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Every culture has something that makes it special. It could be ingredients distinctive to a specific region that create a trademark dish, a unique practice, or a household item you won’t find anywhere else, which is what this list is all about.
In a recent Reddit thread, people from different countries shared the one object they had seen in their homes their entire lives. Responses ranged from pieces of furniture to cooking utensils and bathroom implements that raised questions.
If you feel like this list is missing something from your country, feel free to add it in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
We Call It A Flessenlikker, Or Freely Translated Bottle Licker. It Is Used To Completely Scrape Bottles And Jars Empty. Netherlands
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#2
Saunas In Apartments/Flats. Finland
Rickard Shen 3 weeks ago
It's somewhat common in Sweden too, however it's mainly Finns that actually use their saunas. Among Swedes, people tend to use it once or twice, and then it unfortunately turns into a storage room.
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Maria Koo 3 weeks ago
In US one living room is bigger than a finnish apartment lol The sauna in the pic is for like 2 people, its normal size in apartments.
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Auntriarch 3 weeks ago
We have one in what used to be a walk in wardrobe. It's only a two seater but there's only two of us.
LillieMean 4 weeks ago
I have never liked those pillar-shaped stoves. They also cost a lot of money because they use a lot of stones and the stones have to be replaced regularly depending on how much the sauna is used. The cheapest and most used is olivine diabase, the price is a little over ten euros for 20 kilos. Those stoves take 70-300 kilos of stones, depending on the size. My more reasonable model can hold about 25 kilos of stones.
LillieMean 3 weeks ago
By the way, I hate more than just the stove in this sauna. The glass door and the wall are a risk and why stare at a person in the shower when you could stare at a board wall. There also doesn't seem to be a safety rail between the stove and the stool, which I think there should be, so one slip and you're hugging the stove before the hospital's burn ward where nurses are using tweezers to dig out glass shards from the burnt flesh. No thanks. I once slipped in front of the sauna door because of the shower water and thought my time had come. I survived with bruises but time really slowed down and I felt a deep peace.
LillieMean 3 weeks ago
I don't know if I should answer heating costs here or how a sauna affects the price/rent of an apartment? For Finns, a sauna seems to be a bit of a given or even a birthright.
Load More Replies... #3
Tortillero, Which Is Used To Keep Tortillas Warm While You Eat. Mexico
#4
A Poffertjespan To Make.....poffertjes. Tiny Dutch Pancakes That Are Consumed With Butter And Powdered Sugar
Sally Moen 4 weeks ago
I was offered these served with lingonberry jam at a Swedish restaurant
#5
A Baguette Box! My Parents Used To Have One Right In Front Of The Main Door; The Baker Was Delivering A Fresh One Every Morning. France
#6
Those Tiles. Portugal
#7
“It's A Clay Pot Used To Hold Water, And It Keeps It Very Cool And Cold. I Think Most Mexicans Have One Of These. It's Called A Xīcālli Īhuān Ātl
NJPaterson 4 weeks ago
The clay is porous allowing water to evapoate out, thereby cooling the contents.
#8
They're A Bit Fancy, But An Aga Cooker. It's Like A Range Cooker But You Don't Turn It Off. It's Always On And It Acts As Heating For Your Home. England
NJPaterson 4 weeks ago
Same as wood stoves in US farms. My aunt had one on their dairy farm. If Aga is always on, seems dangerous and waste of fuel.
#9
In The Yucatan Peninsula, We Use Something Called Lek’. It’s Made From Carved And Dried Out Fruit, And It Has A Crazyyy Insulating Power And It Dates Back All The Way To The Mayans
#10
Drying Rack Above The Sink. Apparently Not That Common Outside The Nordics
#11
A Jar Of Lingonberry Jam (Preferably Rårörda Lingon, A Variant That Hasn't Been Boiled). The Staple Condiment For, Like, Half Of All Swedish Recipes
#12
A Fondue Caquelon. Switzerland
#13
Clay Water Filter. Brazil
#14
Oh! I Actually Have Something For This! This Is An "Ulu" Or "Uluaq", Which Is Part Of Our Alaskan Eskimo Cultural Tradition. USA
FreeTheUnicorn 4 weeks ago
Best kitchen knife ever (as well as best game cleaning knife). Easy eve for people with grip strength issues
#15
Charcoal Grill On A High Rise Apartment Balcony. Brazil
#16
I'd Say Probably A Chocolatera, It's Used For Hot Chocolate And Agua De Panela. Colombia
#17
For Korea, Probably A Kimchi Fridge
#18
A Coconut Grater! Every Household In Southern India Where Coconut Is A Staple Has One
#19
Copper Coffee Pot. Turkey
#20
Tajeen, Pronounced Ta-J-Een. Popular In Morocco, Algeria, Maybe Tunis And Libya I’m Not Sure. Traditionally, It’s Made Of Clay And Used For Cooking
Hippopotamuses 4 weeks ago
I had food cooked in tajeen a few years ago. It was Fantastic. This reminds me (yet again) that I need to get one.
