A World of Words: World Cuisine - Middle School and High School

Sink your teeth into this vocabulary list and learning about world cuisine will be a piece of cake. You'll get a taste of international foods like baklava and bratwurst, guacamole and gumbo, pita and polenta. This list is so delicious that you'll want to eat your words!
115 words 4115 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adobo
    a dish of marinated vegetables and meat or fish
  2. antipasto
    an appetizer or course of appetizers in an Italian meal
  3. arroz con pollo
    rice and chicken cooked together Spanish style
  4. baguette
    a long, narrow loaf of French bread
  5. baklava
    dessert made of flaky pastry, nuts, and honey
  6. beef Stroganoff
    sauteed strips of beef and mushrooms in sour cream sauce served with noodles
  7. beef Wellington
    rare-roasted beef tenderloin coated with mushroom paste in puff pastry
  8. bigos
    a Polish stew of cabbage and meat
  9. biryani
    an Indian dish made with highly seasoned rice and meat, fish, or vegetables
  10. bisque
    a thick, creamy soup made from shellfish
  11. bitok
    a Russian dish made with patties of ground meat (mixed with onions and bread and milk) and served with a sauce of sour cream
  12. black pudding
    a black sausage containing pig's blood and other ingredients
  13. blini
    Russian pancake of buckwheat flour and yeast
  14. blintz
    a thin pancake folded around a filling and fried or baked
  15. boeuf Bourguignonne
    beef and mushrooms and onions stewed in red wine and seasonings
  16. borscht
    a soup containing beet juice as a foundation
  17. bouillabaisse
    a tomato-based soup or stew with several kinds of fish or shellfish
  18. bratwurst
    a small pork sausage
  19. bubble and squeak
    leftover cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and sometimes meat
  20. carbonara
    a pasta dish containing eggs, grated cheese, and pork
  21. cassava
    a starch made by leaching and drying the root of the cassava plant; the source of tapioca; a staple food in the tropics
  22. caviar
    salted fish eggs eaten as a delicacy
  23. challah
    (Judaism) a braided loaf of white bread containing eggs
  24. chili con carne
    a hearty stew made with meat, spices, and often beans or tomatoes
  25. chopstick
    one of a pair of slender sticks used as oriental tableware to eat food with
  26. chorizo
    a spicy Spanish pork sausage
  27. chow mein
    a Chinese dish made of stir-fried noodles with vegetables
  28. cilantro
    Old World herb with aromatic leaves and seed resembling parsley
  29. congee
    an Asian rice porridge, usually eaten for breakfast
  30. coq au vin
    chicken and onions and mushrooms braised in red wine and seasonings
  31. coriander
    Old World herb with aromatic leaves and seed resembling parsley
  32. couscous
    a northern African pasta made of crushed semolina
  33. creme brulee
    custard sprinkled with sugar and broiled
  34. crepe
    a small, thin pancake
  35. croissant
    a very rich, flaky, crescent-shaped roll
  36. croquette
    a small patty of minced food that is coated and fried
  37. cumin
    aromatic seeds of the cumin herb of the carrot family
  38. curry
    a South Asian dish flavored with a spice mixture
  39. daikon
    radish of Japan with a long hard durable root eaten raw or cooked
  40. dim sum
    style of Chinese cuisine with small portions of many dishes
  41. dolmas
    well-seasoned rice simmered or braised in stock
  42. enchilada
    filled tortilla baked in chili-seasoned tomato sauce
  43. escargot
    edible snails
  44. falafel
    fried croquette of mashed chickpeas and spices
  45. flan
    an open pastry filled with fruit or custard
  46. fondue
    melted cheese or chocolate into which other foods are dipped
  47. frittata
    Italian omelet with diced vegetables and meats
  48. gazpacho
    a cold soup made with tomatoes
  49. gnocchi
    small Italian dumplings made of potato or flour
  50. goulash
    a rich meat stew highly seasoned with paprika
  51. grits
    coarsely ground corn that is boiled
  52. guacamole
    a dip made of mashed avocado
  53. gumbo
    a soup or stew thickened with okra pods
  54. gyro
    a Greek sandwich: sliced roast lamb with onion and tomato stuffed into pita bread
  55. haggis
    made of sheep's or calf's viscera minced with oatmeal and suet and onions and boiled in the animal's stomach
  56. hummus
    a thick spread made from mashed chickpeas
  57. jalapeno
