Featured recipe

Feijão de óleo de palma

Palm oil beans

No Saturday table in Luanda feels complete without a pot of these beans next to the funge, and the deep orange colour of the dende oil tells you they are ready. Soft, creamy beans are simmered with onion, garlic, tomato and a generous pour of red palm oil until the broth thickens and every bean is coated, earthy, faintly smoky and rich. Serve them with funge de bombó (cassava) or funge de milho, with fried plantain, or with rice and greens. Buy unrefined red palm oil from an African grocer, ideally certified sustainable; it is not the same as the pale refined kind. Chef's tip: hold back the salt and tomato until the beans are truly soft, because both firm up the skins and are the usual reason a bean pot never gets creamy.

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Trà sen (lotus tea)

Every June and July, before sunrise, boats slip between the pink lotus on Hanoi's West Lake to gather flowers for trà sen. The finest lotus tea is made by stripping the tiny white rice-like anthers from hundreds of blooms and layering them with green tea, a labour that makes it one of Vietnam's most expensive gifts, kept for Tết. Families do a simpler version at home: a spoon of Thái Nguyên green tea is tucked into the heart of a fresh flower in the evening, the petals closed and tied, and by morning the leaves have taken on a sweet, creamy, slightly vanilla-like perfume. It is brewed in a small clay pot and drunk in tiny cups in the early morning. The common mistake is brewing with boiling water, which flattens the lotus scent and makes the green tea bitter. Rinse the leaves quickly and brew at 80–85 °C. It is ready when the cup is pale gold and the steam smells of flowers before tea. No fresh lotus? Buy ready-made lotus-scented tea from Vietnamese shops and start at the brewing step. Chef's tip: pick a bud that is just about to open; a fully open bloom has already lost its scent.

15 min

Vietnamese Drinks

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Roti sardinSardine-filled bread rolls

Roti sardin is a Malaysian school-bag and teatime favourite: tinned sardines in tomato sauce mashed with onion, chilli and lime, rolled inside flattened white bread and pan-fried until golden. Mothers across Malaysia make them for bekal and they are sold at Ramadan bazaars. The common mistake is leaving the sardine filling wet, which soaks through the bread; cook it down until it is thick. Chef's tip: seal the rolls with a little beaten egg, then fry seam side down first so they hold together.

20 min

Malaysian Fish

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Kaffeost (coffee with cheese)

In the far north, across Swedish Norrbotten and Finnish Lapland, coffee comes with cheese in the cup. Leipäjuusto, a mild, squeaky cheese baked or grilled until spotted brown (called kaffeost or 'bread cheese'), is cut into cubes and put in a cup, often a carved wooden kuksa, then hot black coffee is poured over. Sámi reindeer herders and Tornedalen farmers have made it this way for generations; it is a fireside or mid-morning drink on a cold day, and in some families a little sugar or a slice of dried reindeer meat goes in as well. The cheese warms through, softens slightly and soaks up the coffee, so you drink the coffee and then spoon out the warm, chewy, milky cubes. The common mistake is using a soft or melting cheese: it collapses into strings. Use proper leipäjuusto or halloumi, which keep their shape. It is ready when the cubes are hot to the centre, about 2 minutes, and slightly puffed. Strong coffee means real caffeine here, so it is an adult drink. Leipäjuusto is sold in Nordic shops; halloumi is the nearest substitute. Chef's tip: warm the cheese on a dry pan first for extra browned flavour.

6 minScandinavian Drinks

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Boil-upPork bones with greens and kumara

Boil-up is the great Māori one-pot of Aotearoa New Zealand, cooked on marae for hui, at whānau gatherings and on cold weeknights everywhere from Northland to the King Country. Pork bones and brisket are boiled for hours until the meat falls away, then potatoes, kūmara and handfuls of watercress or wild pūhā go in, and fluffy flour doughboys steam on top. The broth is drunk alongside, with buttered bread. The usual mistake is letting the doughboys sit in boiling liquid uncovered, which makes them heavy; once in, clamp the lid on and don't peek for 15 minutes. Chef's tip: skim the pot well during the first half hour and the broth stays clear and sweet rather than greasy.

170 min

New Zealand Meat

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KalopsBeef stew with allspice

Kalops is the Swedish winter stew that fills kitchens from Skåne to Norrland on dark November weekends: chunks of beef chuck simmered slowly with onions, carrots, whole allspice and bay until the sauce turns brown, glossy and lightly peppery. It is always eaten with plain boiled potatoes and a spoonful of sweet pickled beetroot (inlagda rödbetor), whose sharpness cuts the richness. It reheats beautifully, so many families make it a day ahead. The usual mistake is crowding the pan when browning, so the beef steams grey and the sauce never gets its deep colour; brown in batches. Chef's tip: crush half the allspice berries lightly before they go in so the warm clove-like scent reaches the whole pot, but leave the rest whole for a gentler background note.

150 minScandinavian Meat

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HafechabisLamb and cabbage pot

Hafechabis, literally 'pot cabbage', is the autumn one-pot of the Lucerne, Schwyz and Uri valleys, made when the cabbages come in and the lambs come down from the alps. Lamb shoulder, white cabbage, onions and potatoes are layered in a heavy pot with caraway and left to cook gently in their own juices with a little stock, until the cabbage is silky and the lamb tender. Serve it straight from the pot with mustard and crusty bread. The usual mistake is adding too much liquid: the cabbage gives off plenty of its own, and a flooded pot tastes boiled rather than braised. Slow-cooker option: layer as below and cook on low for 7 hours. Chef's tip: brown the lamb properly first, as the caramelised fat is what flavours every layer of cabbage.

125 min

Swiss Meat

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Teh halia (ginger milk tea)

Sit down at any mamak stall in Kuala Lumpur, Penang or Johor Bahru, from breakfast roti canai to the after-football supper at 1 a.m., and someone at the table will order teh halia. It is teh tarik's spicier cousin: dust-fine black tea is boiled with plenty of crushed ginger, mixed with condensed and evaporated milk, then 'pulled' between two mugs from arm's length until a thick froth forms. The result is sweet, creamy and malty, with a ginger heat that catches your throat, most loved on wet monsoon evenings. The common mistake is adding ginger to tea at the end; it then tastes raw and thin. Boil the ginger in the water first for several minutes so the heat goes into the liquid. It is ready when the tea is the colour of milky caramel and a dense froth a few centimetres high sits on top. This contains caffeine, so it is not for children. Chef's tip: practise pulling with water over the sink first, then start low and raise the mug slowly as you pour.

11 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Alu chi patal bhajiColocasia leaf curry

No Maharashtrian festive thali, at Ganesh Chaturthi, a wedding or a naming ceremony, feels complete without a bowl of aluchi patal bhaji: chopped colocasia leaves stewed soft with chana dal and peanuts in a thin curry that is sour with tamarind, sweet with jaggery and thickened with a spoon of gram flour. It is eaten mixed into rice or sipped from the thali. Colocasia leaves must be cooked thoroughly with an acid like tamarind; undercooked leaves make the throat itch. The usual mistake is skimping on the cooking time to save the bright green colour; the leaves should be fully soft and olive-green. Chef's tip: soak the peanuts and chana dal for at least 2 hours, so they cook in the same time as the leaves.

55 min

Indian Curries

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Mandi'o chyryryFried cassava with onion and egg

Mandi'o chyryry means 'fried cassava' in Guaraní, and it is what rural Paraguayan families make from yesterday's boiled mandi'o: chunks crushed and fried in a big pan with onion until crisp in places, then scrambled with eggs. It comes out for breakfast with cocido or for a quick supper, and costs next to nothing. Use sweet cassava, the kind sold in supermarkets. The mistake is stirring constantly, which turns it to mush; let the cassava sit and brown. Chef's tip: the best chyryry starts with cold, day-old boiled cassava, which fries crisper than freshly boiled.

45 min

Paraguayan Sides

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Shanghai cai fanRice with bok choy and pork

Cai fan, "vegetable rice", is what Shanghai grandmothers cook on cold winter days and what office workers buy steaming from the canteen: rice cooked in one pot with Shanghai bok choy and diced salted pork, enriched with a spoon of lard so every grain glistens. It goes into an insulated lunch tin piping hot. The common mistake is adding the greens with the raw rice, which turns them khaki and mushy; fry the stems first and stir the leaves in at the end. For a vegetarian version, use oil instead of lard, leave out the pork and add diced shiitake. Chef's tip: let the pot sit undisturbed on the lowest heat for the last 5 minutes to form a thin golden crust, guoba, at the bottom.

