Food calendar

Where:

Guatemala

Cuisines:

Guatemalan

In Guatemala, families prepare fiambre for All Saints' Day on 1 November and All Souls' Day. The cold salad combines dozens of ingredients, from cured meats and cheeses to pickled vegetables, and every family has its own recipe.

• Fiambre (cold composed salad) · Guatemala

Sources: Fiambre (Wikipedia)

Where:

Mexico

Cuisines:

Mexican

On 1 and 2 November, Mexican families remember their dead with ofrendas, home altars decorated with marigolds, photographs and the favourite foods of the departed. Pan de muerto, a sweet bread, and sugar skulls are shared, and graves are visited and cleaned.

• Pan de muerto · Mexico — Pan de muerto
• Sugar skulls and candied pumpkin · Mexico
• Tamales on the ofrenda · Mexico

Sources: Day of the Dead (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global

World Vegan Day was started in 1994 by the Vegan Society in the United Kingdom, to mark 50 years since the society was founded. It is a campaign day rather than an official one, and is used to share plant-based cooking.

• Plant-based dishes — Vegan chocolate cake

Sources: World Vegan Day (Wikipedia)

Where:

India

Cuisines:

Indian

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the major Hindu festivals and is also marked by Sikhs and Jains. Homes are cleaned and lit with oil lamps, and families share feasts and boxes of mithai, the sweets of the Indian subcontinent, with friends and neighbours.

• Mithai (sweets) · India — Gulab jamun, Besan ladoo, Jalebi

Date source: Drik Panchang festival calendar for New Delhi. Regional Hindu calendars can differ by a day. Date of Lakshmi Puja.

Sources: Diwali (Wikipedia) · Diwali Puja Calendar — Drik Panchang

Where:

IndiaNepal

Cuisines:

Indian

Chhath is a festival dedicated to the Sun, observed mainly in Bihar and neighbouring parts of India and Nepal. Devotees fast and make offerings at riverbanks at sunset and sunrise. Thekua, a crisp cookie of wheat flour and jaggery, is the classic offering.

• Thekua · India, Nepal — Thekua

Date source: Drik Panchang festival calendar for New Delhi. Regional Hindu calendars can differ by a day. Main day (evening offering); the festival spans four days.

Sources: Chhath (Wikipedia) · Thekua (Wikipedia) · Chhath Puja — Drik Panchang

Where:

France

Cuisines:

French

Under French law, the year's Beaujolais nouveau, a young red wine made just weeks earlier, goes on sale at one minute past midnight on the third Thursday of November. Its release has become a celebration in bars and restaurants in France and abroad.

• Beaujolais nouveau (young red wine) · France

Sources: Beaujolais nouveau (Wikipedia)

Where:

United States

Cuisines:

AmericanSouthern US

Thanksgiving, a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November, is one of the busiest travel days of the American year. The meal usually centres on a roast turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, and often ends with pumpkin pie.

• Roast turkey with stuffing · United States
• Cranberry sauce · United States — Cranberry sauce
• Mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie · United States — Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Sources: Thanksgiving (United States) (Wikipedia) · Thanksgiving dinner (Wikipedia)

Where:

Southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East & Western Asia

UNESCO proclaimed 26 November as World Olive Tree Day in 2019. The olive tree has been grown around the Mediterranean for thousands of years, and its fruit and oil are at the centre of the region's cooking.

• Olives and olive oil — Moroccan chicken tagine with olives and lemon, Tapenade (Provençal olive, caper and anchovy spread)

Sources: World Olive Tree Day (Wikipedia)

Where:

Israel

Cuisines:

Israeli

Hanukkah, the festival of lights, lasts eight nights and recalls the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the oil that burned for eight days. Foods fried in oil are the tradition: latkes in Ashkenazi kitchens and jam-filled sufganiyot, which are especially popular in Israel.

• Latkes (potato pancakes)
• Sufganiyot (jam doughnuts) · Israel

Date source: Hebcal Jewish calendar, diaspora dates. Jewish holidays begin at sundown the evening before. The first candle is lit on the evening before the first day.

Sources: Hanukkah (Wikipedia) · Latke (Wikipedia) · Sufganiyah (Wikipedia) · Jewish Holidays — Hebcal

Where:

NetherlandsBelgium

Cuisines:

DutchBelgian

On the evening of 5 December, Dutch families celebrate Sinterklaas with presents and poems. Small spiced biscuits, pepernoten and kruidnoten, are scattered for children, and speculaas, marzipan and chocolate letters are the treats of the season.

• Pepernoten and kruidnoten (spiced biscuits) · Netherlands, Belgium
• Speculaas and chocolate letters · Netherlands, Belgium

Sources: Sinterklaas (Wikipedia)

Where:

SwedenNorwayDenmarkFinland

Cuisines:

SwedishScandinavian

On 13 December, in the darkest part of the Nordic winter, a girl dressed as Lucia with a crown of candles leads processions singing carols. Saffron buns, called lussekatter, are served with coffee or mulled wine.

