If you frequently entertain clients or treat business colleagues to lunch or dinner, here's a lowdown on cuisines that will help you discuss menus and food intelligently !

Italian
This cuisine is rich in flavour with fresh herbs and spices and a variety of sauces.
Famous for
Lasagne: Pronounced as la'zanya
It is a dish made from alternate layers of pasta, cheese and meat or tomato sauce.
Pizza: Pronounced as peetza
The recipe includes flat, round, baked bread topped with various toppings such as tomato, capsicum, corn, olives, meat of your choice, veggies of your choice or cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese.
Pasta: Pronounced as paasta
The word denotes dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings. Pastas are available in spaghetti, fettuccine, fusilli, macaroni, etc.

Mexican
Mexican cuisine is known for its intense and varied flavours, colourful decoration, and variety of spices. The ingredients most commonly used are beans. chillies such as jalapenos and veggies.
Famous for
Tortilla: Pronounced as tawr-tee-yah
A tortilla is a type of thin, flat bread, made from finely ground maize (corn) or wheat flour. They taste best with salsa sauce. Nachos is made with melted cheese poured over tortilla chips.
Enchilada: Pronounced as en-chuh-lah-duh
An enchilada is a corn tortilla rolled around fillings such as beans, corns, cheese, meat, etc and covered with a tomato and chilli sauce.
Burrito: Pronounced as buh-ree-toh
The word possibly derives from the appearance of a rolled up wheat tortilla, which vaguely resembles the ear of a little donkey. It consists of a flour tortilla wrapped or folded around a filling of meat or vegetables with salsas, cheese and sour cream.

Lebanese
Lebanese cuisine is considered to be healthy as it uses a variety of fresh veggies, salads and stews seasoned with a combination of herbs and spices.
Famous for
Shwarma: Pronounced as shworma
It's a popular fast-food dish in the Middle East. It is a kind of sandwich roll made from pita bread with roasted lamb, goat or chicken and different dressings.
Hummus and pita bread: Pronounced as hoom-uhs
It is a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini (sesame paste), olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Every restaurant has its own style of presenting the dish.
Falafel: Pronounced as fuh-lah-fuhl
Made from fava beans or chickpeas or a combination of the two, it is an iconic Palestinian food and considered as the national food of Israel. It is generally served in pita bread, either inside the pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flat pita.

Thai
Thai food is unique for its subtle combination of myriad ingredients, spices, herbs and sauces. It is known for its balance of five fundamental flavours, ie, hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and bitter (optional). Rice is the staple component.
Famous for
Tom Yam Kung: Pronounced as tom-yum-koong
This prawn soup is one of the most renowned of the Thai cuisine. It has a unique hot and sour flavour, made tempting by the aromas of herbs such as lemon grass, chilli, garlic, lime juice, shallot, galangal and kaffir lime leaves.
Pad Thai rice: Pronounced as phad Thai
Pad Thai is a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chilli pepper, plus any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts and corriander.
Satay: Pronounced as sa-tay
Satay or sate is a dish consisting of chunks or slices of meat (chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, etc) on bamboo skewers. These are grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings; the most common one being the spicy peanut sauce dip or peanut gravy.

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