Cuisine, the culinary/cultural identity of foods, is one of the descriptive facets (characteristics) included in the International Interface Standard for food databases. The interface was developed to help standardize food descriptive terms and facilitate computerized retrieval and exchange of information from food-related databases. The terms of the cuisine facet may help identify and characterize some foods in databases and allow for specific retrievals of information from those databases. A hierarchy of cuisine terms (i.e., broader and narrower terms) was developed on the basis of information collected from professional and lay literature. The usual (common) name of each cuisine, specific features of the cuisine, and examples of dishes (and their ingredients) that are associated with the cuisine were collected. In addition, the interface factor "Geographic Region or Area" was reviewed to ensure that the culinary practices of major inhabited land masses were included in the cuisine hierarchy. Eight broad groups of cuisine origin were identified; 153 cuisines (including broader and narrower terms) are currently included in the hierarchy.