INTERNATIONAL CUISINE y ARAB CUISINE y FRENCH CUISINE y ITALIAN CUISINE y PORTUGUESE CUISINE y MEXICAN CUISINE y GREAT BRITAIN CUISINE y SPANISH CUISINE y GERMAN CUISINE y CHINESE CUISINE y SCANDINAVIAN CUISINE y MIDDLE EAST CUISINE y ORIENTAL CUISINE Arab cuisine Arab cuisine is defined as the various regional cuisine spanning the Arab world from Morocco & Tunisia to Yemen and Somalia, and incorporation Levantine, Egyptian and Iran , India , the Berbers and other culture of the peoples of the region before the cultural arabization brought by genealogical Arabian during the Arabian Muslim conquests. y History Originally, the Arabs of the Arabian peninsula relied heavily on a diet of dates, wheat, barley, rice and meat, with little variety, with a heavy emphasis on yogurt products, such as labneh (yogurt without butterfat).as the indigenous Semitic people of the peninsula wandered, so did their tastes and favored ingredients. There is a strong emphasis on the following items in the Arabian cuisine:- y Meat :- lamb and chicken are the most used, beef and camel are also used to a lesser degree, other poultry is used in some regions, and in coastal areas, pork is completely prohibited ±for Muslim Arabs, it is both cultural taboo as well as being prohibited Islamic law; many Christian Arabs also avoid as they have acquired a taste for it. y Dairy products:- dairy products are widely used, the most of which is yoghurt and white cheese. However acquired a taste for it. y Herbs & spices: - mint and thyme (often in mix called za¶atar) are widely and almost universally used; spices are used much less then Indian cuisine but the amount and types generally vary from region to region. Some of the included herbs and spices are sesame, saffron, turmeric, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and sumac, spice mixture includes baharat. y Beverages: - hot beverages are used more than cold ,coffee being on the top of the bread as well as bulgur and semolina, which are also used extensively. y Nuts:- almonds pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts are often included. y Culture Essential to any cooking in the Arabian Peninsula is the concept of hospitality. Meals are generally large family affairs, with much sharing and a great deal of warmth over the dinner table. Formal dinner and celebration generally entails large quantity of lamb & every entails large quantities of Arabic coffee. In an average Arab Gulf state household, a visitor might expect a dinner consisting of a very large platter, shared commonly, with a vast mountain of rice, incorporating lamb or chicken, or both, as separate dishes, with various stewed vegetables, heavily spiced, sometimes with a tomato sauce. Flat bread with olive oil and za¶ter is also popular. y Breakfast Cafes often offer a quick meal consisting of bread and dairy products with tea and sometimes with jam. The most used is labneh and cream. Labneh is served with-olives, dried mint & drizzled with olive oil. Pastries such as manaqeesh, sfiha, fatayer and drizzled with olive oil. y Lunch Lunch is considered the main meal of the day, traditionally eaten after the noon prayer. It is the meal where the family groups together rarely do meal have different courses; however salads and maza are served as side dishes to the main meal. The latter usually consist of a portion of meat, poultry or fish, a portion of rice, lentil, bread or bagel and a portion of cooked veg. in addition to the fresh ones with the maza and salad. The vegetables and meat are usually cooked together in sauce to make maraq, which is served on rice. Most household would add bread, whether other grain were available or not. y Dinner Dinner is traditionally the lightest meal although in modern times and due to changing lifestyle dinner has become more important. y Ramadan meals In addition to the two meal mentioned hereafter, during Ramadan sweet are consumed much more than usual. Sweet and fresh fruits are served between these two meals. Although most sweet are made all year round such as knafeh, baklawa and basbousa, some are made especially for Ramadan such as Qatayef. y Futuur Futuur, or fast-breaking, is the meal taken at dusk when the fast is over. The meal consist of three course; fist, an odd number of dates based on Islamic tradition. Then soup would be served, the most popular is lentil soup, but a wide variety of soup such as chicken, freeka, potato, mash. The third course would be the main dish, usually eaten after an interval where Magherb prayer is conducted. y Suhur Is the meal eaten just before dawn when fasting must begin. y Regional Arab cuisine y Persian Gulf Originally the Arabs of the Arabian peninsula relied heavily on a diet of dates, wheat, barley, rice and meat, with little variety, with heavy emphasis on yogurt products, such as lebhne.as the indigenous semitie people of the peninsula wandered, so did their tastes and favored ingredients. y The Levant Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the