• Lussekatter (saffron buns) · Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland

Sources: Saint Lucy's Day (Wikipedia) · Saffron bun (Wikipedia)

Where:

IranAfghanistan

Cuisines:

Iranian

Yalda is the longest night of the year, and families in Iran stay up late together reading poetry, especially Hafez. Red fruits, pomegranates and watermelon, are the symbols of the night, served with nuts and dried fruit. UNESCO added Yalda to its intangible heritage lists in 2022.

• Pomegranates — Fresh pomegranate juice
• Watermelon
• Nuts and dried fruit

Date source: Solar Hijri calendar: the evening of 30 Azar, the night before 1 Dey (winter solstice).

Sources: Yalda Night (Wikipedia)

Where:

South Korea

Cuisines:

Korean

In Korea the winter solstice, dongji, is linked with patjuk, a porridge of red beans and rice. It is commonly eaten through the winter and especially on the longest night of the year.

• Patjuk (red bean porridge) · South Korea

Date source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables, 2026–2030. The solstice falls on the same date in Korean time in these years.

Sources: Patjuk (Wikipedia) · Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — Hong Kong Observatory

Where:

ChinaTaiwanHong Kong

Cuisines:

Chinese

Dongzhi, the winter solstice, is one of the solar terms of the Chinese calendar and a time for family meals. In the south, people make and eat tangyuan; in the north, dumplings are more usual.

• Tangyuan — Tangyuan (black sesame rice balls in ginger syrup)
• Dumplings · China — Pork and cabbage jiaozi

Date source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables, 2026–2030. Dongzhi is the solar term of the winter solstice.

Sources: Dongzhi (Wikipedia) · Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — Hong Kong Observatory

Where:

Japan

Cuisines:

Japanese

Christmas is not a public holiday in Japan, but Christmas Eve has become a time for couples and families. A successful advertising campaign in the 1970s made a bucket of fried chicken a popular Christmas meal, often followed by a Christmas cake, a sponge cake covered with cream.

• Fried chicken · Japan
• Christmas cake (cream sponge cake) · Japan

Sources: Observance of Christmas by country (Wikipedia)

Where:

United States

Cuisines:

ItalianAmerican

Many Italian-American families celebrate Christmas Eve with a meal of several seafood dishes, the Feast of the Seven Fishes. The custom comes from southern Italy, where Catholics abstained from meat on the vigil before Christmas.

• Seafood dishes, often including baccalà (salt cod) · United States

Sources: Feast of the Seven Fishes (Wikipedia)

Where:

Philippines

Cuisines:

Filipino

Christmas in the Philippines is one of the world's longest seasons. After the midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, families gather for Noche Buena, a midnight feast that often features lechon (roast pig), Christmas ham and a red-waxed ball of Edam cheese, queso de bola.

• Lechon and hamon (Christmas ham) · Philippines
• Queso de bola · Philippines

Sources: Christmas in the Philippines (Wikipedia)

Where:

Poland

Cuisines:

Polish

Wigilia is the Christmas Eve supper in Poland, which begins when the first star appears. Traditionally there is no meat and there should be twelve dishes, for the twelve apostles: beetroot soup with small dumplings, pierogi, and fish, most often carp.

• Barszcz with uszka (beetroot soup with dumplings) · Poland — Barszcz czerwony
• Pierogi · Poland — Pierogi ruskie
• Carp · Poland

Sources: Wigilia (Wikipedia)

Where:

United KingdomGermanyItalyVenezuelaPuerto Rico

Cuisines:

BritishGermanItalianVenezuelanPuerto Rican

Christmas tables look very different from country to country. A rich, dark Christmas pudding ends the British meal, Germans eat stollen through Advent, and Italians share panettone. In Venezuela hallacas are the dish of the season, and in Puerto Rico family gatherings bring roast pork and arroz con gandules.

• Christmas pudding · United Kingdom
• Stollen · Germany — Dresden Christmas stollen
• Panettone · Italy
• Hallacas · Venezuela — Hallacas
• Lechón asado (roast pork) and arroz con gandules · Puerto Rico — Arroz con gandules

Sources: Christmas pudding (Wikipedia) · Stollen (Wikipedia) · Panettone (Wikipedia) · Hallaca (Wikipedia) · Christmas in Puerto Rico (Wikipedia)

Where:

United States

Cuisines:

Southern US

Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture from 26 December to 1 January, created by Maulana Karenga in 1966. Each day is dedicated to one of seven principles, and the week culminates in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day.

• Karamu (communal feast, usually on 31 December) · United States

Sources: Kwanzaa (Wikipedia)

Where:

Spain

Cuisines:

Spanish

In Spain, people welcome the New Year by eating one grape for each of the twelve chimes of midnight on 31 December, for luck in each month. Crowds gather in town squares, most famously Madrid's Puerta del Sol, while others eat them at home after the Nochevieja dinner.

• Twelve grapes at midnight · Spain

Sources: Twelve Grapes (Wikipedia)

Where:

Japan

Cuisines:

Japanese

On Ōmisoka, the last day of the year, many people in Japan eat a bowl of toshikoshi soba, 'year-crossing' buckwheat noodles. The long noodles are linked with a long life and with letting go of the hardships of the old year.

