Traditional Versus Fusion
by Kimlai Yingling
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Let me just start out by saying that “fusion” is not a bad word. But let me also say that by definition the word “fusion” in the food space means to mix two different cuisines. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Over the years the word has become more of a negative than a positive because it’s a concept that is a bit misunderstood. Just because you have 6 different cultural cuisines on a plate doesn’t mean success. Sometimes folks in the food space think they need a fusion dish as an attraction but the research behind the creation isn’t there. And sometimes traditional recipes attract more customers.
If you think about older generations and their recipes they infused various ingredients to get the flavors they wanted. With some cultures it wasn’t a matter of what is an authentic spice or vegetable, it was a matter of what was available. Let’s take Pho for example, a super popular Vietnamese noodle dish. If you research the history and ingredients of pho it has stood the test of time and there’s a reason why each ingredient is important to the overall taste and depth of the dish. Different folks may add a bit of this or that to bring more spice or earthiness to enhance the overall flavor or mix a little North with the South but the overall flavor is not compromised. Butter Chicken is another great example. There are key middle eastern ingredients that need to be used to get the flavors in the sauce that the entire world has come to know and love.
Keeping some dishes sacred means keeping true to the tradition that gives the dish its meaning. To know that you are making a dish that your mother’s mother made just the same way is special. You can taste the history through the food. Believe it or not spaghetti and meatballs is actually a fusion dish. There are times when it makes sense and it works. Kimchi Taco’s, which is a Korean and Mexican mix, works because they include similar ingredient profiles that compliment each other.
When fusion recipes are done right, it creates a tasty masterpiece in which the consumer can appreciate the thought behind it and become familiar with different cultures. Being able to explain and educate your customers is also important to creating successful fusion dishes. You have to bring people along with you on your culinary journey.
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Families thrive on tradition which yields a legacy to be left for future generations. Restaurant owners help to create that legacy for their families and communities by opening new businesses. 7shifts is born out of Jordan Boesch’s relationship with his father, and the time they spent working together in his father’s restaurant. It is because of this deep commitment to family and legacy Best Served is motivated to partner with 7Shifts, underwriter of Best Served New.
Kimlai Yingling is a food and travel writer, culinary producer and host. She can be seen on “Home and Family” on The Hallmark Channel, KTLA, the Today Show and as a culinary expert on Cooking Channels Food: Fact or Fiction? She was featured on Hello Giggles & Ford Motors 2018 New Real Life Influencers list. Her work has appeared in HuffPo, on MSN, AOL, Entrepreneur, The Daily Meal, Dirty and Thirty and EatinAsian.com to name a few. Kimlai loves sharing her food and travel experiences and writes, produces and hosts a weekly cooking show called “Chomp On This with Kimlai.” She previously wrote, produced and hosted 23 episodes called “Practically Cooking”, which were featured on MSN and AOL, along with daily food news content for AOL.com and The Savory.
Kimlai began her writing career in Nashville, TN then Entrepreneur.com in Los Angeles, CA where she wrote, produced and hosted weekly web casts targeting the younger generation with business topics. The web casts pulled in over 800,000 hits monthly. She then created her own food site called EatinAsian.com (and then some) to share food and travel experiences. She resides in Los Angeles, has a degree in communications and is a member of the exclusive culinary content creators at The Daily Meal.
