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Hello, Here I go again, sticking my neck out, since I think that discussions concerning menu building, complementary to individual recipes, can be quite useful to understanding these remarkable cuisines. After reading some of the literature and much experimenting with different dishes, I have come up with proposals for regional menus which might be considered “typical”. I wonder if you have any comments or changes to propose (or insults to share!)? Here they are: NORTHERN menu with principle regional attributes Peking lamb with leeks (北京韭菜羊肉) lamb, leeks, garlic Chicken with cashew nuts (醬爆鸡) garlic, hoisin sauce Sole in Wine sauce (酒溜鱼片) a more typical fish dish from north would be welcome Pickled Cabbage Peking style (北京酸菜) white cabbage Beef noodle soup (牛肉面条汤) wheat, noodles, ginger, scallions, garlic EASTERN menu with principle regional attributes Dong po Pork (东坡肉) rich (oily), red cooking Wuwei Smoked Duck (无为熏鸭) black/green tea of Longjing West Lake Fish (=Carp) (西湖醋鲤鱼) wine/Shaoxing, black vinegar/Zhenjiang, fish Dry braised bamboo shoots & chinese mushrooms (烧二冬) bamboo shoots, red cooking Lion's Head casserole (沙锅狮子头) wine/Shaoxing, Shanghai green cabbage, crab/pork mixture SOUTHERN menu with principle regional attributes Sweet and Sour pork (咕咾肉) sweet, stir-frying Paper-wrapped Chicken (纸包鸡) dim sum Steamed Whole Fish / black beans (荳豉蒸魚) fish, black beans, steaming Asparagus with Beef slivers (芦笋牛肉丝) stir-frying Assorted Meat Soup in Winter Melon (什锦冬瓜盅) steaming WESTERN/CENTRAL menu with principle regional attributes Tangerine Peel Beef (陈皮牛肉) multiple processes, chilis, tangerine, Sichuan pepper Gong Bao (Kung Pao) Chicken (宫保鸡丁) chilis, peanuts Stir-fried Frogs Legs with Garlic Sauce (麻辣田鸡) chilis Dry-fried string beans (干煸四季豆) Sichuan vegetable Hot sour soup (酸辣汤) spicy TOUR OF CHINA menu with principle regional attributes N: Canard de Pékin (北京鸭) roasting N: Mandarin Pancakes/Scallion Brushes (薄饼 / 葱刷子) raw scallions, wheat, hoisin sauce E: Wuxi style pork ribs (无锡排骨) red-cooking S: Seafood "birds" (taro) nest (雀巢海鮮) taro, seafood, stir-frying W: Pock-Marked Ma's Bean Curd (麻婆豆腐) Sichuan pepper/chili paste all: Spinach and Bean Curd Soup (菠菜豆腐羹) a soup from no place in particular. Is that right? Have fun!

Dear hzrt8w and sunflower, Thanks a lot for your answers. I have a follow-up question concerning another recipe using ginseng found at http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/603839/displayVideo/Hi This recipe uses slices of dangshen (which I think is dǎngshēn or 党 参 ). It is claimed that it can be found in Chinese supermarkets. Do you know anything about this?

Hello! I realize that this thread is from way back but I just came across it. I intend to make this soup which looks delicious but I am having difficulty finding ginseng root in Paris which is not outrageously expensive. Should I try to find white or red ginseng, the latter apparently more expensive? The most reasonable white ginseng I have found costs about 30 euros for 250g, or about 45$ for 1/2 pound, though more typically it is twice that. What does it cost in the US, or elsewhere? Is there some substitute for the root? As JayBassin asked, is it used whole or chopped/grated? Thanks for your help

Hello, I am still trying to understand the differences among the regional cuisines, acknowledging that with time these may seem less distinct. Obviously, the availability of local products and preferences in techniques, flavors and textures shape these cuisines, as well as the history of each region. In addition, I wonder if some of you have ever considered the following questions about the differences among, for example, Canton, Beijing, Shanghai or Sichuan cuisines: 1. Are there regional differences in a. the idea of a meal? b. the number of dishes served? c. the balance between hot and cold dishes, between starches and meats? d. what a dish should look like? 2. Does each regional cuisine include appetizers or small dishes? Before coming to the table? At the beginning of the meal? 3. Is soup served with the other dishes or at the end/beginning of the meal? Does this depend on the kind of soup? Does soup replace the need to drink some liquid? 4. Does one drink (or not) water, tea, wine or beer during the meal in all regions? 5. Are sweets ever served as condiments or as desserts? Most probably, there are no clear-cut answers to such questions but it would be useful to have the experience of people who are from or have lived in the different regions. On the other hand, if you think that such questioning will lead to nowhere, it would be useful to know why. Does anyone know of any book, article or thesis which deals with some of these questions? Thanks.

