Born in a Place: Eleven Cooking Techniques and the Regions That Shaped Them

Tataki sears fish or meat very briefly and slices it thin, and the entry says the method began in Tosa Province, now Kochi Prefecture, where it was applied to bonito.

Kinpira sautes root vegetables such as burdock or carrot and then simmers them in soy sauce, mirin, sugar and chili pepper, and its name comes from Kinpira, the legendary strongman son of the folklore hero Kintaro.

Teriyaki glazes grilled or broiled food with soy sauce, mirin and sugar, and the entry explains that the name joins teri, the shine of the glaze, with yaki, meaning to grill; it places the technique in Japan during the Edo period.

Despite its name, Mongolian barbecue is not Mongolian: the entry says it was developed in Taiwan during the 1950s and is cooked on a large flat iron griddle rather than over an open flame.

Siu mei is the Cantonese name for meats roasted on spits over an open fire or in a wood-burning rotisserie oven, with char siu, siu yuk and roast goose its most common forms.

Kinilaw cures raw fish, meat or vegetables in vinegar and a souring juice such as calamansi instead of cooking them, and the entry sets it apart from Latin American ceviche by this pairing of vinegar with Southeast Asian fruit juices.

Malosol is Russian for lightly salted, a cure below five percent salt tied to sturgeon caviar, and the entry traces its use in the caviar trade to Russian producers in the nineteenth century.

Gratin tops a dish with a browned crust of breadcrumbs, cheese or egg finished under a grill, and the entry says the French name comes from gratter, to scrape, and that the technique is best known in potato dishes such as gratin dauphinois.

Kilishi preserves thin strips of dried meat under a spiced peanut paste and a brief roast, and the entry says it gave traders crossing the Sahara a lightweight food that kept without refrigeration.

The New England clambake steams lobster, mussels, clams and other shellfish over layers of seaweed in a pit oven, usually for festive occasions along the coast of New England.

Cabeza guateada roasts a whole beef head in an earth oven, a countryside dish of northeastern Argentina and Paraguay, and the entry lists barbacoa de cabeza in Mexico and berarubu in Brazil as comparable preparations.