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Kibbeling
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Kibbeling

Battered white fish chunks

Kibbeling is the fish snack of Dutch markets and harbours, sold in paper trays from fish vans at Saturday markets from Volendam to Rotterdam: bite-sized chunks of cod or pollock coated in a spiced batter and fried until crisp, with a pot of garlic sauce or remoulade. It began as a way to use the cheeks of cod. A common mistake is a thick batter, which turns bready and greasy. Chef's tip: season the batter well with a little curry powder and paprika, the market-van secret, and fry at 180 °C until golden; the fish is done when opaque and flaking.

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Vegetarian pastel de chocloMushroom and corn bake

In Chile pastel de choclo is the taste of January and February, when choclo (big-kernelled starchy corn) is in every market from Santiago to Talca and families bake it in individual clay dishes called pailas. Underneath is the pino, a slow-cooked onion filling with olives, raisins and hard-boiled egg; on top, fresh corn blended with basil and a little milk, scattered with sugar so it browns into a crackly crust. This version makes the pino with mushrooms instead of beef. Chef's tip: cook the corn topping on the hob until it thickens like polenta before it goes in the oven, or it will stay runny.

100 minChileanVegetarianGluten free
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ThieboudienneFish and rice in tomato broth

Ceebu jën, "rice and fish" in Wolof, is the dish Saint-Louis claims as its own and the whole of Senegal cooks for the big Friday or Sunday lunch, served on one wide platter that the family eats from together. Thick fish steaks are stuffed with a green paste of parsley, garlic and chilli, browned, then simmered in a deep tomato broth with whole cassava, carrot, cabbage and aubergine; the broken rice then soaks up that same broth until it turns orange and fragrant. The prized part is the xoon, the crust that forms at the bottom of the pot, which is shared out at the end. The usual mistake is leaving the fish in the pot while the rice cooks, so it falls apart; lift it out with the vegetables and keep it warm. Chef's tip: rinse the broken rice three times and steam it briefly before it goes into the broth, so the grains stay separate instead of turning to porridge.

135 minSenegaleseFishGluten free
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Mole verde with vegetablesGreen mole with vegetables

Mole verde is the brightest of Oaxaca's seven moles: instead of dried chillies and chocolate it is built from tomatillos, fresh green chillies and a fistful of herbs (hoja santa, epazote, parsley) and thickened with masa or pumpkin seeds. In Oaxaca it is often cooked with white beans and vegetables, which is how we make it here, with potatoes, courgette, green beans and chayote. The sauce is tangy, herbal and silky, and goes with white rice or warm corn tortillas. It is vegan as long as you use vegetable stock. Chef's tip: blend the raw herbs in at the very end, off the heat; cooked any longer they turn grey and lose their fresh perfume.

50 minMexicanCurriesVeganGluten free
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Pastéis de nataCustard tarts

Pastéis de nata were first baked by monks of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, on the Lisbon waterfront, who used surplus egg yolks (whites went to starch habits) in a lemon-and-cinnamon custard. Today every pastelaria in Portugal sells them warm from first thing in the morning, eaten standing at the counter with a bica or galão, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar. The pastry is a spiral of thin, buttery layers pressed up the sides of the tin with a wet thumb; the custard is baked in the hottest oven you have, so it sets creamy and catches dark freckles in under 15 minutes. Chef's tip: chill the rolled log of pastry well and press the discs from the centre outwards, so the edge stands slightly above the rim; that thin rim is what shatters when you bite.

120 minPortugueseBaking
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ŻurekSour rye soup with sausage

Żurek is the soup of Polish Easter, served in homes from Kraków to Gdańsk on Easter Sunday morning, and in highland Zakopane restaurants it comes in a hollowed-out bread loaf all year. Its tang comes from zakwas, a fermented rye-flour starter, simmered with marjoram, garlic and stock. This version contains pork: white sausage (biała kiełbasa) and smoked bacon, plus halved hard-boiled eggs. Chef's tip: shake the jar of zakwas before you pour it in; the flour settles and the soup will be thin without it.

