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A Levantine salad of toasted or fried pita with vegetables and sumac.

A Roman dish of veal wrapped with prosciutto and sage, cooked in dry white wine and butter.

Skewered and grilled cubes of meat, traditionally lamb, with regional variations using other meats, poultry, or fish.

Supplì are Roman fried rice balls, typically risotto with tomato sauce and a mozzarella center.

Air-dried, vinegar-cured meat from Southern Africa, seasoned with salt, black pepper, and coriander.

A condiment from the Indian subcontinent, chutney comes in fresh and preserved forms, used as a spicy relish alongside staples like rice.

A deep-fried fritter from the Indian subcontinent, typically made by coating vegetables in spiced gram flour batter.

A single-layer, unleavened flatbread made from whole-wheat atta dough, cooked on a tava and puffed over direct heat.

Chelow kabab is Iran's national dish: saffron-infused rice topped with grilled skewered meat, served with lavash.

A Japanese summer dish of chilled alkaline wheat noodles with toppings, adapted from a Shanghainese original.

A one-pot Arab rice dish from Saudi Arabia or Yemen, made with rice, meat, vegetables, and spices.

A thin, fermented rice pancake from South India, cooked in a wok-like pan with coconut milk.

A Thai coconut-milk-based curry from central Thailand, colored green by fresh chilies and named for that hue.

A Middle Eastern street food of thin-sliced meat roasted on a vertical spit and shaved off as it cooks.

A delicate Vietnamese rice sheet dish from northern Vietnam, typically rolled with seasoned pork, wood ear mushroom, and shallots.

A fermented, steamed savoury sponge from Gujarat, made from rice and split chickpeas or other pulses.

A toasted cassava flour dish from Brazil, often mixed with fat, salt, and smoked meats.

A sweet-and-sour Iranian stew made with pomegranate paste and ground walnuts, traditionally served on Yaldā Night.

A baked potato and reblochon gratin from the French Alps, developed for ski resorts in the 1980s.

A smoothie-like yogurt beverage from Punjab, made by blending yogurt, water, and spices.

A thin, unleavened pancake from southeastern France and northwestern Italy, made with chickpea flour, water, olive oil, and salt.

A Japanese rice-flour dumpling, typically round and skewered, served sweet.

A roasted Japanese green tea made by heating bancha or other teas in a porcelain pot over charcoal.

A small French sponge cake with a scalloped shell shape and a signature hump.

Small pieces of meat—and sometimes vegetables—grilled on a skewer, originating in Greece.

Udon is a thick wheat-flour noodle from Japanese cuisine, served hot or chilled in broth or with toppings.

Chazuke is a Japanese dish of cooked rice topped with green tea, dashi, or hot water.

A French baked dish of raw potato slices cooked slowly in cream, originating in the Dauphiné region.

A slow-stewed Javanese dish from Yogyakarta made from young jackfruit, palm sugar, and coconut milk.

A thick Italian vegetable soup with variable ingredients, rooted in rural tradition and defined by its coarse-cut vegetables.

Mortadella is a large Italian cured pork sausage with visible cubes of pork fat.

A Japanese one-pot dish of boiled eggs, daikon, konjac, and fish balls simmered in light soy-flavored dashi.

A Seoul-originated Korean ox bone soup made from leg bones, brisket, and other cuts, traditionally simmered for many hours.

A communal, spicy-numbing broth cooked at the table with offal and other ingredients, dipped in sesame oil before eating.

A dense, crumbly or fudge-like confection made from sesame paste and sugar—or toasted flour and syrup—rooted in Persian and early Arab culinary traditions.

Suya is a Hausa Nigerian dish of thin skewered meat grilled over smoke and seasoned with Yaji, a variable spice blend including chili, ginger, dried onion, and ground peanut cake.

A South African baked dish of spiced minced meat with an egg-based topping.

A Hanoi dish of grilled pork—minced pork shoulder meatballs and pork belly—served with rice noodles and dipping sauce.

A Turkish dish of poached eggs served over yogurt, often with garlic.

A creamy or tomato-based American soup with clams, potatoes, salt pork, and onions.

Dal is a South Asian dish of dried, split pulses—like lentils, peas, or beans—cooked into soups or stews.

Kansas City barbecue is slow-smoked meat with a sweet, thick tomato-based sauce and dry rub, originating in early 20th-century Kansas City, Missouri.

A Polish meat sausage, traditionally homemade and now widely used in soups, stews, and festive meals.

A round Breton pastry with laminated dough, butter, and sugar, baked until caramelized.

A Bengali dessert made from milk and sugar, often using chhena, shaped into forms like kneaded cakes or balls.

A Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in a spiced tomato-and-pepper sauce.

Sour, salty pickled ume fruits from Japan, traditionally made with salt and sun-drying.

A thick T-bone steak from Chianina cattle, grilled rare, central to Tuscan cuisine.

