Sauces

🇲🇽Puebla, Mexico

Mole Poblano

A complex, dark sauce from Puebla built from multiple chiles, chocolate, nuts, seeds, and spices, traditionally served over poultry.

🇲🇽Oaxaca, Mexico

Mole rojo

A red mole of red chiles, nuts, and spices, glossy and warm.

🇲🇽Oaxaca, Mexico

Mole verde

A green mole of tomatillos, green chiles, and herbs, bright and tangy.

🇲🇽Mexico

Mole zacatecano

A Zacatecas mole, dark and savory, with a distinct chile depth.

🇦🇴Angola

Molho Cru

Raw garlic, spring onion, parsley, cumin, vinegar and water stirred together and poured over grilled fish.

🇿🇦South Africa

Monkey Gland Sauce

A South African steak sauce of tomato, onion, garlic, chutney, and Worcestershire sauce, sweet and savory.

🇨🇮Côte d'Ivoire

Moyo

Raw onion, tomato, chilli and stock cube crushed together with a little oil and lemon into a loose relish, spooned over grilled fish.

🇲🇿Mozambique

Mozambican Piri-Piri

Molho piri-piri

Small bird's eye chillies crushed with garlic, lemon and oil into a rough red sauce used both as a marinade and at the table.

🇨🇿Czech Republic

Mushroom Sauce

Houbová omáčka

Forest-mushroom sauce served over dumplings, a hallmark of Czech mushroom cuisine.

🇻🇳Central Vietnam, Vietnam

Mắm nêm

A pungent fermented anchovy sauce, used as a dip in central Vietnam.

🇹🇬Togo

N'gbagba

A savoury fried tomato and onion sauce in Togo, often spooned over rice-and-beans dishes; salty, sweet, and slightly smoky from the fry.

🇹🇭Thailand

Nam Chim Kai

น้ำจิ้มไก่

Thai sweet chili dipping sauce with garlic, vinegar, and sugar, commonly served with grilled chicken and fried foods.

🇹🇭Thailand

Nam Prik Pao

น้ำพริกเผา

Roasted chili paste made with dried chilies, garlic, shallots, and shrimp paste, used as a condiment or soup base.

🇦🇿Azerbaijan

Narsharab

Narşərab

Pomegranate juice boiled down to a dark, syrupy, sharply sour sauce, poured over grilled fish and sturgeon.

🇨🇩DR Congo

Ngai Ngai ya Musaka

Ngai ngai

A sauce or dish prepared with a sauce made from the pericarp (not the seeds) of palm nuts, the fruit of the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis); ngai ngai is a leaf called oseille in French and sorrel in English; listed in Wikipedia's Congolese cuisine; a traditional sauce of western Middle Africa; served with fufu, rice, or chikwangue; the sorrel sauce of the Congo.

🇨🇲Cameroon

Nkui

A stretchy, mucilaginous sauce made from nkui bark beaten with spices, served with fufu at Bamileke births and celebrations.

🇨🇦Quebec, Canada

Nougabricot

A Quebec condiment of stewed apricots, tomatoes, and onions, sweet and savory — similar to chutney.

🇬🇦Ngounié-Nyanga (Southern Forest), Gabon

Odika

A thick brown paste made from roasted and ground wild mango seeds (Irvingia gabonensis); looks like chocolate and has a slightly bitter, nutty flavour; used as a sauce base for meat and fish.

🇧🇸Bahamas

Old Sour

Key lime juice salted heavily and left to stand for weeks, often with bird peppers dropped in, then strained into a bottle.

🇭🇰Guangdong, Hong Kong

Oyster Sauce

蚝油

A thick brown seasoning made by reducing oyster liquor with sugar and salt, used to finish greens and stir-fries.

🇱🇦Laos

Padaek

ປາແດກ

Freshwater fish fermented with rice bran and salt for a year or more into a thick, chunky, intensely pungent paste.

🇮🇹Italy

Pancetta all'aceto

Pancetta all'aceto is a Mugello preparation of pancetta cooked with vinegar until the cured pork is tender and the sharp cooking liquid becomes a glossy sauce.

🇩🇰Denmark

Peberrodssovs

Horseradish sauce, classic with boiled beef and fish.

🇨🇱Chile

Pebre

Chilean condiment with tomato, onion, cilantro, garlic, oil, vinegar, and chili, served with bread, a national staple.

🇼🇫Wallis and Futuna

Pekepeke

Pekepeke is a Wallisian sauce or spread made from coconut and local aromatics, served in small amounts to add savoury richness to fish, roots, or meat.

🇵🇹Portugal

Peri-Peri Sauce

Piri-piri

Piri-piri is a hot chili sauce made with small peppers and oil or vinegar, used to season grilled chicken, seafood, and other Portuguese dishes.

🇩🇰Denmark

Persillesovs (Parsley Sauce)

Persillesovs

A Danish creamy white sauce with fresh parsley, served with stegt flæsk and fish

🇮🇹Genoa, Italy

Pesto alla Genovese

Liguria's basil sauce pounded in a marble mortar with garlic, pine nuts, Parmigiano, Pecorino, and olive oil. The soul of Genovese cooking.

🇻🇳Vietnam

Phú Quốc Fish Sauce

Nước mắm Phú Quốc

A protected-origin Vietnamese fish sauce made on Phú Quốc from salted fish and maturation, sold as a named bottled product rather than a generic fish sauce category.

🇲🇽Mexico

Pico de Gallo

A fresh salsa of diced tomato, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime — a raw, crunchy table salsa.

🇧🇮Burundi

Pili Pili

Hot chili sauce made from African bird's eye chilies, oil, and sometimes garlic or onion; served with brochettes, grilled fish, and fried potatoes; the ubiquitous condiment of Rwandan street food and bar snacks.

🇹🇿Tanzania

Pilipili

Pilipili hoho

Small fierce chillies pounded with lime, salt and sometimes coconut into a rough table sauce.

🇮🇱Israel

Pilpelchuma

פילפלצ'ומה

Libyan Jewish paste of garlic, caraway, paprika and hot pepper cooked in oil until it turns brick red and sweet-hot.

🇲🇽Mexico

Pipián

A thick Mexican sauce of ground pumpkin seeds, chiles, and spices, served over chicken or pork.

🇵🇷Puerto Rico

Pique Criollo

A Puerto Rican hot pepper vinegar sauce of chiles, garlic, and herbs, used as a table condiment.

🇵🇷Puerto Rico

Pique verde boricua

A Puerto Rican green hot sauce of chiles, cilantro, garlic, and vinegar, blended into a vibrant condiment.