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Oyakodon
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Oyakodon

Chicken and egg rice bowl

The name means 'parent and child bowl', a gentle joke about cooking the chicken and the egg together. A Nihonbashi chicken restaurant in Tokyo says it first served the dish in the 1890s, and today it is a staple lunch in soba shops, office canteens and home kitchens all over the country. Thigh meat and sliced onion simmer briefly in sweet soy dashi, then beaten egg goes in and is taken off the heat while still soft and glossy. Everything slides onto a bowl of hot rice so the sauce seeps into the grains. Chef's tip: beat the eggs with just a few strokes of chopsticks, leaving streaks of white and yolk, as that marbled look and silky texture is what you're after.

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Bazin with lambBarley dough with lamb stew

Bazin is the traditional festive dish of Libya, especially in Tripoli and the western mountains: a smooth, firm dome of barley-flour dough set in the middle of a wide dish, surrounded by a spicy lamb stew of tomato, chilli and turmeric, with hard-boiled eggs and potatoes. Everyone eats from the same plate with the right hand, pinching off dough and dipping it in the sauce. The mistake is not beating the dough hard enough: it should be pounded until completely smooth, or it tastes floury. Chef's tip: beat the dough with a wooden spoon, adding cooking liquid a spoonful at a time, until it pulls cleanly away from the pot.

150 minAfricanMeatSpicy
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Buñuelos colombianosCheese and cassava fritters

In December, Colombian families gather for the novena de aguinaldos, nine evenings of prayers and carols before Christmas, and the reward afterwards is a plate of hot buñuelos with a bowl of natilla. These little golden balls are made from crumbly cheese, cassava starch and cornflour, fried until they puff and roll themselves over in the oil. They are crisp outside, airy and cheesy inside. Chef's tip: start the oil only warm, around 150 °C; buñuelos fried too hot crack open and stay raw in the centre.

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BaursakPuffed fried dough

No Kazakh dastarkhan, the cloth spread with food for guests, is complete without a heap of baursak: soft, hollow pillows of yeasted dough fried until they balloon. They are scattered over the table at weddings, at Nauryz in March and at funerals, where the smell of frying baursak is said to reach the departed. In Almaty families fry hundreds at a time and eat them through the evening with milk tea, butter, jam or honey. Kyrgyz and Turkmen households make almost identical versions. Chef's tip: roll the dough just 1 cm thick and keep the oil hot; thin dough in hot oil puffs into a hollow ball, thick dough stays bready.

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SupplìFried rice croquettes

In Rome supplì are bought from pizza-by-the-slice shops and friggitorie and eaten standing up, wrapped in paper, before the pizza arrives. Unlike Sicilian arancini they are oval and the rice is cooked in tomato sauce, so the inside is orange-red; when you bite one in half, the mozzarella stretches into a long 'telephone cord', which is where the nickname al telefono comes from. Roman bars usually add meat ragù; this version keeps it vegetarian with a basil-scented tomato rice. Chef's tip: cook the rice a day ahead and chill it in a thin layer; cold, firm rice shapes neatly and does not split in the oil.

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Batido de mangoMango milkshake

Batidos are the thick fruit milkshakes blended to order at Cuban cafeterías and roadside stands in summer, made with whatever tropical fruit is ripe: mamey, papaya, guanábana and, most of all, mango. Unlike a lassi there is no yogurt, just ripe mango, cold milk, a little sugar and plenty of ice, whizzed until frothy. Kids love it as an afternoon treat. Chef's tip: freeze the mango chunks first and you will need less ice, so the batido tastes of fruit rather than water.

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SuqaarSpiced beef stir-fry

Suqaar is the quick beef dish found everywhere from Mogadishu tea shops to Somali cafés in Minneapolis and London: small cubes of beef or lamb browned with onion, peppers and garlic, seasoned with xawaash, the house spice mix of cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric. Somalis eat it for breakfast with canjeero (spongy flatbread) or for lunch with rice or pasta. The mistake is cutting the beef in big chunks, which go chewy; cut it into small 1–2 cm cubes so it cooks fast and stays tender. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lime and a handful of coriander just before serving.

