Elisabeth Rozin, in her excellent book, “Ethnic Cuisine: The Flavor Principle Cookbook”, notes that different cultures tend to “combine a small number of flavoring ingredients so frequently and so consistently that they become definitive of that particular cuisine.” So I’ve included a few here from her excellent resource. This is by no means a definitive list, but merely a good primer and starting off point.
- Central Asia: cinnamon, fruits and nuts
- China (general): soy sauce, rice wine and ginger
- Mandarin/Peking (Northern China): miso, garlic and sesame
- Szechuan (Western China): sweet, sour and hot flavors like sugar, vinegar and szechuan peppers
- Cantonese (Southern China): black beans and garlic
- Eastern Europe (Semitic): onion and chicken fat
- Eastern/Northern Europe: dill, caraway, allspice and paprika-often with sour cream
- France (general): olive oil, garlic, basil, wine, herb butter, wine or stock with cheese
- Provence: thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage and tomato
- Normandy: apple, cider and Calvados
- Greece: olive oil, tomato, lemon, cinnamon, oregano
- India (general): curries, turmeric
- Northern: cumin, ginger and garlic
- Southern: mustard seed, coconut, tamarind and chiles
- Italy (general): olive oil, garlic and basil
- Northern: wine vinegar
- Southern: parsley, anchovy and tomato
- Japan: Shoyu (soy sauce), sake and sugar
- Mexico: tomato, lime and chiles
- North Africa: cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, onion, tomato and fruit
- Spain: olive oil, garlic, nuts, onions, peppers and tomato
- Thailand: fish sauce, curries and chiles
- West Africa: peanut, chilies and tomato
What's Cookin' with Dr. Mike: The Grassroots Gourmet 
Very interesting, some of these I did not know.