How many types of international cuisine are there?

There is no definitive number of types of international cuisine, as it can be challenging to categorize and define cuisines strictly. Culinary traditions and flavors vary greatly from one country to another, and within countries, there can be significant regional variations. Moreover, globalization and cultural exchange have led to the emergence of fusion cuisines that blend elements from different culinary traditions.

That being said, international cuisine can be broadly classified into various categories based on geographical regions or cultural influences. Some common categories include:

Asian Cuisine

This includes Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, and many other Asian cuisines.

European Cuisine

This encompasses cuisines from countries like Italian, French, Spanish, Greek, German, British, Scandinavian, Russian, and others.

Middle Eastern Cuisine

This includes cuisines from countries like Lebanese, Turkish, Persian, Israeli, Moroccan, and others.

Latin American Cuisine

This includes cuisines from countries like Mexican, Brazilian, Argentinian, Peruvian, Colombian, and others.

African Cuisine

This includes cuisines from various regions of Africa, such as Ethiopian, Moroccan, South African, Nigerian, and others.

North American Cuisine

This includes the cuisines of the United States and Canada, as well as Indigenous and regional cuisines within these countries.

Oceanic Cuisine

This encompasses the cuisines of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, such as Hawaiian, Polynesian, and Maori cuisines.

These are just general categories, and within each category, there are numerous subcategories and regional variations. Additionally, there are also fusion cuisines that combine elements from different culinary traditions. The diversity of international cuisine is vast and continually evolving as culinary traditions interact and adapt to new influences.

"Top" cuisines - What are the Top 10 International Cuisine

The concept of "top" cuisines can be subjective and may vary depending on personal preferences and cultural contexts. However, here are ten popular international cuisines that are widely recognized and celebrated:

Italian Cuisine: Known for its pasta, pizza, risotto, gelato, and a variety of flavorful sauces and cheeses.

Italian Cuisine

Image by zuzana gazdikova from Pixabay

What does International Cuisine Mean

International cuisine refers to the diverse range of culinary traditions, dishes, and flavors from around the world. It encompasses the foods and cooking styles associated with different countries and regions, reflecting their cultural, historical, and geographical influences. 

International cuisine celebrates the unique ingredients, spices, techniques, and presentation styles used in various cultures.

Macedonian Cuisine Photo source...

With globalization and increased travel, international cuisine has become more accessible and popular in many parts of the world. It includes a wide variety of culinary traditions, such as Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Greek, Middle Eastern, and many others. Each cuisine has its own distinctive ingredients, cooking methods, and flavor profiles that are deeply rooted in the traditions and customs of the respective cultures.

International cuisine offers a rich tapestry of flavors, textures, and aromas, allowing people to explore and appreciate the diverse culinary heritage of different countries. It often involves the use of local and traditional ingredients, as well as regional cooking techniques, which contribute to the uniqueness and authenticity of each cuisine. International cuisine has greatly influenced and enriched culinary practices worldwide, leading to fusion cuisines and the blending of flavors from different parts of the globe.

Traditional methods of food preservation - How to Preserve Food at home

All food products, on exposure to air, undergo certain changes which unfit them for use as food. It was once thought that these changes were due to oxidation, but they are now known to be caused by minute living organisms present in the air, in the water, in the ground, and in the food itself.

To preserve food two things are necessary; first, to either kill or render harmless those organisms already present; and second, to exclude others from entering.

The first we usually accomplish by cooking, and the second by sealing.

How to test the purity of honey at home

Honey producers should list all the ingredients the honey contains. If the honey is not pure natural, it should be written on the label, including the percentage of real honey, if any. However, there are many frauds, so here are 10 tricks that can help you determine if the honey is pure natural honey.

Photos: Apiary101.com...

1. Rub a little honey between the forefinger and thumb until it falls apart. Some honey may be absorbed into the skin, which is good since pure honey is good for the skin. Natural honey is not sticky. If what you rub is sticky, then it has sugar or artificial sweeteners in it.

2. Place a few drops of honey on a paper or paper towel. Pure honey will not get through the paper for a long time..

3 Mix a little honey with egg yolk. If the honey is pure, when you whisk the egg yolk, it will seem like it's cooked.

4 Fill a glass with water and add 1 tablespoon of honey. Pure honey will coagulate and drop to the bottom. Fake honey will begin to melt.

5 Spread honey on a slice of bread. Natural honey will harden the bread in a few minutes. Artificial honey will moisten the bread because of the water content.

6 Real honey will give you a stinging sensation in the mouth just before swallowing. Fake honey can’t achieve this.

7 Look at whether the honey will crystallize over time. Imitation honey will stay as smooth as syrup, no matter how long it stood.

