Imagine a world without foods from different cultures? It would probably be boring. If you could only eat one cultural food, what would it be? I am going to tell you about 4 places and their foods. Which one are you picking?

Italy and Pasta

What food do you think of when someone says Italy? You may be thinking about pasta or pizza. Well, we are talking about Italy and pasta. Something that many people don’t know is that pasta is not actually from Italy. People believe that Marco Polo brought it back. It was originally from China then brought to Italy. Even though it was not originally from Italy, it is still an important dish to Italy’s culture. You can enjoy some pasta everywhere around the world. According to Eat Italy, Did you know that Italy has over 400 different types of pasta?

France and Cassoulet 

Cassoulet was originally from France. Cassoulet is basically a casserole that has meat, pork skin, and white beans. People say that the first cassoulet was made in a city called Castelnaudary. When Castelnaudary founded the dish, Castelnaudary was under siege by the British in the hundred years war.

Japan and Sushi

Sushi is a pretty famous dish. Sushi didn’t come from Japan, it actually came from South Asia. The idea of the dish was made around the second century and it wasn’t alway sushi. At first people would cook the rice in vinegar and then put the fish in the rice. They did that to preserve the fish. When they wanted to eat it they would take the fish out of the rice to eat. After a while they made a dish out of it. Instead of throwing out the rice they would eat it as well. Then, that was turned into a bite size food which is known as sushi now.

Switzerland and Cheese Fondue.

When you think of Swiss cheese you probably think about Switzerland. The cheese fondue did originate in Switzerland. In the 18 century they would use aged cheese and dipped bread in the cheese. When Families couldn’t get fresh food during the winter they would just eat stale bread and aged cheese. But later they thought of melting the cheese and mixing in wines, garlic, and herbs. Then they would dip the stale bread and it would soften the bread and give it a warm taste.

A world without different cultural foods would be boring because it is alway good to try new things that are not from your culture. Something you might have noticed while reading this story is that a lot of the foods did not originate where the food is most popular, instead it came from a whole different place. If you want to see more about it, here are some websites – History on pasta, History behind cassoulet, History behind japan and sushi, and fondue.