• Toshikoshi soba (year-crossing buckwheat noodles) · Japan

Sources: Toshikoshi soba (Wikipedia)

Where:

Haiti

Cuisines:

Haitian

Haitians eat soup joumou, a hearty pumpkin soup, on 1 January to celebrate the country's independence in 1804. Under colonial rule the soup had been reserved for enslavers, so sharing it became a symbol of freedom. UNESCO inscribed it on its intangible heritage list in 2021.

• Soup joumou (pumpkin soup) · Haiti — Soup joumou

Sources: Soup joumou (Wikipedia)

Where:

Japan

Cuisines:

Japanese

Japan celebrates the New Year on 1 January, and the first three days are a time for family and shrine visits. Osechi ryōri, an assortment of foods packed in lacquered boxes, is prepared in advance. Each item carries a wish: black beans for good health, herring roe for children, and rolled omelette for learning.

• Osechi ryōri (New Year boxes) · Japan
• Kuromame (sweet black beans), kazunoko, datemaki and kamaboko · Japan

Sources: Osechi (Wikipedia) · Japanese New Year (Wikipedia)

Where:

FranceSpainMexico

Cuisines:

FrenchSpanishMexican

Epiphany, on 6 January, remembers the visit of the Three Kings. In many countries it is the day for a king cake with a small figure or bean hidden inside: in France the puff-pastry galette des rois, in Spain and Mexico a ring-shaped sweet bread, the roscón or rosca de reyes.

• Galette des rois · France — Galette des rois
• Roscón / rosca de reyes · Spain, Mexico

Sources: King cake (Wikipedia)

Where:

IndiaSri Lanka

Cuisines:

South IndianSri Lankan

Pongal is the Tamil harvest festival, held at the start of the month of Thai. Its name means 'boiling over': rice is cooked with milk and jaggery in a new pot until it overflows, a sign of abundance, and offered to the Sun before it is shared.

• Pongal (rice boiled with milk and jaggery) · India, Sri Lanka

Date source: Drik Panchang festival calendar for New Delhi. Regional Hindu calendars can differ by a day.

Sources: Pongal (festival) (Wikipedia) · Pongal (dish) (Wikipedia) · Thai Pongal — Drik Panchang

Where:

United Kingdom

Cuisines:

British

On 25 January, the birthday of the poet Robert Burns, Scots and admirers around the world hold a Burns supper. The haggis is piped in, Burns's poem 'Address to a Haggis' is recited, and it is served with neeps and tatties, mashed swede and potatoes.

• Haggis, neeps and tatties · United Kingdom

Sources: Burns supper (Wikipedia)

Where:

Poland

Cuisines:

Polish

Fat Thursday is the last Thursday before Lent, a day to use up rich food before the fast. In Poland it means pączki: deep-fried doughnuts filled with rose jam or other fillings, bought by the boxful from bakeries.

• Pączki (filled doughnuts) · Poland

Sources: Fat Thursday (Wikipedia) · Pączki (Wikipedia)

Where:

ChinaTaiwanHong KongSingaporeMalaysia

Cuisines:

ChineseCantoneseTaiwaneseSingaporeanMalaysian

The first day of the first lunar month starts the most important holiday of the Chinese calendar. Families travel home for a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, and in northern China dumplings are folded together. Foods are chosen for lucky meanings: fish for abundance, nian gao for a better year, and in Singapore and Malaysia a tossed raw fish salad called yusheng.

• Jiaozi (dumplings) · China — Pork and cabbage jiaozi
• Nian gao (year cake)
• Whole fish at the reunion dinner — Cantonese steamed fish with ginger and spring onion
• Yusheng (tossed raw fish salad) · Singapore, Malaysia

Date source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables, 2026–2030.

Sources: Chinese New Year (Wikipedia) · Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — Hong Kong Observatory

Where:

Vietnam

Cuisines:

Vietnamese

Tết Nguyên Đán is Vietnam's most important holiday, welcoming spring and the new lunar year. Families clean their homes, honour ancestors and share special foods. The square bánh chưng, sticky rice with mung beans and pork wrapped in leaves, is tied to a legend of the Hùng kings.

• Bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) · Vietnam
• Xôi (sticky rice) · Vietnam

Date source: Vietnamese lunar calendar, as listed in Tết — Wikipedia. In 2030 Tết is a day before Chinese New Year.

Sources: Tết (Wikipedia) · Bánh chưng (Wikipedia)

Where:

South Korea

Cuisines:

Korean

Seollal is the first day of the Korean lunar calendar and a three-day national holiday. Families perform ancestral rites and bow to their elders. The morning bowl of tteokguk, a clear soup with sliced rice cakes, is traditionally said to add a year to your age.

• Tteokguk (rice cake soup) · South Korea — Tteokguk (rice cake soup)

Date source: Korean lunar calendar (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), as listed in Public holidays in South Korea — Wikipedia. Can differ from the Chinese date by a day.

Sources: Korean New Year (Wikipedia) · Tteokguk (Wikipedia) · Public holidays in South Korea (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global, Middle East & Western Asia, North Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia

During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. Each evening the fast is broken with iftar, traditionally starting with dates and water, followed by a meal shared with family and neighbours. In Morocco, harira, a tomato, lentil and chickpea soup, is a staple of iftar.

• Dates to break the fast
• Harira soup · Morocco — Harira

Date source: Umm al-Qura calendar (Saudi Arabia's official Hijri calendar). Islamic dates follow moon sighting and can be a day later in some countries.

