Defining National Cuisine

9th December 2009, 4:53pm

We all know where national cuisine comes from but do any of us know where it ends up? David Anderson, the co-founder at CADA design group, gives us an insight into what the future holds for cuisine and some of its trend predictions.

One could always argue that National Cuisine has always been regional in its country of origin, but once exported it too quickly becomes regionally defined, either aggregated  but separated on a menu or as a regional speciality restaurant.

The catch all for food from the subcontinent is as we know Indian food, or more colloquially – curry. But we have restaurants that specialise in Punjabi, Mughlai, Kasmiri and Sindhi cuisine. Are they authentic? Do they reflect their points of origin? 

The answer is generally yes, but they evolve and adapt to suit their trading markets. They also influence the surrounding food offers. For example, just look at the Vietnamese Pho – currently the preserve of specialists and independents becoming a staple and cornerstone of any Asian influenced food offer.

The issue of origin and evolution is easy to exemplify. Balti is a British invention and Chop Suey was invented by the Americans. Street food from all over the world is being adopted and adapted for the British market and palette.

If we look forward over the next 40 years to 2049, the question has to be asked, whether it will be possible to authenticate food at a point of origin or will cuisine have become a truly homogenised global phenomenon?

Today, the Welsh have Cawl, the Scots Haggis, the Irish their stew and England has Chicken Tikka Masala – a dish ironically in Glasgow when a customer famously complained that the Chicken Tikka was too dry and asked for some gravy.

The idea of the homogeneous food in the future is not as radical as it sounds. Culinary globalisation, new world cuisine, new American cuisine, fusion cuisine – these terms all had their roots in the 1970's.

We know that migrant populations take their food with them. Ask an American who invented the hamburger he or she would claim Fletcher Davies in the 1880's in Athens Texas. Ask a food historian and they would tell you Genghis Khan. The reasoning is good. In the 1200's his Mongol armies ate patties of raw lamb tenderised under the horsemen's saddles. 

Fast forward – the Mongols (or Tartars) invaded Russia, and steak tartare is now on the menu. Fast forward to 1600; Russia began trading with Germany – Hamburg in particular. At some point somebody decided that it would be a "Gute idée", to put some heat into a Steak Tartare, the rest as they say is history.

So just using the example of the humble hamburger demonstrates how the most internationally ubiquitous food on the planet has been Mongol, Russian, German, American and now belongs to everybody.

However, if you ask who invented fusion cuisine you will be met by plethora of further questions, "Do you mean, Asian fusion, Australian fusion or American fusion?". And everyone will have a different opinion on who started what and when. This is a clear, contemporary example of the blurring of International boundaries. Fusion is truly a hot air balloon!

For the future I foresee true homogeny and distinction. There are already first class restaurants in Paris with foie gras and Mandarin duck on the menu.

There are and will be restaurants informed by the diversity and eclectic nature of its menu. As a counter there will be restaurants that celebrate, perpetuate and in a way curate national cuisine.

The world has shrunk. International air travel, the internet and social networking are driving internationality and homogeny but also accentuating national tendency.

The big question for design specialists in the food, restaurant and hospitality industry is what effect can we expect this to have on the built environments that we eat and drink in?

What we are seeing today are interiors that are defined by celebrity, "concept" and brand rather than point of origin for the menu in direct contrast to the fiercely nationally focused restaurants.

A trend in nationally themed restaurants is one of greater authenticity. The days of flock wallpaper and pictures of Mount Fuji are largely over thankfully (except in an ironic way of course).

What do you expect when you go for a Lebanese meal? A little piece of Beirut or a world class interior and superb food?

If I go to Los Caracoles in Barcelona I want exemplary Spanish (or indeed Catalan), cuisine in an environment that hasn't changed since 1835. That's why I go. However if they opened in New York or London I would not want an ersatz interior, rather I would want a restaurant that respected it's heritage but reflected it's environment.

Ping Pong describes itself as a tea house for the 21st century, they reference the Silk Road and the origins of Dim Sum, but the restaurants have contemporary interiors. They could equally have referenced any period in Chinese food history including modern day stainless steel Chinese canteens with plastic chairs. Look hard at the design, it doesn't belong anywhere, therefore it can belong everywhere.

In its own way this global view on food will hopefully clarify the distinction between national food presentation and International cuisine.

In some ways it is a shame that we are seeing a growth in International homogeny in food. However, the optimist would say that it gives novelty and true invention a greater chance to shine.

We will see more restaurants claiming an International influence not a national one. On the other hand, non-indigenous national cuisine will be encouraged to further differentiate and authenticate.

For example for Greek food to exist in the UK, it has to be as good if not better than indigenous Greek food and a compelling alternative to all the other national and regional cuisines on offer. It also begs the further question of the authenticity of innovation in Greek cuisine in the UK, - is it Greek or British or British Greek? Does it indeed matter?

We no longer have the Guilder and the Lira. One area of obvious national identity retention is in a country's food. To paraphrase Joni Mitchell, I am not suggesting that we put all the meals in a meal museum, and charge people a dollar and a half to see them but we must recognise that healthy as regional and national cuisine may be today it is vital to retain its distinction in the face of rising internationally.

In the 21st century with the exception perhaps of religion none of these still really apply. Therefore the foundation of today's national cuisines is historic and habitual.

Take any developed country in the world and wipe the culinary slate (or chopping board) clean. Start again. Any conceivable food type is available virtually all year round. If the country is multi-cultural but predominantly secular, religion and socio-economics feature little.

Technology may enable us to freeze dry our snails in nitrogen, but on a national level food is eaten hot or cold or somewhere in between. It may however feature in food production, packaging and distribution but would have a limited effect on the national menu.

Thankfully today food is beginning to transcend the murky world of politics. For example due to a relaxation in EU regulations we can now be exposed to the dangers of ugly carrots and curvy cucumbers.

What new factors apply? Well fashion is one. Consumption needs and patterns is another. Imagine the challenge of creating a brand new 21st century national cuisine. What is the protein base? Chicken statistically. What are the predominant carbs? Wheat or potatoes – now geography may play a part.  A hypothetical intellectual exercise I agree, but one that adds dimension to the reasons why we are where we are today and where potentially food may be tomorrow.

In my belief it is vital that we in the industry look past the empirical development and do some future forecasting.

Through our work right across the globe in food and hospitality the industry seems to be largely struck in an innovation loop. Those brands that are innovating are generally re-inventing existing successful formats or transporting them to new territories.

Will history repeat itself? The stripped wood floors and white walls of the ubiquitous austerity model of the last recession gave way to the concepts that are still being empirically polished today.

Will the end of the recession see the next creative surge? We certainly hope so. One thing we can be certain of is that the industry as a whole must be ready to tackle and reinvent both national and international food for the second decade of the millennium.

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