45 min

Chinese Rice & Grains

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GrønkålssalatRaw kale salad

Kale (grønkål) is a winter classic in Denmark, traditionally stewed with cream at Christmas, but in Copenhagen homes and cafés it is now just as often eaten raw in this bright salad through the cold months, from November to March. Shredded kale is massaged with lemon juice and oil until it turns silky and dark green, then tossed with crisp apple, red onion and toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Serve it beside rye bread with eggs, or with baked salmon or potatoes. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 160 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is skipping the massage, which leaves the leaves tough and squeaky. Chef's tip: strip out every bit of stalk; even thin stems stay woody in a raw salad.

18 minScandinavian Salads

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Aloo potoler dalnaPotato and pointed gourd curry

Pointed gourd (potol) floods the markets of Kolkata in summer, and aloo potoler dalna is how most Bengali homes cook it for a weekday lunch or a light Sunday meal. Half-peeled gourds and halved potatoes are fried until golden, then simmered in a loose gravy of ginger, cumin and tomato and finished with ghee and garam masala, so it tastes warm and gently sweet rather than hot. Serve it with rice or luchi. The usual mistake is peeling the gourds completely, which makes them fall apart; scrape off only the waxy skin in stripes. Chef's tip: prick each gourd once with a fork before frying so the gravy can soak into the seeds.

40 min

Indian Vegetarian

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TitiyasCoconut milk flatbread

Titiyas are the soft, slightly sweet flatbreads of Guam and the Marianas, cooked on a griddle and eaten warm at breakfast, with fiesta food or rolled round a piece of grilled meat. Flour titiyas are made with coconut milk, which keeps them tender and gives a faint coconut taste; there is also a corn version (titiyas mai'es). A common mistake is rolling them too thick; 5 mm cooks through without burning. Chef's tip: cook on a dry, medium-hot pan and wrap each one in a towel as it comes off so they stay soft.

30 minPacific Islander Breads & Parathas

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Chanka de polloChicken soup with broad beans

Every Cochabamba market has a corner where chanka de pollo bubbles in huge pots: a clear, herby chicken broth full of broad beans, potatoes and spring onion, with a whole joint of chicken in each bowl and chuño or a boiled potato on the side. It is fresh and grassy rather than rich, sharpened with a little locoto. Many people let it boil hard, which clouds the broth. Chef's tip: add the herbs and spring onion right at the end so they stay bright green.

75 minAndean Soups

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Cháo sườnRice porridge with pork ribs

On Hanoi street corners, cháo sườn sellers ladle out this porridge from first light, and children eat it before school with a heap of crisp quẩy (fried dough) and fluffy pork floss on top. Unlike whole-grain congee, the rice is ground first, so it cooks into a pale, silky cream flavoured by a long-simmered pork rib broth. The usual mistake is adding the ground rice to boiling broth all at once, which makes stubborn lumps; whisk it into a slurry first. Chef's tip: toast the rice in a dry pan until it smells like popcorn before you grind it, which gives the porridge its gentle nutty depth.

120 min

Vietnamese Rice & Grains

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Bobo chickenCold chicken skewers in chilli oil

Bobo chicken came to Chengdu from Leshan and is now sold in snack shops off Chunxi Road and down Jinli, where dozens of bamboo skewers stand in a big clay bowl of chilli oil and you pay by the stick you pull out. It is summer evening food, eaten cold: tender poached chicken, lotus root, potato, mushroom and kelp, all soaked in a sweet, savoury, tongue-tingling red broth. Stalls also skewer chicken gizzards and hearts; this version keeps to chicken thigh and vegetables. It contains sesame and soya. Chef's tip: plunge the poached chicken into iced water; it keeps the meat juicy and the skin pleasantly springy.

60 min

Chinese Chicken

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Thabdi pendaCaramelised milk pendas

Rajkot's sweet shops are famous across Gujarat for thabdi, a crumbly, toffee-brown penda that starts as plain milk and sugar and ends, two hours later, as something close to caramel fudge. The milk is boiled down in a wide iron kadai, a spoon of curd splits it slightly to give the trademark grainy texture, and the sugar browns slowly with it until the whole mass is the colour of milky tea. The usual mistake is rushing on high heat: the milk catches and tastes burnt rather than caramelised. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan and a flat wooden spatula, and keep scraping the bottom and sides every minute once the milk is half reduced.

145 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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San da paoGlutinous rice balls in soybean flour

On Jinli Ancient Street and in the Kuanzhai Xiangzi alleys, san da pao vendors draw a crowd by hurling balls of hot glutinous rice dough at a wooden board hung with brass plates: bang, bang, bang, the "three cannons" of the name, before the balls drop into a tray of roasted soybean flour. Served with dark brown sugar syrup and sesame, they are a soft, chewy, nutty afternoon snack. They contain soya and sesame. Glutinous rice is very sticky, so cut the balls small for children. Chef's tip: work the steamed dough while it is still hot; once it cools it stiffens and will not stretch.

45 min

Chinese Desserts

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Tian shui mianSweet spiced soy noodles

Tian shui mian, "sweet water noodles", are a fixture of Chengdu's old snack houses around Wenshu Monastery, ordered at lunch in a small bowl alongside dumplings and wontons. The noodles are cut as thick as chopsticks, cooked chewy and served at room temperature, coated in thick spiced soy syrup, red chilli oil, pounded raw garlic and sesame: sweet first, then hot and garlicky. Chef's tip: simmer the sweet soy until syrupy; if it is thin it runs to the bottom of the bowl instead of clinging to the noodles.

45 min

Chinese Pasta & Noodles

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Cheonggukjang jjigaeFermented soybean stew

Cheonggukjang is a sticky, quick-fermented soybean paste made over two or three days in a warm room, and in Korean homes it becomes a bubbling winter stew, cooked in an earthenware pot and set in the middle of the table with rice and banchan. Its smell is famously strong, but the taste is nutty and deeply savoury, with tofu, courgette, onion and greens simmered in an anchovy-kelp stock. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: it is high in plant protein and fibre. About 230 kcal and 14 g carbohydrate per portion; eat it with a small bowl of mixed-grain rice. The usual mistake is boiling the cheonggukjang for a long time, which makes it bitter and dulls its flavour; it goes in for the last few minutes. Chef's tip: mash a spoon of doenjang in with it for a rounder, saltier base.

30 min

Korean Soups

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Salade de pois chichesChickpea salad

In Nice and around the old port of Marseille, chickpeas are the grain of the poor and the stuff of socca, and on hot summer days families toss them into this simple salad to eat at lunch or carry to the beach. Creamy chickpeas, sharp red onion, parsley and lemon are bound with fruity olive oil, with a few black olives and cumin in some homes. It works as a starter, a side to grilled fish or a light main. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, it is high in fibre and plant protein: about 270 kcal and 26 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is dressing cold, straight-from-the-tin chickpeas; warm them for a minute first so they drink up the dressing. Chef's tip: soak the sliced red onion in the lemon juice for 10 minutes to soften its bite.

17 min

French Salads

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Králík na smetaněRabbit in cream sauce

Králík na smetaně is a Sunday lunch in the Czech countryside, especially in Moravia and South Bohemia, where many families once kept rabbits in the yard. Rabbit pieces are braised with carrot, celeriac, parsley root and onion, then the vegetables are blended into a velvety cream sauce brightened with lemon and a pinch of sugar, much like the famous svíčková. It is served with sliced bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky) and a spoon of cranberry sauce. The usual mistake is boiling the sauce after the cream goes in, which can split it; keep it at a bare simmer. Rabbit is lean, so cook it gently and check that the meat comes easily off the bone. Chef's tip: blend the vegetables until completely smooth and pass them through a sieve for the silky sauce Czech cooks are proud of.

120 min

Czech Meat

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Nước sấu (sấu fruit drink)

When Hanoi's tamarind-like sấu trees drop their small green fruit in May and June, street vendors start selling glasses of nước sấu: a few candied fruits, a ladle of ginger syrup, cold water and crushed ice. Families make big jars to last until the season ends in August. It is sipped with a spoon so you can bite into the crunchy-soft fruit at the bottom. It tastes sour and sweet at once, with a clean ginger warmth and a flavour a little like green mango and plum. Traditional cooks soak the peeled fruit in limewater to keep it crisp; a salt soak works well at home. The common mistake is skipping the blanch and slow syrup: raw fruit stays acrid and the syrup clouds. Blanch the fruit briefly, then cook it gently in sugar until it turns translucent yellow-green and the syrup is clear and glossy. Store it in a sterilised jar in the fridge for up to 2 months with a clean spoon; discard if it fizzes, smells fermented or shows mould. Fresh sấu is rare abroad; look for frozen sấu in Vietnamese shops, or use firm green ambarella. Chef's tip: slash each fruit a few times so the syrup soaks all the way in.

