Corn

🇧🇷Bahia, Brazil

Acaçá

A Bahian corn parcel associated with Candomblé, steamed until firm and served in ritual and festive foodways.

🇷🇼Rwanda

Agatebe

Roasted maize on the cob sold at roadsides and bus stops; a cheap, filling street snack charred over open coals; common across Rwanda, especially in the late afternoon and evening.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Arepitas de Maíz

Dominican small, fried cornmeal fritters, crispy outside and soft inside, served with coffee or hot chocolate. A breakfast and snack staple, simple and savory.

🇧🇿Belize

Belizean Tamales

Belizean tamales: seasoned masa filled with chicken or pork and recado, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until firm.

🇨🇴Colombia

Bollo Limpio

A Caribbean-coast bollo of clean, ground white corn wrapped in corn husks and boiled. Served with suero costeño and cheese, it is a simple coastal breakfast.

🇵🇦Panama

Bollos

A Panamanian corn dough wrapped in corn husks and boiled, served with cheese or meat, a daily and breakfast classic

🇧🇼Botswana

Botswana Samp

Setampa

Samp — processed corn served plain or mixed with beans (dikgobe); a staple of Botswana weddings and celebrations, eaten with pounded meat (seswaa); also known as setampa.

🇺🇸New Orleans, United States

Cajun Popcorn

Fried crawfish tails dusted in seasoned cornmeal — a Louisiana appetizer despite the name.

🇵🇪Peru

Cancha

Peruvian toasted corn nuts, crunchy and salty, served as a snack or alongside ceviche. Made from large-kerneled Andean corn.

🇵🇾Paraguay

Chipa Avatí

Chipa made primarily with corn flour, giving it a distinct corn flavor and golden color, a traditional variety.

🇵🇾Paraguay

Chipa Guasu

Chipa Guasú

Large corn cake made with fresh corn grains, onions, eggs, cinnamon, milk, and cheese, name means 'big chipa' in Guarani.

🇦🇷Argentina

Choclo

Large-kernel Andean corn served boiled with cheese, sauces or ceviche across Peru and neighboring countries.

🇨🇱Bogotá, Chile

Choclo con Queso

A Colombian snack of cooked sweet corn (choclo) with fresh cheese, served warm. A simple, sweet-savory highland snack, especially in Bogotá and Boyacá.

🇬🇹Guatemala

Chuchitos

A Guatemalan small tamale with firmer masa, wrapped in corn husks, served with tomato salsa and cheese, a daily and celebration classic

🇨🇲Cameroon

Corn Chaff

Boiled maize kernels and beans cooked together with palm oil, onion and pepper into a heavy one-pot.

🇵🇷Puerto Rico

Corn Sticks

Sorullitos de maíz

Cornmeal cooked into a stiff dough with cheese, rolled into short cigars and fried until the outside cracks.

🇨🇷Costa Rica

Corn Tamale

Tamal de elote

Sweet corn tamale made with fresh corn kernels, milk, and sugar, wrapped in corn husks, bright yellow and moist, traditional.

🇨🇷Costa Rica

Costa Rican Tamales

Tamales

Corn masa filled with pork, rice, vegetables, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, a Christmas tradition made in family gatherings.

🇺🇸United States

Couche Couche

A Cajun breakfast of fried cornmeal — dry-cooked, then served with milk or cane syrup.

🇺🇸United States

Creamed Corn

Sweet corn kernels simmered in a rich, milky sauce — a holiday side dish.

🇵🇪Cusco, Peru

Cusco Giant White Maize

Maíz blanco gigante Cusco

The world's largest corn kernels, grown in the Sacred Valley. INDECOPI granted Denomination of Origin in 2005 (Paraqay Sara).

🇧🇷Brazil

Cuscuz Nordestino

A steamed cornmeal cake from the Northeast, made with tapioca or corn flour and coconut milk, eaten sweet with coconut or savory with cheese and eggs.

🇧🇷São Paulo, Brazil

Cuscuz Paulista

A São Paulo savory cornmeal couscous steamed in a ring mold and layered with tomato, sardines, tuna, olives, boiled eggs and peppers. Served cold at parties and picnics.

🇳🇬Nigeria

Egbo

A Yoruba corn preparation of cooked maize served with beans, palm oil or a savoury sauce.

🇲🇽Mexico

Elote

Grilled or boiled corn on the cob slathered with mayonnaise, crema, chili powder, lime, and crumbled cheese.

🇲🇽Mexico

Esquites

Corn kernels cut from the cob and simmered with epazote, served in a cup with mayo, crema, cheese, chili, and lime.

🇵🇷Puerto Rico

Guanimes

Cornmeal and coconut milk dough wrapped in banana leaf and boiled — a Taíno survival, eaten with stewed salt cod rather than as a snack.

🇭🇳Honduras

Honduran Tamale

Nacatamal hondureño

A large banana-leaf tamale of masa enriched with lard and annatto around pork, rice, potato, olives and capers, steamed for hours.

🇧🇴Bolivia

Humintas

A Bolivian tamale of ground corn with cheese, sugar, and anise, steamed in corn husks, a daily and snack classic.

🇦🇷Argentina

Humita

Humita en chala

An Andean dish of grated fresh corn sautéed with onions, peppers, basil, and cheese, wrapped in corn husks and steamed or boiled. A northwest Argentine staple, especially in corn season.

🇪🇨Sierra (Andean Highlands), Ecuador

Humita

An Ecuadorian tamale of ground corn with cheese and lard, steamed in corn husks, a Sierra and daily classic.

🇨🇱Chile

Humitas

Ground corn wrapped in corn husks and steamed, sweet or savory, a traditional Chilean corn dish, fresh and tender.

🇿🇦South Africa

Isijingi

Sidvudvu

Pumpkin simmered into maize meal until soft and streaked orange - known as isijingi in KwaZulu-Natal and sidvudvu across the border in Eswatini, eaten warm as a staple side with sour milk or stews

🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kačamak

Качамак

Coarse cornmeal beaten with water and salt into a thick porridge, then loaded with kajmak, young cheese or cracklings.

🇧🇹Bhutan

Kharang

ཁ་རང་།

Maize cracked into coarse grits and steamed, the everyday staple of eastern Bhutan where rice will not grow well.

🇰🇷South Korea

Korean Taffy

엿

A traditional confection made from steamed glutinous rice, sweet potatoes, or corn, with varieties including sesame-coated and pumpkin.