Vegetables

🇫🇷France

Blettes à la voironnaise

Blettes à la voironnaise are Swiss chard leaves and stems cooked tender with a creamy, savory sauce from Voiron.

🇫🇷Provence, France

Bohémienne

Bohémienne is a Provençal eggplant and tomato stew, cooked down with olive oil until soft and richly flavored.

🇲🇼Malawi

Bonongwe

Amaranth leaves (Amaranthus hybridus) cooked with tomatoes, onions, and groundnut flour into a soft, nutritious ndiwo; a widely consumed indigenous green in Malawi.

🇺🇬Uganda

Boo Otigo

A northern Ugandan leafy relish cooked with groundnut and served with millet or cassava starch.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Borani Banjan

بورانی بادنجان

Aubergine slices fried, layered with tomato and simmered, then served under garlic yoghurt and dried mint.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Borani Kadoo

بورانی کدو

Pumpkin cooked with sugar, tomato and garlic into a soft, sweet mass and served under garlic yoghurt.

🇰🇷South Korea

Braised Lotus Root

연근조림

Lotus root slices braised in a sweet soy sauce until tender and glossy, with a satisfying crunchy-chewy texture.

🇧🇧Barbados

Breadfruit Cou-Cou

Boiled breadfruit pounded with butter and salt meat into a smooth mound, served like cornmeal cou-cou with steamed fish.

🇮🇹Lazio, Italy

Broccoli al prosciutto

Broccoli al prosciutto is a named Italian vegetable from Lazio, built around its defining ingredient and cooked in a specific local style; the texture, seasoning, and serving form distinguish the dish.

🇸🇪Sweden

Brunkål

Brunkål is a side dish from Skåne County, rooted in local cooking tradition.

🇳🇱Brussels, Netherlands

Brussels Sprouts

Spruitjes

Brussels sprouts, Dutch plant breeders developed modern varieties, a traditional winter vegetable, often with bacon.

🇨🇳China

Buddha's Delight (Luo Han Zhai)

罗汉斋

Luohan zhai (Buddha's delight), the fixed Buddhist vegetarian dish of eighteen ingredients eaten on the first day of Lunar New Year, is a named ceremonial dish with a documented composition.

🇰🇮Kiribati

Bwabwai

Giant swamp taro (Cyrtosperma chamissonis) grown in laboriously hand-dug pits (te baanga) that reach down to the freshwater lens beneath each atoll; takes 12-18 months to mature; the most symbolically valued traditional crop in Kiribati; boiled, roasted, or baked in earth ovens; the pits are family heirlooms passed down through generations.

🇵🇪Peru

Caigua

A hollow Andean vegetable stuffed or sliced into Peruvian soups, stir-fries and salads.

🇲🇽Mexico

Calabacitas a la mexicana

Zucchini sautéed with corn, tomato, and onion — a simple, colorful side dish.

🇪🇸Catalonia, Spain

Calcots

Large spring onions from Catalonia, grilled over an open flame until charred, then peeled and dipped in romesco or salvitxada sauce at calcotada feasts.

🇯🇲Jamaica

Callaloo

Amaranth leaves steamed down with onion, tomato, thyme and scotch bonnet, eaten at breakfast with dumplings or as a side.

🇮🇹Sicily, Italy

Caponata

Sicilian sweet-and-sour eggplant relish with capers, olives, celery, and agrodolce (vinegar-sugar). Over 30 regional versions, served at room temperature.

🇮🇹Rome, Italy

Carciofi alla Giudia

Carciofi alla giudìa

Rome's Jewish-style artichokes: whole Roman artichokes flattened and double-fried until golden and crisp like a flower. A 16th-century ghetto classic.

🇮🇹Rome, Italy

Carciofi alla Romana

Roman-style braised artichokes stuffed with mint, garlic, and breadcrumbs, cooked upside down in olive oil and white wine until tender.

🇫🇷Lyon, France

Cardons à la moelle

Cardons à la moelle combine tender cardoon stalks with bone marrow and a rich Lyonnaise gratin or sauce.

🇲🇶Martinique

Caribbean Pumpkin

Giraumon

Giraumon (Caribbean pumpkin); a staple of Martinican cuisine; used in colombo, soups, and gratins; the giraumon that is a Martinican vegetable staple.

🇮🇹Italy

Carote al Marsala

Carote al Marsala is a named Italian vegetable from Italy, built around its defining ingredient and cooked in a specific local style; the texture, seasoning, and serving form distinguish the dish.

🇳🇱Netherlands

Carrot and Onion Mash

Hutspot

Boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots, and onions, legend dates to 1574 Siege of Leiden, a national heritage dish.

🇵🇾Paraguay

Cassava Root

Mandioca

Cassava root, boiled and served as side dish replacing bread, fundamental to the Paraguayan diet, a daily staple.

🇬🇧England, United Kingdom

Cauliflower Cheese

A British baked dish of cauliflower florets in a Cheddar cheese sauce, gratinated until golden and bubbling, a classic Sunday roast side.

🇮🇹Sardinia, Italy

Cavolfiore soffocato (Suffocated Cauliflower)

Cavolfiore soffocato (Suffocated Cauliflower) is a named Italian vegetable from Sardinia, built around its defining ingredient and cooked in a specific local style; the texture, seasoning, and serving form distinguish the dish.

🇨🇴Colombia

Cayeye

A Magdalena green-plantain mash served with cheese, butter or eggs at breakfast.

🇧🇩Bangladesh

Chacchari

চচ্চড়ি

A Bengali-style dry stir-fry of fish or vegetables with mustard oil, onion and green chillies.

🇿🇦South Africa

Chakalaka

A South African spicy vegetable relish of onions, tomatoes, carrots, beans, garlic, and chili, served with pap or bread. A national and township staple, spicy and savory, a braai and comfort companion

🇧🇪Brussels, Belgium

Chicons au Gratin

Chicons au gratin / Gegratineerd witloof

A Belgian endive wrapped in ham, baked in béchamel sauce with cheese, a daily and home classic

🇱🇧Lebanon

Chicory with Fried Onion

هندبة بزيت

Wild chicory boiled, squeezed dry and dressed with lemon and olive oil, buried under onions fried almost black.

🇲🇽Oaxaca, Mexico

Chile pasilla con queso

An Oaxacan prepared dish of roasted pasilla chiles filled with melting cheese and cooked on the griddle until smoky, tender, and molten inside.

🇲🇽Puebla, Mexico

Chiles capones

Pueblan chiles capones: poblano chiles with seeds and veins removed, filled with local goat cheese and cooked as a mild stuffed-pepper dish.

🇲🇽Veracruz, Mexico

Chiles veracruzanos

Veracruz-style chiles, stuffed and simmered in a tomato sauce with herbs.

🇲🇼Malawi

Chisoso

Tender leaves of Bidens pilosa, a wild green with a slightly celery-like taste, cooked as a vegetable relish with tomatoes and groundnut flour; can also be eaten raw in salads.