Cooking and Cuisines One thing that separates man from animals is man ’ s preference for cooked food. The higher apes have been found to share with mankind the ability to communicate by sound and gesture, but no ape has ever cooked its food. We also like our food to appeal to our senses of taste and smell, and we like it to be attractive. Our senses are remarkably acute and discriminating, and all societies which have progressed beyond simple survival satisfy the human pleasure of good food. The great cuisines of the world have developed dishes which appeal both to the taste and to the eye — color and texture are as important as flavor. There are three acknowledged great national cuisines, French, Indian and Chinese. French cooking is generally acknowledged to be supreme in Europe. French cuisine using butter, cheese and cream is typical of all great national cuisines: it combines simplicity with sophistication, uses the native resources of France, has great regional specialties and has become truly international. These three major cuisines have distinguished themselves each by one major characteristic. French cooking with butter, cheese and cream is so typical of their cooking that if omitted the whole character of the cuisine would be destroyed. Also, wine in cooking is as instinctive to a French cook as the use of soy sauce is to a Chinese cook. A second cuisine — Indian cooking is distinguished by the use of spices. The third cuisine is defined by the use of rice as a staple — China being the supreme example. Of course these three cuisines share their characteristics in one way or another. French cuisine can boast some famous rice dishes. Some Indian regional cookery also makes use of butter and the dishes of Sichuan, in Chinese cuisine, are famous for their fiery spices. But the separation into three major cuisines does mark some kind of distinctive characteristic and the three major cuisines, each based on a different major characteristic, have persisted for a long time throughout human history. The borderlines between cuisine styles are clear and have changed less than either linguistic or racial boundaries. India ’ s gift to the world is the use of spices to enhance the flavor of foods, and Indian cooking presents a dazzling array of regional variations — from the fiery hot curries of the south to the subtly spiced vegetarian dishes of the northern regions. Nothing rivals the color and flavor of Indian dishes, and the use of rice as a staple links Indian and Chinese cooking. Chinese cooks teach us that texture must never be neglected. Long ago the Chinese brought to perfection the art of swift cooking at very high temperature in which vegetables retain their crispness and nutritional goodness too. Most of the preparation time is taken up by the cutting of vegetables and the chopping of meat, not by the actual cooking process. The regional variety of Chinese dishes is bewildering to the foreigner. Spicy, bland, sour and sweet are all represented. No national cuisine uses the native plants and animals more than the Chinese. Every part of every edible vegetable or animal seems to have its use. There are three recent threats to keeping national cuisines: 1) the revolution in world transportation and communication, 2) the increase in trade between nations, and 3) the changing role of women in society. Rapid and inexpensive transport and communication may threaten national cuisines. Travelers from other countries want the kind of food they are used to at home. The second threat is caused by the flow of foods and food products from one country to another. Convenience foods destroy the charm of time-consuming cooking. An argument can be made for processed foods, and the great benefits of freezing, freeze-drying and canning, but Western food technology is still a threat to national cuisines. Finally, the changing role of women influences national styles of cooking. The changes which have already taken place have had a profound effect on the family, and will continue. Women have been the prime food preparers for thousands of years. If they have less time and less inclination to spend long hours in food preparation and cooking, this will influence the kind of dishes which a family eats. Now women can explore further than their own immediate locality and experience, and gather ideas and recipes from other parts of the world, and incorporate these into their cooking. However, the threat to national cuisines remains ― perhaps even reinforced by the obvious benefits mentioned. To preserve distinctive national cuisines may have something to do with human behavior. What unites all great national cuisines, besides regional variety, ingenious use of available resources and an influence on international eating habits, is the attitude toward food. A proper respect for eating means more than a human necessity. Food should be central to one ’ s life. Good food, well-cooked and attractively presented, is one of the pleasures of life which the national cuisines of India, France and China have given to us. (834 words)