Dear Nakji, May I comment on your "minor rant"? I agree that the characters should be the simplified ones and that, if the pinyin is given, it should have the tones. Giving the characters is useful, for example for ordering in a restaurant or especially for buying ingredients. But I have my doubts about the pinyin, even if the tones were given since there are also the different pronunciations of vowels and consonants. Would tones really enable someone to pronounce the sounds understandably, even if there were a one-page note on transliteration as in her "Land of Plenty", p.10? I wish it were that easy! I wonder if others have similar reactions? Or opposite ones!

Hello, And yet another ingredient question prompted by the same book, Jacqueline M. Newman's "Cooking From China's Fujian Province" as dmreed's question. There are a number of recipes (14 in the index) which refer to "rice wine lees". It is apparently a key ingredient in Fujian cooking but it is new to me. Has anybody used this in his/her cooking? What does it add to a dish: color surely but what about taste or texture? How does one find this ingredient? What is it called in Chinese? Thanks for any help.

Hello, I would like to make Yan-Kit So/Martin's "Red-in-Snow Soup with Pork" but I have not found the main ingredient. It would help probably if I knew how "red-in-snow" is written in Chinese. Can someone help me? If I can't find it, is there a substitute, for example can I use Sichuan preserved vegetable? Thanks for any help.

Hello Richard Gustave, That was a great link. The video is quite informative (about 80 minutes long). I have already ordered the book. I have since found the site of the magazine that the conference speaker, Jacqueline Newman, edits. The magazine is called “Flavor and Fortune” (dedicated to the art and science of Chinese cuisine) and its site is http://www.flavorandfortune.com/index.html . You probably know about it already. It is interesting to note, at least for me, that, among the many articles that one can read on line, there is one on “Regional Chinese Cooking” (http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess...icle.php?ID=105) in which the author gives 4 chicken recipes, one from each of the 4 regions (I know, it is more complicated than that) which brings me back to the thread on regional and inter-regional menus: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=124938. While 4 chicken dishes on one menu is surely TOO much, maybe 2 is not so crazy after all if one is trying to understand regional differences with one's family and/or friends. Have a good day.

Another possibility is (tián xián wèi hé táo, 甜 咸 味 核 桃 ) perhaps more faithful to what the dish tastes like.

In 2 of your menus you feature 羅 家 核 桃. Is 羅 家 (Law's family) your family name? ← No that is not my family name. I took the Chinese name from Barbara Tropp's book without checking. Perhaps a better name would be (chǎo gān hé táo, 炒 干 核 桃 ). Do you agree? Do you have any comments on how to make a menu from your various recipes which you have posted on this forum and which I have appreciated? What would guide you? Thanks anyhow.

To Sheetz and Liuzhou Thank you for your quick and interesting replies which help me understand the Chinese point-of-view. If you permit me, let me give the context from my perspective. I grew up in New York in a French family, eating Cantonese food occasionally. Later, my Chinese physicist colleagues introduced me to Northern food. Near the end of the 1960’s, Sichuan food became the rage. I then moved to Paris where I found restaurants that featured “Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese” food in one menu. I was sorely disappointed, and quite hungry. During a one-year stay in Berkeley more than 25 years ago, I started to learn to make my own Sichuan food so that when I went back to France I could satisfy my hunger somewhat, a kind of auto-protection. During the recent Year of China in France, I became interested in understanding the cuisines from other regions. So I invite friends to be the tasters for my gastronomical tours of China, thus my menus. Perhaps this can give you an idea about why I combine regional dishes (maybe more than you want to know!). Evidently from your comments, I have not sufficiently considered the number of dishes; I will try to avoid the number 4. And it probably was not a good idea to have two chicken dishes in Menu 4 but I wanted to have people taste the difference between the two regional treatments of the same main ingredient. I use the cucumber pickle dish during the meal to clear the palate between two other dishes since it is cold, vinegary and crunchy; I know that it is often used as an appetizer. The link to symbolic Chinese foods is quite interesting. Thanks again for your comments. If you have any other, be assured that I will read them with great interest.