8 Dip in honey top of a match and try to ignite. Fake honey contains water so that a match can’t ignite.

9 Put in the microwave two to three tablespoons of honey. Preheat over high heat. Natural honey will soon caramelize and does not become foamy. Fake honey will be difficult to caramelize and will be full of bubbles.

Why do the leaves of the trees change color in autumn?

As we know, in autumn the leaves of the trees turn red and yellow and later fall off.  But do we know why this is happening? 

Basically, plants only grow when there is sunlight, which appears as white light, but is made up of rainbow colors. In summer, the leaves of most plants are green due to the high levels of sunlight. They have the dye chlorophyll, which reflects the green part of the sunlight, which is why the leaves appear green. The other parts of the sunlight are absorbed, ie "swallowed" by the plant and used to convert light into starch (photosynthesis). In addition to chlorophyll, there are other color pigments, namely carotenes (orange), anthocyanins (red), or xanthophylls (yellow). In summer, however, these are usually completely covered by the green chlorophyll.

In autumn the solar radiation is weaker, the days become shorter, and the temperatures are lower. As a result, the rate of photosynthesis also reduces. The yellow, red, and orange components of the light are not consumed, and less chlorophyll is needed and thus less is produced. As a result, less green light is reflected, instead, the red, yellow, and orange light components are now also reflected.

Since the plants now carry out less photosynthesis, they pull the nutrients out of the leaves in order to store them in the trunk, branches, and roots as reserve materials. After the leaves have served as places of energy production over the summer and all nutrients have been removed, only some of the yellow-red coloring matter remains. 

In this way, the tree prepares itself for winter rest, since the leaves fall off as protection against evaporation.

Why Leaves Fall from Trees in Autumn?

Deciduous plants lose their leaves to protect themselves. There are many factors that make it difficult for plants to retain their foliage and photosynthesize in winter. One reason is the ground frost: Because of it, no water can be absorbed from the earth into the roots. If a tree were to keep its leaves in winter, they would allow a lot of water to evaporate. However, no new water could be absorbed by the plant from the frozen ground. 

In addition, pausing life processes in winter is a good way to save energy. The effectiveness of photosynthesis is greatly reduced in the cold - so the tree could hardly gain the energy for all the complex measures for frost protection. 

A bare tree also has the advantage that it can withstand a possible snow load better. Hardly any snow remains on the thin branches and twigs, which makes them less likely to break off.

What is the purpose of leaf shedding?

The mechanism behind the leaf shedding is relatively simple and effective at the same time. A thin layer of cork forms at each leaf base. This serves as protection because it closes the ducts. This layer also protects against frost and pathogens. If the layer is completely formed, the leaf loses its connection to the branch and falls down with the slightest gust of wind. 

How are evergreen trees able to keep their leaves?

Evergreen plants have leaves that are better protected against frost. Building such a stable foliage is time-consuming, which is why it is not worth shedding. The design of the leaves results in a lower photosynthesis output, but the plant can also use its leaves in winter if the conditions allow it for a short time.

Why did the Soviet Union collapse?

It can be said that the main reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union was the major economic problems, due to the high spending on the arms race.

The centrally controlled economy threatened to collapse, and the member states of the Union of Soviet Republics (USSR) demanded more independence and demanded an opening to the West.

"Solidarność" union 

In the 1980s, protests against the economic situation and the dictatorship of the Communist Party increased in the states of the Eastern Bloc. 

In Poland, the Solidarność union (Polish for “solidarity” full name - Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity") was formed at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. It was the first independent trade union in a Warsaw Pact country to be recognized by the state, and its leader was Lech Wałęsa, awarded with Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. 

Lech Wałęsa, August 1980

Solidarność was banned in 1981, but continued to exist underground and campaigned for social rights, democracy, and freedom of expression. It is widely recognized as having played a central role at the end of Communist rule in Poland.

Soviet Union-United States summit arrival ceremony with President H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, 31 May 1990

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, (born March 2, 1931), Soviet official, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1991, and president of the Soviet Union in 1990–91

With the election of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1985, the policy of the Soviet Union changed. He proclaimed a "new way of thinking" that would henceforth dominate Soviet foreign policy. Since April 1986, in several public speeches, he has granted every socialist country the freedom to "go its own way". This abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine is generally considered to be the beginning of the end of the Eastern Bloc. Gorbachev recognized the economic and political weaknesses of the communist system and tried to save it through reforms. The two most important were perestroika and glasnost.

Perestroika (Russian for “restructuring”) describes the economic and political change within the USSR towards more freedom and democracy. 

Perestroika program aimed to restructure Soviet economic and political policy. The communist central economy was loosened and elements of the free-market competition were allowed. The Soviet Union took up more economic ties with the West. In 1989 the first free elections were held in the Soviet Union.

Glasnost, (Russian for “openness”) was a Soviet policy of open discussion of political and social issues. 