55 min

Vietnamese Drinks

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Paneer soda (rose soda)

Every Tamil town once had a soda shop with crates of Codd-neck bottles sealed by a glass marble, and the pop of the marble being pushed down was the sound of a hot afternoon. Paneer here means rose water, not cheese, and paneer soda is rose syrup topped with that sharp local fizz, sold in Madurai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore by the bus stand and at temple festival stalls in Chithirai and Vaikasi, the hottest months. It is sweet and floral at first, then the bubbles and a touch of lime cut through and leave the mouth clean. The mistake most people make is boiling the rose water with the sugar: the scent cooks away and you are left with plain syrup. Make the syrup first, let it cool, and only then stir in the rose water. The syrup is ready when it is clear and slightly thickened, like thin honey, and the finished drink should be rosy pink and still foaming as you hand it over. Chef's tip: chill the syrup, the soda and the glasses well; warm soda loses its fizz the moment it meets the syrup.

15 min

Indian Drinks

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Chai nabat (saffron rock candy tea)

Pilgrims leaving Mashhad carry home boxes of saffron nabat, crystals of rock candy grown on a string and tinted gold with Khorasani saffron. Across Iran a glass of chai nabat is what you are handed when you feel unwell, after a shock, after an exam, or late at night when the evening meal sits heavy; it is traditionally drunk to settle the stomach and warm you up. The tea is brewed strong in a teapot that sits on top of the kettle, then poured clear and amber into small glasses, and the nabat stick is stirred until it softens the tea with a gentle, honeyed sweetness and a faint saffron aroma. Black tea has a moderate amount of caffeine, so give children a weaker glass. A common mistake is boiling the leaves or letting them steep on direct heat, which turns the tea bitter and murky; Persian tea is "dam" — brewed gently on steam. It is ready when the leaves have sunk, the tea is clear and reddish-amber and it smells of bergamot or cardamom. Chef's tip: hold the glass up to the light; if you can't see through it, top it up with hot water, as Iranians do.

15 min

Persian Drinks

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OgokbapFive-grain rice

Ogokbap is cooked across Korea for Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first full moon of the lunar year, when families share five-grain rice with nine kinds of dried namul and crack nuts to wish for good health. Sticky rice, millet, sorghum, black soybeans and adzuki beans cook together into a chewy, purple-tinged rice with a nutty, gently sweet flavour. It is good any time of year beside soup and banchan. The usual mistake is putting the adzuki beans in raw with the rice: they stay hard while the rice turns soft, so parboil them first. Chef's tip: keep a little of the adzuki cooking water for the rice, as it gives ogokbap its lovely rosy colour.

70 min

Korean Rice & Grains

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Kari debalDevil curry

Kari debal, or curry devil, is the Christmas dish of Singapore's Eurasian (Kristang) community, traditionally cooked on Boxing Day to use up the roast chicken, ham and sausages from the feast. A fiery paste of dried chillies, shallots, galangal and candlenuts is fried until fragrant, then sharpened with ground mustard seed and vinegar and simmered with chicken, potatoes, cabbage and cocktail sausages (pork, or use chicken sausages). Like most curries it tastes better the next day. The usual mistake is not frying the spice paste long enough: it must cook until the oil separates or the curry tastes raw. Chef's tip: soak the dried chillies in hot water and snip out the seeds first if you want the flavour without the full fire.

80 min

Singaporean Curries

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UmleqwaSlow-stewed chicken

Umleqwa is the free-range village chicken of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, cooked for family gatherings, homecomings and Sunday lunch. These birds run free and have firm, flavourful meat that needs long, slow simmering, so the pot bubbles for an hour or two with onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and curry powder until the meat is tender and the gravy rich. It is eaten with pap, dumplings (ujeqe) or rice. The usual mistake is cooking a supermarket chicken for as long; it will fall to shreds, so cook it for about 45 minutes instead. Chef's tip: brown the chicken skin well before adding liquid, because the rendered fat carries the flavour of the gravy.

120 min

South African Chicken

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GroenboontjiebredieLamb and green bean stew

Groenboontjiebredie is one of the old bredies of the Western Cape, the slow stews Cape families have cooked for generations, usually for Sunday lunch with white rice and a sweet beetroot salad. Lamb on the bone is browned with onions, then simmered for hours with sliced green beans and potatoes until the beans soften completely and the potatoes break down to thicken the sauce. The usual mistake is treating the beans like a crisp vegetable: here they should be soft and olive green. Slow-cooker: after browning, cook on low for 8 hours. Chef's tip: grate a little nutmeg in at the end; it is the classic Cape seasoning for a green bean bredie.

160 min

South African Meat

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Ceci in ziminoChickpeas stewed with chard

In Genoa and along the Tuscan coast, ceci in zimino is the dish of Lenten Fridays and the first cold days of All Souls in November, when the household cooks a big pot of chickpeas and stews them with chard and a little tomato. The chickpeas turn creamy, the chard gives a gently bitter green sauce, and a spoon of good oil on top makes it taste of the Riviera. Serve it as a main dish with toasted wholegrain bread. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, it is high in fibre and plant protein: about 300 kcal and 32 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding the chard leaves too early so they turn brown; keep them for the last 10 minutes. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of chickpeas with a fork and stir them back in to thicken the zimino naturally.

50 min

Italian Curries

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Ají de fideosNoodles in red chilli with beef

Ají de fideos fills the market comedores of La Paz at lunchtime: spaghetti snapped into short pieces and simmered in a brick-red sauce of dried chilli, onion and tomato with chunks of beef and potato, all eaten with a spoon. It is warming, a little smoky and properly hot, perfect at 3,600 metres. The trap is adding the pasta too early, which leaves it bloated and the sauce gluey. Chef's tip: toast the broken spaghetti in a little oil until golden before it goes into the pot; it keeps its shape and adds a nutty flavour.

90 minAndean Pasta & Noodles

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HumbaBraised pork belly

Humba is the sweet, dark braise of the Visayas, cooked in Cebu and Bohol homes for fiestas, birthdays and Sunday lunch. Pork belly simmers in soy sauce, cane vinegar and brown sugar with garlic, bay and peppercorns until the fat turns meltingly soft and the sauce becomes sticky; salted black beans (tausi) and dried lily buds, sold as dried banana blossoms, give it its Visayan character. Eat it with plenty of steamed rice. The usual mistake is stirring as soon as the vinegar goes in: let it boil uncovered for a few minutes first so its raw sharpness cooks off. Pressure-cooker: cook for 35 minutes at high pressure, then reduce the sauce uncovered. Chef's tip: humba tastes even better the next day, when the pork has soaked up the sauce.

130 min

Filipino Meat

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Bokkeum kimchiStir-fried kimchi with pork belly

When a jar of kimchi turns very sour in Korean homes, it gets stir-fried with a little sugar and sesame oil, and often with pork belly, into bokkeum kimchi, a deep, mellow side dish that keeps for days and is a favourite in school and office dosirak. For a vegan version, use kimchi made without fish sauce or salted shrimp and leave out the pork. The usual mistake is using fresh, crisp kimchi, which tastes harsh when fried; it needs to be properly sour. Chef's tip: fry the kimchi until the edges just begin to catch and caramelise, which is where the flavour is.

17 min

Korean Sides

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MondongoTripe soup

In Antioquia, around Medellín, mondongo is the hearty soup families cook at the weekend and that restaurants serve at lunch with rice, avocado, ripe banana and a squeeze of lime. Cleaned beef tripe simmers slowly with pork shoulder and chorizo (both pork), then potatoes, annatto, cumin and plenty of cilantro thicken and colour the broth. The usual mistake is skimping on cleaning the tripe: rinse and blanch it well or the soup will taste strong. Pressure-cooker: cook the tripe for 40 minutes at high pressure instead of 2 hours. Chef's tip: use some small yellow potatoes (papa criolla) along with the floury ones, as they melt and thicken the broth naturally.

240 min

Colombian Soups

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ChileroPickled vegetable and chilli relish

Sit down in any soda in Costa Rica, from San José to the Caribbean coast at Limón, and next to the napkins you will find a jar of chilero: small dice of carrot, cauliflower, onion and green beans with hot chile panameño, swimming in vinegar. Costa Ricans shake the spicy vinegar over gallo pinto at breakfast, spoon the crunchy vegetables onto a lunchtime casado of rice, black beans, plantain and salad, and add a splash to olla de carne on a rainy afternoon. It is more vinegar than vegetable, sharp and clean, with crunchy, sour bites and a fruity heat that grows the longer the jar sits. Unlike Guatemalan escabeche, nothing is blanched; the hot vinegar alone softens the vegetables slightly. The usual mistake is cutting the vegetables too big, so they will not come out of the bottle and do not pickle through; dice them no larger than 5 mm. It is ready after three days, when the vinegar has turned faintly yellow and tastes hot and the cauliflower is sour all the way through. Chef's tip: add a few strips of the vinegar-softened chile to your rice, but warn your guests.

