Culinary Globalism and the Culture of Food
An exchange of ingredients
From east to west, north to south, world cuisine is a plethora of robust flavors and varying textures combined with culinary traditions that have evolved over many generations of migration across the globe by just about every culture there is.
Globalism and trans-nationalism characterized by the interconnectedness and interdependence of nations, as well as the movement of people across borders, have had a profound effect on the culinary landscape of our world.
 This article attempts to delve into how globalism and immigration have transformed international cuisine. Fortifying it with a cultural amalgamation of diverse and unique ingredients, techniques, and individual flair. Lets take a look at the culinary diversity that makes up our world: The influx of immigrants have brought with them a vast array of culinary concoctions and imbedded cooking traditions all their own.
These immigrants often carry personal family recipes, creative cooking methods and uncommon ingredients that after time usually find their way into local markets and into the food of many different cultures resulting in the immergence of fusion cuisine.
A highly recognized type of fusion cooking is the popular Tex-Mex of the American Southwest. Tex-Mex fuses together Native American and Mexican ingredients with Texan flavors creating a bold experience. One of my favorite examples of fusion is the Vietnamese sandwich known only as the banh mi. This sandwich brings together the sour, salty, sweet, grilled meat flavors of delicious Vietnamese street food all stuffed into a crusty French baguette. Sound good? That’s because it is.
Many factors have led to the cross pollination of ingredients from one culture to another, undoubtably enabling the availability of hard to get or completely untouchable items such as exotic fruits and vegetables or spices. The advent of canning led to the ability to now securely package and transport specialty food products like smoked oysters, salmon and caviar as well as exotic fruits like lychee and rambutan.
Let’s go get some taco truck. This sentence has been uttered many times by myself as well as others. I had the pleasure of working in a taco truck for about a year and a half and it was probably the most fun that I ever consistently had at work. With the rise of immigration, street food throughout the world has been impacted significantly in a positive way. Street vendors bring authentic flavors and recipes to the streets where we can all take part in the deliciousness that is street food, offering tourists and locals alike a taste of their home countries.
Often these authentic dishes reflect the diversity and vibrance of immigrant communities. Contributing to the never ending palate that is the gastronomic experience.
If culinary globalism and immigration have expanded opportunities for exposure to different cooking traditions and methods then culinary schools have kicked it up a notch by now offering courses on a variety of diverse cuisine as they recognize the growing demand for a new world of flavors. This type of exposure to cuisine that is out of the ordinary or sometimes out of your comfort zone can cultivate an appreciation and respect for the culinary diversity that went into each dish.
Culinary tourism having been on the rise for the past couple of decades, with tourists taking trips with the expressed intent of tasting the food of a different region or culture. Countries like Thailand, Italy, and Mexico have become popular for culinary tourists, attracting food enthusiasts seeking an immersive cultural and gastronomic experience.
 From the fusion of culinary traditions to the availability of new ingredients and the growth of the restaurant industry, the impact of globalism and immigration on world cuisine is unquestionably transformative not only expanding far beyond culinary limits but also sewing cultural exchange and therefore strengthening the bond of our ever melding global community.