Sources: Ramadan (Wikipedia) · Iftar (Wikipedia) · Harira (Wikipedia) · Eid al-Fitr (Umm al-Qura dates) — Q++Studio worldwide holidays

Where:

United KingdomIrelandUnited StatesSwedenFinland

Cuisines:

BritishIrishSwedishFinnish

The day before Ash Wednesday was traditionally the last chance to use up eggs, butter and sugar before Lent. In Britain and Ireland it is Pancake Day, when thin pancakes are made; in Louisiana, Mardi Gras is the climax of king cake season; and in Sweden and Finland, the day belongs to the semla bun.

• Thin pancakes · United Kingdom, Ireland — Crêpes
• King cake · United States
• Semla (cream-filled cardamom bun) · Sweden, Finland

Sources: Shrove Tuesday (Wikipedia) · Pancake (Wikipedia) · Semla (Wikipedia) · King cake (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global

The UN set aside 10 February to celebrate pulses: lentils, chickpeas, dry beans and peas. They are cheap, keep for months, are rich in protein and fibre, and the plants put nitrogen back into the soil. Almost every cuisine has a pot of beans or lentils at its heart.

• Lentils — Dal tadka with red lentils, Shorbet ads (Egyptian lentil soup)
• Chickpeas — Hummus, Kondakadalai sundal
• Dry beans — Fasolada, Pasta e fagioli

Sources: World Pulses Day — FAO · List of International Days and Weeks — United Nations

Where:

ChinaTaiwanHong Kong

Cuisines:

Chinese

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the first full moon of the year closes the New Year season. Paper lanterns are lit and flown, and people eat tangyuan, glutinous rice balls whose round shape stands for family togetherness.

• Tangyuan / yuanxiao (sweet rice balls) — Tangyuan (black sesame rice balls in ginger syrup)

Date source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables, 2026–2030.

Sources: Lantern Festival (Wikipedia) · Tangyuan (Wikipedia) · Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — Hong Kong Observatory

Where:

Japan

Cuisines:

Japanese

On 3 March, Japanese families with daughters display tiered sets of dolls and wish their girls health and happiness. Festive foods include colourful chirashizushi, diamond-shaped hishi mochi, sweet rice crackers called hina-arare and strawberry daifuku.

• Chirashizushi · Japan — Chirashizushi (scattered sushi bowl)
• Hina-arare and hishi mochi · Japan
• Ichigo daifuku · Japan — Ichigo daifuku (strawberry mochi)

Sources: Hinamatsuri (Wikipedia)

Where:

RussiaUkraineBelarus

Cuisines:

RussianUkrainianBelarusian

Maslenitsa is the last week before Orthodox Great Lent, a festival of seeing off winter with visits, sleigh rides and bonfires. Its food is blini, thin pancakes, made in great quantities with butter and served with sour cream, jam or caviar.

• Blini (thin pancakes) · Russia, Ukraine, Belarus — Buckwheat blini

Sources: Maslenitsa (Wikipedia)

Where:

Saudi ArabiaEgyptMoroccoTürkiyePakistanBangladeshIndonesiaMalaysiaSingaporeBruneiLebanonSyria

Cuisines:

IndonesianMalaysianLevantinePakistaniBangladeshi

Eid al-Fitr ends the month of fasting with prayers, new clothes, visits and plenty of food. Every region has its own Eid table: in Indonesia and Malaysia, where it is called Lebaran or Hari Raya Aidilfitri, ketupat rice cakes are served with rendang and opor ayam, while date-filled ma'amoul and sweet vermicelli dishes are common elsewhere.

• Ketupat, rendang and opor ayam · Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei — Beef rendang, Opor ayam
• Ma'amoul and kahk (Eid cookies) · Lebanon, Syria, Egypt — Ma'amoul with dates
• Sheer khurma (vermicelli milk pudding) · Pakistan — Sheer khurma
• Shemai (sweet vermicelli) · Bangladesh — Shemai

Date source: Umm al-Qura calendar (Saudi Arabia's official Hijri calendar). Islamic dates follow moon sighting and can be a day later in some countries.

Sources: Eid al-Fitr (Wikipedia) · Lebaran (Wikipedia) · Ketupat (Wikipedia) · Eid al-Fitr (Umm al-Qura dates) — Q++Studio worldwide holidays

Where:

IrelandUnited States

Cuisines:

Irish

St Patrick's Day honours the patron saint of Ireland on 17 March, and has become a celebration of Irish culture worldwide. Traditionally the day lifted the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking. In Ireland bacon and cabbage is a classic, while in North America corned beef and cabbage became the Irish-American St Patrick's Day meal.

• Bacon and cabbage · Ireland
• Corned beef and cabbage · United States

Sources: Saint Patrick's Day (Wikipedia) · Corned beef (Wikipedia) · Bacon and cabbage (Wikipedia)

Where:

UzbekistanKazakhstanTajikistanKyrgyzstan

Cuisines:

UzbekKazakhTajikKyrgyz

In Central Asia the spring New Year is a public holiday that begins on 21 March. Women often gather overnight to stir sumalak, a sweet pudding of sprouted wheat, while singing; in Kazakhstan, the New Year begins with nauryz kozhe, a drink made with grains and milk.

