The word “fusion” in cooking refers to the mixing of many culinary traditions (products and ways of their processing) in one dish. This style is especially fashionable in the last few decades, but it would be a mistake to call it a new trend, because the entire history of cooking is a gradual mixing and interpenetration of cultures.

The first fusion restaurant opened in Los Angeles. Americans, Japanese and Italians worked there as chefs. Originally the word “fusion” meant the fusion of Eastern and Western traditions, for example Japanese and French cuisine or Chinese and pan-European. Later the notion expanded and began to mean the integration of any, even very similar, cultures. Now fusion is primarily a compromise, a search for local substitutes for exotic products and an adaptation of foreign traditions to the needs and tastes of the local population.

Throughout history, whole nations and individuals have migrated to distant lands, bringing with them recipes of dishes they loved from childhood; travelers have enriched the cuisine of their homeland with new products, spices, and culinary tricks. The first culinary experiences with potatoes, tomatoes, corn were akin to the way we now get used to tropical fruits. Today’s bold experiments, in turn, will become classics for future generations of cooks. After trying a foreign dish, foodies always try to replicate it at home using local ingredients. Sometimes a pathetic semblance turns out, but sometimes the experiment succeeds, and a new, independent dish appears. The widely known history of the Olivier salad is a prime example of the fusion style in Soviet cooking. This dish has long had a life of its own, and even a small return to the original recipe (for example, replacing peas with capers), makes it unaccustomedly exotic.

There are no strict rules for making fusion dishes. With minimal knowledge and skill, you can create an interesting and delicious dish. The main thing is that all products must be fresh, and the constituent parts of the dish do not conflict in taste and consistency. The first experiments in fusion style should not be too bold. For starters, try substituting one or more ingredients in your favorite dishes. Acquire new spices or use familiar spices in other dishes, such as adding a cinnamon stick to baked meat, a pinch of curry to a familiar salad, or grated ginger to a bowl of soup. For culinary experiments, buy soy sauce, good olive oil, fresh or pickled ginger. These products will greatly change the taste of familiar dishes. The principle of mixing cultures will be useful for those who want to diversify side dishes. Consider bulgur, chickpeas, mung bean, mung bean, lentils, peas, various beans and many varieties of rice. Try new ways of food processing: short-term frying in a Chinese wok, steaming, baking fish in plenty of salt.

Restaurants use the term “fusion” eagerly, often hiding behind it a lack of chef skills. After all, it’s much easier to mix exotic ingredients and call it a dish of authorship than to prepare a high-quality traditional meat dish or dessert. Besides, “duck with wild rice and ginger-cherry sauce” or “lobster with coconut milk” can bring an astronomical bill. A true professional will not boast that he works in the fusion style and combines the incompatible, because the main task of the chef is to prepare a delicious dish, not a composition in the style of abstractionism.

In recent years the increased popularity of the fusion style is explained by the huge number of new products from all over the world in combination with the available information and a variety of cooking utensils that allow to vary and combine ways to prepare dishes. The food of modern man is so unified that traditional cuisines are becoming exotic. In the pursuit of new tastes or convenience, we risk forgetting that the greatest nutritional value for humans comes from the foods grown where they were born. Try replacing the familiar fusion cuisine with simple (or complicated) dishes made from local vegetables, fruits, cereals, and forest products and feel the difference.