Connecting Across Cultures, One Dumpling at a Time

When I traveled to Italy, I had one goal: eat everything. I think I did a pretty good job of it.

More specifically, I wanted to try as many local and regional specialties as I could. In Bologna, the capital of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, that meant lots of cured meats, cheeses… and, of course, pasta.

One of Emilia-Romagna’s signature pastas is tortellini. Stuffed with meat and cheese, they are traditionally served in broth (in brodo). There’s nothing fancy about it, but that’s what makes the dish mind-blowingly good.

The night after I flew home, the jet lag was real and I didn’t feel like cooking. Instead, I ordered takeout from my favorite Chinese restaurant. I’ve ordered from this restaurant many times before, but this time, I noticed something about the wonton soup…

It looked awfully similar to the tortellini in brodo I’d eaten in Italy just a few days before.

Though the cultural origins and contexts were so different, I couldn’t deny the similarities. Both dishes consisted of meat-filled dumplings served in a clear broth.

Before long, I remembered yet another similar dish that we’d featured in a previous blog post! Our friend Marissa shared a recipe for Jewish deli-style kreplach soup. Kreplach are- you guessed it- dumplings stuffed with meat and sometimes served in broth.

As I ate, questions started to pop up. Were all of these closely-related dishes merely coincidence? More importantly, do similar dishes also exist in other cultural cuisines?

Dumplings for everyone!

It turns out tortellini, wontons, and kreplach aren’t the only dumplings you’ll find served in broth. Not even close, in fact! Let’s take a quick trip around the world…

Like kreplach, matzoh ball soup is a Jewish classic. The base for the dumplings is matzoh meal, made from ground-up unleavened flatbreads.

In Poland, you’ll find uszka (“little ears”) stuffed with mushrooms. Their shape is similar to Italian tortellini or cappelletti, and they are traditionally served with a beet soup called borscht.

In the southern United States, chicken and dumplings is a comfort food staple. The fluffy, biscuit-like dumplings are cooked in the same broth as the chicken and vegetables.

In my research, I came across a blog called A Dumpling Thing, full of recipes and cooking tips. Christina, the author, grew up in a Chinese-Canadian family and is a lifelong dumpling devotee. While neither of us has compiled an exhaustive dumpling directory (yet), I was excited to find someone else on a similar mission.

In Christina’s post “The Great Dumpling Bucket List”, I came across several more examples of dumpling soups, including Maultaschen from southwestern Germany and pantruca from Chile.

As long as we’re talking about dumplings in broth, we should probably also mention xiao long bao, or “soup dumplings.” In this Chinese dish, the broth goes inside the dumpling! The best way to enjoy them is to bite off the top and carefully slurp out the hot broth.

What does this teach us?

I think there are two important takeaways from this deep dive into dumplings. First, it’s no accident that there are so many similar dishes across the world. As long as people have moved around and through the world, so have cultural cuisines. Immigrants have carried traditional recipes to their new homelands, and travelers have taken their favorite foods home with them. With globalization and modern technology, we’re now able to share ingredients and recipes from anywhere, to anyone.

Most importantly, the existence of so many similar dishes reminds us of our common humanity. Regardless of culture, ethnicity, or background, food brings us comfort and togetherness. There are many things that make us different, but eating is a universal experience. When trying to find common ground with our neighbors, perhaps the best place to start is at the table.

Does your culinary heritage include dumplings?

For more examples of dumplings around the world, check out these articles:

“Dumplings Around the World,” Saveur

“Try These 35 Delicious Types of Dumpings Around the World,” Travel.Earth

“The World’s Tastiest Dumplings,” CNN