#21
Separate Hot And Cold Taps In The Bathroom. UK
#22
This To Cook Cuscuz. Brazil
Min 3 weeks ago (edited)
Everyone here assuming this is couscous without bothering to check. A quick google shows it's something else entirely - "Cuscuz brasileiro is a traditional, savory staple made from steamed, moistened cornmeal flour (flocos de milho), commonly eaten for breakfast in Brazil's Northeast. Typically prepared in a special steamer pot called a cuscuzeira, it is served hot, often with butter, eggs, cheese, or coffee. "
#23
Kotatsu! I Live Up North And It’s Absolutely A Must For Winter Months. Also We Live In An Older House So We Use Kerosene Heaters To Warm A Room Up. Japan
#24
Moka Pots Maybe. Italy
#25
Jamonero, For Cutting Iberic Ham. Most Houses Have One. Spain
#26
I Guess It Would Have To Be A Central Vacuum System. It Is Built Into The House. Canada
Tim Douglass 4 weeks ago
These used to be quite common in the U.S., but because people didn't maintain them they plugged and started fires, so insurance companies started denying coverage if your house had a central vacuum system and they kind of disappeared. It's a pity, because they worked much better than a regular vacuum did.
#27
In The South Of France (Provence More Precisely) We Have Decorative Ceramic Or Cast Iron Cicadas On The Walls
#28
Going Out On A Limb Here, But Bush Pie Makers In Canada
Hippopotamuses 4 weeks ago
NZ. We used to call them toastie makers, or toastie irons, and we put them into the fire. It was more fun than watching the radio, in the days before tv.
#29
I Guess It’s Teak Furniture. I Know It’s Not Really Exclusive, But Here Almost Every House Has It, And Sometimes It Becomes An Heirloom Since It Can Easily Last 100 Years. Indonesia
#30
Chicken Salt For Chips. Australia
PrettyJoyBird 4 weeks ago (edited)
Brb, going to look up ingredients. (Oh wow sounds amazing!)
#31
Garbage Disposal. USA
#32
I Would Be Really Surprised To Find A Finnish Household Without At Least One Of Those Bad Boys. Finland
#33
I’ve Only Ever Seen Dish Washer Drawers In New Zealand
#34
In Japan, Most Houses Comes With A Grill Just For Fish
Sofia Monteiro 4 weeks ago
These should exist in Portuguese kitchens. We eat a lot of fish but grilling becomes difficult in winter. This should do it, along with a good exhaustion.
#35
Three Legged, Falkirk Cast Iron Potjie Pot. South Africa
#36
Mango Pickle Jar.. It Is Very Common In India.. Especially In Maharashtra!. India
#37
Pickeled Flour. Poland
#38
Not Sure How Unique To Turkey This Is, But This Two Part Teapot
#39
St Brigid's Cross. Ireland
#40
Storm Cellars - Especially In The Midwest/Tornado Alley. USA
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 4 weeks ago
Forgive my Antipodean ignorance, but if you're in the cellar during a tornado, what keeps the storm doors from flying open?
#41
Grew Up In East Asia And We Always Had A Rice Dispenser
#42
The Raclette Machine, That Usually Allows To Also Make Crepes On The Up Side Of It (And Plancha). France
#43
Royal Portraits In The Outhouse/Privy, If You Have One. Sweden
#44
Kitchen Bin Has To Be Underneath The Sink, It's A Law. If Your Bin Isn't Under The Sink, Consider Yourself A Foreign Spy. Poland
#45
Tostonera. It’s For Smashing Fried Plantains Before The Second Fry To Make Tostones. USA
#46
Frozen Dill Or Parsley In A Plastic Ice Cream Container. Poland
#47
Bagged Milk
#48
Passapomodoro ... For When You Make Passata. Italy
#49
Chushkopek, Literally “Pepper-Roaster". It’s A Uniquely Bulgarian Kitchen
#50
One For Sweeping Outdoor Areas And The Other One For Indoors. Philippines
#51
Raclette Grill. Germany
#52
It's Called "Molcajete" And It's Used To Prepare Salsas And, As You Can See, Guacamole. Mexico
#53
Pleated Christmas Hearts. We All Made A Ton Of These As Kids To Decorate The Christmas Tree. Denmark
Roman Arendt 4 weeks ago (edited)
Yes, and stars as well in Germany. Recently found a bunch of them my brother and I made in Kindergarten as I was searching for Christmas decorations.