35 minCentral American Chutneys & Dips

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Guiso de fideosBeef and pasta stew

Guiso de fideos is the winter weeknight stew of Argentina, cooked in Buenos Aires flats and on estancias alike, and as loved by children as by grandparents. Beef, potatoes and vegetables simmer in a light tomato and sweet-paprika broth, then short pasta cooks straight in the pot and thickens it into something between a soup and a stew. Serve it in deep plates with crusty bread and grated cheese for those who want it. The usual mistake is adding the pasta too early, so it swells and turns mushy; it goes in only for the last 10–12 minutes. Chef's tip: cut the beef into small cubes, about 2 cm, so it is tender in under an hour.

75 min

Argentinian Meat

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Maesil-cha (green plum tea)

In early June the hillsides of Gwangyang are picked clean of hard green maesil, and Korean kitchens across the country fill with jars of plums buried in sugar. Over about a hundred days the sugar draws out the fruit's juice and becomes maesil-cheong, a golden syrup that is both a cooking ingredient and a drink. Iced, it is the summer cooler; hot, it is traditionally drunk after a heavy meal for digestion. It tastes bright and tart, like green apple and apricot, rounded by the sugar. The common mistake is putting damp plums or plums with stalks into the jar: water and stalk ends invite mould and unwanted fermentation. Pick out each stalk with a toothpick and dry the fruit completely. The syrup is ready when the plums have shrivelled and float in clear amber liquid. A little foaming early on is normal, but if it smells strongly of alcohol, grows fuzzy mould or turns slimy, discard it. Remove the plums at 100 days, because their stones contain natural compounds best kept out of a long-stored syrup. Chef's tip: use half white and half light brown sugar for a rounder, toffee-edged syrup.

40 min

Korean Drinks

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Mugicha (roasted barley tea)

From the rainy season in June until the cicadas fall quiet in September, almost every Japanese household keeps a tall jug of mugicha in the fridge. It is poured for children coming in from summer club practice, for grandparents after an afternoon nap, and alongside cold sōmen at lunch, because it carries no caffeine and can be drunk all day. Whole barley grains roasted until deep brown give a cup that tastes of toast, a little of coffee and a little of popcorn, with a clean, dry finish and no sweetness at all. Supermarkets sell it in tea bags, but loose roasted grains simmered in a pan make a rounder, darker brew. The usual mistake is leaving the grains in the jug or letting the hot tea sit out on the counter for hours: it turns bitter and, being a grain infusion, it sours quickly in summer heat. Strain it, cool it fast in a sink of cold water, and drink it within two days. It is ready when the liquid is a clear amber-brown and smells like freshly toasted bread. Chef's tip: dry-toast the grains for two minutes before brewing to wake up a bag that has been open a while.

20 min

Japanese Drinks

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Aussie salad sandwich

The salad sandwich is the backbone of the Australian lunchbox and the school tuckshop order: soft bread built up with tinned beetroot, grated carrot, tasty cheese, tomato and crisp lettuce, cut into triangles and wrapped in paper. Beetroot is what makes it unmistakably Aussie. The common mistake is laying wet beetroot and tomato straight on bare bread, so by lunchtime it is pink and soggy. Many Cheddar-style "tasty" cheeses use animal rennet; choose one labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: butter both slices to the edge and put the cheese and lettuce next to the bread, with the wet fillings sealed in the middle.

10 min

Australian Snacks & Starters

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LampreadoCassava starch cheese fritters

Paraguayan grandmothers fry lampreado on Sunday evenings to eat with a mug of cocido, the toasted yerba mate drink: small pan-fried cakes of cassava starch, egg, milk and grated cheese with a little onion, crisp at the edges and stretchy inside. Some families also make it with leftover meat, but this version is all cheese. Queso Paraguay is set with animal rennet; a vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese plus mozzarella works well. The trap is a batter that is too thick, which gives heavy, gluey cakes. Chef's tip: the batter should drop slowly off a spoon like thick pancake batter; add milk a spoonful at a time until it does.

30 min

Paraguayan Snacks & Starters

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Haldi doodh (turmeric milk)

In homes from Punjab to Kerala, a mother or grandmother hands round haldi doodh on cold winter nights, after a fall in the playground or whenever someone starts sniffling; it is drunk at bedtime, steaming, in a steel tumbler. Milk is simmered with turmeric, a few grinds of black pepper and sometimes ginger or cinnamon, then sweetened with jaggery. It is golden, warming and gently earthy, with a soft peppery heat and a slightly grainy feel if the turmeric is fresh-ground. It is traditionally drunk for colds and aches, as a comfort rather than a cure. The common mistake is adding raw turmeric powder to hot milk at the end: it tastes chalky and bitter. Simmer it in the milk for a few minutes so the raw edge cooks out. It is ready when the milk turns an even deep yellow, smells mellow and has a thin skin forming on top. Add jaggery off the heat, as it can curdle boiling milk. Turmeric stains, so use a steel pan. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of ghee stirred in at the end makes it rounder and is how many families make it.

10 min

Indian Drinks

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Bonchi curryGreen bean coconut curry

Bonchi curry is one of the small vegetable curries that fill a Sri Lankan rice-and-curry lunch, cooked daily in Colombo kitchens and village homes in the hill country, where green beans grow in terraces near Nuwara Eliya. The beans are simmered in thin coconut milk with turmeric, curry leaves, pandan and green chilli until just tender, then enriched with a splash of thick milk so the sauce is mild, creamy and pale yellow. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, it is a high-fibre vegetable dish: about 150 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion; serve it with red rice for slower-releasing carbohydrate. The usual mistake is boiling the thick coconut milk, which curdles it; add it at the end and only heat through. Chef's tip: cut the beans on a long diagonal so they soak up more of the sauce.

30 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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Variyali sharbat (fennel cooler)

On May afternoons in Ahmedabad and Surat, when the loo wind blows and nobody wants a hot drink, Gujarati homes keep a bottle of variyali sharbat concentrate in the fridge. Fennel seeds are soaked, ground with rock sugar, strained and mixed with lemon and a little black pepper, then diluted with iced water for guests, after lunch, or to break a fast, since nothing in it is off-limits on upvas days if you use rock salt. It is pale green and cloudy, with a sweet aniseed taste, a sharp lemon finish and a faint peppery tingle. The common mistake is grinding dry fennel straight away: it stays gritty and the flavour is harsh. Soak the seeds for at least two hours so they swell and grind into a smooth paste. It is ready when the strained concentrate is silky, smells clearly of fennel and tastes very sweet, as it will be diluted three or four times. The concentrate keeps 5 days in the fridge in a clean bottle. Chef's tip: add a few mint leaves or a pinch of cardamom when grinding for a more rounded cooler.

23 min

Indian Drinks

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Pineapple gojjuSweet and sour pineapple gravy

Pineapple gojju turns up on banana leaves at Kannada weddings, housewarmings and Ugadi feasts, where its bright sweet-sour-hot taste cuts through the rice, saaru and payasa. Ripe pineapple is simmered with tamarind and jaggery, then thickened with a roasted paste of sesame, coconut, chilli and lentils until glossy. It is eaten in small spoonfuls with rice or chapati, or as a relish on the side. The usual mistake is adding the jaggery too early and boiling it hard, which makes it sticky and dull; let the pineapple soften first. It keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Chef's tip: toast the sesame seeds separately and add them last, so they stay nutty and you can hear them crackle.

40 min

Indian Curries

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MchemshoBeef and vegetable pot

The name just means 'boiled', but Dar es Salaam families treat mchemsho as comfort food, made on a cool rainy evening or for anyone feeling under the weather. Beef on the bone simmers with garlic and ginger into a clear, savoury broth, and whole potatoes, carrots, green bananas and wedges of cabbage go in late so each stays distinct. It arrives in wide bowls, everything in big pieces, with lime and fresh chilli on the table to sharpen it to your taste; some cooks make it with chicken instead. Adding all the vegetables at once is the common error, leaving the cabbage grey and the potatoes in pieces. Chef's tip: blanch and rinse the beef first, then start again in fresh water, for a broth that stays clear.

