Skip to main content

TED-Ed

What do dumplings look like around the world? - Miranda Brown

1,144,263 Views

6,795 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

As archaeologists pored over ancient tombs in western China, they discovered some surprisingly well-preserved and familiar relics. Though hardened over 1,000 years, there sat little crescent-shaped dumplings. So who invented these plump pockets of perfection, and how did they spread across the world? Miranda Brown traces the tangled, mysterious historical web of dumplings.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Historians have long been fascinated with the history of dumplings. In 2013, the Oxford Symposium published Wrapped and Stuffed Foods: Proceedings on the Symposium: Foods and Cookery, 2012. It is available as a free Google Book. You can read about the origins and relationship between dumplings, as well as some of the controversies. 

For readers interested in learning more about how the Silk Road contributed to the spread of foodways across Eurasia, Crossroads of Cuisine: The Eurasian Heartland, the Silk Roads and Food by Paul David Buell et al. It is available for download as an Open Access book. 

If you are interested in learning more about historical menus, the New York City Public Library hosts a searchable database called “What’s on the Menu?" It contains 17,000+ American restaurant menus.

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

Educator
Miranda Brown
Director
Léon Moh-Cah, Andi Concha
Narrator
Pen-Pen Chen
Storyboard Artist
Na Na Na Studio
Animator
Na Na Na Studio
Art Director
Na Na Na Studio
Composer
Jan Willem De With
Sound Designer
Jan Willem De With
Director of Production
Gerta Xhelo
Producer
Anna Bechtol
Editorial Director
Alex Rosenthal
Associate Producer
Abdallah Ewis
Editorial Producer
Cella Wright
Script Editor
Alex Gendler
Fact-Checker
Charles Wallace

More from You Are What You Eat