A World of Words: World Cuisine - Introductory

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!
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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. bisque
    a thick, creamy soup made from shellfish
  9. blini
    Russian pancake of buckwheat flour and yeast
  10. blintz
    a thin pancake folded around a filling and fried or baked
  11. borscht
    a soup containing beet juice as a foundation
  12. bratwurst
    a small pork sausage
  13. bubble and squeak
    leftover cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and sometimes meat
  14. carbonara
    a pasta dish containing eggs, grated cheese, and pork
  15. cassava
    cassava root eaten as a staple food after drying and leaching; source of tapioca
  16. caviar
    salted fish eggs eaten as a delicacy
  17. challah
    (Judaism) a braided loaf of white bread containing eggs
  18. chili con carne
    a hearty stew made with meat, spices, and often beans or tomatoes
  19. chopstick
    one of a pair of slender sticks used as oriental tableware to eat food with
  20. chorizo
    a spicy Spanish pork sausage
  21. chow mein
    a Chinese dish made of stir-fried noodles with vegetables
  22. cilantro
    Old World herb with aromatic leaves and seed resembling parsley
  23. congee
    an Asian rice porridge, usually eaten for breakfast
  24. couscous
    a northern African pasta made of crushed semolina
  25. creme brulee
    custard sprinkled with sugar and broiled
  26. crepe
    a small, thin pancake
  27. croissant
    a very rich, flaky, crescent-shaped roll
  28. croquette
    a small patty of minced food that is coated and fried
  29. curry
    a South Asian dish flavored with a spice mixture
  30. dim sum
    style of Chinese cuisine with small portions of many dishes
  31. dolmas
    well-seasoned rice simmered or braised in stock
  32. enchilada
    filled tortilla baked in chili-seasoned tomato sauce
  33. escargot
    edible snails
  34. falafel
    fried croquette of mashed chickpeas and spices
  35. flan
    an open pastry filled with fruit or custard
  36. fondue
    melted cheese or chocolate into which other foods are dipped
  37. frittata
    Italian omelet with diced vegetables and meats
  38. gazpacho
    a cold soup made with tomatoes
  39. goulash
    a rich meat stew highly seasoned with paprika
  40. grits
    coarsely ground corn that is boiled
  41. guacamole
    a dip made of mashed avocado
  42. gumbo
    a soup or stew thickened with okra pods
  43. gyro
    a Greek sandwich: sliced roast lamb with onion and tomato stuffed into pita bread
  44. haggis
    made of sheep's or calf's viscera minced with oatmeal and suet and onions and boiled in the animal's stomach
  45. hummus
    a thick spread made from mashed chickpeas
  46. jalapeno
    hot green or red pepper
  47. jambalaya
    spicy Creole dish of rice, meat, and vegetables
  48. johnnycake
    cornbread usually cooked pancake-style on a griddle
  49. knish
    a baked or fried turnover filled with potato or meat
  50. latke
    a pancake made of grated potato
  51. lychee
    a fruit with a thin, brittle shell and sweet, jellylike pulp
  52. marzipan
    confection made of sugar, almond paste, and egg whites
  53. matzoh ball
    a Jewish dumpling made of matzo meal; usually served in soup
  54. miso
    a fermented soybean paste used in Japanese food
  55. mole
    spicy sauce often containing chocolate
  56. naan
    leavened bread baked in a clay oven in India
  57. paella
    saffron-flavored dish of rice with shellfish and chicken
  58. pirogi
    a small dumpling that is boiled, baked, or fried
  59. pita
    round flatbread that can open into a pocket for filling
  60. plantain
    starchy banana-like fruit
  61. poi
    Hawaiian dish of taro root pounded to a paste and often allowed to ferment
  62. polenta
    a thick mush made of cornmeal boiled in stock or water
  63. prosciutto
    Italian salt-cured ham usually sliced paper thin
  64. quesadilla
    a tortilla that is filled with cheese and heated
  65. quiche
    a tart filled with rich unsweetened custard
  66. ratatouille
    a vegetable stew made with tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini
  67. risotto
    rice cooked with broth and sprinkled with grated cheese
  68. salsa
    spicy sauce of tomatoes and onions and chili peppers to accompany Mexican foods
  69. samosa
    fried Indian turnover filled with vegetables or meat
  70. sashimi
    very thinly sliced raw fish
  71. sauerkraut
    shredded cabbage fermented in brine
  72. schnitzel
    deep-fried breaded veal cutlets
  73. shish kebab
    cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer
  74. souffle
    light fluffy dish of egg yolks and stiffly beaten egg whites
  75. spring roll
    a thin fried snack filled with vegetables, meat, or seafood
  76. sushi
    cold rice and vinegar topped or rolled with raw fish
  77. taco
    a tortilla rolled cupped around a filling
  78. tamale
    corn and cornmeal dough stuffed with a meat mixture then wrapped in corn husks and steamed
  79. taro
    herb of the Pacific islands grown throughout the tropics for its edible root and in temperate areas as an ornamental for its large glossy leaves
  80. tempura
    vegetables and seafood dipped in batter and deep-fried
  81. teriyaki
    meat or seafood marinated in soy sauce and grilled or broiled
  82. tortilla
    thin unleavened pancake made from cornmeal or wheat flour
  83. wasabi
    A Japanese plant with a thick green root
  84. wok
    a frying pan with a convex bottom; used in Chinese cooking
  85. wonton
    a Chinese dumpling, often filled with spiced minced pork
Created on Wed Jan 04 14:14:19 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 11:38:46 EDT 2017)

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