90 minEast African Meat

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BulaloBeef shank and marrow soup

Bulalo is the pride of Batangas, south of Manila, served at roadside eateries on the way to Tagaytay where the cool upland air makes a steaming bowl the thing to order. Beef shank on the bone simmers for hours until the meat falls away and the marrow turns soft and wobbly, giving a clear, beefy broth seasoned just with fish sauce, onion and peppercorns. Corn on the cob, cabbage and pechay go in at the end. Spoon the marrow onto rice and dip the meat in fish sauce with calamansi and chilli. The usual mistake is skipping the first blanch: the broth turns grey and murky. Slow-cooker: after blanching, cook on low for 10 hours, adding the vegetables for the last 30 minutes on high. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a lazy simmer, never a boil, for the clearest broth.

240 min

Filipino Soups

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Kefir

Kefir is the sour, lightly fizzy fermented milk that families across Russia, Georgia and the North Caucasus drink plain from a glass at breakfast, as an evening snack or alongside a meal, and also use in pancakes and cold soups. It is made by leaving milk with kefir grains, a living culture of yeasts and bacteria, at room temperature for a day until it thickens. Nothing is added: no salt and no sugar. About 0.25 g salt per 250 ml glass, all from the milk itself. Always use pasteurised milk. The usual mistake is leaving it too long, until it separates into curds and whey; check after 18 hours and stop when it is just thick and pourable. Chef's tip: a second ferment of 6 hours in the fridge in a closed bottle makes it smoother and a little fizzier.

1445 min

Russian Drinks

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Kuzuyu (hot kudzu drink)

Kuzuyu is what Japanese mothers make when someone has a chill or an upset stomach, and what many people sip on a frosty winter evening, especially in Nara, whose Yoshino mountains have produced the finest hon-kuzu starch for centuries. Kudzu root starch is stirred into water with a little sugar and cooked until the milky liquid suddenly turns clear, glossy and gently thick, somewhere between a hot drink and a soft pudding you drink from the cup. Grated ginger warms it; some families add a spoon of matcha or a squeeze of yuzu. It tastes clean, mildly sweet and comforting, and it is traditionally given to people recovering from colds. The mistake almost everyone makes once is sprinkling kudzu into hot water, where it forms rubbery lumps at once. Always crush it and dissolve it completely in cold water first, then heat it while stirring without stopping. It is ready when there are no white streaks left, the drink is translucent and it coats the back of a spoon. Chef's tip: real hon-kuzu comes in chalky lumps; crush them with the back of a spoon in the cold water and they dissolve in seconds.

8 min

Japanese Drinks

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Misutgaru (multigrain powder drink)

Misutgaru began as travellers' food, a powder of roasted grains that kept for weeks and could be stirred into water on the road. Today it is the drink of Korean summer: mothers shake it with cold milk for breakfast before school, office workers buy it as misutgaru latte from cafés, and farmers drink it at midday in the fields of July. The powder is a mix of roasted barley, glutinous and brown rice, black and yellow soybeans, and sesame, and it tastes of toasted cereal and peanut, lightly sweet, with a thick, creamy body that fills you up like a light meal. The common mistake is tipping the powder into a full glass of milk and stirring: it floats, clumps into dry balls and never fully mixes. Shake it in a jar with a little liquid first, or blend it, then add the rest. It is ready when the drink is smooth, beige and frothy with no dry flecks, and slightly thickened after a minute's rest. Use water or soy milk for a dairy-free version, and note that the barley means it is not gluten free. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt makes the grain flavour taste rounder and less flat.

5 min

Korean Drinks

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Kaeng khilekCassia leaf curry

Kaeng khilek is an old-fashioned country curry from central Thailand, cooked when the cassia (khilek) trees put out tender shoots after the rains and sold ready-boiled in bags at markets around Ratchaburi and Suphan Buri. The leaves are boiled and drained several times until their bitterness softens, then simmered with pork belly in coconut milk with red curry paste, leaving a dark green, pleasantly bitter, rich curry eaten with jasmine rice and salted egg. This recipe contains pork. The usual mistake is skipping the repeated boiling: cassia leaves must be boiled and drained at least three times, or they are harshly bitter and can upset the stomach. Frozen pre-boiled khilek from Thai shops saves work. Chef's tip: squeeze the boiled leaves firmly in a cloth so they soak up coconut milk instead of water.

90 min

Thai Curries

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Melting momentsLemon buttercream sandwich biscuits

Melting moments are the soft, crumbly biscuits found in Australian and New Zealand bakery jars and grandmother's tins, two rounds made with custard powder and icing sugar sandwiched with a lemon butter icing. The custard powder gives them their yellow colour and tender, short texture that melts in the mouth, hence the name. A common mistake is overbaking; they should be pale, not golden. Chef's tip: press each ball with a floured fork for the classic stripes.

40 min

Australian Baking

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Gulai pakisFern tip coconut curry

Gulai pakis is one of the green dishes on the counter of every Minangkabau rice shop (rumah makan Padang), from Bukittinggi to Jakarta, and it is cooked at home in West Sumatra whenever fern shoots are gathered from the riverbanks. Tender fern tips simmer in a yellow coconut milk sauce of turmeric, galangal, chilli and lime leaves until rich and gently spicy; many cooks add tiny dried shrimp, which this vegan version leaves out. Serve it with rice, sambal and fried tempeh. The usual mistake is boiling the coconut milk hard or covering the pan, which makes it split into curds; stir it often and keep it at a simmer. Chef's tip: always cook fern shoots thoroughly as below, as some ferns are not safe raw or lightly cooked; buy vegetable fern (paku) or fiddleheads sold for eating.

40 min

Indonesian Vegetarian

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Jhinge postoRidge gourd with poppy seeds

Jhinge posto is a summer staple of West Bengal and especially the Bankura and Birbhum districts, where poppy seed (posto) goes into almost every everyday lunch. Ridge gourd is cooked in its own juices with nigella seeds and green chilli, then coated in a creamy paste of ground white poppy seeds, giving a mild, nutty, slightly sweet dish. Serve it with rice and dal, or with a millet roti for a lower-GI plate. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 150 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding water: the gourd releases plenty, and extra water makes the posto runny. Chef's tip: soak the poppy seeds in hot water for 20 minutes before grinding so the paste is smooth, not gritty.

40 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Bollito mistoMixed boiled meats

In Piedmont, bollito misto is the great winter feast, served from November to carnival in Turin trattorias and on family tables when there are many to feed. Several cuts of beef, a chicken and a cotechino (a soft, rich pork sausage) poach gently in one big pot until tender, then come to the table sliced on a warm platter with a sharp parsley and caper salsa verde; the broth is saved for soup or risotto the next day. The usual mistake is letting the pot boil hard: the meat turns stringy and the broth cloudy, so keep it at a bare shiver. Serve with boiled potatoes or mostarda if you like. Chef's tip: put the beef into water that is already boiling so its juices stay in the meat, and use cold water only if the broth matters more to you than the meat.

240 min

Italian Meat

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Sop konroBeef rib soup

Sop konro is the pride of Makassar in South Sulawesi, where warung near the harbour serve big bowls of beef ribs in an almost black broth from lunchtime into the night, often with burasa (rice cooked in coconut milk) or plain rice. The colour and earthy, chocolatey depth come from keluak (kluwek) nuts, simmered with a paste of shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, toasted coriander seed and candlenut until the rib meat slides off the bone. The usual mistake is using raw keluak: the nuts are only safe after long fermentation, so buy them ready-prepared from an Indonesian shop, and discard any that smell sour or are dry inside. A pressure cooker gets the ribs tender in 50 minutes. Chef's tip: toast the coriander seeds until they crackle before grinding; they carry the whole soup.

180 min

Indonesian Soups

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Kue apePandan pancakes with crisp edges

Kue ape (also called kue tetek for its shape) is a Betawi snack sold from pushcarts outside schools and along the lanes of Kebon Kacang in the late afternoon, when children come out hungry. The vendor swirls pandan batter around a small domed pan so the edges fry paper-thin and lacy while the centre puffs into a soft, slightly chewy bump. They are sweet, fragrant and best eaten within minutes. A small non-stick pan or a Chinese wok-shaped crêpe pan works at home. The batter contains wheat and egg. Chef's tip: the swirl must happen the second the batter hits the pan; hesitate and the edge sets thick instead of lacy.

30 min

Indonesian Snacks & Starters

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Ssanghwa-cha (herbal tonic tea)

Ssanghwa-cha is the strongest thing on the menu of an old Korean dabang. From the 1960s these smoky tea rooms served it in thick ceramic cups, dark as coffee, with pine nuts, slivered jujube and walnut floating on top; in winter some still slide a raw egg yolk in, which this recipe leaves out. The brew comes from Korean herbal tradition, where ssanghwa-tang is drunk to warm up and recover from tiredness after hard work or a cold. It tastes earthy and bitter at first, then sweet from licorice and jujube, with warmth from cinnamon and ginger and a celery-like perfume from angelica. Herbal shops sell the roots in pre-measured packs. The common mistake is boiling it hard: the liquid reduces too fast and turns harsh. Keep a gentle simmer with the lid ajar for two hours. It is ready when it is very dark brown, reduced to about a third and smells of cinnamon and roots. Because it contains licorice and angelica, skip it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have high blood pressure, or take blood thinners or other medicines unless your doctor agrees. Chef's tip: a second, lighter brew from the same roots is good with honey.

