ethnic food
Foreign culinary traditions
Ethnic food refers to cuisines associated with particular cultural or national groups, typically ones considered foreign or exotic from the perspective of the dominant culture.
In American usage, the term usually excludes mainstream Western European traditions—Italian and French restaurants rarely get called ethnic, while Thai, Ethiopian, or Indian ones routinely do.
The label carries an implicit othering: Let's get ethnic food tonight.
Some find the term dated or mildly condescending, preferring to name specific cuisines directly.
- cuisineCharacteristic cooking style
- exoticStrikingly unusual, foreign-seeming
- spicesAromatic food flavorings
- authenticVerified as original
- hole in the wallModest, unpretentious establishment
mom and pop · restaurant · fusion · melting pot · immigrant · old country · cultural · flavors · aromatic · traditional · recipes · ingredients · foreign · homestyle · dinner table · markets · diaspora · heritage
- cultural heritagefolklore, traditions, customs, folk music revival, museum collections
- food culturesculinary heritage, traditional cooking, heritage cooking, culinary traditions, immigrant cuisine
- cuisinelocal cuisine, regional cuisine, indigenous cuisine, traditional recipes, regional dishes
- culturemusic taste, beliefs, custom, festivals, art galleries
- world culturesholidays, flags, world music, traditional clothing, festivals
- eateriesrestaurant, diner, bistro, cafeteria, pizzeria
ethnic foodbland food
Unseasoned, tasteless cuisine
processed food · fast food · convenience food · TV dinners · microwave meals
ethnic, food, ethnicity, ethnically, ethnics, foods, foodie, foodies, ethno