Glorious Cuisine
Eating is one of the common human necessities that surpasses all international borders, all cultural divides and all ethnic battles. Methods of cooking, ingredients, what tastes good, rituals and etiquette, are however not common at all. And eating in Asia is a world class experience. For a Westerner used to tablecloths and HACCAP standards it is also a great way to explore Asian destinations and cultures.
Asian cuisines are tempting with smells and tastes of ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, chillies, dried onion, soy, tofu, coconut milk, citrus, mint, coriander, basil, fish sauce, galangal, tamarind, lemon grass, black pepper, cloves and many more, a few of them not used in western world at all.
The most delicious and the most fresh is food being prepared and served directly on the street food stalls, cooked by using quick techniques like stir frying, steaming and deep frying, usually accompanied with one of numerous varieties of rice.
Nowhere else in the world the eating customs are so significantly influenced by religion. Lots of Hindus decide to be pure vegetarians and avoid beef, while Muslims do not eat pork.
In countries being significant food producers and struggling with the poverty problem the prices of the basic foods, like onion in India or rice in Thailand are important economic indicators and can decide on political careers or even trigger revolutions.
