When you experiment in your own kitchen it’s inevitable that mistakes will happen. Even cooking simple dishes relies on a knowledge (or at least a sense) of ingredient ratios and cooking times that only come with experience. However when you experiment with fusion cuisines which combine dishes from different cultures and food destinations around the world you have the opportunity to create something completely new—or to mix complex flavors in awkward pointless ways. So how do you combine different cuisines at home?
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
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 Chicago Humanities Festival | 2023-05-30 10:00:01 |  196 Views |
Top chef Kwame Onwuachi on authentic cooking
We spoke with chef Kwame Onwuachi owner and executive chef of Tatiana an Afro-Caribbean restaurant in New York City. Onwuachi is currently working with beer brand Guinness on a Block Party in NYC and he says that mixing cuisines is all about intentionality. “I start with some kind of intention rather than just throwing things together” Onwuachi says. “I work from a place of understanding the history of the dish and then try to bring my own personal references into that space.”
Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s advice for home cooks who struggle to juggle multiple cuisines is to “let go” of your worries about failure. “You don’t have to be so afraid of potentially messing up a recipe” Onwuachi explains. “You can bring your own personality to it. There’s a lot of history in every person and most people have roots all over the world that can inform their cooking. When you dig into your own history with your food it just becomes natural.” If you have favorite family recipes from relatives or childhood those can be a jumping off point as you gradually introduce new styles.
If you’re still worried about fusion cuisines remember that certain flavors always work well with any dish: sweet flavors for example pair well with spicy savory or salty flavors. Contrasting textures often complement the flavors in a dish. As you cook more with different styles you can reuse what you’ve learned. You can use French cooking tips such as subtle uses of spices Thai cooking techniques to balance strong flavors rather than diminish them and Greek and Turkish methods that incorporate lots of acidity.
