Foodlines

A Lineage Atlas

Where did your favourite dish come from?

Foodlines maps the ancestry, migration, and evolution of the world's most beloved dishes, tracing every biryani, ramen, and dumpling back to its first recorded origin.

120
Dish variants
101
Lineage connections
-1000
CE to present
Biriyani
01
Persia|950 CE – present

Biriyani

A layered rice dish that crossed empires and oceans

Persia → Mughal India → the world
Pizza
02
Italy|997 CE – present

Pizza

Born poor in Naples, conquered by the world

Naples → New York → the world
Dumplings / Momos
03
China|200 BCE – present

Dumplings / Momos

Humanity's most universal food concept — independently invented across civilisations

China & Central Asia → Silk Road → World
Rolls
04
China|3000 BCE – present

Rolls

The universal portable meal — independently invented on every continent

Multiple independent origins — East Asia, Middle East, Americas, South Asia
Pasta
05
Italy|200 BCE – present

Pasta

No single inventor — discovered by Arab, Chinese, Greek and Italian hands

Arab Sicily → Naples → New York → the world
Ramen
06
China|300 CE – present

Ramen

China's alkaline noodle, Japan's greatest invention

Guangdong → Yokohama → Tokyo → the world