• Sumalak / samanu (sprouted-wheat pudding) · Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
• Nauryz kozhe (spring grain and milk drink) · Kazakhstan

Sources: Nowruz (Wikipedia) · Samanu (Wikipedia)

Where:

IranAfghanistan

Cuisines:

IranianAfghan

Nowruz marks the spring equinox and the start of the Iranian year. Families set a haft-sin table of symbolic items and visit each other through the holiday. Sabzi polo, herbed rice served with fish, is eaten for the New Year, and samanu, a slow-cooked pudding of sprouted wheat, is made in many regions.

• Sabzi polo with fish · Iran
• Samanu (sprouted-wheat pudding) · Iran, Afghanistan

Date source: Solar Hijri calendar (1 Farvardin, set by the March equinox in Tehran time); equinox times as listed in Nowruz — Wikipedia.

Sources: Nowruz (Wikipedia) · Samanu (Wikipedia)

Where:

Ecuador

Cuisines:

Ecuadorian

In Ecuador, fanesca is prepared and served only during Holy Week, the week before Easter. The thick soup combines many grains and beans with salt cod, and making it is a labour-intensive family affair; recipes vary from region to region.

• Fanesca (grain and bean soup with salt cod) · Ecuador

Sources: Fanesca (Wikipedia)

Where:

IndiaNepal

Cuisines:

Indian

Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, welcomes spring with coloured powder, water and music. Between rounds of colour, people offer each other sweets such as gujiya and malpua, and thandai, a cold spiced milk drink, is a centrepiece in north India.

• Gujiya (sweet filled pastry) · India
• Malpua and mathri · India
• Thandai (spiced cold milk drink) · India — Thandai

Date source: Drik Panchang festival calendar for New Delhi. Regional Hindu calendars can differ by a day. Date of Rangwali Holi (the day after Holika Dahan).

Sources: Holi (Wikipedia) · Gujhia (Wikipedia) · Thandai (Wikipedia) · Holika Dahan and Holi — Drik Panchang

Where:

Israel

Cuisines:

Israeli

Purim celebrates the story in the Book of Esther, when the Jews of Persia were saved from Haman's plot. It is a joyful day of costumes, gifts of food and a festive meal. Hamantaschen, triangular cookies filled with poppy seed, fruit or jam, are the classic Purim pastry in Ashkenazi tradition.

• Hamantaschen (triangular filled cookies)

Date source: Hebcal Jewish calendar, diaspora dates. Jewish holidays begin at sundown the evening before.

Sources: Purim (Wikipedia) · Hamantash (Wikipedia) · Jewish Holidays — Hebcal

Where:

United KingdomAustraliaNew Zealand

Cuisines:

British

Hot cross buns, spiced sweet buns with raisins and a cross on top, are traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. They mark the end of the Lenten fast leading into Easter Sunday.

• Hot cross buns · United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand — Hot cross buns

Sources: Hot cross bun (Wikipedia)

Where:

Thailand

Cuisines:

Thai

Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year, is celebrated from 13 to 15 April with water pouring, temple visits and respect for elders. Khao chae, rice served in cool scented water with side dishes, is a dish associated with the hot Songkran season.

• Khao chae (rice in jasmine-scented iced water) · Thailand

Sources: Songkran (Thailand) (Wikipedia) · Khao chae (Wikipedia)

Where:

Bangladesh

Cuisines:

BangladeshiBengali

Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali year, is a national holiday in Bangladesh on 14 April, with processions, fairs and music. Many people eat panta bhat, rice soaked overnight in water, with fried hilsa; some writers point out that this pairing is a fairly recent trend rather than an old custom.

• Panta bhat (fermented rice) · Bangladesh
• Ilish (hilsa) fish · Bangladesh

Sources: Pohela Boishakh (Wikipedia) · Panta bhat (Wikipedia)

Where:

Israel

Cuisines:

Israeli

Passover remembers the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. It opens with the seder, a ritual meal with readings, symbolic foods on the seder plate and four cups of wine. Leavened bread is not eaten for the whole festival, and matzah takes its place; matzo ball soup is a favourite in Ashkenazi homes.

• Matzah (unleavened bread)
• The seder plate: bitter herbs, charoset and more
• Matzo ball soup — Matzo ball soup

Date source: Hebcal Jewish calendar, diaspora dates. Jewish holidays begin at sundown the evening before. Eight days outside Israel, seven in Israel.

Sources: Passover (Wikipedia) · Jewish Holidays — Hebcal

Where:

AustraliaNew Zealand

Cuisines:

AustralianNew Zealand

Anzac Day, 25 April, remembers Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in war, beginning with the Gallipoli landing in 1915. Anzac biscuits, made with rolled oats, coconut and golden syrup, are closely associated with the day.

• Anzac biscuits · Australia, New Zealand — Anzac biscuits

Sources: Anzac biscuit (Wikipedia)

Where:

GreeceCyprusRussia

Cuisines:

GreekRussian

For Orthodox Christians, Easter ends the long fast of Great Lent. In Greece, the midnight service is followed by magiritsa soup, and tsoureki, a braided sweet bread, is baked for the day. In Russia, tall kulich loaves are blessed in church together with dyed eggs.

