cuisine refers to any style of cooking, including its practices, traditions and recipes. a cuisine is usually associated with a specific culture. it is mainly influenced by the ingredients that are available to that culture. cooking methods, customs and ingredients together form meals that are unique to a particular region. when people talk about italian cuisine, they are referring to the food that italians are famous for. cuisine is a french word that means "kitchen", but it originally comes from the latin word "coquere", which means "to cook".