#55
Ostehøvel! It's For Slicing Cheese. Norway
#56
Cheese Box. France
#57
More Of A German Thing, But Not Unheard Of In Austria
Roman Arendt 4 weeks ago
An egg opener (for boiled eggs). You place the bottom on top of the egg, then let the metal sphere slide down the pole. Perfectly opened eggs guaranteed.
#58
A Coal Scuttle / Decorative Reminder Of Coal – Even In Houses That Haven’t Seen Coal In Decades. Or At Least Something Nodding To The Mining Past. Wales
Sally Moen 4 weeks ago (edited)
In older homes, even in the western US, you can still find these, as well as coal chutes that lead into a coal cellar. If you look at the street-side of a house, there might be a ground-level door
#59
Ashtray. Australia
Hippopotamuses 4 weeks ago
Not surprisingly we have these in NZ. It is the shell of the paua. Aka NZ abalone.
#60
In Lao Households (Even Outside Of Lao!), You Will Always Find A Thip Khao/Rice Basket. Most Families Have A Massive One To Communal Dig Your Rice Balls Out From. Canada
#61
Rice Washers. Brazil
#62
We Have These Switches Above All Of Our Outlets To Cut The Power To Anything Plugged In. I Grew Up In The Us And Never Seen Anything Like This Until I Moved To Aus
Did I say that out loud? 4 weeks ago
Standard on every plug socket in the UK, and many other countries, for decades.
#63
This Style Of Can Opener. Denmark
Sally Moen 4 weeks ago
P-38 is the name of these type of openers in the US, though they look a little different. Issued by the Army and designed for when you were away from home and needed to open your canned food. Excellent camping equipment
#64
Botijo (In The Left), To Get Some Cold Water When The Sun Is Strong And Porrón (In The Right), A Wine Decanter. Spain
#65
Some Kind Of Biltong Maker (Not Necessarily This One, Some People Have Very Rudimentary Contraptions). South Africa
#66
Don't Have One At Home, But In My Grandmother's Apartment It Does, These Are Антресоли (Mezzanines), Usually Used For Storing All Kinds Of Jams, Pickled Cucumbers And Tomatoes. Russia
#67
Little Squeegees Over Our Sinks So We Can Dry It Off After Doing Dishes. Apparently Not Something That Is Really Common Outside Of Here. Brazil
NJPaterson 4 weeks ago
In US mostly to squeegee water off shower walls to prevent mineral buildup and water spots.
#68
A Spianatoia, Used Either To Make Pasta Or Eat Polenta With The Whole Family. Italy
#69
These Specific Corningware Dishes Are In Every House In The Us
#70
A Chocolate Spread Container Filled With Lard. Serbia
#71
Shared With The Neighbours: Electric Kettle With Set Temperature For Mate. Argentina
Huddo's sister 4 weeks ago
We don't have one specifically for mate, but we can set the temperature on my kettle in Australia. (Breville teamaker iirc, and you can also brew tea in a basket that attaches in the kettle too.) One of my favourite appliances.
#72
Not Sure If It Is Just German, But A Dedicated Egg Boiler Complete With A Little Water Measuring Thing Is Very Common So You Can Make Your Perfect Dippy Breakfast Egg
Zig Zag Wanderer 4 weeks ago
Because my kitchen definitely needs another appliance for a single purpose....
#73
Swedish Dish Cloth. It Can Absorb Liquids 15 Times Its Own Weight
#74
Danbo Cheese Is A Staple Food In All Danish Households
#75
A Bidet. But Separated From The Actual Toilet. Argentina
#76
I Didn't Know How Common The Kartoffelharfe Is In Other Countries. You Use It To Cut Cooked Potatoes Into Thin Slices For Potato Salad Oder Roasted Potatoes. Germany
#77
Chilean Toaster!
#78
Mantovarka (Manti Cooker)- Metal Steamer For Making Manti, Most Often A Beaten One Made Of Aluminium Passed On For Generations From Ussr
#79
Egg Cutters. Not Sure If Theyre Special Anywhere Else, Have Not Seen Them Yet Outside Of My Country. Germany
#80
Most Filipino Households Have A Water Bucket And A Dipper In The Bathroom. Even With Hand Bidets, The Timba And Tabo Are Still Commonly Used
#81
Probably Speaking For The Entire German Speaking Region Here. Austria
Huddo's sister 4 weeks ago
My mum had (possibly still has, unless she broke it) one, in Australia.