    hot green or red pepper
  58. jambalaya
    spicy Creole dish of rice, meat, and vegetables
  59. johnnycake
    cornbread usually cooked pancake-style on a griddle
  60. kasha
    boiled or baked buckwheat
  61. kedgeree
    a dish of rice, eggs, flaked fish, and curry powder
  62. kipper
    salted and smoked herring
  63. knish
    a baked or fried turnover filled with potato or meat
  64. latke
    a pancake made of grated potato
  65. lutefisk
    dried cod soaked in a lye solution before boiling to give it a gelatinous consistency
  66. lychee
    a fruit with a thin, brittle shell and sweet, jellylike pulp
  67. marzipan
    confection made of sugar, almond paste, and egg whites
  68. matzoh ball
    a Jewish dumpling made of matzo meal; usually served in soup
  69. miso
    a fermented soybean paste used in Japanese food
  70. mole
    spicy sauce often containing chocolate
  71. moussaka
    casserole of eggplant and ground lamb with onion and tomatoes bound with white sauce and beaten eggs
  72. mulligatawny
    a soup of eastern India that is flavored with curry
  73. naan
    leavened bread baked in a clay oven in India
  74. osso buco
    sliced veal knuckle or shin bone cooked with olive oil and wine and tomatoes and served with rice or vegetables
  75. paella
    saffron-flavored dish of rice with shellfish and chicken
  76. pavlova
    a dessert consisting of a meringue base or cup filled with fruit and whipped cream
  77. pirogi
    a small dumpling that is boiled, baked, or fried
  78. pita
    round flatbread that can open into a pocket for filling
  79. plantain
    starchy banana-like fruit
  80. poi
    Hawaiian dish of taro root pounded to a paste and often allowed to ferment
  81. polenta
    a thick mush made of cornmeal boiled in stock or water
  82. pot-au-feu
    traditional French stew of vegetables and beef
  83. prosciutto
    Italian salt-cured ham usually sliced paper thin
  84. quesadilla
    a tortilla that is filled with cheese and heated
  85. quiche
    a tart filled with rich unsweetened custard
  86. raita
    an Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices
  87. ratatouille
    a vegetable stew made with tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini
  88. rijstafel
    dish originating in Indonesia
  89. risotto
    rice cooked with broth and sprinkled with grated cheese
  90. salsa
    spicy sauce of tomatoes and onions and chili peppers to accompany Mexican foods
  91. samosa
    fried Indian turnover filled with vegetables or meat
  92. sashimi
    very thinly sliced raw fish
  93. sauerbraten
    pot roast marinated several days in seasoned vinegar before cooking; usually served with potato dumplings
  94. sauerkraut
    shredded cabbage fermented in brine
  95. schnitzel
    deep-fried breaded veal cutlets
  96. shish kebab
    cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer
  97. souffle
    light fluffy dish of egg yolks and stiffly beaten egg whites
  98. souvlaki
    a Greek dish of chunks of meat cooked on skewers
  99. spring roll
    a thin fried snack filled with vegetables, meat, or seafood
  100. sukiyaki
    a hot pot dish with beef, vegetables, tofu, and broth
  101. sushi
    cold rice and vinegar topped or rolled with raw fish
  102. taco
    a tortilla rolled cupped around a filling
  103. tamale
    corn and cornmeal dough stuffed with a meat mixture then wrapped in corn husks and steamed
  104. taro
    tropical starchy tuberous root
  105. tempura
    vegetables and seafood dipped in batter and deep-fried
  106. teriyaki
    meat or seafood marinated in soy sauce and grilled or broiled
  107. timbale
    individual serving of minced e.g. meat or fish in a rich creamy sauce baked in a small pastry mold or timbale shell
  108. tortilla
    thin unleavened pancake made from cornmeal or wheat flour
  109. turmeric
    bright, yellow spice powder made from a dried, ground plant
  110. vichyssoise
    a creamy potato soup flavored with leeks and onions
  111. Waldorf salad
    typically made of apples and celery with nuts or raisins and dressed with mayonnaise
  112. wasabi
    green root used in Japanese cooking
  113. Welsh rarebit
    cheese melted with ale or beer served over toast
  114. wok
    a frying pan with a convex bottom; used in Chinese cooking
  115. wonton
    a Chinese dumpling, often filled with spiced minced pork
Created on Wed Jan 04 12:39:50 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 11:38:55 EDT 2017)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.