lavant or greater Syria area. Though now divided into Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Israel, the region was a more united entity, there is some regional variation within the Levantine area. y Maghreb Spices are used extensively in western Arabs food. Country to the rest of the Arab world, the most common red meat is beef. However, lamb is still the meat of choice, only avoided due to its higher cost. Dairy products are used less than in other courtiers in the Arab world. y Sudan Shahan full presented alongside to olive oil, berbere, various veg, and a roll of bread. In comparison to its North African and Levantine neighbors, the cuisine of Sudan is generally characterized as being stingy on rice but generous on spices, Sudanese food is a fusion cuisine of Egyptian cuisine and Ethiopian cuisine. Both of which are very popular in the western world. FRANCE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION OF FRANCE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF FRENCH CUISINE The history of French ascendancy in the culinary arts can be traced to the Italians. As the 15th century dawned, the highest of Renaissance culture flourished at Florence. Prosperity that reached beyond the very small royal population lent itself to dining as entertainment, in which common foods were decorated & flavored not for the purpose of hiding food which was turning bad, but for emphasizing those flavors allowed by improved storage techniques & new discoveries in food preparation. Mushrooms, truffles, garlic & otherwise infrequently used vegetables appeared ± some of them carved artistically- while pasta creations became filled & layered (lasagna, ravioli, manicotti, etc.), all of it accompanied, among the wealthy, with an expensive show of table finery, Venetian glassware, porcelain & precious metals. An incredible assortment of pastries & sweet things would then follow these visual feasts. But the French were largely ignorant of these things, until Catherine de Medici (³MED-a-chee´), daughter of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, arrived in France in the 1540¶s to be the bride future king Henri II. (She would, incredibly, produce three additional kings of France.) In her entourage were cooks skilled in the ways of Florence. She brought with her also the expectation that ladies would be in regular attendance at sumptuous feasts, & would dress in fashionable (& revealing) attire when doing so. Dinner, in France, was to become Theatre. Not only did she bring fine cuisine-she brought the Italian banking system, theatrical comedy & ballet. Quite a lot, from a women which history a women which history would ultimately view as ambitious & duplicitous. The result of the culinary expansion was to produce, in1652, a book entitled ³Le Cuisine Francois´, written by France¶s premier chef, La Varenne. Detailed instructions appeared in this book, the recipes listed alphabetically, with the introduction of new techniques, such as the use of the roux as a sauce thickener rather than the common use of bread for the purpose. With the ascent of Louis XIV, the meaning of sumptuous dining took another leap in extravagance at his place at Versailles. The´fork´ began a regular appearance, & instead of all the food appearing all at once (much of which would become cold, Louis introduced the idea of dining in a series of steps, or coerces. Cooks became specialized and strange looking containers and instruments appeared t better prepare individual things. With the Revolution, such culinary talent was no longer restricted t royalty (royalty having disappeared one way or another) and the better chefs began the practice of setting up ³Restaurants´ which went well beyond common taverns¶ and inns, to which all had access. During this period the greatest of French chefs appeared - Marie-Antoine Careme. A Frustrated student of architecture, he would put architectural methods into food and its presentation: bridges made of confection, pastry fashioned into Greek temples, etc., and much of I done n a grand scale. The appreciation for his talent- great food with a sensational presentation-carried him to many courts, including that of the Russian Tsar, where the nation of serving each guest individually (³Russian service´) first appeared. STABLE FOOD WITH REGIONAL INGLENCES Baguette- This is a variety of bread with a crispy crust. Baguettes form to be a major feature of French breakfast. Blanquette de veau- This is famous French veal dish. This contains veal meat combined with Aromatic vegetables. Chocolate mousse- The chocolate mousse although commonly available all over the world is actually a famous French food item. This is a very delicious dessert made from egg & cream. Madeleine- The Madeleine is a traditional cake of France. These are very small shaped cakes which have a shell like appearance. Éclair- The éclair is a long & thin shaped delicious pastry with a cream filling & loads of icing.