The Soviet government tried to make political decisions more transparent and allowed its citizens more freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan signed a treaty to disarm certain nuclear weapons. This was an important step in defusing the Cold War. In 1989 Gorbachev proclaimed freedom of religion for all Soviet citizens and granted the Eastern Bloc states more political independence.

In the Warsaw Pact states, the previously brutally suppressed protest movements were now gaining massive support, and at the end of 1989 the protests in the capitals and provinces of the Eastern bloc intensified to such an extent that the communist governments were overthrown everywhere. 

In October 1989 the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 was a pivotal event in world history that marked the fall of the Iron Curtain and the start of the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe. From September 1989, so-called Monday demonstrations took place in Leipzig and other East German cities, in which tens of thousands of people took part. 

Berlin Wall graffiti

In a peaceful revolution, the SED regime (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) was overthrown and a parliamentary democracy was established. On the night of November 10th, all border posts within Berlin were opened. Crowds climbed the wall and occupied it. In the days that followed, all border crossings in the GDR were opened for free travel. The demolition of the Berlin Wall began.

The end of the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union (USSR)

The opening of the Iron Curtain accelerated the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. In the states of the Eastern Bloc, political and economic upheavals took place, mostly in a peaceful manner. The states freed themselves from Soviet domination and oriented themselves towards Western models:

On November 17, 1989, only nine days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, students gathered in Prague, Czechoslovakia to protest against the communist regime. In the course of the so-called Velvet Revolution, which was largely peaceful, the Czechoslovak Federal Republic was founded in December 1989. 

In December 1989 the Republic of Poland was proclaimed. The first partially free parliamentary elections since 1945 had already been held in June.

In Bulgaria, the head of state and party leader Todor Zhivkov (Bulgarian: Тодор Живков) resigned on November 10, 1989, and Andrey Lukanov (Bulgarian: Андрей  Луканов won the elections on February 3, 1990.

In Romania, parliamentary democracy was established after a violent uprising against the communist regime. On December 21, the Romanian secret service "Securitate" attacked a mass demonstration in Bucharest and caused a bloodbath with estimated 689–1,290 dead. In the following days, the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown and after an unsuccessful attempt to escape. He and his wife Elena were shot dead on December 25th, 1989.

On October 3, 1990, the two German states were reunified. This day is celebrated today as the Day of German Unity. 

The political changes in the Eastern European states also had an impact on the Soviet Union. The republics of the Soviet Union also demanded their independence. After sometimes violent protests and the August coup in 1991 against the Soviet government, the USSR disintegrated into individual states. 

With the Soviet Union in 1991, the Council for Mutual Economic Aid (Economic alliance of the Eastern Bloc countries) and the Warsaw Pact (Military alliance of the Eastern Bloc countries) dissolved.

The last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned on Christmas Day 1991

Why Is Salt Used to Melt Ice on the Roads in Winter?

We are used to seeing trucks dumping salt on the road during periods of extreme cold that we almost forget to wonder why.

Salt helps fight snow and ice, and so, to secure the roads. But how is this done?

When the temperature drops below 0° C, water in liquid form turns into a solid-state (ice). Same we observe when we put water in a freezer. The fundamental difference between liquid water and solid water (ice) is how individual water molecules organize themselves. 

In liquid water, molecules (made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom - H2O) are free to move relative to each other. 

When the temperature drops below 0 °, these movements slow down until they stop. The water molecules then bind together in a sufficiently durable manner, symmetrically, freezing in the form of ice, solid water.

If the cooling process is slow, magnificent ice crystals are created, as the bonds between individual molecules have time to form very symmetrically on a large scale.

Now let's analyze the kitchen salt (sodium chloride). When trucks put salt on icy roads, the salt molecules break down into their sodium and chloride ions, just like when you put kitchen salt in a glass of water. Due to their proximity, these ions locally disturb the arrangement of water molecules.

The process then propagates deep into the rest of the ice, and slowly, solid water turns into liquid and salty water. 

You might think that when the ice melts with the help of salt, the temperature rises above 0°, but actually, the contrary happens.

If pure, water freezes at 0°C, and changes from liquid to a solid-state. If water is impure, its melting point drops below 0°C. Depending on the nature of the impurities and their quantity, the melting point is different. The salt spread on the roads is capable of lowering the melting temperature of the water, depending on the amount that is added. The more salt is added, the more the melting point drops below zero.

But when temperatures drop very low, table salt is no longer effective enough to melt ice. Other salts can be used, but they are more aggressive for the environment.

To melt ice on the roads, cooking salt can be replaced by another type of salt (eg. calcium chloride or magnesium chloride); where the same dissolution process is observed. But the result is a little different since one molecule of calcium chloride or magnesium chloride produces two chloride ions for one calcium or magnesium ion. In this case, the presence of a greater number of ions makes it possible to accelerate the melting of the ice.

