Vegetables

🇵🇪Peru

Olluco

A glossy Andean tuber sliced into olluquito stews and sold in Peruvian markets.

🇳🇦Namibia

Ombidi

Another variety of wild spinach from northern Namibia — gathered, dried, and cooked into a side dish with pap; part of the trio of wild greens (ekaka/omboga/ombidi) in Owambo cuisine.

🇺🇸United States

Onion Rings

Thick onion slices battered and deep-fried until golden.

🇬🇺Guam

Pado'lalo'

Padolalo is grilled eggplant mixed with green onion, peppers, lemon, and coconut milk, then served chilled as a smoky, tangy Chamorro vegetable dish.

🇪🇸Galicia, Spain

Padrón Peppers

Pimientos de Padrón

Blistered Galician peppers, the iconic "some are hot, some are not" tapa.

🇼🇫Wallis and Futuna

Pakanuku

Talo Vusiga

A prized water taro variety grown in flooded terraces on Futuna, particularly around Nuku; the large, starchy corms are reserved for customary events and umu feasts.

🇵🇰Sindh, Pakistan

Palli (Chickpea-Leaf Saag)

Palli

Winter chickpea greens are cooked down with aromatics as a leafy Sindhi saag.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Palmito Guisado

A Dominican stewed heart-of-palm dish, sautéed with tomato, onion, and garlic.

🇫🇯Fiji

Palusami

Taro leaves wrapped into a parcel around coconut cream, onion and often corned beef, then baked in the lovo or steamed until the leaves collapse.

🇼🇸Samoa

Palusami

Iconic Samoan dish of young taro leaves bundled into parcels filled with coconut cream and onions; baked in the umu earth oven until the leaves are tender and the cream is thick and set; sometimes enriched with corned beef; the quintessential Samoan dish; rich, creamy, and earthy; a TasteAtlas-listed listed preparation.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Pana (Breadfruit)

Pana

Dominican breadfruit (pana), a tropical fruit used green as a starchy vegetable, boiled or fried like tostones. A coastal staple, starchy and mild.

🇦🇹Austria

Paradeiskraut

Paradeiskraut braises shredded cabbage with ripe tomatoes, onion and caraway into a sweet-sour Burgenland side dish.

🇮🇹Italy

Parmigiana di Melanzane

Southern Italian baked eggplant casserole layered with fried eggplant, tomato, basil, and mozzarella or caciocavallo. A summer comfort food.

🇵🇪Peru

Pastel de Ahipa

A layered Peruvian casserole of ahipa, cheese and milk, baked until golden. An Andean comfort dish with a slightly sweet root vegetable.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Pastel de Plátano Maduro

A Dominican dish of mashed ripe plantains layered with ground beef and cheese, baked until golden. Similar to pastelón, a sweet-savory casserole, hearty and rich.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Pastelón de Plátano Maduro

The Dominican casserole of layered sweet ripe plantains, ground beef in sofrito, and cheese, baked until golden. A sweet-savory pie, the pastelón.

🇨🇳China

Pea Shoots

豆苗

The young tendrils and leaves of the pea plant, stir-fried in seconds with garlic, sweet and faintly grassy.

🇹🇨Turks and Caicos Islands

Pear Bush Buds

Young buds from the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia dillenii) that resemble okra; traditionally consumed as a vegetable in the Turks and Caicos Islands

🇹🇭Thailand

Phak bung fai daeng

ผักบุ้งไฟแดง

Phak bung fai daeng, morning glory flash-fried and thrown flaming through the air to a waiting plate, is a named dish and a piece of restaurant theatre travellers seek out.

🇳🇿New Zealand

Pikopiko

Young unfurling shoots of native ferns, harvested in spring; mildly bitter greens lightly blanched or stir-fried, sold in bunches at Māori and farmers' markets.

🇵🇭Philippines

Pinangat

A Bicolano dish of taro leaves, coconut milk and chillies, wrapped and steamed or stewed.

🇵🇷Puerto Rico

Pionono Puertorriqueño

A Puerto Rican dish of sweet plantain slices rolled around a savory picadillo filling, baked with a cheese sauce.

🇲🇭Marshall Islands

Pisar

Mashed taro mixed with coconut cream; served as breakfast or snack; a simple, traditional Marshallese dish that combines two essential staples; the taro gives a dense, starchy base and the coconut cream adds richness; a comforting everyday food.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Pitpit

Pit-pit uses the tender inner shoots of sugarcane or related grass, sliced and cooked with coconut, meat, or fish into a soft vegetable dish.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Plátanos al Caldero

A Dominican dish of ripe plantains caramelized with sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a caldero until sticky and golden. A sweet-savory side, especially in the Cibao.

🇨🇺Cuba

Plátanos Maduros

A Cuban fried sweet ripe plantains, caramelized and soft, a daily and essential side

🇺🇸Hawaii, United States

Poi

A Hawaiian staple of pounded, fermented taro root — a smooth, purple paste.

🇮🇳India

Poriyal

பொரியல்

A Tamil dry vegetable stir-fry tempered with mustard seeds, urad dal, and curry leaves. It is a common side dish in meals.

🇨🇷Central Valley, Costa Rica

Potato Hash

Picadillo de papa

Potato hash with ground beef, onions, peppers, and cilantro, popular in Cartago highlands, a comforting casado component.

🇿🇲Zambia

Pounded Vegetable Relish

Imilumya

Zambian pounded vegetable relish; various vegetables and greens pounded together; cooked with groundnuts and spices; a traditional preparation method; served with nshima; a regional specialty from rural Zambia; the pounded relish that combines multiple vegetables; earthy and nutritious.

🇸🇮Slovenian Littoral, Slovenia

Poštóklja

Poštóklja is a Kobarid vegetable dish built from seasonal greens and potatoes cooked into a rustic mash.

🇫🇷Provence, France

Provencal Tian

Tian provençal

Gratin of layered vegetables baked in an earthenware dish.

🇹🇻Tuvalu

Pulaka

Kofuga Pulaka

Pulaka is giant swamp taro (Cyrtosperma merkusii) grown in composted pits below an atoll's freshwater lens; the cooked corm is a starchy food-security crop that may be carried or served in a woven basket.

🇵🇭Philippines

Purple Yam

Ube

A vibrant purple yam native to the Philippines, the base of countless desserts, with a distinct, nutty, sweet flavor.

🇫🇲Yap State (Western FSM), Federated States of Micronesia

Pusow

Pusow is Yapese banana boiled after grinding and wrapping in betel-nut frond, yielding a dense unsweetened starch.

🇳🇿New Zealand

Pūhā

Sow thistle picked wild, rubbed and rinsed to remove its bitter sap, then boiled with pork.