• Tsoureki (sweet Easter bread) · Greece, Cyprus
• Magiritsa (Easter soup) · Greece
• Kulich (tall Easter bread) · Russia

Sources: Tsoureki (Wikipedia) · Magiritsa (Wikipedia) · Kulich (bread) (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global

World Tuna Day draws attention to one of the most traded fish in the world. The UN created it to promote better management of tuna stocks so that fisheries, and the people who depend on them, can last.

• Tuna — Classic Tuna Salad

Sources: World Tuna Day — United Nations · List of International Days and Weeks — United Nations

Where:

Egypt

Cuisines:

Egyptian

Sham Ennessim is an Egyptian spring festival with roots in ancient Egypt, held on the Monday after Coptic (Orthodox) Easter and enjoyed by Egyptians of every faith. Families picnic in parks and gardens and eat fesikh, salted fish, with onions and lettuce, and children colour eggs.

• Fesikh (fermented salted mullet) · Egypt
• Coloured eggs · Egypt
• Lupin beans, green onions and lettuce · Egypt

Sources: Sham Ennessim (Wikipedia)

Where:

Japan

Cuisines:

Japanese

Children's Day on 5 May is a Japanese national holiday, when families fly carp-shaped streamers for their children's health. The traditional sweets are kashiwa mochi, rice cakes filled with red bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves, and chimaki, sweet rice wrapped in iris or bamboo leaves.

• Kashiwa mochi (rice cakes in oak leaves) · Japan
• Chimaki (sweet rice wrapped in leaves) · Japan

Sources: Children's Day (Japan) (Wikipedia)

Where:

Morocco

The argan tree grows almost only in south-western Morocco, and its kernels are pressed into argan oil, used both in cooking and in cosmetics. The UN day recognises the tree, the cooperatives — many of them run by women — that produce the oil, and the dry landscape the trees protect.

• Argan oil · Morocco

Sources: International Day of Argania — United Nations · Argan oil (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global, Middle East & Western Asia, North Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Africa

Eid al-Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice, comes at the end of the Hajj pilgrimage and remembers Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son. Families who can afford it sacrifice a sheep, goat or other animal, and the meat is shared between the household, relatives and the poor.

• Meat from the sacrifice, shared with family, friends and people in need

Date source: Umm al-Qura calendar (Saudi Arabia's official Hijri calendar). Islamic dates follow moon sighting and can be a day later in some countries.

Sources: Eid al-Adha (Wikipedia) · Eid al-Fitr (Umm al-Qura dates) — Q++Studio worldwide holidays

Where:

Global

20 May is the birthday of Anton Janša, an 18th-century Slovenian pioneer of beekeeping, and the UN chose it to celebrate bees and other pollinators. Much of what we eat, from fruit to nuts to many vegetables, depends on them. Honey is the most direct taste of their work.

• Honey — Yakgwa (Korean honey cookies), Castella (Nagasaki honey sponge)

Sources: World Bee Day — FAO · List of International Days and Weeks — United Nations

Where:

Global

After water, tea is the most widely drunk beverage in the world. The UN day, promoted by FAO, celebrates the drink and the millions of small farmers in producing countries who grow and pick it.

• Tea — Masala chai, Moroccan mint tea, Bubble milk tea

Sources: International Tea Day — FAO · List of International Days and Weeks — United Nations

Where:

Peru

The potato was first domesticated in the Andes of South America, and today it is one of the world's most important food crops. The UN marks 30 May to recognise its role in feeding people and the thousands of varieties kept by Andean farmers.

• Potatoes — Papa a la huancaína, Colcannon, Potato gnocchi with tomato sauce

Sources: International Day of Potato — FAO · List of International Days and Weeks — United Nations

Where:

Global

FAO established World Milk Day in 2001 to recognise milk as a global food. Dairy farming supports the livelihoods of many millions of people, and milk turns up in drinks, puddings and sauces in almost every cuisine.

• Milk — Haldi Doodh (Golden Turmeric Milk), Rice kheer

Sources: World Milk Day (Wikipedia)

Where:

ChinaTaiwanHong Kong

Cuisines:

Chinese

Held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Duanwu is known for dragon boat races. The festival food is zongzi: glutinous rice, often with fillings, wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves and steamed or boiled. Fillings range from sweet bean paste to pork and salted egg yolk depending on the region.

• Zongzi (sticky rice wrapped in leaves)

Date source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables, 2026–2030.

Sources: Dragon Boat Festival (Wikipedia) · Zongzi (Wikipedia) · Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — Hong Kong Observatory

Where:

TürkiyeEgyptArmenia

Cuisines:

Turkish

In Türkiye, Egypt and the Balkans, Muslims cook ashure during the month of Muharram, around the Day of Ashura. The pudding combines grains, beans, dried fruit and nuts, and is linked in folk tradition with the last meal on Noah's ark. Big pots are made to be shared with neighbours.

• Ashure (grain, bean and fruit pudding) · Türkiye, Egypt

Date source: Umm al-Qura calendar (Saudi Arabia's official Hijri calendar). Islamic dates follow moon sighting and can be a day later in some countries. Date of the Day of Ashura (10 Muharram).