Hi ! On this forum, there is an overwhelming amount of information on individual regional dishes but I have not found any discussion concerning the combination of these dishes to form menus. Maybe I haven’t looked hard enough and would be quite happy if someone would provide a link. If not, perhaps it would be interesting to try to see what regional or inter-regional menus could look like in terms of balance (color, texture, taste, etc.). What "rules" do people use? Recently, I have tried to put together menus which reflect a gastronomic tour of the regional cuisines, limiting myself to the four directions, even though I know that it is more complicated than that. Here are my recent menus; please correct my Chinese which is not very strong. Any comments, corrections or suggestions would be most helpful. Thanks Menu 1 for 9 people Appetizer (West?): ( 羅 家 核 桃 ) Fire-Dried Walnuts West: ( 糖 醋 小 黃 瓜 ) Sweet and Tangy Cucumber Pickles South: ( 炸 子 鸡 ) Braised crispy (fried) chicken with prawn crackers West: ( 陈 皮 牛 肉 ) Orange Peel Beef East: ( 茄 子 塞 肉 ) Stuffed Eggplant North (also West): ( 酸 辣 汤 ) Hot sour soup Menu 2 for 8 people Appetizer (West?): ( 羅 家 核 桃 ) Fire-Dried Walnuts West: ( 宫 保 鸡 丁 ) Gong Bao Chicken East: ( 炒 鸡 肝 姜 ) Fried Chicken Livers in ginger sauce North: ( 木 须 肉 ) Mu Shu Pork with pancakes South: ( 清 蒸 全 魚 ) Steamed Whole Fish/Seared Scallions North: ( 北 京 辣 白 菜 ) Pickled Cabbage Peking style Menu 3 for 5 people West: ( 东 安 子 鸡 ) Dong'an chicken North: ( 黄 焖 牛 肉 ) Braised Beef with Brown Sauce South: ( 苔 菜 明 虾 ) Deep-fried Prawns & Green Seaweed East: ( 干 炖 笋 和 蘑 菇 ) Dry braised bamboo shoots & chinese mushrooms East: ( 酥 脆 海 草 ) Crispy Seaweed Menu 4 for 4 people South: ( 核 桃 鸡 片 ) Walnut Chicken Slices East: ( 绍 兴 醉 鸡 ) Drunken Chicken, Shaoxing style North: ( 在 酒 的 鱼 ) Sole in Wine Sauce West: ( 干 煸 鲜 笋 ) Dry cooked bamboo shoots Menu 5 for 4 people North: ( 薄 如 纸 羊 肉 葱 ) Paper-thin lamb with scallions East: ( 叫 化 鸡 ) Beggar's chicken West: ( 麻 辣 田 鸡 ) Stir-fried Frogs Legs with garlic sauce South: ( 芦 笋 牛 肉 丝 ) Asparagus with beef slivers

Thanks to all for the fast feedback => Some comments and a question. heidh: complete agreement on quality ingredients and proper techniques; I will certainly insist on that with my beginning friend liuzhou: thanks for your interesting experience; I am curious as to how steaming is done in China gautam: thanks for chopping board and rice cooker suggestions; will hold off recommending the $1500 induction standalone wok to my beginning friend! QUESTION: does anyone have experience stir-frying with an electric stove? Thanks again

Thank you Prasantrin for your rapid reply. I agree with the interest of a rice cooker especially if the person is going to make several dishes since she doesn't need to worry about the rice at the last moment. I also agree with the need for mesh strainer but I think that many people have an equivalent even if it doesn't have a bamboo or wooden handle. I'm a little more circumspect relative to an electric stove, though I must admit I have never used one to make a stir-fry. From what I read, it is not simple, and apparently the electric wok is not the solution either. To me, this is the most delicate point relative to kitchen material. Have a good day.

