Routing

First rule, satisfying conditions wins. If we need a route like Controller/Parameter ie cuisine/french

routes.MapRoute(name: "Cuisine", 
   url : "cuisine/{name}",
   defaults : new {controller = "Cuisine", action = "Search", name = ""});

to make name parameter optional

  defaults : new {controller = "Cuisine", action = "Search", name = UrlParameter.Optional});

To catch name in controller

public ActionResult Search(string name)
{
 return Content(name);
}

alternatively in colntroller

var name = RouteData.Values["name"]; 

to prevent html tags in parameters

 var message = Server.HtmlEncode(name);
 return Content(message);