65 minPolishSoups
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Mole poblano with chickenChicken in chocolate chilli sauce

In the city of Puebla, mole poblano is the dish for weddings, baptisms and saints' days, and families often make it together over a whole afternoon. Three dried chillies (mulato, ancho and pasilla) are fried and ground with almonds, peanuts, sesame, raisins, spices, toasted tortilla and a little chocolate into a sauce that is deep, glossy and only gently sweet. It is spooned over poached chicken and scattered with sesame, with Mexican rice and warm tortillas to mop it up. Making it a day ahead lets the flavours settle. Chef's tip: fry the blended sauce in hot fat before adding stock; that sizzling stage is what turns it from a purée into mole.

180 minMexicanChickenGluten free
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Moksi alesiMixed rice with salted meat

Moksi alesi, "mixed rice" in Sranan Tongo, is a weekday one-pot from Paramaribo's Creole kitchens: rice cooked with salted meat or salt fish, black-eyed beans, coconut milk, onion, celery and hot pepper, until the grains are soft and full of flavour. It is cooked when there's little time but a full pot is needed. This version uses salted pork; it contains pork. The mistake is not soaking the salted meat, which makes the rice far too salty; soak it, then boil it first. Chef's tip: smoked turkey or salt beef works in place of pork.

80 minGuyaneseRice & GrainsGluten free
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ThukpaHimalayan noodle soup

Thukpa is the warming noodle soup of the Himalayas, eaten in Sikkim, Ladakh and the Tibetan settlements of the hills on cold evenings. A gingery, garlicky broth is cooked with carrot, cabbage and tomato, then wheat noodles and spinach go straight into the pot. It's light yet filling, savoury with soy and pepper and as spicy as you like with chilli on the side. Serve in deep bowls with a squeeze of lemon. Chef's tip: cook the noodles in the soup only just before serving; left standing, they keep drinking up the broth and turn soft.

30 minIndianSoupsVegan
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Timatim salataTomato and onion salad

Timatim salata is the cool, crunchy salad served alongside the stews of an Ethiopian meal, from roadside restaurants in Tigray to home tables in Addis Ababa. Ripe tomatoes, red onion and green chilli are dressed with lemon juice and oil, and the salad is left to stand so the juices mingle; mixed with torn injera it becomes timatim fitfit. Chef's tip: salt the tomatoes only a few minutes before serving, or they release so much liquid the salad turns soupy.

10 minEthiopianSaladsVeganGluten free
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Tian provençalBaked layered summer vegetables

A tian is named after the shallow earthenware dish Provençal cooks use to bake vegetables, and the most famous version lines up thin slices of courgette, aubergine, tomato and onion in tight rows like roof tiles. In Provence it's a Sunday side for the whole family and a light supper with a green salad in summer. The vegetables roast in their own juices with olive oil, garlic and thyme until soft, sweet and lightly browned on top. Unlike ratatouille, nothing is fried first, so it is lighter and more delicate. Chef's tip: choose vegetables of the same width and slice them all 3–4 mm thick; uneven slices are the common mistake and cook unevenly, some raw, some collapsed.

70 minFrenchVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Pasta e patatePasta with potatoes

Pasta e patate is Neapolitan home cooking at its most thrifty: potatoes and mixed broken pasta (pasta mista, the odds and ends from many packets) cooked together in one pot like a risotto, until the potato breaks down and the starch makes everything creamy. Naples families eat it on weekday evenings in winter, and many stir in cubes of smoked provola at the end so it goes stringy (pasta patate e provola). Children love it. Chef's tip: cut half the potato small and half larger; the small pieces melt into the sauce while the larger ones keep their shape.

40 minItalianPasta & Noodles
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Pasta e fagioliBean and pasta soup

In Naples pasta e fagioli (pasta e fasule in dialect) is thick enough to stand a spoon in, made with cannellini or borlotti beans, a few cherry tomatoes, garlic and broken pasta cooked straight in the bean broth. It is a cheap, filling Friday-night meal in many Neapolitan homes, and the bean starch, not cream or cheese, makes it velvety; this version stays vegan. Chef's tip: blend a ladle of the beans before the pasta goes in; it thickens the soup naturally so the pasta is coated, not swimming.

45 minItalianSoupsVegan
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