Jams & Preserves

🇵🇾Paraguay

Guava Paste

Dulce de Guayaba

Solid reddish paste made from guava, an emblematic national dessert, often served with cheese (martín fierro).

🇮🇷Gilan, Iran

Hafte bijar torshi (Iranian pickles)

هفت‌بیجار

Haft bijar torshi, the Gilaki seven-vegetable pickle aged in vinegar, is a named regional preserve bought by the jar and distinct from generic torshi.

🇪🇨Cuenca, Ecuador

Higos con Queso

An Ecuadorian dessert of preserved figs in panela syrup served with fresh cheese (quesillo), a Cuenca and national classic.

🇯🇵Kanto, Japan

Hoshi-imo

干し芋

Hoshi-imo, sweet potato steamed and sun-dried into chewy amber slabs, is a named Ibaraki product bought as itself.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Jalea de Guayaba

A Dominican guava jelly of guava pulp and sugar, cooked until spreadable. Eaten with cheese, on bread, or in pastries, a sweet and floral spread.

🇻🇪Venezuela

Jalea de Mango

Green mango cooked with papelón until it reduces to a stiff, sour-sweet paste, cut into blocks and eaten with cheese.

🇬🇹Guatemala

Jocotes en Miel

A Guatemalan dessert of jocotes (small yellow plums) simmered in a spiced honey or sugar syrup until glossy and tender.

🇲🇭Marshall Islands

Jããnkun

Mokwan

Jaankun is pandanus fruit cooked into a paste, dried, and wrapped for storage; the concentrated preserve is chewy, fragrant, and suited to long canoe journeys.

🇹🇷Turkey

Kabak Tatlısı

Pumpkin slices baked with sugar until caramelized and tender, served cold with tahini drizzle and crushed walnuts. The natural sweetness of the pumpkin is enhanced by the caramelization, while the tahini adds a nutty contrast. A popular autumn and winter dessert.

🇹🇷Turkey

Kavurma

Kavurma, meat slow-cooked and preserved under its own fat in sealed tins, is a named Turkish preserved product bought by the tin, not a generic fried meat.

🇮🇷Iran

Lavashak

لواشک

Fruit purée is seasoned, spread thin, and dried into Iranian sour fruit leather sold in colourful rolls and sheets.

🇸🇰Slovakia

Lekvár

Plum butter cooked without sugar for a whole day until it is thick, dark and spreadable, used in buchty, koláče and on bread.

🇱🇮Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein Elderberry Jam

Holdrsaft

Ripe elderberries cooked down with sugar into a dark Liechtenstein preserve, tart and richly coloured.

🇦🇷Argentina

Mermelada de Calafate

A Patagonian jam made from calafate berries, deep purple and sweet-tart. Served with toast, cheeses, or as a filling for patisserie in the southern provinces.

🇮🇹Lombardy, Italy

Mostarda di Mantova

Mantuan fruit mostarda—apples, pears, quince—candied in a sharp mustard syrup. Served with boiled meats and cheeses.

🇦🇿Azerbaijan

Murabba

Mürəbbə

Whole fruit preserved in syrup so it stays intact — walnut, white cherry, fig, watermelon rind, even rose petals — spooned out to eat with tea.

🇸🇾Rif Dimashq, Syria

Murabba' al-ward (Syrian rose jam)

مربى الورد

Rose petals are simmered with sugar into a fragrant Syrian preserve, served with bread, cream, or yoghurt.

🇻🇳Hue, Vietnam

Mắm tôm chua (Vietnamese Fermented Shrimp)

Mắm tôm chua

Mam tom chua, Hue's sour fermented whole shrimp eaten with pork and herbs, is a named regional preserve.

🇮🇷Gilan, Iran

Naz khatun

نازخاتون

Roasted aubergine, herbs, garlic and pomegranate molasses become a smoky, sour relish from Gilan.

🇵🇾Paraguay

Papaya in Syrup

Dulce de Mamón

Papaya boiled in water and sugar for hours until soft, flavored with cloves, orange or lemon juice, a traditional dessert.

🇨🇻Cape Verde

Papaya Jam

Doce de Papaia

Sweet preserve made by slow-cooking papaya with sugar until thick and jam-like, traditionally paired with goat cheese.

🇸🇹Sao Tome and Principe

Papaya Jam

Doce de Papaia

Sweet, jam-like dessert made from papaya; papaya cooked with sugar until it caramelizes and reaches a thick, sticky consistency; flavored with cinnamon; enjoyed on its own or as a spread on bread or crackers; a traditional Santomean dessert; the papaya jam of the islands.

🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau

Papaya Preserve

Doce de Papaya

Papaya cooked slowly with sugar into a fragrant Portuguese-influenced preserve in Guinea-Bissau.

🇹🇷Turkey

Pestil

Sheet-dried fruit leather made by spreading grape-must-thickened fruit purée on cloth to sun-dry, often layered with walnut halves and folded — an Anatolian pantry staple bought by the sheet.

🇦🇹Austria

Plum Butter

Powidl

Traditional plum butter made from prune plums cooked for hours without added sweeteners, dark color with intense plum flavor, a foundational ingredient.

🇷🇴Wallachia, Romania

Plum Butter

Magiun de Topoloveni

Plums cooked down for many hours with no sugar or preservative until they reduce to a dark, thick, intensely fruity butter.

🇦🇹Austria

Plum Compote

Zwetschgenröster

Thick plum compote served as topping for dumplings, pancakes, and desserts, made from Zwetschgen plums, good spice balance, a traditional Austrian accompaniment.

🇨🇳China

Pork Floss (Rousong)

肉鬆

Rousong (meat floss), dried pork spun into a cotton-like fluff and eaten on congee and buns, is a named Chinese product bought by the jar.

🇵🇭Philippines

Purple Yam Jam

Ube Halaya

A sweet, thick purple yam jam made with condensed milk and butter, the base of many Filipino ube desserts.

🇱🇺Luxembourg Moselle, Luxembourg

Quetsche Jam

Quetschemarmelade

Deeply flavored plum preserve from the Moselle harvest.

🇮🇷Iran

Rob-e anar

رب انار

Pomegranate juice reduced slowly into a thick, tangy-sweet Iranian molasses sold in jars for stews, marinades and breakfast tables.

🇧🇬Bulgaria

Rose Petal Preserve

Сладко от рози

Whole rose petals cooked in sugar syrup with lemon into a translucent pink preserve, offered to guests on a spoon with a glass of cold water.

🇺🇦Ukraine

Rose Petal Preserves

Трояндове варення

Jam of Damask rose petals cooked in syrup, a Crimean and Tatar delicacy perfumed and ruby-dark.

🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina

Rosehip Pekmez

Pekmez od šipka

Rosehips cooked down and sieved into a dark, tart, unsweetened fruit butter eaten on bread or thinned into a winter drink.

🇦🇺Australia

Rosella Jam

Brilliant crimson jam cooked from the fleshy calyces of rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa), a backyard crop across subtropical Australia; sharply tart and rhubarb-like, made at home and by small farm producers.

🇱🇾Libya

Rub

Dates or carob boiled down to a near-black syrup used on asida, bread and in sweets.