Culinary Wanderlust

Identity and culture interweave through language, clothing, beliefs, traditions, ceremonies, and notably, food. From ingredients to techniques and presentation, our meals reflect rich traditions (excluding, of course, fast and processed foods). Advances in refrigeration and transportation offer a vast array of global cuisine choices, allowing us to easily experience flavours from various cultures.

Yet amid this abundance, the authenticity and quality of these culinary experiences vary. Why does authenticity matter? Shouldn’t food evolve naturally with changing times and tastes, even if it alters traditional dishes? The threat is in losing not just taste but cultural touchstones, ultimately homogenizing our global culinary landscape. Fortunately, efforts persist to safeguard unique food traditions worldwide.

UNESCO preservation of heritage
 

The UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage program safeguards diverse cultural practices, such as culinary traditions, aiming to preserve their significance in cultural identity. It promotes global culinary diversity and facilitates the transmission of culinary skills across generations, empowering communities to preserve their cultural heritage and creating economic opportunities.

Without these efforts, many traditional cuisines could be at risk of disappearing due to threats ranging from climate change impacting the availability of local ingredients, to economic hardship, to changing tastes and preferences, just to name a few. Moreover, traditional recipes serve as a significant link to home when they travel with immigrants, carrying the essence of their heritage wherever they go. These recipes are an ode to shared histories, beliefs and values, and help to connect different cultures through the common language of food.

There are currently 30 food and drink-related traditions recognized by UNESCO and its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Each year, new submissions are considered for recognition. If you review the list, you’ll find there are significant gaps in representation from different areas of the world. This is not representative of a cuisine’s significance, only that it has not yet been submitted. (The full list can be found in an article on wander-lush.org.)

Experiencing a sampling of these culinary traditions right at the source by traveling is not achievable for most of us, but luckily, we can do the next best thing by seeking similar flavours when we follow traditional recipes, pick up regionally inspired items at local bakeries or specialty grocers and eat in restaurants with a focus on cuisine from a particular culture.

The limited list from UNESCO varies widely in scope, with sweeping categories like “The Mediterranean Diet,” “French Gastronomy” and “Mexican Cuisine in Mexico“ contrasting with very specific items such as “Turkish Coffee,” “Ceremonial Keskek in Turkey,” and “Dolma in Azerbajan.” There are even two listings for kimchi, making a distinction between “Kimjang in South Korea” and “Kimchi in North Korea.”

Let’s take a look at some of the cuisines featured on UNESCO’s list and find some ways to experience them without venturing too far from home.

Make it at home
 

Borscht from Ukraine

First, if you like to cook, some of the featured cuisines can be recreated at home by simply finding and following a good recipe. Borscht, the Ukrainian beetroot soup, is a good place to start. Many traditional recipes call for meat, but you can also make a vegetarian version and still conjure up the spirit of this dish. Serve with some dark rye bread, a dollop of sour cream if you fancy it, and you can enjoy this colourful, fortifying and tasty soup that’s very budget-friendly.

Couscous in Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria

These tiny little balls of semolina are exceptionally easy to prepare (from a box, unless you want to have a go at it from scratch) and are the ideal sponge for the flavours of North African cuisine. A good recipe, a tagine if you have one—those glazed pots with the narrow spout on top available in any good cookware shop—and you can have the rich, sweetly aromatic taste of Northern Africa at home. Will it be the same as eating on a rooftop in Marrakesh with the sights, sounds and smells of the bazaar in the distance—no, but you can close your eyes and imagine.

The gastronomic meal of France

This is fairly accessible if you have some cooking skills and a good cookbook. As with the previous example, it won’t take you to the French countryside, having a two-hour lunch en plein air with a local bottle of French wine, but we’re looking for reasonable reproductions here. While you’re at it, you could try finding a French baguette (also on the list) at one of the finer bakeries in your area that use high-quality ingredients, which will get you as close to a boulangerie as possible, without having to board a plane to France.

Try it at a restaurant
 

The Mediterranean Diet

Another broad category on UNESCO’s list is “The Mediterranean Diet,” with specific attention paid to Spanish tapas. Having not been to Spain (yet), I can’t vouch for authenticity, but I do know that the tapas and accompanying Spanish wines and sherries at Perro Negro are absolutely delicious. Other popular spots for tapas in Victoria are Bodega and The Tapa Bar. Located next to each other, you could try them both in one night.

Washoku

This is a traditional style of Japanese cuisine that has been developed and refined over centuries. The word "washoku" translates to "Japanese food" and embodies a culinary philosophy that emphasizes harmony, balance, seasonality and presentation. Washoku typically includes a variety of dishes featuring ingredients such as rice, seafood, vegetables and soy products like tofu and miso. It often involves precise cooking methods that preserve the natural flavours of the ingredients while highlighting their textures and colours. The preparation and arrangement of washoku dishes often reflect aesthetic principles and cultural values, making it not just a meal but also an art form. Closer to home, we can experience washoku and its reverence for purity, freshness, simplicity and ceremony at several local Japanese restaurants; Sen Zushi has been a favourite of mine for decades, and I’m looking forward to trying Nobu after hearing great things.

The value of tradition
 

After journeying around the world by checking out some of the items on UNESCO’s list, you might be inspired to look into your own culinary traditions, recalling the memories you have of making food together with your family. Was there a “secret ingredient” that made a recipe unique to your family, or an entire repertoire of meals based on the culinary traditions of a specific region?

Food is so much more than taste and nutritional value; it brings us together in small groups and as a global community. It speaks to elements of place, people and connection, grounding us in the experience of nourishing our bodies and caring for those we love. Sharing cuisines from different cultures connects us through our senses and our hearts, with no words required. For sheer pleasure, and for the bonds they help to maintain, preserving culinary traditions is definitely worthwhile.