#82
A Budare To Cook Arepas. Venezuela
#83
Pebble Dash Everywhere! Ireland
#84
Marrow Separator, Because Only Heathens Eat Bone With The Marrow. Haven’t Seen Anyone Else Has This Outside Of Canada
#85
Any Filipino Household Has A Dipper. Maybe Other Countries Like In The Sea Has One Or A Dipper Of A Different Variation
NJPaterson 4 weeks ago
Used for dipping water from bucket to flush the squat toilet as it had no running water.
#86
Every Household Contains A Spice Box, And Each Family's Mix Is Unique, Depending On Their Preference. Germany
sturmwesen 4 weeks ago (edited)
ehmm what? that picture is not German and I know noone with a family spice mix. seems indian? edit OP is an Indian in Germany...they are talking about India
#87
The Daawe, It’s Used For Making Laxoox. Denmark
#88
Basically Every Household In Taiwan Has One Of These Rice/Multicookers
#89
Flowery Blankets! Every Household In India (And Probably The Entire Subcontinent) Has One Of These. India
#90
Coconut Grater. To Scrape The White Flesh Of Coconut
#91
The Icelandic Pancake Pan. It May Look Like Any Other Pan But Its Only Ever Supposed To Be Used For Pancakes And Nothing Else
#92
That Jar Of Morta Sitting Next To The White Cheese. Egypt
Pink Panda 3 weeks ago
Maybe explaining what it is would be great when you assume it is something that only exists in your own country 😁
#93
Washandje, A Washing Hand, I Have Only Seen These In The Benelux Countries. It Is A Washcloth You Can Stick Your Hand In Like A Mitten But Without The Thumb. Netherlands
#94
A Home Deep-Fryer. Belgium
#95
Thses Bowls. Yes, I Know, They're Gorgeous. Portugal
NJPaterson 4 weeks ago
My mother had a set of these small bowls with a big bowl. She would serve fruit salad.
#96
Bag With Bags. Russia
#97
Was Almost Forgetting: For When You Make Pasta, And This Is Really Common. Italy
#98
The Egg Holder (Eierbecher). Germany
#99
This Kind Of Washing Line. Australia
#100
In Argentina
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What do you think ?
Ripley 4 weeks ago
This is a weird list. Some of these things may well be unique to the country listed, but soooo many of them we have or have had in Australia, and I would consider us a bit of a backwater, geographically speaking. We definitely don't have household saunas or kimchi fridges, though (at least not common usage).
David Paterson 4 weeks ago (edited)
Do countries other than Australia have this sort of macadamia nut cracker? A hand welded miniature vice. Picture in attachment.
Remi (He/Him) 4 weeks ago
I'd say dish brush is not common in enough places, because washing them with that sponge thing feels really unhygienic to me
Sandra Monk 3 weeks ago
Just throw those Swedish dish cloths in the wash. They clean beautifully and last ages.
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Bored Jellyfish 4 weeks ago
I thought this was an interesting article. I think another good article would be what household tools have people discovered from other countries and adopted them for themselves. For instance, relatively uncommon items I own in the US are an electric kettle, a rice cooker, and a potato ricer. A friend from Finland came over to visit and brought back a huge box of dryer sheets
Jackie Lulu 3 weeks ago
I think this is available almost anywhere, but not common: a small faucet with almost-boiling water, heated under the sink in a small container. Handy for hot tea and all kinds of other stuff.
nottheactualphoto 3 weeks ago
My house came with one of those, but I took it out because it didn't work very well and I had little use for it.
Load More Replies... Ripley 4 weeks ago
This is a weird list. Some of these things may well be unique to the country listed, but soooo many of them we have or have had in Australia, and I would consider us a bit of a backwater, geographically speaking. We definitely don't have household saunas or kimchi fridges, though (at least not common usage).
David Paterson 4 weeks ago (edited)
Do countries other than Australia have this sort of macadamia nut cracker? A hand welded miniature vice. Picture in attachment.
Remi (He/Him) 4 weeks ago
I'd say dish brush is not common in enough places, because washing them with that sponge thing feels really unhygienic to me
Sandra Monk 3 weeks ago
Just throw those Swedish dish cloths in the wash. They clean beautifully and last ages.
Load More Replies... Bored Jellyfish 4 weeks ago
I thought this was an interesting article. I think another good article would be what household tools have people discovered from other countries and adopted them for themselves. For instance, relatively uncommon items I own in the US are an electric kettle, a rice cooker, and a potato ricer. A friend from Finland came over to visit and brought back a huge box of dryer sheets
Jackie Lulu 3 weeks ago
I think this is available almost anywhere, but not common: a small faucet with almost-boiling water, heated under the sink in a small container. Handy for hot tea and all kinds of other stuff.
nottheactualphoto 3 weeks ago
My house came with one of those, but I took it out because it didn't work very well and I had little use for it.
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