Stews

🇹🇻Tuvalu

Tuvalu Coconut Tuna

Tuvaluan coconut tuna is fresh tuna cooked with coconut milk, onion, and island aromatics until just tender; the sauce is rich but the fish stays in flakes.

🇿🇦South Africa

Umngqusho (Samp & Beans)

Umngqusho

A Xhosa dish of samp (crushed dried corn) and sugar beans, slow-cooked with onions and garlic, a Nelson Mandela favorite. A national and traditional staple, hearty and savory, a comfort and daily dish

🇿🇦South Africa

Umsila wenkomo (Oxtail & Dumplings)

Umsila wenkomo

A traditional South African oxtail stew served with dombolo (steamed dumplings), a hearty and comforting dish

🇨🇰Cook Islands

Umu

Umukai

A traditional underground oven feast; food is wrapped in banana leaves, placed on heated volcanic stones, and slow-cooked for hours; typically includes pork, chicken, fish, taro, breadfruit, and kumara; a centerpiece of Cook Islands celebrations.

🇹🇴Tonga

Umu

Samoan umu is a communal above-ground earth-oven feast in which food is wrapped in leaves and cooked over heated stones.

🇧🇷Brazil

Vaca Atolada

A rustic stew of beef ribs and cassava chunks simmered in a rich tomato and bean broth, with the cassava becoming soft and starchy.

🇳🇮Nicaragua

Vaho

A Nicaraguan steamed dish of beef, yuca, plantains, and vegetables in banana leaves, a festive and regional classic

🇨🇱Chile

Valdiviano

Ancient broth with charqui, pumpkin, bread, eggs, and spices from Valdivia region, a historic Chilean stew, rich and dark.

🇧🇷Bahia, Brazil

Vatapá

A creamy Afro-Bahian paste of bread, dried shrimp, coconut milk, ground peanuts, and dendê oil, served inside acarajé or with rice.

🇫🇷France

Veal Blanquette

Blanquette de veau

Veal stew in white sauce without browning, with mushrooms and pearl onions.

🇵🇭Philippines

Vegetable Stew

Pinakbet

An Ilocano mixed vegetable stew with eggplant, okra, bitter melon, beans, and squash in shrimp paste.

🇷🇴Romania

Vegetable Stew

Ghiveci

Mixed vegetables — carrots, celery, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, aubergine, peppers — braised with tomato and garlic, baked in a pot.

🇲🇦Morocco

Vegetable Tagine (Berber)

طاجين الخضار

A Berber vegetable tagine of layered seasonal vegetables (carrots, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes) over meat, drizzled with argan oil. A Souss and Atlas mountain specialty, hearty and rustic, served with bread.

🇳🇨New Caledonia

Venison Stew

Civet de Cerf

Civet de cerf is New Caledonian venison slow-braised in red wine with aromatics until tender, a West Coast Broussard preparation served with vegetables or rice.

🇧🇾Hrodna, Belarus

Vereshchaka

Верашчака

The older, sourer ancestor of machanka: pork and sausage stewed in bread kvass with onion and caraway until the liquor turns tart. A Grand Duchy recipe revived by Minsk restaurants.

🇦🇹Vienna, Austria

Viennese Goulash

Wiener Saftgulasch

Austrian beef goulash with thick, smooth gravy made from lean beef, onions, paprika, and spices, served with bread or dumplings, richer than Hungarian.

🇧🇬Bulgaria

Vinen Kebap

Винен кебап

Vinen kebap is pork braised with onion, peppers and red wine until the sauce turns dark and glossy.

🇵🇭Philippines

Visayan Braised Pork

Humba

A Visayan braised pork dish similar to adobo but with banana blossoms, black beans, and a sweeter profile.

🇿🇦South Africa

Waterblommetjie Bredie

A Cape stew of lamb with waterblommetjies (water lily flowers), potatoes, and spices, slow-cooked. A Western Cape and regional specialty, unique and aromatic, a winter and heritage dish, a national and seasonal classic, a stew.

