An Introduction to Ethnic Cuisine in Huntsville

German Cuisine

German Cuisine dates back all the way to the 17th Century when King Fredrick II introduced the potato to German diets. They became popular in German dishes because at the time things were rough because of war, famine, disease and poverty and potatoes were easy to mass produce. At the end of World War I and II food in Germany was scarce because they became very poor because they had to pay back reparations for the wars so this led to Germany being divided into two main sections, East and West Germany.

This led to there being two styles of cooking in Germany. East Germany took on a more Russian style of cooking because they were neighbors with Russia.West Germans kept Germany’s original style of cooking which focused on creating recipes which relied on potatoes, bread and meat.. The North and South sections of Germany had their own main meals as the north favored cooking soups using ingredients such as beans, breads, cereals and rye flour.The south focused on cooking more meals that included meats (mostly sausages), potatoes and sometimes apples. One main sauce that all Germans use is called Pungent mustard. That sauce is popular with Westphalian Ham. Germans primarily eat heavy meals with large portions of bread and meats.  All these characteristics are seen in Huntsville’s German restaurants such as Ol Heidelberg Cafe.

Korean Cuisine  

Korean cuisine is heavily influenced by religion, ancient traditions and the natural environment.Because Korea is a peninsula connect to China and surrounded by three sides by the ocean, their cuisine is affected by this geography. The plains in South Korea make it a perfect area for growing rice which is a main part of most Korean food. 

Seeing how Korea is surrounded by an ocean, seafood such as squid and crabs are also a main part of their meals.The philosophy of Eumyangohaeng is the belief that food is the best medicine. Eumyangihaeng contains five colors (green,red,white,yellow and black)  that represent elements. Koreans believe that when these five ingredients are balanced, so is the body making it healthy. Korean food is often spicy as they typically use ingredients such as soy sauce, red pepper paste, garlic, bean paste, ginger and green union. Rice is very common with these meals and it includes sides of vegetables, seafood and other meats primarily being chicken and beef. Some very popular dishes would be Kimchi, Bibimbap, Juk, and Bulgogi.Huntsville has four main Korean restaurants which contains the same quality of Korean food that was just explained.

Indian Cuisine

Indian cuisine dates back over 5000 years. The cuisine is meant to be eaten socially with large groups of people. Each region of India has their own style of cuisine because of tradition, geography, culture and religion.

Muslims tend to have meat dishes, however they are not allowed to eat pork for religious purposes. Hindus are vegetarian, again for religious purposes. Food choices in India vary between the north, south, west and east regions. In the north, Indians tend to eat flatbreads with most of their meals such as naan and chapati. Southern Indians eat more rice and coconut. Western India is more diverse but is known for its spicy curries.There is mix of seafood, curry, spicy sausages, and chai tea in the area making all of these types of food common.Lastly,we have the eastern area of India.The food in this region relies heavily on rice, vegetables and milk. Dairy products are loved in this region and are used in many dishes.Sitar, Ruchi and Indian Kitchen are Huntsvillie’s 3 main Indian restaurants and they have a wide variety of Indian dishes.

Mexican Cuisine.

The origins of Mexican cuisine can be traced back to 7000 BC.This is before Mexico and Central America were colonized and were full of indiginous people who survived by gathering plants and hunting animals.The main plant they ate during this time was the wild chile pepper.Five hundred years later corn entered their diets when they began to use the process called nixtamalization which led to them creating tortillas and other breads using corn.During this time the people struggled to eat enough protein so they introduced.Corn, beans, tortillas, and chile peppers are from the indiginous people and the meats and cheese are Spanish. Together they make up today’s typical Mexican cuisine which can be found in 42 mexican restaurants in Huntsville.The three main ones being La Esquina Cocina, El Omeca and Los Mariachis.