Hello, There may already be a thread on this topic but I couldn't find it (in the 5 minutes I looked!) so here goes. A friend recently asked me what special equipment she should acquire to be able to make most Chinese recipes. I immediately thought "wok" but then Ah Leung does all his recipes without a wok. That lead to me to re-think and I came up with the following list of items which are more a list of questions: 1. Gas vs electric 2. wok 3. rice cooker 4. deep-fryer 5. bamboo basket for steaming 6. clay cooking pot for braising 7. food processor 8. etc. Presumably none of these are absolutely necessary (except maybe the gas, though some cook books try to get around this as well). I wonder what your opinion is on these items, as well as others I have probably forgotten. I guess that the answer depends on the chef! Thanks

Hello! I recently came across a recipe for "Stir-fried prawns with XO sauce" which you can see (with video) at http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/603704/displayVideo/Hi I wonder if this sauce is authentically Chinese? - If so, why is it called XO, is it related to a regional cuisine and what is its chinese name? - If not, where did it originate? Thanks for your help.

Hello again. From what I gather from your various responses, the question of how to distinguish the various regional cuisines is an interesting one. Apparently, it is possible for the Four Great Traditions (Cantonese, Sichuan, Shandong, and Huaiyang) in the nomenclature of wikipedia but very difficult for the eight regional cuisines. Since I began with these four, let me continue by proposing the following exercise: I suggest to propose recipes (Internet does not yet allow us to taste yet!) whose name, regional origin and source reference are at first omitted; I will begin by proposing two at the end of this message. Responses as to the proposed name and possible regional origin are then posted wherein it is important to give one’s method of analysis and criteria. After a certain time (1 week?, 2 weeks?), the sources are revealed. In this way, one can begin to understand how people make their judgements, what criteria are used, which then could help us understand how to distinguish the different cuisines. What do you think of this suggestion? Assuming that there are some who are willing to join in this exercise, you should find two recipes for analysis and discussion. Perhaps they are not the best choice, but it’s a start. So, can we associate each recipe with one of the 4 regions? Recipe #1 1 lb fresh bacon/fatty pork + 4 cups water: cut in chunks & cover with water; bring to boil 3 min; slice very thinly across grain into pieces 2 inch x 1 inch 3 leeks : slice both green and white parts lengthwise in two, wash, cut in 2 inch lengths 2 green peppers : wash, cut in 1 inch squares 4 cloves garlic: smash, peel & chop into match heads stir-fry with 1 Tbsp oil: heat wok 20 sec over high flame, add oil 1/2 tsp salt : add green peppers & salt 2 min; remove add leeks 2 min; remove 2 Tbsp oil: add oil & 6 fattiest slices to render 1 Tbsp hot pepper paste + 1,5 Tbsp hoisin sauce : add garlic, hot pepper paste, hoisin sauce & remaining pork for 2.5 min (mixture should be dry) return green peppers/leeks for 2.5 min and serve Recipe #2 Sauce: 1 Tbsp fermented black beans + 1 Tbsp salted yellow beans + 1/2 tsp sugar + 1 tsp sesame oil: mash beans with sugar & sesame oil into a paste 4-5 Tbsp oil + 4-6 cloves garlic chopped + 3/4 inch x 1 inch diameter ginger chopped fine + 1 green or red chili seeded and sliced in rounds + 1-1.5 Tbsp Shaohsing rice wine: heat wok over high heat; add oil 10 sec; add garlic and stir 10 sec; add ginger and stir 10 sec; add mashed bean paste and stir; add chili; add wine and stir; lower heat; remove 12 medium/large prawns in shell/no heads: remove legs; pat dry; slice lengthwise in 2 except for tails; discard veins; arrange around heatproof dish Spoon sauce over prawns; steam in wok or steamer at moderate high heat for 3-4 min Few coriander leaves torn in pieces: scatter coriander over prawns; cover and steam briefly and serve

