the perception of the kitchen to a new level and introduced the concept of fusion cuisine to us. Even though this new type, which starts with the blend of asian cuisines and european cuisines, creates confusion in the minds, it actually has a very plain philosophy.

When you search for the word fusion on the internet, you will see results that have nothing to do with gastronomy. However, this word, which is new to gastronomic jargon, derives its meaning precisely from its primary usage. Fusion, which is used for the combination of two elements with different characteristics in physics to turn into a completely different element, has received this name because it has the same effect in gastronomy.

Dishes that emerge with the use of ingredients, cooking and presentation techniques with different characteristics from two cuisines of world and do not belong to either cuisine take place in the fusion class. So, pouring the spices or sauces you bought from your trip abroad or using mushrooms instead of chicken, unfortunately, does not put your meal in the fusion class.

Initially, the method, which was mostly used among asian cuisines and european cuisines, started to be used in different kitchen mixes as its popularity increased. Intercontinental mixes are now very popular and available, as well as transcontinental mixes. If you have trouble visualising it in your mind, you can take a look at Teriyaki Taco, Sushi pizza, Kapsalon and kebab pizza dishes.