Why do people talk in their sleep, and Can you reveal secrets while sleep talking?

In general, sleep talking is not very common, since it’s estimated that only five percent of adults are regularly affected by somniloquy. Children talk much more often in their sleep. As they get older, however, the phenomenon usually resolves itself. 

Photo: Pixabay.com...

It is very rare that we speak clear words or even entire sentences in our sleep, since the speech muscles are actually completely relaxed during sleep. This is why we tend to utter incomprehensible scraps of words or individual sounds when we sleep. 

Thus revealing secrets from someone who talks in their sleep is more of a popular film trick.

Why do people talk in their sleep?

Sleep-talking usually occurs during the dream phases. It can happen that people simply pronounce dreamed sentences aloud. But even when the different phases of sleep are changed, those affected sometimes experience the phenomenon of speaking while sleeping. What we tell in sleep does not necessarily have to correspond to the truth or reveal inner needs and long-kept secrets, but, like dreaming itself, is a processing of our everyday life. Exactly which scraps of words emerge and how much is mixed up with the dream cannot be assigned with absolute certainty.

There are some factors that actually make it more likely that you will speak while you sleep. These include:

• Stress
• Fever
• Poor sleep
• Certain drugs
• Different diseases
• Consumption of nicotine or alcohol

What can I do about sleep-talking?

Although sleep-talking does not have any negative consequences for our health, it could lead to problems if you talk more often in your sleep and your partner feels disturbed by it. Following tips can be helpful if you want to reduce or stop sleep-talking. 

• Relax: Yoga helps your body and mind to shut down and relax before going to sleep.
• Light meals: It’s recommended to eat light meals at least three hours before bed.
• Stop smoking/drinking: alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine should be avoided in the evening because they can have a negative effect on sleep.
• Establish a routine: bedtime rituals such as reading a few pages every evening or drinking a certain tea help your body to adjust for sleeping.

Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

We have all heard countless times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But there are also people who cannot eat anything in the morning until they are hungry at some point. There is a public debate about whether it is healthy to have breakfast in the morning.

Photo: Pixabay.com...

A morning booster

Breakfast is the first meal that will regulate the whole day. We come from a night we spent on an empty stomach. The body therefore needs energy and to stimulate the absorption of dopamine, which is, so to speak, the starter in the morning. To do this, it must be supplied with the necessary nutrients in sufficient quantity and quality.

People who do not consume protein in the morning and are prone to hypoglycemia can quickly experience a drop in concentration and difficulty memorizing in the morning. The first instinct, then, will be to consume sugar and this is a gesture that should absolutely be avoided if you do not want your energy to drop completely afterwards.

Photo: Pixabay.com...

This also applies to children, who tend to have a very sweet breakfast. The problem is, just two hours later, they'll likely experience a drop in blood pressure, yawning, and a new sense of hunger.

Breakfast is therefore the most important meal of the day, but on condition that it supplies the body with a high quality supplies.

Does the body really need a morning meal?

If we analyze the topic from an evolutionary point of view, it turns out that humans are by no means dependent on morning food intake. For example, primitive people generally had nothing to eat when they woke up. Instead, they had enough energy to hunt and “earn” their breakfast. The blood sugar level is quite high a few hours after waking up - which means that performance in the form of energy consumption could actually be achieved during this period. So that you need a decent breakfast in order to be able to do something in the morning is wrong from a scientific point of view.

We can say that there isn't a straightforward answer to whether or not breakfast is healthy, but it doesn't really matter. Ultimately, everyone can decide for themselves what and how much to eat. 

The importance of healthy breakfast

We are talking about the most important “meal” of the day. So, like with lunch or dinner, it's important to take the time to sit down at the table instead of quickly swallowing it at a corner of the table. A moment that is all the more valuable for people with very stressful days to allow themselves 20 minutes to eat in peace.

The breakfast menu should be based on our needs, physical activity, but also the digestive system. It's called the King's meal because anything is possible at this time of day. In fact, morning is the only time of day the body synthesizes cholesterol, so we can eat fatty foods without affecting our health and weight.

As for hydration, opting for a hot drink is ideal as the body needs to warm up when you wake up. Therefore, cold drinks should be avoided to avoid thermal shock to the body. Lukewarm drinks at room temperature are preferred.

Next, we should provide a source of vitamins with a fruit, compote with no sugar, or even dried fruit. If you prefer juices, be sure to choose a fruit juice with no added sugar.

For grain intake, choose whole grain bread, oat flakes, spelled, chestnuts or buckwheat kernels puffed with honey. Here, too, it is important to limit the excess sugar.

A source of fatty acids is also interesting for breakfast. We can opt for oil seeds like walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds .

To avoid Hypoglycemia (Low Blood sugar), you can also have a protein intake with eggs, oily fish, cheese (ideally made from sheep or goat milk), turkey breast, or bacon.