30 minSomaliMeatGluten free
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Armenian coffee

Armenian coffee, soorj, is boiled in a small long-handled pot called a jazzve and poured unfiltered into tiny cups. It is offered the moment a guest sits down in any Yerevan home and lingers after meals while the grounds settle; when the cup is empty, it is turned upside down on its saucer so someone can read the patterns left in the grounds. The coffee is powder-fine, often scented with a pinch of cardamom, with a velvety foam (kaymak) on top that is a point of pride for the host. Serve with a glass of water and a little gata or dried fruit. Chef's tip: start with cold water and a low flame; the slower the coffee heats, the thicker and longer-lasting the foam.

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Batata harraSpicy garlic potatoes

Batata harra, meaning hot potatoes, is a staple of the hot mezze in Beirut restaurants and at home: crisp cubes of potato tossed while still sizzling in garlic, chilli and a heap of fresh coriander, then squeezed with lemon. Expect it next to falafel and hummus at a Sunday spread or as a side for grilled vegetables on a summer evening. This home version roasts the potatoes instead of deep-frying them, which gives the same golden crunch with much less oil. People often add the garlic and coriander too early, so the garlic burns and turns bitter; they go in only for the last minute in the pan. Chef's tip: parboil the cubes and shake them in the colander until their edges look fluffy, because those rough edges are what turn crisp in the oven.

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BasundiThickened sweet milk

Basundi is the reduced-milk dessert of Maharashtra and Gujarat: whole milk simmered patiently in a wide pan, with the skin that forms on top scraped back in, until it is thick, cream-coloured and a little grainy, then sweetened and scented with cardamom and saffron. In Maharashtra it's served with hot puris for Gudi Padwa and Bhau Beej; in Gujarat it turns up at weddings and on Sharad Purnima, and it's also the base of the famous custard-apple (sitafal) basundi. Make it a day ahead; it thickens and tastes richer after a night in the fridge. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan rather than a deep one; more surface means faster evaporation and less time standing at the stove.

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Bastar aamatMixed vegetable curry

Aamat comes from the forested Bastar region of southern Chhattisgarh, where Gond and Halba families cook whatever the garden and forest give: pumpkin, brinjal, beans, drumsticks and, in the monsoon, sour fermented bamboo shoot. There is almost no oil and no heavy masala. Instead a paste of soaked rice turns the broth silky, and garlic, ginger and green chilli carry the flavour. It is served in bowls with plain rice, especially at village feasts and the Bastar Dussehra gatherings. Tinned bamboo shoot works well; leave it out and add lime at the end if you cannot find it. Chef's tip: keep stirring as you pour in the rice paste, because it sinks and sets into lumps on the bottom of the pot if left alone.

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Basler MehlsuppeBrowned flour soup

Basel's Fasnacht starts at 4 a.m. on the Monday after Ash Wednesday with Morgestraich, when the city's lights go out and the cliques march with lanterns, piccolos and drums. Afterwards everyone crowds into the old-town restaurants for a bowl of Mehlsuppe: flour toasted in butter until it is the colour of hazelnuts, simmered into a smooth, savoury, deep-brown soup and finished with grated cheese. It warms you on a freezing February morning and is usually eaten with Zwiebelwähe (onion tart). The traditional soup is made with beef stock; this vegetarian version uses a strong vegetable stock with a little red wine and onion to give the same depth. Chef's tip: toast the flour slowly and stir all the time; the colour should be even chestnut brown, and the smell like toasted nuts.

60 minSwissSoups
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Basler LäckerliHoney and almond biscuits

Läckerli have been Basel's own biscuit for more than 600 years, once baked by the city's spice merchants and gifted at Christmas and New Year; Basel shops still pack them in tins all year round. They are small, chewy rectangles of honey, almonds, candied orange and lemon peel and warm spices, with a thin, crackly sugar glaze. Unlike soft German gingerbread they are firm and dense when they are fresh and soften with time in a tin. Eat them with coffee or tea, or keep a box for visitors. Chef's tip: cut the slab into rectangles while it is still hot and glaze it at once; once cool it sets too hard to cut cleanly.