135 min

Korean Drinks

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Tagine bil khorchefLamb tagine with cardoons

In late winter and spring, when wild cardoons (khorchef) appear in the markets of Fez, Meknes and Rabat, Moroccan families cook them into this lamb tagine for a family lunch, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Lamb shoulder is simmered slowly with onion, ginger, saffron and turmeric until tender, then the peeled cardoon stalks are added and finished with preserved lemon and green olives, giving a tangy, faintly bitter, artichoke-like sauce. The usual mistake is not peeling and soaking the cardoons properly: the stringy outside must come off and the stalks must sit in lemon water, or they go brown and taste harsh. Artichoke hearts are a good stand-in. Chef's tip: reduce the sauce uncovered at the end until it is thick and oily, the sign of a well-made tagine.

155 min

Moroccan Meat

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Huangmen jimifanBraised chicken rice

Huangmen jimifan began in Jinan, in Shandong, and spread to thousands of little clay-pot shops across China where office workers queue at noon for a bubbling pot of chicken braised dark and glossy with shiitake, ginger and green pepper, eaten over plain rice. It reheats perfectly in a work microwave. The common mistake is using breast, which goes dry and stringy in the braise; bone-in thigh stays juicy. Chef's tip: caramelise the rock sugar in the oil before the chicken goes in, which gives the sauce its amber colour without extra dark soy.

45 min

Chinese Chicken

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DakbaeksukPoached whole chicken

Dakbaeksuk is a whole chicken simmered plain in a big pot, a dish Koreans eat on the boknal 'dog days' of midsummer and at valley restaurants in the mountains, where families sit on platforms by the stream. Unlike samgyetang it is not stuffed; the bird simmers with a fistful of garlic, a few jujubes and dried roots such as astragalus until it falls apart, and you eat the meat with salt and pepper and drink the milky broth. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high in protein, with no flour or added sugar. About 420 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion; restaurants finish with rice porridge in the broth, so keep that portion small or use brown rice. The usual mistake is boiling it fiercely, which makes the meat stringy; it should simmer gently. Chef's tip: skim the fat off the broth before serving; it tastes cleaner and lighter.

100 min

Korean Chicken

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LongganisaGarlic pork sausages

Every Philippine province has its longganisa, from the garlicky, sour sausages of Vigan to the oregano-scented ones of Lucban and the sweet, sticky Pampanga style; this homemade skinless (hubad) version sits between them. These pork sausages are fried until caramelised, then packed into the baon (packed lunch) with sinangag garlic rice and a fried egg. The common mistake is frying them hard from raw, which burns the sugar before the pork is cooked; simmer them in a little water first. Chef's tip: roll the mixture in baking paper and chill overnight, and the sausages slice and fry far more neatly.

45 min

Filipino Meat

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TovveToor dal with green chilli

Tovve is the plainest dal of the Udupi temple kitchens and of Kannada homes along the coast: toor or moong cooked soft, seasoned with green chilli and ginger and finished with a sizzling ghee tempering. There is no tomato, no onion and no masala, so it is the first dal children eat and what families cook for a light dinner or after a fast, with rice, a spoon of ghee and a lemon pickle. Its flavour depends on a well-cooked dal, so it must be soft enough to fall apart when stirred. The usual mistake is adding salt before the dal is tender, which keeps it grainy. Chef's tip: whisk the cooked dal hard for 30 seconds before tempering; the smooth, creamy texture is what makes tovve taste of more than its few ingredients.

40 min

Indian Curries

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Cà phê cốt dừa (coconut coffee)

Hanoi takes its coffee seriously, and in the last fifteen years coconut coffee has become one of the city's signatures, sold from Old Quarter cafés, lakeside balconies around Hoàn Kiếm and tiny stools on the pavement. It is a hot-weather drink, at its best on a sticky afternoon between May and September, eaten half with a spoon. Strong Vietnamese robusta drips slowly through an aluminium phin, then is poured over a pale slush of thick coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk and crushed ice, so you get bitter, dark coffee against something rich and cold that tastes like coconut ice cream. The common mistake is blending the slush too long or with too much ice, which leaves it thin and watery, and pouring the coffee in boiling hot so the slush collapses. Blend just until it looks like soft snow, and let the coffee cool for a minute or two. It is ready when the slush holds a spoon upright and the coffee sits in a dark layer on top. Robusta is high in caffeine and this is a strong drink, so it is not for children and one glass is plenty. Chef's tip: chill the coconut cream overnight; cold, thick cream gives a fluffier slush.

15 min

Vietnamese Drinks

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Gigot de sept heuresSeven-hour braised lamb

This is the slow Sunday gigot of the French countryside, set in a low oven after breakfast and eaten at the family lunch or supper, especially in winter and at Easter. The leg of lamb is browned, then braised so long with whole garlic heads, onions, carrots and white wine that the meat is served with a spoon rather than a knife, and the garlic melts into the sauce. Serve with white beans, mashed potatoes or simply crusty bread. It cooks with wine; for an alcohol-free version use the same amount of extra stock with a tablespoon of cider vinegar. The usual mistake is a lid that does not fit, so the liquid escapes and the meat dries; seal it with foil under the lid. Chef's tip: turn the leg every two hours and baste it, so the top never dries above the liquid.

460 min

French Meat

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Crudités

Crudités are how a French family lunch, a Paris bistro menu or a school canteen meal often begins: a plate of raw vegetables, each prepared on its own: grated carrot with lemon, crunchy radishes, cucumber slices and celery, dressed with a sharp mustardy vinaigrette. Crisp, cold vegetables taste so lively that very little salt is needed; with the small amount of mustard in the dressing this plate has about 0.3 g salt per portion. The usual mistake is dressing everything together in advance, which turns it watery and limp; dress each vegetable just before serving. Chef's tip: grate the carrots on the fine side of the grater and toss them with lemon first; they soften slightly and taste sweeter, the way French grandmothers make carottes râpées.

20 min

French Salads

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Chanko nabeChicken meatball hot pot

Chanko nabe is the daily meal of the sumo stables around Ryōgoku in east Tokyo, where young wrestlers cook a huge pot after morning practice and the senior ranks eat first. At home it is a winter supper cooked on a tabletop burner or on the hob: a clear chicken and kombu dashi seasoned lightly with soy, then loaded with ginger-scented chicken meatballs, tofu, napa cabbage, leek, carrot and mushrooms. Everything cooks in the one pot, and the last of the broth is often finished with udon or rice. The usual mistake is boiling the pot hard once the meatballs go in, which turns the broth cloudy and the tofu ragged; keep it at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: shape the meatballs with two wet spoons and drop them in before the vegetables, so they flavour the broth while the cabbage softens.

60 min

Japanese Soups

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MsetoRice and green grams

Mseto, meaning 'mixture', is a staple of the Swahili coast from Mombasa to Lamu and Zanzibar, often eaten at lunch or for breaking the fast in Ramadan. Rice and green grams (whole mung beans) cook together in coconut milk with onion and a little turmeric until soft, fluffy and gently creamy. It is served beside a vegetable or bean curry, a kachumbari salad and a squeeze of lime. The usual mistake is adding the rice before the green grams are tender, so the rice turns mushy while the beans stay hard. Chef's tip: once the rice is in, cover the pot tightly and leave it on the lowest heat without lifting the lid, so the rice steams evenly.

55 minEast African Rice & Grains

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Leshta chorbaLentil soup

Leshta chorba is cooked in Bulgarian homes all winter, and it is the soup of choice on fasting days before Christmas and Easter, when families eat no meat or dairy. Brown lentils simmer with onion, carrot and tomato, coloured with sweet paprika and scented with chubritsa (summer savory), the herb that makes Bulgarian cooking taste like itself. It is eaten with a slice of wholemeal bread and a few pickles. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 280 kcal and 34 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is frying the paprika in very hot oil: it burns and turns bitter in a few seconds, so take the pan off the heat first. Chef's tip: a splash of vinegar stirred into each bowl at the table brightens the earthy lentils.