Sources: Ashure (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global

Sustainable gastronomy means cooking that takes into account where ingredients come from, how they were grown and how they reach our plates. The UN day encourages cooking with local, seasonal produce and valuing regional food cultures.

• Local, seasonal ingredients

Sources: Sustainable Gastronomy Day — FAO · List of International Days and Weeks — United Nations

Where:

New Zealand

Cuisines:

New ZealandPacific Island

Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades star cluster in midwinter, marks the Māori New Year and has been a public holiday in New Zealand since 2022. It is a time to remember the dead, celebrate the present and plan for the year ahead, and some people lay a hāngī, cooking food in an earth oven, as part of the celebrations.

• Hāngī (earth-oven feast) · New Zealand — Oven hāngī

Date source: Matariki public holiday dates set by the New Zealand government (MBIE, Matariki dates 2022–2052).

Sources: Matariki (Wikipedia) · Matariki dates 2022 to 2052 — MBIE

Where:

Sweden

Cuisines:

Swedish

Midsummer Eve is one of Sweden's biggest celebrations, with maypole dancing and flower wreaths. The feast starts with several kinds of pickled herring and new potatoes with dill and sour cream, and ends with the first Swedish strawberries.

• Pickled herring with new potatoes, dill and sour cream · Sweden
• Strawberries with cream · Sweden

Date source: Midsummer Eve in Sweden is the Friday between 19 and 25 June (Midsummer — Wikipedia).

Sources: Midsummer (Wikipedia)

Where:

Peru

Cuisines:

Peruvian

In 2008, Peru's government declared 28 June as National Ceviche Day. Ceviche, raw fish cured in lime juice with chilli and onion, is one of Peru's best-known dishes, and the day is marked by restaurants and cevicherías across the country.

• Ceviche · Peru — Peruvian ceviche

Sources: Ceviche (Wikipedia)

Where:

Tunisia

Cuisines:

Tunisian

Mawlid marks the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad and is observed in much of the Muslim world, often with sweets. In Tunisia, families prepare assidat zgougou, a sweet pudding made from Aleppo pine seeds, for the occasion.

• Assidat zgougou (pine-seed pudding) · Tunisia

Date source: Umm al-Qura calendar (Saudi Arabia's official Hijri calendar). Islamic dates follow moon sighting and can be a day later in some countries. Date of 12 Rabi' al-Awwal; Tunisia announces its own date.

Sources: Mawlid (Wikipedia) · Assidat Zgougou (Wikipedia) · Eid al-Fitr (Umm al-Qura dates) — Q++Studio worldwide holidays

Where:

India

Cuisines:

Indian

Ganesh Chaturthi celebrates the birth of the elephant-headed god Ganesha, with clay images brought into homes and public pavilions, especially in Maharashtra. Modak, sweet dumplings usually filled with coconut and jaggery, are offered to Ganesha, who is said to love them.

• Modak (sweet dumplings) · India

Date source: Drik Panchang festival calendar for New Delhi. Regional Hindu calendars can differ by a day.

Sources: Ganesh Chaturthi (Wikipedia) · Modak (Wikipedia) · Ganesh Chaturthi — Drik Panchang

Where:

EthiopiaEritrea

Cuisines:

EthiopianEritrean

Enkutatash, on the first day of the Ethiopian month of Meskerem, marks the New Year at the end of the rainy season. After church, families gather for a meal of injera with wat, and doro wat, a slow-cooked chicken stew with eggs, is the festive dish. Girls go from house to house singing and giving bouquets of yellow daisies.

• Doro wat (chicken stew) · Ethiopia — Doro wat
• Injera · Ethiopia, Eritrea — Injera

Date source: Ethiopian calendar: 1 Meskerem is 11 September, or 12 September in the year before a Gregorian leap year (Enkutatash — Wikipedia).

Sources: Enkutatash (Wikipedia) · Wat (food) (Wikipedia)

Where:

India

Cuisines:

South Indian

Onam is Kerala's harvest festival, remembered as the return of the legendary king Mahabali. Its centrepiece is the sadya, a vegetarian feast of many dishes served on a banana leaf, including avial, sambar, olan and thoran, and it ends with payasam.

• Onam sadya (feast on a banana leaf) · India — Avial, Sambar
• Payasam · India — Rice kheer

Date source: Drik Panchang festival calendar for New Delhi. Regional Hindu calendars can differ by a day. Date of Thiruvonam, the main day.

Sources: Onam (Wikipedia) · Sadya (Wikipedia) · Onam Thiruvonam — Drik Panchang

Where:

South Korea

Cuisines:

Korean

Chuseok, on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, is Korea's harvest festival and one of its biggest holidays. Families return to their home towns, visit ancestral graves and make songpyeon together: small half-moon rice cakes with sweet fillings, steamed on pine needles.

• Songpyeon (half-moon rice cakes) · South Korea

Date source: Korean lunar calendar, as listed in Public holidays in South Korea — Wikipedia.

Sources: Chuseok (Wikipedia) · Songpyeon (Wikipedia) · Public holidays in South Korea (Wikipedia)

Where:

ChinaTaiwanHong KongSingaporeMalaysia

Cuisines:

ChineseCantonese

On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is held to be at its fullest and brightest, families gather to admire it. Round mooncakes, often filled with lotus seed or red bean paste and sometimes a salted egg yolk, are eaten and given as gifts.

