Who Started Fusion Food?

This question was asked by a visitor, via a search engine. It’s hard to say that anyone started fusion cuisine, however, numerous older celebrity chefs in North American and Europe infused elements of various cuisines as early as the late 1960s.

Many British taverns started serving East Indian food. In fact, this cuisine is now considered by many Britons to be their national cuisine, regardless of their own background. In North America, there has been an upsurge in the number of Vietnamese, Japanese and even Caribbean restaurants. To compete with so many competitors, many non-ethnic restaurants started offering their take on various cuisines, starting first with snacks, then moving to full entrees.

But the real fusion cuisine, I believe, started in the homes of immigrant families to, for example, England, Canada and the United States in particular. Sociologists often say that first custom to change in immigrant families is style of clothing. This is the most superficial aspect of humans, so the children in immigrant families often do this to blend in with peers.

A complete change in food and language occurs much later, but a partial transition is often immediate out of necessity. Indigeneous fruits, vegetables and spices were often difficult to find, at least up until the early 1990s. So substitute ingredients were often used. But social mingling and cooking shows also influenced the changed diet.

There was a great influx in immigration to both Canada and the United States starting in the 1960s. Sometimes, these families opened restaurants. For example, in past years, Italian and Greek family restaurants. The latter often have very few Greek dishes, but they’re there nevertheless. Each wave of immigration opened restaurants with tantalizing new cuisines. And existing restaurants adapted to the changing tastes of the populace.

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