A regional Vietnamese noodle dish from Hội An, featuring chewy lye-treated rice noodles, marinated pork, fresh herbs, bean sprouts, lettuce, and crispy noodle squares.

A chickpea curry in tomato sauce, seasoned with onions, garlic, ginger, chilies, and spices like amchoor and garam masala.

A rich Punjabi lentil dish made with urad dal, rajma, butter, and cream, developed in post-Partition Delhi.

A thick North African soup with lentils, chickpeas, tomato, meat, and warm spices, traditionally served during Ramadan.

A chickpea-based dip with lemon, sesame, and olive oil, documented since the 13th century in Syria.

A Korean stew made with fermented kimchi, pork, tofu, scallions, and seasoned with doenjang or gochujang.

A traditional Arab rice-and-meat dish cooked in a tannour oven, with regional variations across the Arab world and in Hyderabad.

A Cameroonian stew of boiled ndoleh leaves, ground peanuts, crayfish, garlic, onions, and fish or beef.

A Filipino noodle dish with Chinese origins, typically sautéed with vegetables, meat or seafood, and served with calamansi.

A Tuscan and Umbrian summer salad of soaked stale bread, onions, and tomatoes.

A Tuscan bread-and-vegetable soup, traditionally made by reboiling leftover minestrone or vegetable soup with stale bread.

A Levantine salad of finely chopped parsley, soaked bulgur, tomatoes, mint, and onion, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and sweet pepper.

Tteok are Korean rice cakes made from steamed, pounded, or shaped rice flour.

A cool, herb-flecked yogurt-cucumber sauce from Southeastern Europe and West Asia, served as dip, soup, or sauce.

Duck confit is whole duck preserved by salt curing and slow cooking in its own fat.

A French ham sandwich: baguette, butter, and ham.

Kitfo is minced raw beef marinated in chili spice and spiced clarified butter, served with cheese, greens, or flatbreads.

A layered Egyptian street food of pasta, rice, lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce, garlic vinegar, and fried onions.

A dense, slow-melting frozen dairy dessert from 16th-century Delhi, traditionally flavored with cardamom, mango, saffron, almond, or pistachio.

A Malay dish of rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf, served with sambal, anchovies, peanuts, cucumber, and egg.

A Korean soup of whole young chicken stuffed with garlic, rice, jujube, mung bean, and ginseng, traditionally eaten in summer for health.

A small, leavened baked good traditionally from Britain and Ireland, commonly made with wheat flour or oatmeal and baking powder.

A lightly salted, fermented Baltic Sea herring with a strong smell and acidic taste.

Chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, then roasted in a cylindrical clay oven.

Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava roots, used in forms including pearls, flakes, and powder.

A sweet, creamy, chilled black tea drink from Thailand.

A category of Indian savoury fried snacks made from soaked, ground legumes, shaped and deep-fried to yield a crispy exterior and fluffy interior.

Aloo Gobi is a vegetarian dish from the Indian subcontinent made with potatoes, cauliflower, and Indian spices.

A French veal stew simmered in white stock and served in a velouté sauce enriched with cream and egg.

A hot French ham-and-cheese sandwich on soft white bread, often topped with grated cheese and baked or fried until crisp.

Ghee is a clarified butter from the Indian Subcontinent, made by simmering butter to yield a nutty, aromatic fat with a high smoke point.

A plaited, fried dough strip soaked in cold sugar syrup or honey, originating in Afrikaner tradition.

A fermented tea beverage made with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.

A milky, mildly alcoholic Korean rice wine made with nuruk.

A savory Indonesian fishcake from Palembang made of ground fish and sago or tapioca flour, boiled or steamed then fried before serving.

A cold, thick Andalusian tomato soup from Córdoba, made with bread, garlic, and olive oil, often garnished with ham and eggs.

A very thin wheat noodle, less than 1.3 mm wide, with documented roots in Japan by the late 14th century and earlier antecedents in Tang dynasty China.

Small ring-shaped stuffed pasta from Bologna and Modena, traditionally filled with meat and cheese, served in capon broth.

Thin, marinated beef slices grilled over fire or on a griddle.

A slow-simmered stew from Ireland, traditionally built around mutton or lamb with potatoes, onions, and parsley.

A traditional Japanese soup of miso paste dissolved in dashi stock, often with cooked vegetables and tofu.

Sarma is a dish of leaves—typically grape or cabbage—rolled around a filling of minced meat, rice, or both.

A Brazilian snack from Pará and Amazonas made from açaí berries blended into a smoothie-like base and served in a bowl with toppings.

A Bulgarian layered pastry pie with cheese, yogurt, and egg filling.

A fudge-like milk-based sweet from the Indian subcontinent, made from khoa and sugar.

A Roman pasta dish of pecorino romano, black pepper, and starchy pasta water, traditionally made with tonnarelli or spaghetti.

A Sicilian vegetable dish of fried eggplant and other vegetables in sweet-and-sour agrodolce sauce.

A baked custard of egg yolks and milk, topped with a crisp, caramelized sugar crust.