Porridge

🇧🇷Brazil

Pirão

A thick Brazilian side dish of manioc flour moistened with fish or meat broth and stirred to a porridge-like consistency. Served with fish, meat or bobó.

🇮🇳Maharashtra, India

Pithla

पिठलं

A thick Maharashtrian curry made from gram flour and spices. It is served with bhakri or rice.

🇨🇮Côte d'Ivoire

Placali

Fermented cassava dough cooked out with water and beaten smooth into a glossy, sticky, notably sour paste.

🇨🇮Côte d'Ivoire

Plakali

Fresh cassava dough cooked alone into a soft, glossy staple, popular among the Ahanta and Nzema of the west.

🇨🇮Côte d'Ivoire

Plantain Foutou

Foutou Banane

Boiled ripe and green plantain pounded into an elastic Ivorian dough served with sauce.

🇮🇹Italy

Polenta

Northern Italian cornmeal porridge, slow-stirred for 40+ minutes, served soft or cooled and grilled/fried. The carbohydrate staple of the north.

🇷🇴Galicia, Romania

Polenta

Mămăligă

Coarse maize meal cooked in a cast-iron pot and stirred stiff, turned out as a dome and cut with a thread rather than a knife.

🇮🇹Piedmont, Italy

Polenta Concia

Piedmontese soft polenta melted with fontina and butter, served in a clay pot. The ultimate mountain comfort food, often with truffle.

🇮🇹Lombardy, Italy

Polenta Taragna

Bergamo buckwheat polenta with butter and cheese.

🇬🇧United Kingdom

Porridge

Leiteoige

Pinhead or rolled oats simmered with water and salt and stirred until thick, eaten with milk, cream or a little sugar.

🇪🇪Mulgimaa, Estonia

Potato and Barley Porridge

Mulgipuder

UNESCO-listed mashed potato and barley porridge from Mulgimaa, often with bacon and onions, the ultimate comfort food.

🇳🇬Nigeria

Pounded Yam

Iyan

White yam boiled and pounded in a mortar until it becomes a smooth, elastic dough eaten in pinched balls with soup.

🇰🇷South Korea

Pumpkin Porridge

호박죽

A creamy, slightly sweet porridge made with kabocha squash, often topped with sweet rice balls (saealsim), a comforting winter dish.

🇮🇳Kerala, India

Puttu

പുട്ട്

A cylindrical steamed rice cake from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, layered with grated coconut. It is served with kadala curry or banana.

🇹🇬Togo

Pâté

Togolese corn dough cooked into a soft staple and served with pepper, okra or leafy sauces.

🇶🇦Qatar

Qatari Jareesh

جريش

Crushed wheat cooked with chicken, ghee, and onions, topped with caramelised onions and green peppers — a hearty Qatari grain dish distinct from the smoother harees.

🇮🇳Karnataka, India

Ragi Mudde

ರಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ದೆ

A Karnataka staple of cooked finger millet dough, shaped into balls and served with sambar or curry.

🇰🇷South Korea

Red Bean Porridge

팥죽

A creamy porridge made from adzuki beans, traditionally eaten on the winter solstice (Dongji), often with small rice balls inside.

🇨🇾Cyprus

Resi

Ρέσι

Cracked wheat cooked slowly in lamb or goat broth until it turns creamy, traditionally made for village weddings.

🇲🇲Myanmar

Rice Congee

ဆန်ပြုတ်

Loose rice porridge simmered with chicken or fish, ginger and coriander — the standard food for the ill, for children and for late-night eating.

🇪🇭Western Sahara

Rkid

Rkid is a Sahrawi barley preparation made by combining barley with water, milk, and oil into a soft, nourishing porridge.

🇳🇴Norway

Rømmegrøt

A Norwegian sour cream porridge, rich and creamy, served with sugar, cinnamon, and cured meat

🇮🇳Maharashtra, India

Sabudana Khichdi

साबूदाना खिचड़ी

A dish made from soaked tapioca pearls, peanuts, potatoes, and spices. It is a fasting food in Maharashtra and North India.

🇲🇼Malawi

Sadza

Isitshwala

White maize meal stirred into boiling water in two stages — a thin porridge first, then more meal beaten in — until it is stiff enough to be rolled into a ball by hand.

🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Sadza reZviyo

Sadza made from finger millet or sorghum instead of maize, coming out reddish-brown, denser and slightly sour.

🇧🇱Saint Barthélemy

Saint Barts Cornmeal Fungi

Fangui

Cornmeal dish similar to polenta or fungi, a staple food in Saint Barthélemy; cooked slowly with water and salt until thick and smooth; served on holidays with blaff (fish court-bouillon) or goat colombo; the local name 'fangui' is distinct to St. Barts.

🇳🇬Nigeria

Semovita

Semo

Semolina flour cooked into a smooth pale swallow, the mass-market alternative to pounded yam sold in bags everywhere.

🇺🇸Southern United States, United States

Shrimp and Grits

A Low Country dish of creamy stone-ground grits topped with shrimp sautéed in bacon, garlic, and Cajun spices.

🇹🇲Turkmenistan

Shule

Şüle

Shule is a Turkmen rice porridge cooked with meat and sometimes shredded carrots, served as a thick savory bowl.

🇸🇿Eswatini

Siphuphe Semabhontjisi

Thick porridge made from mashed beans, protein-rich and filling.

🇸🇿Eswatini

Siphuphe Setindlubu

Thick porridge made from mashed groundnuts, rich and nutty.

🇸🇿Eswatini

Sishwala

Thick porridge of maize meal cooked with soaked sugar beans until the beans soften and the maize swells - the anchor dish of Swazi meals, served with meat or vegetable stews

🇸🇿Eswatini

Sitfubi

Fresh milk cooked with white cornmeal into a smooth, creamy breakfast porridge.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Poi

Poi

Solomon Islands poi is fermented pounded taro made into a smooth, tangy paste and served as a starchy accompaniment to fish, meat, or vegetables.

🇸🇴Somalia

Somali Cornmeal

Soor

A stiff cornmeal porridge commonly consumed by southern Somalis; eaten alongside stews or soup; similar to asida but simpler; a staple in the riverine regions where corn and sorghum are grown; a filling, comforting base for meat and vegetable dishes; the cornmeal of southern Somalia; found at family tables and traditional restaurants.

🇸🇴Somalia

Somali Cornmeal Mash

Asida

A Somali cornmeal dish; mashed with fresh milk, butter, and sugar; or presented with a hole in the middle filled with maraq or olive oil; a commonly eaten cornmeal dish across Somalia; a comforting, filling base for stews and sauces; similar to soor but enriched with milk and butter; the cornmeal mash of Somalia; found at family tables.