3 ms·

Most tropical cultures have pretty bland food--tubers, ferns, etc. There aren't that many cultures with a strong tradition of very flavorful cooking, and if you

by wahern 4y ago

Most tropical cultures have pretty bland food--tubers, ferns, etc. There aren't that many cultures with a strong tradition of very flavorful cooking, and if you enumerate them I'm not sure they skew tropical at all. The bias would be toward areas which at some point in the relatively recent past had large urban centers that provided economies scale for developing sophisticated cuisines with both ingredients and (perhaps more importantly) cooking methods for enhancing flavor. China and India are archetypes. Notably in China I believe the more tropical regions, e.g. Guangdong (Canton), tended toward less strong flavors as compared to more northerly, colder regions.

zabzonk 4y ago
i'd like to see some evidence for what you are saying here - the indian subcontinent (much of which is in the tropics), indonesia, malaysia (all of which are). all have highly sophisticated and spiced cuisines.i would not call any of them bland. and i have never heard of any humans eating ferns if they could not possibly get anything else. next time you come across a fern, try to eat it - i guarantee you will regret it. of course everyone likes tubers - potato, the worlds favourite food. eat avidly in all the areas i mentioned, and everywhere else.
- wahern 4y ago
  Indonesian and Malaysian cuisines have been strongly influenced by both China and India to the point where the dishes most associated with those regions are about as far from indigenous as you can get. I've eaten native dishes on the island of Borneo--it's comparatively bland (which isn't to say it wasn't tasty), just like the vast majority of cuisines everywhere in the world. Africa is the one continent I haven't traveled to, but while no doubt there are many good indigenous dishes, much noteworthy sub-Saharan African cuisine is actually heavily influenced by India (both directly and indirectly, through Arabia and Persia), with which it has had heavy contact for millennia, even before Britain brought over hundreds of thousands of Indian workers in the 19th century.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Stratoscope 4y ago
  Ah, but fiddlehead ferns are delicious! https://www.google.com/search?q=fiddlehead+fern https://www.google.com/search?q=fiddlehead+fern You do want to make sure it is the right kind of fern: > The fiddleheads eaten in North America are from the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Other ferns can be toxic, so never forage without an experienced guide. And cook them properly: > The most important thing to remember when it comes to fiddleheads is that they need to be cooked. Fiddleheads have been linked to cases of severe food poisoning caused by what is believed to be some sort of toxin in the fiddleheads. Although the exact nature of the toxin is unknown, cooking seems to render it harmless. Fiddleheads need to be cooked thoroughly, as undercooked ones are believed to be just as dangerous as raw ones. https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-fiddlehead-ferns-2217471 https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-fiddlehead-ferns-221...

by wahern 4y ago

zabzonk 4y ago

i'd like to see some evidence for what you are saying here - the indian subcontinent (much of which is in the tropics), indonesia, malaysia (all of which are). all have highly sophisticated and spiced cuisines.i would not call any of them bland. and i have never heard of any humans eating ferns if they could not possibly get anything else. next time you come across a fern, try to eat it - i guarantee you will regret it. of course everyone likes tubers - potato, the worlds favourite food. eat avidly in all the areas i mentioned, and everywhere else.

wahern 4y ago
Indonesian and Malaysian cuisines have been strongly influenced by both China and India to the point where the dishes most associated with those regions are about as far from indigenous as you can get. I've eaten native dishes on the island of Borneo--it's comparatively bland (which isn't to say it wasn't tasty), just like the vast majority of cuisines everywhere in the world. Africa is the one continent I haven't traveled to, but while no doubt there are many good indigenous dishes, much noteworthy sub-Saharan African cuisine is actually heavily influenced by India (both directly and indirectly, through Arabia and Persia), with which it has had heavy contact for millennia, even before Britain brought over hundreds of thousands of Indian workers in the 19th century.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Stratoscope 4y ago
Ah, but fiddlehead ferns are delicious! https://www.google.com/search?q=fiddlehead+fern https://www.google.com/search?q=fiddlehead+fern You do want to make sure it is the right kind of fern: > The fiddleheads eaten in North America are from the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Other ferns can be toxic, so never forage without an experienced guide. And cook them properly: > The most important thing to remember when it comes to fiddleheads is that they need to be cooked. Fiddleheads have been linked to cases of severe food poisoning caused by what is believed to be some sort of toxin in the fiddleheads. Although the exact nature of the toxin is unknown, cooking seems to render it harmless. Fiddleheads need to be cooked thoroughly, as undercooked ones are believed to be just as dangerous as raw ones. https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-fiddlehead-ferns-2217471 https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-fiddlehead-ferns-221...