50 min

Bulgarian Soups

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Bò bíaJicama and sausage rice paper rolls

Bò bía carts park outside the schools of Chợ Lớn, Saigon's Chinatown, every afternoon, and the vendor rolls each one to order: sweet stir-fried jicama and carrot, crisp slices of lạp xưởng (Chinese pork sausage), toasted dried shrimp and ribbons of omelette, wrapped with basil and lettuce in soft rice paper and dipped in hoisin sauce loosened with peanut butter. It is a cousin of Chinese popiah and a favourite after-school snack. Chef's tip: dip the rice paper for only a second or two; it keeps softening as you fill it.

40 min

Vietnamese Snacks & Starters

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Conservas de cocoSpiced coconut bars

Along the roads of Zulia and down the Caribbean coast, sellers wrap conservas de coco in squares of paper: dense, chewy bars of grated coconut cooked in dark panela syrup with cinnamon and clove. Children buy them with their change after school. The mistake most people make is taking the pan off too early; the mixture never sets and stays sticky. Chef's tip: keep stirring until the mass pulls away in one lump and a spoon dragged across the base leaves a clean line.

50 min

Venezuelan Desserts

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NakatiBitter eggplant leaves with tomato

Nakati are the leaves of the African eggplant, and in Kampala and the Buganda countryside they are cooked as an everyday green beside matooke, posho or rice. The leaves are simmered down with onion and tomato until soft, then often enriched with a spoonful of groundnut paste that softens their pleasant bitterness and makes a creamy sauce. Look for nakati at African grocers; young spinach with a handful of kale is a good stand-in. The usual mistake is adding the groundnut paste too early, which lets it catch and burn. Chef's tip: loosen the groundnut paste with a little hot water before stirring it in, so it melts smoothly into the greens.

28 minEast African Vegetarian

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Ndizi na maharageGreen bananas and red beans

Across Tanzania, from Dar es Salaam to the banana farms around Kilimanjaro, ndizi na maharage is a filling weekday lunch: green cooking bananas and red beans simmered in one pot with tomato, onion and coconut milk until the bananas are soft and the sauce creamy. It needs nothing more than a few slices of avocado or a fresh kachumbari salad on the side. The usual mistake is cooking dried red kidney beans gently from the start: they must boil hard for 10 minutes first to be safe. Peel green bananas with oiled hands, as the sap stains and sticks. Chef's tip: add the bananas only once the beans are tender, then let them simmer until they just break at the edges and thicken the sauce.

90 minEast African Vegetarian

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Adrak ka acharGinger pickle

Walk into a Punjabi dhaba in winter and there is often a steel bowl of ginger matchsticks soaking in lemon juice beside the onion rings. Adrak ka achar is the simplest pickle of all: tender ginger, green chilli, salt and lemon, nothing cooked. Young ginger with thin, pinkish skin reacts with the acid and turns a pretty pale pink within a day; older ginger stays yellow but tastes just as good. The flavour is clean, hot and sour, with crunch, and a forkful cuts the richness of sarson ka saag, makki ki roti, chole bhature or a heavy dal makhani. Common mistake: cutting the ginger thick or using fibrous old roots, which stay woody and harsh; slice thin enough to see light through. It is ready when the ginger has softened slightly, the juice tastes less sharp and the slices have taken colour. Fresh ginger in lemon juice keeps in the fridge for up to 2 weeks; discard it if mould appears, the juice turns slimy or the smell turns from fresh-sour to musty. Chef's tip: a pinch of black salt (kala namak) added at the end gives it that dhaba-style sulphurous edge.

15 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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Limau asam boi (lime with sour plum)

Order 'limau ais asam boi' at a kopitiam in Penang or a hawker centre in Kuala Lumpur at the hottest part of the afternoon and it arrives in a tall, sweating glass: freshly squeezed calamansi or small green limes, a little syrup, ice and one wrinkled, salted dried plum. The plum slowly leaches salt and fruity sourness into the drink, so every sip changes, starting bright and sweet and ending salty and tangy; you squash the plum with your straw halfway through for a stronger hit. It goes with char kway teow, nasi lemak or anything fried. The usual mistake is using bottled lime juice, which tastes flat and bitter against the plum. Squeeze fresh limes, and add the syrup gradually because asam boi is already salty-sweet. It is ready when the glass is frosted and the plum has started to plump up. Asam boi is sold in jars in Chinese and Southeast Asian groceries; Japanese umeboshi is saltier but works if you halve the amount. Chef's tip: make the lime-syrup base ahead and keep it cold, then pour over fresh ice only when you serve.

7 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Cowheel soup

In Trinidad and Tobago, cowheel soup is Saturday soup: the big pot people make at home or buy from roadside soup vendors after a fete, believed to set you right again. Cow heel is simmered for hours until gelatinous, then yellow split peas, pumpkin and 'provisions' such as dasheen, cassava, eddoes and green bananas go in, with green seasoning, a whole scotch bonnet for perfume and soft flour dumplings dropped in at the end. The broth turns thick and silky from the collagen and split peas. The usual mistake is bursting the scotch bonnet, which makes the pot fiercely hot; leave it whole and lift it out. A pressure cooker gets the cow heel tender in 50 minutes. Chef's tip: buy cow heel already cut and scraped by the butcher, then scrub it with lime before cooking.

200 min

Trinidadian Soups

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Dongbei suan caiFermented napa cabbage

In Harbin, Changchun and Shenyang, late October is when families buy napa cabbage by the cartload, scald it, and pack it head to tail into big glazed crocks on the balcony, weighed down with a smooth river stone. A month later, as winter sets in, it has become suan cai: pale, almost translucent leaves with a clean, lactic sourness and a soft crunch at the rib. It is shredded into suan cai bai rou (sour cabbage with pork belly), stuffed into dumplings for Spring Festival and simmered in hot pots through the long winter. Common mistake: fermenting somewhere warm; above about 20 °C the cabbage softens and can go slimy, so use the coolest spot you have. Normal signs are fine bubbles, a cloudy brine and a sharp sour smell; a flat white film (kahm yeast) can be skimmed off. Fuzzy coloured mould, pink or black patches, or a putrid smell mean discard the lot. Do not eat it before 3 weeks: it is ready when the leaves are uniformly pale yellow-green and taste fully sour. Then keep it in the brine in the fridge for 2 months. Chef's tip: rinse and squeeze the shreds before cooking to soften the sourness.

40 min

Chinese Chutneys & Dips

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Mochai kottai kuzhambuField bean gravy

Across Tamil Nadu, from Madurai to Tirunelveli, mochai kottai kuzhambu is a winter and weekend curry: dried field beans and small brinjals stewed in a thick tamarind and sambar-powder gravy with shallots and garlic. It is cooked in a big batch, because everyone agrees it tastes better the next day, and eaten with rice, a spoon of sesame oil and appalam or a simple keerai. The beans turn creamy and the brinjal melts into the sauce. Dried field beans must be soaked and boiled until completely soft; never eat them undercooked. The usual mistake is adding the tamarind before the beans are tender, because acid stops them softening. Slow-cooker: boil the soaked beans hard on the hob for 10 minutes first, then cook everything on low for 6 hours. Chef's tip: fry the brinjal in the oil before the gravy goes in, so it holds its shape instead of dissolving.

85 min

Indian Curries

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Batata nu rasawalu shaakPotato curry in thin gravy

Batata nu rasawalu shaak is the potato curry that arrives with hot puris at Gujarati wedding breakfasts, Sunday brunches and festival thalis, and it is one of the first curries children in Gujarat love. Soft potato chunks float in a thin, red, sweet-and-sour gravy with mustard seed, curry leaves and hing, lightly spicy and very comforting. Serve with puri, rotli or plain rice. The usual mistake is cutting the potatoes in uneven pieces, so some fall apart while others stay hard; cut them all the same size. Chef's tip: once the potatoes are cooked, mash a few against the side of the pan; the starch gives the rasa (gravy) body without any flour.

30 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Coconut icePink and white coconut fudge

Coconut ice is the pink and white sweet that fills Australian school fete stalls, Christmas hampers and CWA cake tables, a no-cook fudge of desiccated coconut, condensed milk and icing sugar. It is soft, chewy and very sweet, so cut small squares. A common mistake is a mixture that's too wet to hold; add more coconut until it's firm enough to press. Chef's tip: press the white layer first, then the pink, and chill before cutting for sharp stripes.

20 min

Australian Desserts

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Dal panniyeMaize flour breads baked in leaves

Panniye are the festive breads of the Bhil communities of Jhabua and Alirajpur in western Madhya Pradesh, made for weddings, Bhagoria and harvest gatherings. Thick maize-flour discs are pressed between palash or banana leaves and baked over cow-dung embers until smoky and crisp outside, then served with a garlicky dal and ghee. At home you can bake them on a tawa and finish in the oven. The common mistake is rolling the dough too thin, so it dries out and cracks before it cooks through. Chef's tip: knead the maize dough with warm water and a little curd and let it rest; it holds together much better.

