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British and International Cuisines

What makes a cuisine distinctive: the typical ingredients, staples, cooking methods, equipment, eating patterns and presentation that mark out British cuisine and international cuisines.

⏱️ 15 min 🎯 14 activities
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What you'll cover

What is a cuisine?

A cuisine is the style of cooking that has grown up in a country or region over many years. Each cuisine has its own typical ingredients, its own cooking methods and equipment, and its own way of serving food. For this topic you study British cuisine and two more cuisines that you choose yourself. This module looks at what makes a cuisine distinctive.

Cuisine words

Learn these four terms before you compare cuisines.

Two cuisines compared

British cuisine and Italian cuisine make a useful comparison. Italian is only an example here, not a cuisine the exam board names.

Why cuisines differ

A cuisine grows from where people live. Geography and climate decide what can be grown, farmed or caught nearby, and history and trade bring in new ingredients. That is why each region ends up with its own staples and methods. Remember that any named cuisine you study is your own example, not one the exam board sets.

Match the cuisine

  • British cuisine
  • Italian cuisine
  • Indian cuisine
  • Mexican cuisine
  • fish and chips
  • creamy risotto rice
  • rice cooked with spices
  • beans and tortillas

Match the feature

  • seasoning
  • equipment
  • eating pattern
  • tradition
  • the herbs and spices that flavour a dish
  • the tools and pans used to prepare food
  • when and how meals are usually eaten
  • a custom passed down over many years

Define a cuisine

What does the word cuisine mean?

  • A style of cooking that is typical of a country or region.
  • One single famous dish.
  • A type of kitchen tool.
  • A shopping list of ingredients.

What defines a cuisine?

Select the TWO things that help define a cuisine.

  • Its typical ingredients and staples.
  • Its usual cooking methods and equipment.
  • The price of a meal in a restaurant.
  • The day of the week it is eaten.

Cook from a cuisine

Put the steps of cooking a dish from a cuisine in order, earliest first.

  • Choose a cuisine to cook from
  • Gather its typical ingredients
  • Cook using its usual method
  • Serve the dish in the cuisine style

Complete the ideas

The cooking style typical of a country is its _____. A basic food that meals are built around is a _____ food. The herbs and spices that flavour a dish are the _____. How a dish is arranged on the plate is its _____. Geography and _____ help decide what a cuisine can use.

cuisine staple seasoning presentation climate method dish equipment region tradition

Count the cuisines

For this topic a student studies British cuisine plus two more cuisines they choose. What is the total number of cuisines they study? Add British to the two chosen ones.

Find the British staples

Tap the TWO foods that are staples of British cuisine.

  • potatoes
  • bread
  • olive oil
  • noodles

Name the cuisine

Read each dish and choose which cuisine it comes from. The cuisines named are examples, not exam-board choices.

  • A plate of long pasta ribbons served with a tomato and olive oil sauce
  • A plate of roast meat, potatoes and vegetables covered in gravy
  • A bowl of rice served with a spiced lentil curry

Describe a cuisine

Choose one cuisine you have studied. Describe what makes it distinctive, including its typical ingredients, its cooking methods and how it is served.

  • Name the cuisine you have chosen
  • Describe its typical ingredients and cooking methods
  • Explain how a dish from it is usually served