Thanks for your responses. As I said in my 4/11 post, I live in Paris, France and therefore am quite familiar with French regional cooking. I have been cooking dishes from Sichuan and Hunan for some time, and recently I got interested in the other regions. I was intrigued by a post by “theabc” on 19 June 2007 on another forum (http://forum.chinesepod.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1884) in which she asks, among other interesting questions, « What is really defining between Jiangsu and Zhejiang other than the specific tastes of its famous dishes?” That led me to wonder about the difference between a cuisine and a list of dishes. This influenced me to look at the differences among the Chinese regional cuisines which, I think, are larger than those here. Nonetheless, in France, one can make a fair guess as to the origin of some dishes by looking, for example, at a) the use of butter, cream or olive oil, or b) the use of beer or apple cider, or c) the cheeses, or d) local products such as snails, etc. I would think that this should be possible for Chinese regional cuisines, but Liuzhou doesn’t seem to think so, giving me only a 1% chance of getting a correct answer (a random choice among the four would give 25%!). Maybe, this is not a particularly interesting path of investigation. As someone said, “I am very fond of eating” and maybe I should just stick to that. By the way, we will be visiting China next October for a month and so will certainly take up Fenyi’s suggestion. Unfortunately, in Paris there are few restaurants which announce their regional origin; I know of only one or two from Sichuan, a few from Wenzhou, another from Shandong, maybe another from Hunan, etc. Have a good day!

Two more points: 1. I live in France and the Chinese restaurants apparently don't use pinyin in the their names for dishes, thus no MapoDoufu, Dan Dan or Kung Pao. 2. My aim is to be able to identify (or to explain to someone else) the origin of a given dish with a reasonable certainty, given its look, fragrance, taste, ingredients, cooking method,etc. Thus my use of key words as "parameters" for the identification. Is this possible without making too many mistakes? I think it probably is possible, even for me, when restricted to North/East/South/West (my first try) but I wonder about the 8 regional cuisines, in particular those from the East (Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang). I'll stop here and get back to the election results....

Thanks a lot for your rapid response Liuzhou and, in particular, for your corrections. I used the name Grand Duke to avoid using the pinyin for those who don't know it; perhaps I should use both. Similarly, would you agree to call Mapo Doufu (which is indeed from Sichuan: I copied an incorrect line, mea culpa!) also Pock-Marked Ma's Bean Curd to avoid using only the pinyin? I am afraid that my "Pork style-fish" was a crude short hand for "Pork in the style of fish" which I think is an OK title. OK for Dan-Dan which is closer to the pinyin, though Tropp and Chiang use Don-Don for some reason. More important, is the reason for this exercise which I tried to explain in post#1 of this thread. I am trying to understand, recipes in hand and attempted, the usual 8 regional cuisine distinction. Are they distinct cuisines or a number of dishes originating in a given region? To make things easier for me, I have started with the 4 "super-regions". For example, the Southwest includes Sichuan and Hunan cuisines. Later, if all this makes sense, perhaps I can try to distinguish, for example the Southeast region into the Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisines. The keywords are an attempt to start simply at making distinctions, and then necessarily to make things more complicated as needed. ps. I am probably influenced by my training as an elementrary particle physicist in which concepts start from rather simple building blocks. Since a cuisine is perhaps more closely associated with chemistry, maybe my approach is inadequate. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for your interest.

Hello again. After having consulted many references, including many cook books as well as the climate and geography, I have first tried to distinguish the 4 regions (Northeast, Southeast, South and Southwest) with some “key words” and a few corresponding dishes (see below) for which I have a version of a recipe. This is obviously a simplification but I have found it useful to proceed from the simple to the complicated. Even so, distinguishing the Anhui , Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisines will be very difficult for me, I think! Northeast Key words: simple & robust; garlic/ginger/scallion/soy sauce seasonings, wheat, lamb, cabbage, Hoisin sauce, barbecue, Tsingtao beer Dishes: · Mongolian Stewed Garlic (紅 燒 蒜 頭 ) · Mu Shu Pork (木 须 肉 ) with Mandarin Pancakes (木 须 饼 ) · Peking-style Lamb in Sweet Bean Sauce ( 醬 爆 羊 肉 ) · Pickled Cabbage Peking style (腌 汁 白 菜 京 菜 ) Southeast Key words: rich & sweet; green tea, bamboo shoots, fish/shellfish, Chinkiang vinegar, red-cooking, Shaoxing wine Dishes: · Beggar's Chicken ( 叫 化 鸡 ) · Dong po Pork with Bamboo shoots ( 東 坡 肉 笋 ) · West Lake Carp in Vinegar (西 湖 鲤 鱼 在 醋 的 ) · LongJing Tea and Shrimps (龙 井 虾 仁 ) South Key words: light & mild; seafood-based seasonings with meat dishes, dim sum, salted/preserved black beans Dishes: · Braised crispy chicken (炸 子 鸡 ) · Sweet and Sour pork (咕 噜 肉 ) · Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛 跳 墙 ) · Steamed Whole Fish, Scallions and Black Beans (清 蒸 全 魚 ) Southwest Key words: highly seasoned & aromatic; fresh/dried chillies, Sichuan pepper, fermented bean and sesame pastes Dishes · Grand Duke's chicken (宫 保 鸡 丁 ) · Pork style-fish (鱼 香 肉 丝 ) · Down-Home Hunan Tofu ( 麻 婆 豆 腐 ) · Don-Don Noodles (担 担 面 ) Before continuing, I would like to know if there are any comments? In particular, are my key words meaningful and/or complete? Are the dishes representative? Are there any other suggestions? Thanks!!