65 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Chhena tarkariFried cheese cube curry

In Odia homes, from Cuttack to Puri, chhena tarkari is the special curry for a Sunday lunch, a guest or a festival day when the household eats no onion or garlic. Fresh chhena, the soft cheese Odisha also turns into rasagola, is pressed, cut into cubes and fried golden, then simmered with potato in a thin gravy of tomato, ginger and roasted cumin. The cubes stay soft and soak up the sauce, and the dish is eaten with rice, puri or paratha. Chhena is made by curdling milk with lemon juice, so it contains no rennet. The usual mistake is boiling the gravy hard after the chhena goes in, which breaks the cubes into crumbs. Chef's tip: fry the chhena cubes until golden on two sides only, then rest them in warm water for five minutes; they swell and turn spongy, just like an Odia grandmother's.

45 min

Indian Curries

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Poule au potStuffed hen with vegetables

Poule au pot is the Sunday dish of Béarn in south-west France, linked for centuries with King Henri IV's wish that every peasant family should have a chicken in the pot on Sundays. A hen is filled with a stuffing of bread, Bayonne ham (a cured pork ham), chicken livers, garlic and parsley, then poached slowly with leeks, carrots and turnips. The golden broth is served first as a soup, followed by the sliced bird, stuffing and vegetables with a little coarse salt and mustard or a sauce gribiche. The usual mistake is stuffing the bird too tightly: the stuffing swells and can burst the skin, and a dense centre takes longer to cook through. Chef's tip: sew the neck and tail openings shut, or close them with cocktail sticks, so no stuffing leaks into the broth.

215 min

French Chicken

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Ipoh white coffee

Ipoh's old town kopitiams, with their marble tables and morning crowds queueing for kai si hor fun and egg tarts, gave Malaysia its 'white coffee'. The name comes not from milk but from the roast: beans are roasted with palm-oil margarine, lighter than the dark, sugar-roasted kopi of the rest of the country, then brewed and served with condensed milk. It is smoother and less bitter than ordinary kopi, nutty and buttery, pale caramel in the cup, drunk hot at breakfast or iced in the afternoon heat. At home, buy ground Ipoh-style white coffee from an Asian grocer; you cannot easily reproduce the margarine roast in a kitchen. The common mistake is brewing it like espresso: forced extraction makes it bitter and kills the soft, toasty flavour. Steep it in a cloth sock or a coffee filter with water just off the boil. It is ready when the brew is reddish-brown and clear, not inky. This is a strong coffee with real caffeine, not for children. Chef's tip: warm the cups with hot water first; white coffee cools fast and loses its aroma.

10 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Gremolata

Gremolata is the Milanese finishing touch spooned over ossobuco on Sunday tables across Lombardy, and it brightens any slow-cooked stew, roast vegetables, beans or grilled fish. Flat-leaf parsley, lemon zest and raw garlic are chopped together so finely that they become a fragrant green confetti; the fresh, sharp flavour wakes up a dish so much that you need far less salt. About 0.0 g salt per portion. The usual mistake is grating the white pith with the zest, which makes it bitter; take only the yellow skin. Make it no more than an hour ahead, as the garlic gets harsh and the parsley darkens. Chef's tip: chop the garlic first with a few parsley leaves, so the juice soaks into the herbs instead of sticking to the knife.

5 min

Italian Chutneys & Dips

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Neer mor (spiced buttermilk)

From April to June, when Chennai and Madurai bake at forty degrees, temples, shops and political parties set up 'thaneer pandhal' sheds by the roadside, offering free neer mor to every passer-by from great clay pots. At home it comes after a rice meal of sambar and rasam, or in the middle of the afternoon. The curd is churned and thinned with water until barely white, then seasoned with green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, coriander and a pinch of asafoetida, sometimes finished with a tempering of mustard seeds. It should be very thin, salty, tangy and herby, with a little chilli heat and a lingering savoury scent. The common mistake is using too little water: it then drinks like a heavy lassi rather than a thirst-quencher. Aim for about one part curd to four parts water. It is ready when the buttermilk is smooth, cold and pale green-flecked, and smells of curry leaf. It keeps a day in the fridge. Chef's tip: crush the ginger, chilli and curry leaves rather than chopping them; bruising releases far more flavour into the thin liquid.

12 min

Indian Drinks

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Bissy tea (kola nut tea)

Kola trees came to Jamaica with enslaved West Africans, and the nut, called bissy on the island, has stayed in country medicine ever since. Older people in St Mary, St Elizabeth and the hills of Clarendon still keep a dried bissy in the kitchen and grate some into boiling water when the stomach is upset or after eating something that disagreed with them,. Parched in a dry pan first, the grated nut gives a reddish-brown tea that smells faintly of cocoa and tastes bitter and astringent, softened by plenty of sugar. The common mistake is boiling raw, ungrated nut and expecting much flavour: whole pieces give little. Grate it finely, parch it until it darkens and smells like toasted cocoa, then boil. It is ready when the tea is a deep reddish-brown and coats the tongue with bitterness. Kola nut is very high in caffeine, as strong as a big mug of coffee or more, so drink one cup, not late in the day, and keep it away from children, pregnant people and anyone sensitive to caffeine or with heart trouble. Chef's tip: strain it through a fine cloth; the grated nut leaves a gritty sediment that a sieve lets through.

20 min

Jamaican Drinks

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Naengchae jokbalCold sliced pork trotter

Busan's Jokbal Alley in Bupyeong-dong, beside Kkangtong Market, is where braised pork trotter was first served cold as a salad, a summer trick that spread across Korea. The pork trotters are simmered for hours in soy, ginger and spices until the skin turns sticky and tender, chilled, sliced thin and tossed with cucumber, shredded jellyfish and a nose-tingling dressing of Korean mustard, vinegar and garlic. It is evening food, shared from a big platter. Chef's tip: slice the meat only once it is fully cold; warm trotter meat tears instead of cutting into clean slices.

190 min

Korean Meat

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Teh talua (egg tea)

In the lapau coffee shops of Bukittinggi, Payakumbuh and Padang, the sound of a spoon or a small whisk clattering against a glass means someone has ordered teh talua. A raw egg yolk, traditionally from a free-range kampung hen or a duck, is whisked with sugar until thick and almost white, strong hot tea is poured on from a height, and a wedge of lime goes on the side. Minangkabau men drink it in the late afternoon or evening as a pick-me-up after work in the fields. It comes out with a creamy, caramel-coloured body under a deep layer of foam, rich like a light custard, with the lime cutting any eggy edge. The common mistake is whisking too little: the yolk stays yellow, the tea curdles it in strings and it smells of egg. Beat until the yolk has doubled in volume and falls in a thick ribbon. Use pasteurised eggs for anyone pregnant, babies and small children, older people or anyone unwell, as the yolk is only lightly warmed. Some lapau add condensed milk; this one is dairy-free. It contains caffeine. Chef's tip: pour the tea in a thin stream from high up while still stirring, to build the tallest foam.

11 min

Indonesian Drinks

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Paruppu urundai kuzhambuLentil dumpling gravy

Paruppu urundai kuzhambu is a Sunday-lunch treat in Tamil homes from Chennai to Coimbatore: coarse balls of soaked chana and toor dal, spiked with fennel, chilli and shallot, dropped raw into a bubbling tamarind gravy where they steam and firm up. The dumplings come out soft inside and soak up the sour, spicy sauce, and the crumbs that escape thicken the gravy. Serve it with plain rice, a spoon of sesame oil and a vegetable poriyal. The usual mistake is stirring as soon as the balls go in, which breaks them; leave them alone until they float and feel firm. Chef's tip: drop one test ball in first; if it cracks, knead a spoon of rice flour into the mixture before shaping the rest.

65 min

Indian Curries

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French 75

The French 75 took its name from the light field gun of the First World War, because Parisian bartenders of the late 1910s and 1920s said it hit you just as hard. It has stayed a celebration drink in Paris and beyond: raised at weddings, New Year's Eve and long weekend brunches. It is for adults only and stronger than it tastes, so drink responsibly. A good one is bright and lemony with gin botanicals underneath, then a fine, persistent Champagne fizz that makes it feel light and dry. The common mistake is putting the sparkling wine in the shaker, which either blows the lid off or leaves the drink completely flat. Shake only the gin, lemon and syrup with ice, strain them into the glass and top with Champagne there. It is ready when the shaker is frosted, the foam has risen and fallen once, and a steady stream of small bubbles runs up the flute. Any dry traditional-method sparkling wine such as crémant works in place of Champagne; check the label if vegan matters. Chef's tip: twist the lemon peel over the glass, not into the shaker; the oil on the surface is the first thing you smell.

5 min

French Drinks

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