• Mooncakes

Date source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables, 2026–2030.

Sources: Mid-Autumn Festival (Wikipedia) · Mooncake (Wikipedia) · Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — Hong Kong Observatory

Where:

Chile

Cuisines:

Chilean

Chile's Fiestas Patrias, on 18 and 19 September, celebrate national independence with fondas, cueca dancing and barbecues. Empanadas, anticuchos and asado are the typical foods, toasted with chicha.

• Empanadas · Chile
• Anticuchos · Chile
• Chicha · Chile

Sources: Fiestas Patrias (Chile) (Wikipedia)

Where:

Germany

Cuisines:

German

Munich's Oktoberfest runs from mid-September to the first Sunday in October on the Theresienwiese. It combines a beer festival with a funfair, and tents and stalls serve traditional Bavarian food, from roast chicken to Steckerlfisch, fish grilled on a stick.

• Roast chicken (Hendl) · Germany
• Steckerlfisch (fish grilled on a stick) · Germany

Date source: Dates published for Munich's Oktoberfest (oktoberfest.de; Oktoberfest — Wikipedia). Later years are added once announced.

Sources: Oktoberfest (Wikipedia) · Oktoberfest — official site

Where:

South Africa

Cuisines:

South African

Heritage Day on 24 September celebrates the many cultures of South Africa. Many people mark it by gathering around a braai, a barbecue, which is why it is also popularly called Braai Day, though the name is debated.

• Braai (barbecue) · South Africa — Boerewors with pap and sous

Sources: Heritage Day (South Africa) (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global

A large share of the food produced in the world is lost or thrown away between the farm and the plate. This UN day asks everyone, from farmers to home cooks, to waste less. Many traditional dishes, like Tuscan pappa al pomodoro made with stale bread, were born from not wasting anything.

• Dishes made from stale bread · Italy — Pappa al pomodoro

Sources: International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste — FAO · Pappa al pomodoro (Wikipedia)

Where:

ThailandMalaysiaSingapore

Cuisines:

ThaiChinese

For the first nine days of the ninth lunar month, Taoist communities of Chinese descent honour the Nine Emperor Gods. In Thailand, where it is best known from Phuket, it is called the Vegetarian Festival: participants avoid meat, and streets fill with stalls selling vegan Thai and Chinese food marked with yellow flags.

• Jay (vegan Thai and Chinese food) · Thailand

Date source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Tables, 2026–2030. The festival runs from the 1st to the 9th day of the ninth lunar month.

Sources: Nine Emperor Gods Festival (Wikipedia) · Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table — Hong Kong Observatory

Where:

Global

The International Coffee Organization launched International Coffee Day on 1 October 2015, and the UN now lists it among its observances. It celebrates the drink and the farmers, most of them smallholders, who grow it across the tropics.

• Coffee — Turkish coffee, Cà phê sữa đá (Vietnamese iced coffee), South Indian filter coffee

Sources: International Coffee Day — United Nations · International Coffee Day (Wikipedia)

Where:

Israel

Cuisines:

Israeli

Rosh Hashanah begins the Jewish year and the ten Days of Awe that lead to Yom Kippur. Apples dipped in honey are eaten for a sweet new year, and pomegranates, with their many seeds, are another symbol of the holiday.

• Apples dipped in honey
• Pomegranates
• Round challah

Date source: Hebcal Jewish calendar, diaspora dates. Jewish holidays begin at sundown the evening before.

Sources: Rosh Hashanah (Wikipedia) · Jewish Holidays — Hebcal

Where:

Canada

Cuisines:

Canadian

Canadians give thanks for the harvest on the second Monday of October, earlier than in the United States because the growing season ends sooner in the north. Families gather for a large meal that is generally centred on a roast turkey.

• Roast turkey · Canada

Sources: Thanksgiving (Canada) (Wikipedia) · Thanksgiving dinner (Wikipedia)

Where:

Global

World Food Day marks the founding of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on 16 October 1945. Each year it focuses on a theme around hunger, nutrition and how food is produced, and events are held in many countries.

• Staple foods: rice, wheat, maize, pulses and roots

Sources: World Food Day — FAO · List of International Days and Weeks — United Nations

Where:

Italy

World Pasta Day was started in 1998 at the first World Pasta Congress, held in Rome, and is promoted by pasta makers. It is not a UN day, but it is widely marked by cooks and restaurants around the world.

• Pasta · Italy — Pasta alla Norma, Pasta e ceci, Spaghetti al pomodoro

Sources: World Pasta Day (Wikipedia)

Where:

India

Cuisines:

Indian

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the major Hindu festivals and is also marked by Sikhs and Jains. Homes are cleaned and lit with oil lamps, and families share feasts and boxes of mithai, the sweets of the Indian subcontinent, with friends and neighbours.

• Mithai (sweets) · India — Gulab jamun, Besan ladoo, Jalebi

Date source: Drik Panchang festival calendar for New Delhi. Regional Hindu calendars can differ by a day. Date of Lakshmi Puja.

Sources: Diwali (Wikipedia) · Diwali Puja Calendar — Drik Panchang