As early as two thousand years ago, camels and traders made the epic trek on what is now known as the Silk Road, announcing their presence through the ringing of bells attached to their caravans that echoed across continents. From China to Europe, these caravans carried silk, tea, ceramics, and other valuables for thousands of miles, and brought home spices, novel inventions, and religious trinkets, creating a trading network between Europe and Asia. While the Silk Road became a trading route of unique historical significance, it also provided the opportunity for the cross-pollination of cultures and ideas between the East and West early in human development.

The Silk Road impacted the evolution of human culture in countless ways, and among them was the cultural exchange of different foods and cuisines. Early on in human civilization, cultures maintained their own culinary traditions by passing them on to future generations through oral communication. Therefore, one might expect each culture to have built its own unique repertoire of recipes, exclusive to its own corner of the world. However, the opposite is true. Often, we find similar foods in various cultures, even if these cultures exist on different sides of the world. This can be attributed to the development of economic relationships between segregated cultures, maintained by developing diplomatic techniques such as cultural exchanges, chief among them the Silk Road trade route (in Eurasia in particular). Nowadays, this exchange of culture, from food to religion, is accelerated exponentially due to the implementation of modern technology, and global cuisines have become both more diverse and integrated.