If variety is the spice of life, then Orange County's dining world is like a giant spice rack brimming with both familiar and exotic ingredients.  

Our county contains more than 3,000 restaurants that collectively offer culinary options from virtually every country on earth, including Mexican, Italian, Japanese, Thai, French, Persian, Chinese, Greek, Indian, German, English, Cuban. The list is seemingly endless.  

American food is also well-represented in OC, from retro Americana burger restaurants and classic steak and seafood palaces to eclectic cafes and hip eateries that fuse regional fare with gastronomic delights from other countries.

Anyone looking for dining trends in Orange County need only glance at a list of new restaurants to see that the only trend is variety, and it's this variety that makes Orange County a salad bowl packed with global flavors.

“What I enjoy about dining in Orange County is the diversity,” says Lynn Hackman of Corona del Mar. “At any given time, you can visit any city in the OC and indulge in the some of the best international and American food around. It's never dull!”

Grab a fork, whet your appetite, and dig into a multi-cultural meal. No passport is necessary for this delicious escapade, just a zest for dishes created with an international panache. Adventurous diners can even visit multiple countries in a single day. In fact, start with a French breakfast, follow it with a Greek lunch, and end the day with an Indian dinner.

This exotic itinerary comes with a bonus: International restaurants usually have unique decorations and specific ethnic environments that can provide a brief glimpse into a different culture, and they often offer live entertainment such as music or dancing, thereby adding to the authentic ambiance and giving yet another reason to try some ethnic cuisine.

Start your culinary journey with a Spanish flair - the history of Orange County owes a debt to Spain and the many countries south of the California border.

Spain's Don Gaspar de Portola called Orange County “The Valley of Saint Anne” (Santa Ana), and one of his corporals, Jose Antonio Yorba, and his nephew Juan Pablo Peralta created a rancho that later became the city of Yorba Linda.

Many of the county's cities, such as San Clemente, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, La Habra and San Juan Capistrano (where Father Serra founded his mission) took a cue from our county's Spanish heritage.

Cultural architecture abounds throughout Orange County and the dialects of Spain, Mexico and South America linger in our vocabulary. A tantalizing variety of ethnic delights from Peru, Argentina, Brazil and other South American countries have made their way into local restaurant kitchens, but even with the influx of these cultures, with more than one-third of the county's population coming from a Latino background, it's no surprise that Orange County has embraced Mexican food.

Many people make a quest out of finding the perfect beef-filled burrito smothered in green chili sauce or the ultimate homemade tamale gently wrapped in a soft corn husk.

“I love going to downtown Santa Ana and getting authentic Mexican food the way my grandmother used to make it, but I've noticed that there are some pretty good Mexican restaurants all over Orange County,” says Melissa Lopez of Costa Mesa. “I like to find new ones I haven't tried before, especially if they have a new twist on Mexican food. I like traditional Mexican food, but it's fun to see what else someone can do with a tamale.”

ASIAN TWIST  

Asian cuisine used to be easy to categorize: It was either Chinese, or it wasn't. Now Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other exotic Asian influences have crept into restaurant kitchens, and the varieties and tastes are seemingly endless. Many restaurants are combining various Asian cuisines on their menu, or they sprinkle ethnic spices in their Asian recipes. No matter how it's served, Asian cuisine has never tasted better. Of course, that's terrific news for diners looking for a new angle.

Thanks to the influx of Vietnamese residents, pho restaurants have sprung up throughout the county. Pho is not the name of a restaurant chain, it's a Vietnamese beef noodle soup that has become so popular that countless pho restaurants now offer their own twist on the classic Vietnamese dish. Pho features a steaming bowl of rice noodles simmering in slow-cooked beef stock, although some prefer simply plopping bean sprouts into the hot soup to let the broth cook the sprouts. Add some special spices and herbs, plus a choice of chicken, pork, seafood, or beef, and top with the magic ingredients that give pho its flavor: hot chili sauce and Hoisin sauce.

Even with pho's popularity, traditional Chinese restaurants still rule the Asian culinary world.

“I love Chinese food because it's light but still full of intense flavor,” says Christina McClendon of Huntington Beach. “I love how Chinese cuisine can take something as simple as vegetables and rice and make them so exciting. My favorite is orange chicken, but I also love potstickers - they are so light, and make the meat and vegetables or whatever is inside them so interesting and fun to eat.”

An important note: Chinese cuisine can mean any of the foods from the major regions of China, including Canton, Shanghai, Szechwan, Hunan and Mongolia. Don’t be afraid to ask.

OC's EUROPE

Europe is well-represented in OC's cuisine, particularly Italy and France. Pasta is as popular as ever, while French food is no longer stigmatized as an overly-rich, sauce-laden meal, particularly when it's a derivative of French food, such as Cajun or Creole.

“I like fusion based on French, such as a French-style sauce with wasabi, which is excellent for steak,” says Walter Vulej of Huntington Beach. “Traditional French is a little too heavy, but still irresistible.”  

Also irresistible to Orange County residents is pizza. Millions of pizza pies are consumed daily in this country, and OC is doing its share of pizza eating. Even non-Italian restaurants are getting in on the pizza craze, which is only fitting since the Italians did not really invent pizza, they just improved on the original Middle Eastern concoction of flat, unleavened bread (much like a pita) that was cooked in mud ovens and topped with olive oil and native spices. The word “pizza” is thought to originate from the old Latin word picea, a word the Romans used to describe the process of blackening bread in an oven.

After you complete your culinary world tour, compare your international dining experience by sampling some traditional American food, which is available in abundance throughout the county. Sometimes there's nothing better than sinking your teeth into a thick steak or a juicy burger.

A great thing about having so many different types of restaurants in OC is that you can sample a variety of cuisines and perhaps discover a new style of food you never knew existed, or that you never thought you'd like. After all, variety is the spice of Orange County dining.

Christopher Trela is a regular contributor to Churm Publishing, Inc.