Thanks a lot Chee Fai. Do you happen to know any web source with info on texture, for example, concerning dishes using sea cucumber, jellyfish, pig's ears, dried sharks' fin, bird's nest, that is, gelatinous, crunchy, soft, jelly-like, etc. textures?

Hi! I am very interested in getting as complete a list of textures referred to in Chinese cooking. This thread is a good start. I have tried to find the Mandarin pinyin equivalents, but have not found all of them. Can you help me? FOUND: TEXTURES : "hau-gum" (kǒu gǎn, 口 感 ) feeling in the mouth · "song" (shuǎng, 爽 ) crisp · "soong" (sōng, 鬆 ) loose, airy and light · "daan ngaa" (tán yá, 彈 牙 ) al dente · "cheoi" (cuì, 脆 ) light and crispy · "waat" (huá, 滑 ) smooth, moist and slippery · "lyun" (nèn, 嫩 ) tender · "num" (rěn, 腍 ) tender? · "mui" (méi, 霉 ) moldy · "sut" (shí, 实 ) solid · "fow" (fú, 浮 ) light in texture, floating · "num" (rěn, 腍 ) tender? · "ss-own" (sū, 酥 ) flakey NOT FOUND: · "haai" rough & dry · "ss-an" slimey as in pig-skin spinach · "gnung" hard · "ngaang" (hard), "ngaang gwuk gwuk" (very hard) · "ngun" (tough & chewy) · "you jiew tou" (has a nice chew) · "meen", a cottony-softness If you have any other "mouth-feels", please update this thread. Thanks for your help

Thanks to both of you, I now have a list of books which I should look into seriously. It seems that 1979 was a good year. I know the wikipedia articles on Chinese cuisine quite well; I have written most of their equivalents on the French wikipedia site, starting usually with the English version. I have done a first search and have ordered "Classic Food of China” by Yan-Kit So which I should get upon my return from London about 10 days from now. Depending on what I find, I will also look at 1. Pei Mei's "Chinese Cooking" in 3 volumes, 2. Kenneth Lo's "Chinese Regional Cooking" 3. "The Gourmet Chinese Regional Cookbook" by Calvin B. Lee etc. BTW. Does someone happen to know what oil temperature corresponds to "70% heated oil" which I find in some recipes?

Hello! I’m not sure this is the right forum to post this, but here goes: I am trying to understand the differences among the various regional cuisines in China, starting with the usual eight: Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Sichuan, given in some geographical order. Of course, I have read about the differences, in particular on this forum, but find it difficult to translate what I read to what I could see, smell, eat. Biased by my upbringing as an experimental physicist, I would like to experiment with typical recipes from each of the regions to see how they differ with my eyes, nose, taste, etc, even ears in the case for example of sizzling rice. But I am having difficulty in finding recipes from some of the regions; in particular, it appears easy to find recipes in my cookbooks or on the web for the latter three regions but the others seem harder. Any suggestions for cookbooks, sites, etc? For example, are any of Yan Kit-So books what I am looking for? I wonder, in particular, about the very definition of the word “cuisine” as opposed to, for example, a dish which is associated with a given place. An example, since I live in France, the dish called bouillabaisse is usually associated with Marseilles, just as Peking duck is associated with Peking. Even if we can associate more dishes with a given area, at what point does that make a cuisine? Surely, there must be some common elements of techniques, ingredients, etc which should enable us, confronted with a new dish, to say that it probably comes from such-and-such a tradition. Has anybody a clearer idea than I on this question? I am not sure that I have been clear but, at least, if I could be pointed in the right direction (i.e. recipes), I would appreciate it. And I would certainly report back if people are interested.