Spreads

🇮🇷Rasht, Iran

Mirza Ghasemi

میرزا قاسمی

Aubergines charred over flame and mashed with garlic, tomato and egg into a smoky purée — a Gilan dish eaten warm with bread.

🇸🇩Sudan

Moukhbaza

Ripe bananas mashed with butter and honey or sugar into a thick sweet paste eaten with bread.

🇳🇿Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand Marmite

Marmite

Yeast-extract spread made in Christchurch to a caramel-sweeter, less salty recipe than the British version.

🇺🇬Gulu, Uganda

Odii

Sesame ground to a coarse paste with groundnut, sometimes salted, mixed into greens and beans across northern Uganda.

🇭🇺Hungary

Padlizsán Krém

Salată de vinete

Transylvanian grilled-eggplant salad; shared with RO salata-de-vinete; canonical home needs a product decision

🇳🇱Netherlands

Peanut Butter

Pindakaas

Dutch peanut butter, thicker and slightly sweeter than American versions, Calvé is the famous brand, a household staple.

🇧🇬Bulgaria

Pindjur

Пинджур

Pindjur is a chunky relish of roasted peppers, tomatoes, aubergine and garlic.

🇵🇸Nablus, Palestine

Qizha

قزحة

Pitch-black paste made from crushed nigella seeds, sharp and bitter with slight sweetness, used in Palestinian sweets, pies, and breads.

🇨🇦Quebec, Canada

Quebec Pork Spread

Cretons

Cold pork spread with onions and spices, smooth pâté-like texture, traditional Quebec breakfast on toast.

🇮🇶Iraq

Rashi

راشي

Sesame seeds hulled, roasted and stone-ground into a pale, loose paste, eaten sweet with date syrup rather than in savoury dips.

🇧🇷Brazil

Requeijão

A soft pourable cream cheese sold in distinctive squat glass jars, spread thickly on French bread at breakfast or melted into hot dishes.

🇲🇻Maldives

Rihaakuru

ރިހާކުރު

Tuna cooking liquid is reduced for hours into a dark, concentrated paste used to season Maldivian meals.

🇷🇸Serbia

Roast Pepper and Aubergine Relish

Љутеница

Roasted red peppers and aubergine cooked down with tomato, garlic and chilli into a thick, hot spread jarred for winter.

🇷🇴Romania

Roasted Vegetable Spread

Zacuscă

Roasted aubergine and red pepper cooked down with onion and tomato into a dark spread, jarred by the crate every autumn.

🇱🇹Samogitia, Lithuania

Samogitian Sour-Cream Spread

Kastinys

Sour cream kneaded and washed until it forms a soft spread, a traditional Samogitian dish registered as an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed.

🇫🇷Lyon, France

Silk Worker's Brain

Cervelle de canut

Lyonnaise herbed fresh cheese spread, traditionally eaten with bread.

🇧🇪Liège, Belgium

Sirop de Liège

A Belgian thick apple and pear syrup spread, a daily and essential staple.

🇵🇱Poland

Smalec

Polish lard spread with crispy pork cracklings (skwarki), often with marjoram and onions. A rustic, savory bread spread, a national staple, served with bread and pickles.

🇿🇦South Africa

Snoek Pâté

A South African pâté of smoked snoek with cream cheese, butter, and lemon, served as a spread. A Cape and starter staple, smoky and creamy, a national and festive classic, a party and home dip, a savory and elegant spread, a pâté.

🇯🇲Jamaica

Solomon Gundy

Smoked herring pounded to a paste with pimento, scotch bonnet and vinegar, sold in jars and spread on crackers.

🇹🇲Turkmenistan

Suzma

Süzmə

A thick, tangy Azerbaijani drained yogurt spread, made by hanging qatiq in cloth to remove whey, seasoned with salt and garlic.

🇮🇱Israel

Tahini

طحينة

A smooth paste of ground sesame seeds, the backbone of hummus, baba ghanoush, moutabal and many Lebanese dips and sauces.

🇫🇷Provence, France

Tapenade

Provencal spread of black olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil.

🇷🇸Serbia

Urnebes Cheese Spread

Урнебес

Crumbled white cheese mashed with hot paprika, garlic and oil into a bright orange spread, served with grilled meat and bread.

🇦🇺Australia

Vegemite

Vegemite is a dark, salty yeast-extract spread used sparingly on buttered toast and as a savoury seasoning in cooking.

🇦🇹Styria, Austria

Verhackert

Styrian spread made from chopped cold-smoked bacon, lard, garlic, and salt, good smoky flavor, a key component of Brettljause, traditional.

🇸🇪Sweden

Whey Butter

Messmör

Sweet, caramel-flavored spread made from reduced whey, with golden brown color and distinctive taste.

🇨🇬Republic of the Congo

Yuuma

Roasted peanuts ground into paste and served with boiled bananas, cassava, and palm oil; a simple, hearty combination from the Congolese countryside.

🇸🇮Slovenian Littoral, Slovenia

Zaseka

Bacon and pork fat minced with garlic and salt into a coarse, spreadable lard eaten on black bread with raw onion.

🇦🇲Armenia

Zhazhik

Ժաժիկ

Curd cheese kneaded with wild herbs — most importantly sibekh — and left to mature into a green-flecked, pungent spread.