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BasbaasGreen chilli and coriander sauce

Basbaas means chilli in Somali, and basbaas cagaar, the green sauce, is on every Somali table, spooned over rice, pasta, sambuusa and grilled food. It is sharp, hot and fresh, and every family has its own balance of chilli, coriander and lime; some add a tomato to soften it. Make a jar and keep it in the fridge all week. Chef's tip: add the lime juice to the blender before the chillies; the acid keeps the sauce bright green.

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Basanti pulaoSweet saffron rice

Basanti pulao, the 'spring-coloured' pulao, is cooked in Bengali homes for Poila Baisakh (the Bengali new year), weddings, Jamai Shashthi and pujas. It is made with gobindobhog, a short-grain, buttery-smelling rice from Bengal, cooked in ghee with whole spices, turmeric, sugar, cashews and raisins until each grain is glossy and separate. It is distinctly sweet, and is served with aloo dum, chhanar dalna or, in non-vegetarian homes, kosha mangsho. Chef's tip: wash the rice and spread it on a cloth for 30 minutes; dry grains fry in the ghee without breaking.

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Barszcz czerwony (Christmas Eve beetroot broth)Clear beetroot soup

Barszcz czerwony wigilijny is the clear, ruby-coloured beetroot broth that opens the Christmas Eve supper in most Polish homes, from Warsaw to Wrocław. It is not the thick vegetable soup of Ukraine but a sipping broth, sweet, sour and earthy, sharpened with beetroot kvass or lemon and deepened with dried forest mushrooms; on 24 December it is served with tiny mushroom dumplings called uszka, and through winter people drink it from mugs alongside a croquette. It is fully plant-based, as the Wigilia table traditionally is. Chef's tip: once the beetroot is in, never let the soup boil hard; a bare simmer keeps the colour bright, and boiling turns it a dull brown.

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ChechebsaTorn flatbread in spiced butter

Chechebsa (also called kita firfir) is a breakfast from the Oromia and Wollo regions now loved all over Addis Ababa: a thick wheat flatbread is cooked on a griddle, torn into pieces and tossed in niter kibbeh and berbere, then eaten with honey and a dollop of ayib or yoghurt. It is rich, warming and quick. For a fasting (vegan) version, toss the bread in spiced oil instead of niter kibbeh and skip the yoghurt and honey or use date syrup. Chef's tip: tear the bread while hot with two forks; cold flatbread goes tough and won't soak up the butter.

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Bariis iskukarisSpiced rice with vegetables and raisins

Bariis iskukaris ('rice cooked together') is the centre of the table at Somali family lunches, Friday gatherings and Eid, from Mogadishu to Hargeisa and Somali neighbourhoods in Nairobi, Minneapolis and London. Long-grain rice is cooked in one pot with onion, tomato and the house spice mix xawaash, and topped with fried onions and raisins; it is usually crowned with goat, but this version cooks carrots, peas and potatoes into the rice. In true Somali style, serve it with a banana on the side and a spoon of green basbaas. Chef's tip: rinse and soak the basmati so the grains stay long and separate.

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Surti lochoSteamed chana dal batter snack

Locho is a breakfast street snack from Surat in Gujarat. The story goes that a batch of khaman went wrong and came out soft and mushy, and people liked it so much it became a dish of its own; 'locho' means a muddle. A fermented batter of chana dal is steamed until just set and scooped out in soft, spoonable heaps, then drizzled with oil and showered with a spicy locho masala, raw onion, coriander and sev. It's eaten hot with green chutney and a sweet-sour tamarind sauce. Chef's tip: steam it in a shallow layer and take it off as soon as a knife comes out sticky but not wet; locho should be just set and wobbly, and over-steamed it turns into a dull khaman.

