As its name suggests, Fusion Cuisine is the combining of 2 or more traditional techniques or regional styles to create a new dish or complete menu of dishes reflective of these individual parts. Although one can argue that all breakthroughs in cooking have involved fusion by definition, the origins of Fusion Cuisine can be traced back to the 1960s. A combination of a desire to explore different flavors, a growing interest in Asian cuisine, as well as a need to cater to clientele compsoed of a culturally diverse urban population were the main factors contributing to the discovery, and subsequent success of this culinary genre.
Although a combination of any two techniques, genres, or national styles can command a name of “fusion”, there are a few more well known than others. For example, “Tex-Mex” cuisine combines the styles of the American Southwest and traditional mexican food, and is now viewed as a genre itself, instead of a niche, as many fusion restaurants are classified. Following the tradition of catering to a diversifying urban clientele, many of the strides in Fusion Cuisine are Asian in origin. Many restuarants offered a mix of Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and other ethnicities of the region on the menu, but often didn’t combine styles in single dishes.
The gravitation toward Asian culinary culture has continued through Fusion’s evolution. Currently, most foodies would classify a Fusion establishment as one combining flavors and/or style from two fairly unrelated regions. Often, an Asian cuisine will be combined with a more traditional Western cuisine to produce a new style, often unique to an individual restaurant. Examples are : French-Vietnamese (le Colonial, Chicago) or Japanese-Brazilian (Sushi Samba-Rio, Chicago/other locations). Because of the introduction of flavors lesser known to Western patrons, fusing Asian elements to more traditional Western fare often creates a menu seen as more exotic by potential customers.
