Fish

🇬🇧United Kingdom

Kipper

A herring split down the back, brined and cold-smoked over oak until copper-brown, grilled or jugged for breakfast.

🇳🇴Western Norway, Norway

Klippfisk (Clipfish)

Klippfisk

Norwegian salted and dried cod, a coastal and export staple since the 1700s, rehydrated and used in bacalao. A national and historic producttile fish, an ingredient.

🇩🇰Denmark

Kogt Torsk (Poached Cod)

Kogt torsk

A Danish poached cod with mustard sauce, boiled potatoes, eggs, and beets, a New Year's and daily classic

🇵🇰Sindh, Pakistan

Kok Palla

ڪوڪ پلو

A Sindhi dish of the palla (hilsa) fish, prized for its oiliness and bones.

🇫🇯Fiji

Kokoda

Raw white fish cured in lime juice until opaque, then dressed in thick coconut cream with tomato, onion and chilli and served in a coconut shell.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Kokoda

Papua New Guinean kokoda is fresh fish cured in lime juice and finished with coconut milk, onion, chili, and other coastal vegetables.

🇪🇸Basque Country, Spain

Kokotxas al pil pil

In the Basque Country, Kokotxas al pil pil is hake or cod throats cooked in oil to form gelatinous pil-pil emulsion.

🇬🇶Equatorial Guinea

Konkoe Ture Gbeli

Smoked catfish in a spicy sauce; the fish is soaked or boiled first, then cooked in a fiery preparation with peppers, onions, and palm oil; a Fang dish.

🇰🇷South Korea

Korean Fish Cake

어묵

Fish cakes made from ground white fish, flour, and starch, shaped into sheets or pieces, used in soups, stir-fries, and street food.

🇷🇺Northwest Russia, Russia

Koryushka

Корюшка

Tiny Baltic smelt fried whole and eaten by the handful, Saint Petersburg's spring obsession with its own May festival.

🇫🇯Fiji

Kovu Walu

Kovu walu is fish or seafood wrapped in banana leaf with coconut cream, then baked until the parcel steams the flesh tender and aromatic.

🇲🇻Maldives

Kulhi Mas

ކުޅި މަސް

Fish is cooked with hot chilli, onion, and spices into a strongly seasoned Maldivian preparation.

🇯🇵Japan

Kusaya

くさや

Kusaya, fish steeped in a centuries-old fermenting brine and dried, is one of the most notorious-smelling foods on earth and is made only on the Izu Islands.

🇺🇦Kyiv, Ukraine

Kyiv-Style Pike-Perch

Судак по-київськи

Kyiv-Style Pike-Perch is a pike perch baked with potatoes and cheese in creamy mushroom sauce.

🇸🇳Nouadhibou, Senegal

Kéthiakh

Ketax

Sardinella salted, smoked and dried into stiff, oily fillets used in rice dishes and bean stews.

🇲🇱Mali

La Capitaine Sangha

Capitaine Sangha

Grilled Nile perch (capitaine) from the Niger River; a traditional Malian seafood dish; the fish is grilled whole and served with fried plantains, rice, and a spicy chili sauce; Nile perch is prized for its moist, medium-firm texture and mild flavor; a specialty of the Niger River region; a flavorful and filling meal.

🇨🇭Vaud, Switzerland

Lake Perch Fillets

Filets de perche

Small perch fillets floured and fried in butter, served with lemon, tartare sauce and boiled potatoes at lakeside restaurants.

🇲🇪Lake Skadar, Montenegro

Lake Skadar Carp

Krap sa Skadarskog jezera

Carp from Lake Skadar, either grilled fresh over vine cuttings or smoked whole and then stewed with prunes and dried plums.

🇹🇷Istanbul, Turkey

Lakerda

Lakerda, salt-cured bonito sliced for the meyhane table, is a named Istanbul preserve with its own autumn production window.

🇱🇻Vidzeme, Latvia

Lampreys

Nēģi

Jawless fish caught in rivers, grilled over coals and pressed into jelly, Carnikava lamprey has EU PGI status.

🇮🇩Lampung, Indonesia

Lampung Fish Dish

Seruit

Lampung grilled fish with sambal terasi, tempoyak (fermented durian), and fresh vegetables.

🇫🇮Finland

Loimulohi

Salmon or trout nailed to a plank and cooked over an open fire, a summer-cottage classic.

🇬🇧London, United Kingdom

London cure smoked salmon

London-cure smoked salmon is Scottish salmon dry-cured with salt and sugar and then cold-smoked.

🇫🇷Brittany, France

Lotte à l’armoricaine

Lotte à l’armoricaine is monkfish simmered with tomato, shallot, herbs, and a lightly spiced sauce.

🇬🇧Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Lough Neagh Eel

European eels from Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland's biggest fishery and an EU PGI.

🇬🇧Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Lough Neagh Pollan

Lough Neagh Pollan is a protected collective food or drink identity with a defined regional specification.

🇳🇷Nauru

Lulu

Fish or other seafood dried in the sun for preservation, seasoned and stored to eat later; usually paired with breadfruit or taro; represents traditional island preservation methods before modern refrigeration; a practical food for a resource-scarce island; still made but less common than in the past.

🇬🇱West Greenland, Greenland

Lumpfish Roe

Qeqorlualuit

Lumpfish roe; known as Greenlandic caviar; fished from the west coast; served as blinis at kaffemik gatherings; a prized delicacy

🇳🇴Norway

Lutefisk

Lutfisk

A Norwegian dish of dried cod rehydrated in lye, then boiled or baked, gelatinous and pungent. A Christmas and winter tradition, served with potatoes, bacon, and mustard, a national and festive classic, an acquired taste.

🇨🇫Central African Republic

Maboké

Fish fillets steamed in banana or cassava leaves over a bed of onions, garlic, tomatoes, parsley and hot peppers; eaten in the Central African Republic and the Congo basin.

🇭🇳Northern Honduras, Honduras

Machuca

Green plantain pounded in a wooden mortar into a dense mash and served in a bowl of coconut fish soup — the Garifuna version of fufu with a broth.

🇼🇸Samoa

Mackerel Coconut Bake

Faiai Eleni

Samoan fish bake with fresh or tinned mackerel, taro leaves, sliced onions, spices, and coconut milk; baked in the oven until crispy on top; traditionally served in a coconut shell; a hearty, creamy fish dish; uses the daily catch or tinned mackerel; served with taro.

🇪🇸Madrid, Spain

Madrid-Style Sea Bream

Besugo a la madrileña

In Madrid, Besugo a la madrileña is sea bream baked with onion, lemon, garlic, and potatoes.

🇰🇷South Korea

Maeuntang

매운탕

Maeuntang, the spicy fish stew built from the frame left after raw fish is sliced, is a named Korean dish with a fixed place at the end of a hoe meal.

🇨🇰Cook Islands

Mahi Mahi in Coconut Cream

Mahi Mahi

Fresh mahi-mahi fillets gently poached in rich coconut cream, often served over rukau (taro leaves in coconut cream); a classic Cook Islands pairing of local fish and coconut.

🇦🇫Kabul, Afghanistan

Mahi wa Jelabi

ماهی و جلبی

Battered fried river fish eaten with hot jelabi and naan — the Friday lunch of Kabul.