Traditional food refers to foods and dishes that are passed through generations and also refers to foods consumed over the long-term duration of civilization that have been passed through generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national dish, regional cuisine or local cuisine. Traditional foods and beverages may be produced as homemade, by restaurants and small manufacturers, and by large food processing plant facilities.
Some traditional foods have geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union designations per European Union schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialties: Protected designation of origin (PDO), Protected geographical indication (PGI) and Traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG). These standards serve to promote and protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs.
This article also includes information about traditional beverages.
Bambara groundnut – a traditional food crop in Africa
Traditional food products have been described as playing "an important part of European culture, identity, and heritage".
Humita – a traditional food in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru
Country food refers to the traditional diets of Aboriginal people (known in Canada as First Nations, Metis, and Inuit), especially in remote northern regions where Western food is an expensive import, and traditional foods are still relied upon.
Thanksgiving dinner
Tourtière
Sugar pie
Ciba cake
Fuling jiabing – a traditional snack food of Beijing and is an integral part of the city's culture. It is a pancake-like snack made from flour, sugar, and fuling (Poria), rolled around nuts, honey, and other ingredients.
Spring pancake – a traditional Chinese food unique to the northern regions. People eat spring pancakes on the day called lichun to celebrate the beginning of spring.
Rice and beans
Lecsó
Tsamarella – a traditional food and one of Cyprus' main lunch meats
Lecsó
England
Faggot
Fish and chips
Full breakfast
Sunday roast
Faroe Islands
Faroese puffin
Garnatálg
Skerpikjøt
Whale meat
Appellation d'origine contrôlée – the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products
Bresse chicken – a French chicken product with appellation d'origine contrôlée status
List of Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée liqueurs and spirits
List of Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wines
Black Forest ham – produced in the Black Forest region of Germany, it is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) food in the European Union.
Fiambre is a traditional Guatemalan dish that is prepared and eaten yearly to celebrate the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and the All Saints Day (Día de Todos los Santos).
Iceland
Hákarl – a traditional food and national dish of Iceland
Hangikjöt
Þorramatur – a selection of traditional Icelandic food, consisting mainly of meat and fish products cured in a traditional manner, cut into slices or pieces and served with rúgbrauð (dense and dark rye bread), butter and brennivín (an Icelandic akvavit)
Indian cuisine
Brem – a fermented snack and beverage from Java and Bali
Docang – a traditional food from Cirebon
Ketupat – a traditional rice dumpling commonly served during Lebaran, Indonesian Eid ul Fitr
Pallubasa – a traditional food from Makassar, South Sulawesi made from offal of cattle or buffalo
Pekalongan Regency § Traditional foods
Rendang – traditional Minangkabau dish from West Sumatra
Swikee – sometimes identified as a traditional food of Purwodadi, a city in Central Java
Tumpeng – An Indonesian national dish
Tahdig
Ireland
Full breakfast
Sunday roast
Prosciutto (PDO)
Ravioli
Salami
Denominazione di origine controllata – a quality assurance label for Italian food products, especially Italian wine and cheese
List of Italian DOC wines
List of Italian DOCG wines
Indicazione geografica tipica
Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale is an official approval for traditional Italian regional food products similar to the Protected Geographical Status of the European Union.
Mascarpone
Piadina
Strada dell'Olio – a kind of gastronomical route in Italy that crosses a territory rich of traditional products, PDOs and PGIs, DOCs and DOCGs in Italy.
Panna cotta – The northern Italian Region of Piedmont includes panna cotta in its 2001 list of traditional food products of the region. Panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s, yet it is often cited as a traditional dessert in Piedmont.
Mochi – eaten year-round in Japan, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time
Traditional beverages in Jordan include sous (also referred to as 'irqsus), a drink prepared using the dried root of Glycyrrhiza glabra (liquorice), tamr hindi, a drink prepared from an infusion of the dried pulp of Tamarindus indica (tamarind), and laban (labneh), a drink prepared with yogurt and water. A significant amount of labneh in Jordan and nearby countries continues to be prepared using the traditional method of "straining set yogurt in cloth bags".
Nurungji
Sungnyung
Garudiya
Maldive fish – cured tuna fish traditionally produced in the Maldives. It is a staple food in Maldivian cuisine
Lent in Malta § Traditional food eaten throughout the period
Kwareżimal – Lent cake
Dhindo
Denominação de Origem Controlada is the system of protected designation of origin for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products from Portugal.
Hininy
Kabsa
Scotland
Lorne sausage
Haggis
Hainanese chicken rice – considered as a national dish of Singapore
Teochew porridge
Bryndzové halušky – a national dish of Slovakia consisting of halušky and bryndza.
Lecsó
Boroña – a cornbread that is a traditional food in the regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country and northern Castilla-Leon (areas of León, Palencia and Burgos)
Denominación de Origen – part of a regulatory classification system primarily for Spanish wines (similar to the French appellations) but also for other foodstuffs like cheeses, condiments, honey and meats, among others
Swaziland
Cuisine of Swaziland § Traditional foods
Switzerland
Appellation d'origine protégée – A Swiss geographical indication protecting the origin and the quality of traditional food products other than wines
Capuns – a traditional food from the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland
Pare people § Traditional food
Thailand
Mango sticky rice
Pad Thai
Uganda
Malewa – smoked bamboo shoot which is dried for preservation. The food originated from Eastern Uganda in the Bugisu sub-region
Bangers and mash
Cottage pie
Faggot
Full breakfast
Cardamom bread – considered as a traditional food among Swedish Americans
Thanksgiving dinner
Biscuit
Cheese straw
Cornbread
Collard greens
Hoppin' John
Sweet potato
Lap lap – a national dish
Kabsa
Khabees – traditional sweet dish in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf
Rice and peas – a traditional dish in the Anglo-Caribbean
Traditional foods of the Eastern Mediterranean region include falafel, fuul, halawa, hummus, kanafeh, labaneh, medammis and tahini. among others. The most popular traditional foods in the region are those prepared from legumes, specifically, falafel, fuul, hummus and medammis.
Popular traditional foods in the Eastern Mediterranean region
Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union
Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions – a quality indicator used within European Union wine regulations that identifies wines with protected geographical indications
List of geographical designations for spirit drinks in the European Union
Scandinavia
European crayfish
Crayfish party
Soured milk – a traditional food of the Bantu peoples of Southern Africa
