Coronavirus spreads. But don't panic! (topical thread)

[Fireball]

Off topic a bit but the last few posts reminded me of a complaint I'd developed awhile ago.  That's our habit of referring to foreign cuisine as Chinese "food", and Mexican "food", etc.  It's an easy appellation to use - food is after all a much more common word than cuisine - but I realized that it held me back from trying new cuisines.  Calling a cuisine Something "Food" connoted that the food itself was alien - and probably inedible.  Food is food - the only thing different is how it's prepared - its cuisine.  There are some foods unique to some cuisines, certainly, such as rabbit being uncommon in the US, but by and large the only difference between a Japanese meal and a US meal is in the preparation, variety of flavor enhancements, degree of cooking, etc.  It's all the same food - fish, poultry, pork, beef, grains, fruits, nuts and vegetables.  Bread is universal.  So too is pasta.  Do you know that chicken is universal throughout every cuisine in the world?  I think it's the only animal so widespread in all cuisines.  Poor animal - not a chance of a chicken anywhere on the planet just having a good life.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that lament out - that for years I'd steered clear of trying new cuisines because they were called so-and-so "food" when all they were were just different preparations of things familiar, and thereby worth trying out.

Too true. I used to get stir-fry at the cafeteria where I worked. One week it was Asian, the other week it was Italian. The only differences were the pasta and some of the spices. The guy running the griddle and I always got a chuckle out of that.