One dish, many countries
Dishes shared by many countries
Many dishes know no borders: the same ideas – dumplings, pilaf, filo pastry, stiff maize porridge – have their own versions in many countries. We show how they differ and do not decide who invented them.
Pierogi, varenyky, pelmeni and their relatives
Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Türkiye, Bhutan, Nepal, China, India, Mongolia
A piece of dough wrapped around a filling and boiled or steamed – the idea recurs from Poland to China. The dough, shape, filling and way of serving differ.
- Pierogi Poland, Ukraine
Poland and Ukraine (varenyky): half-moons of flour-and-water dough, often sweet or filled with potato and curd cheese; served with fried onion or soured cream. - Pelmeni Russia
Russia: small round dumplings with raw minced meat, frozen in batches and boiled in water or broth. - Khinkali Georgia
Georgia: large pleated pouches with a thick topknot, filled with meat and juices – eaten by hand, sipping the broth first. - Manti (steamed dumplings) Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Türkiye
From Türkiye to Central Asia: tiny in Türkiye, served with yoghurt and paprika butter; large and steamed in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. - Momo Bhutan, Nepal, China, India
The Himalayas: steamed dumplings of Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, served with a spicy tomato achar. - Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) China
China: boiled or pan-fried dumplings with thin wrappers, a symbol of the Lunar New Year. - Buuz (steamed dumplings) Mongolia
Mongolia: steamed mutton dumplings open at the top, made by the hundred for the Tsagaan Sar holiday.
Pilaf, plov, pilau
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan
Rice cooked together with meat and spices so that it absorbs all the broth – a technique shared by cuisines from the Caucasus to the Indian Ocean coast.
- Plov Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan
Central Asia and Azerbaijan: with mutton, carrot batons and whole heads of garlic, cooked in a cast-iron kazan. - Kabuli palaw Afghanistan
Afghanistan: topped with raisins, carrot and almonds. - Pilau Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania
The Swahili coast and the Comoros: rice with beef and pilau masala, served with kachumbari salad. - Biryani Bangladesh, India, Pakistan
South Asia: layers of rice and marinated meat with saffron – a close relative, though the rice and meat are partly cooked separately.
Empanadas, salteñas, samsa and samosas
Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Djibouti, Somalia, Pakistan, Madagascar, Mauritius, Eritrea, Mozambique, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
A filling sealed in pastry and baked or fried – a snack for the road known to many cuisines. The shape and spices give away where it comes from.
- Empanadas Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina
South America: crimped half-moons, in Argentina and Chile usually with beef, onion, egg and olive. - Salteña Bolivia
Bolivia: baked, with a juicy, sweet-and-spicy filling set with gelatine – eaten in the morning. - Samsa (baked meat pastry) Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan: triangles of mutton and onion baked on the wall of a clay tandyr oven. - Samosa Djibouti, Somalia, Pakistan, Madagascar, Mauritius, Eritrea, Mozambique, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
From India to East Africa: fried triangles, in India usually with potato and peas, in East Africa often with meat.
Filo in the Balkans: burek, banitsa, gibanica, spanakopita and baklava
Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Türkiye, Cyprus
Paper-thin sheets of dough layered with a filling or rolled into a spiral – a shared heritage of Balkan, Turkish and Greek cooking.
- Burek Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia
Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia and neighbours: rolled into a coil with meat (in Bosnia the cheese and spinach versions have their own names). - Banitsa (Bulgarian cheese pastry) Bulgaria
Bulgaria: with sirene cheese, eggs and yoghurt, a breakfast staple and a New Year’s dish. - Gibanica (Serbian cheese pie) Serbia
Serbia: loosely layered, ruffled sheets with cheese and eggs. - Spanakopita (spinach and feta pie) Greece
Greece: with spinach, feta and dill. - Baklava Türkiye, Kosovo, Cyprus, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia
From Türkiye to the Balkans and Cyprus: the sweet version – with nuts and syrup or honey.
Stiff porridges: ugali, fufu, tô, mămăligă and relatives
Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, DR Congo, Burundi, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, Eswatini, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, Central African Republic, Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Moldova, Romania, Montenegro, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda
Flour or tubers cooked and beaten into a stiff mass used to scoop up sauce – the basis of meals across much of Africa, but also in the Carpathians and the Caribbean.
- Ugali Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, DR Congo, Burundi, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, Eswatini, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa
East and Southern Africa: from white maize flour, under many names – nsima, nshima, sadza, pap. - Fufu Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, Central African Republic, Angola, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, DR Congo
West and Central Africa: from pounded cassava, plantain or yam, stretchy and slightly sour. - Tô Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso
The Sahel: from millet, sorghum or maize, often slightly soured. - Mămăligă (cornmeal porridge) Moldova, Romania
Romania and Moldova: from cornmeal, with cheese and soured cream. - Kačamak (cornmeal and potato mash) Montenegro
Montenegro: maize with potato, beaten with cheese and kajmak. - Cou-cou and flying fish Barbados
Barbados: cornmeal with okra, served with flying fish. - Fungee and pepperpot Antigua & Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda: fungee – the same okra-cornmeal porridge, with a thick pepperpot stew.
Dolma, sarma, cabbage rolls
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Albania, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, Montenegro, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia
Vine or cabbage leaves wrapped around rice and meat – a festive dish from the Caucasus to Poland.
- Dolma Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Albania, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina
The Caucasus, Türkiye, the Balkans and the Middle East: in vine leaves, with or without meat, with garlic yoghurt. - Stuffed cabbage rolls Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Greece
Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans: in cabbage leaves, often pickled – sarmale, sarma, gołąbki, holubtsi.
Dishes on UNESCO heritage lists
UNESCO inscribes the practices, knowledge and customs of communities on its intangible heritage lists – it does not give a country an exclusive claim to a dish. The same dish can be a living tradition in other countries too.
Lists checked on ich.unesco.org on 4 November 2026; we show the inscriptions related to dishes in our catalogue.