🇷🇸Serbia

Wedding Cabbage

Свадбарски купус

Layers of soured cabbage and several kinds of smoked and fresh meat baked in a wide clay pot for many hours, traditionally cooked outdoors for a crowd.

🇰🇾Cayman Islands

Whelk Stew

Whelks (marine snails, Cittarium pica) stewed in a flavourful broth; harvested seasonally (November 1 - April 30); whelks are a traditional Caymanian seafood often prepared similarly to conch Cayman whelk stew is a named local preparation that simmers tenderized whelk with vegetables and island seasonings.

🇱🇧Lebanon

White Bean Stew

فاصوليا

A Lebanese stew of white beans simmered in tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil and coriander, served warm with bread.

🇷🇸Vojvodina, Serbia

White Stew

Бела чорба

A pale stew of chicken or veal cooked in a roux with milk and cream, thickened with egg yolk and finished with vinegar and garlic.

🇳🇦Namibia

Wild Mushroom

Owawa

Wild mushrooms from northern Namibia — similar to omajova, these edible fungi grow on termite mounds and are grilled, fried, or cooked into stews; a seasonal delicacy of the Owambo region.

🇦🇷Argentina

Yacaré

Caiman meat from the Argentine northeast, historically grilled or stewed in the Chaco and Iberá wetlands. A regional, gamey specialty, now farmed sustainably.

🇪🇨Sierra (Andean Highlands), Ecuador

Yaguarlocro

Yahuarlocro

An Ecuadorian blood stew with potatoes, onions, and blood, a Sierra and traditional classic.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Yebeg Alicha Wot

የበግ አልጫ ወጥ

A mild Ethiopian lamb stew built on turmeric, ginger, garlic and slow-cooked onions — the alicha cousin of yebeg key wot. Tender, golden and deeply comforting.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Yebeg Key Wot

የበግ ቀይ ወጥ

A spicy Ethiopian lamb stew simmered for hours in a deeply caramelized berbere-and-onion kulet. A holiday centerpiece and proof that lamb and Ethiopian spice were meant for each other.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Yebeh

A hearty traditional Mende stew of cassava, yam, sweet potato, onion, ginger, tomato paste, peanut butter, turmeric, and chilli; can be vegan or enriched with chicken, and is a warming one-pot dish from Sierra Leone's south.

🇩🇯Djibouti

Yetakelt W'et

Spiced mixed vegetable stew of green beans, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, berbere and niter kibbeh; served with injera on fasting days.

🇬🇶Equatorial Guinea

Yetisse

Stewed fish with vegetables (carrots, eggplants), ginger, hot peppers, and chicken bouillon; served on white rice mixed with mashed okra; variations use beef or chicken.

🇮🇩Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Yogyakarta Sweet Jackfruit Stew

Gudeg

Yogyakarta specialty of young jackfruit cooked in coconut milk and palm sugar for hours, sweet and savory.

🇯🇵Kyoto, Japan

Yudofu

湯豆腐

Kyoto's simple hot pot of silken tofu simmered with kombu, served with soy-based dipping sauce.

🇹🇬Togo

Yèkè Yèkè

A traditional Togolese stew of meat or offal braised in a spicy tomato and onion sauce; slow-cooked until the sauce is thick and the meat is tender, served with akoumé or fufu.

🇿🇲Zambia

Zambian Moambe

Moambe

Zambian palm nut stew; chicken or meat cooked in a rich sauce made from palm nuts; shared with DRC where it is the national dish; a hearty, rich stew; served with nshima or rice; the palm nut stew that crosses borders; a celebration dish in Zambia.

🇿🇲Zambia

Zambian Samp

Samp

Crushed maize kernels cooked until soft; eaten in Zambia as a staple; similar to samp in South Africa and Zimbabwe; sometimes cooked with beans; a comforting, starchy dish; served with relishes or stews; the crushed maize of Zambia; a variation on the maize staple.