The World's Best
Dumplings & Pastries

Wrap a filling in dough and you have one of the oldest ideas in cooking, invented over and over from the steppe to the Mediterranean. 410 of them earn a place in the ranking, from 87 countries, and they fall into two families: the pockets you pinch shut — dumplings, jiaozi, pierogi, manti — and the pies and pastries you fold, layer or bake around a filling.

The peak is scattered. Italy has the deepest bench, but its best here is the cheese-filled Focaccia di Recco at Nº 73; the highest-rated of all is Tunisia's brik, with China's jiaozi and Bulgaria's banitsa close behind. Georgia is the quiet giant: its cheese-boat khachapuri is the single most-reviewed dish in the department by a wide margin, even as it ranks outside the top three hundred.