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Surti ponk vadaGreen sorghum fritters

Every December and January, farms around Surat roast bundles of young green jowar heads over embers and thresh out ponk, soft, sweet, pale-green grains that last only a few weeks. Surtis turn the trip into a picnic, eating ponk by the handful with lemon-pepper sev and garlic chutney, then frying the leftovers into these crunchy vada. The grains are crushed coarsely with chilli and ginger, bound with a little gram and rice flour, and fried until the outside is lacy and crisp while the inside stays tender and grassy-sweet. Look for frozen ponk in Gujarati grocers outside the season. Chef's tip: crush the ponk only roughly; whole grains popping through the crust is what makes these vada special.

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Suspiro limeñaCaramel custard with port meringue

Suspiro a la limeña, 'the sigh of a Lima woman', is the city's grand dessert from colonial times, said to have been named by the poet José Gálvez for its sweetness. A thick manjar blanco, milk slowly cooked down to a silky caramel cream and enriched with egg yolks, is topped with a cloud of glossy Italian meringue flavoured with port and dusted with cinnamon. It is very sweet and very rich, so serve it in small glasses. Make it in the morning for the evening. Chef's tip: the manjar is ready when a spoon dragged across the bottom of the pan leaves a clear path for a moment; undercooked, it stays runny and the meringue sinks into it.

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Suwon galbiGrilled beef short ribs

Suwon, south of Seoul in Gyeonggi province, once had one of the largest cattle markets in Korea, and its galbi houses grew up around that trade. The city's style is unusual: the long, butterflied short ribs are seasoned mainly with salt, garlic and sesame oil rather than the soy marinade most people know. Families and office groups grill them at the table over charcoal, snip them into pieces with scissors and wrap each bite in lettuce with ssamjang and raw garlic. At home a ridged griddle pan or a barbecue does the job well. Chef's tip: score the opened-out meat lightly in a criss-cross pattern on both sides, so the salt seasoning soaks in and the ribbon of meat stays flat on the grill.

90 minKoreanMeat
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SuyaSpiced beef skewers

Suya comes from the Hausa north, from Kano and Kaduna, but now every Nigerian city has a mai suya grilling beef over charcoal by the roadside once the sun goes down. Thin slices of beef are threaded onto skewers, rubbed with yaji, a fiery mix of roasted peanut powder, chilli, ginger and stock spices, and grilled until charred at the edges. It comes wrapped in newspaper with sliced raw onion, tomato and extra yaji for dipping. The common mistake is cutting the beef thick; it needs to be thin enough to see light through, so it cooks fast and stays tender. Chef's tip: put the beef in the freezer for 30 minutes first, and it will slice wafer thin with ease.

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BanoshCornmeal with sour cream and cheese

Banosh is the shepherds' dish of the Hutsul highlands in the Ukrainian Carpathians, around Verkhovyna, Kosiv and Yaremche. Coarse cornmeal is stirred into simmering sour cream over a fire until the butterfat beads on the surface, then heaped on plates and crumbled with salty bryndza sheep's cheese and forest mushrooms; tourists queue for it in the mountain kolyba restaurants. Traditionally it is also topped with crisp pork crackling, which this vegetarian version leaves out in favour of extra buttery mushrooms. Bryndza is usually made with animal rennet, so look for a sheep's or feta cheese labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: stir in one direction only with a wooden spoon, as the Hutsuls insist; it keeps the porridge smooth and helps the fat separate out, which tells you it is ready.

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BannockSkillet bread

Bannock is a quick bread of flour, baking powder, fat and water, cooked in a cast-iron pan, baked, fried or wrapped around a stick over a campfire. It's eaten in First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada, at powwows, family meals and on the land, and every family has its own version. Its history is complicated: wheat flour and lard reached many communities through trade and government rations, and bannock became both a food of survival and a living symbol of community and resilience. Long before that, Indigenous breads were made from local plants and roots. This is a simple home pan version, not any one nation's recipe. Chef's tip: mix only until the dough just comes together; overworking makes bannock tough.

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BanitsaFilo pie with cheese and egg

Banitsa is the Bulgarian breakfast pie, bought warm in paper from corner bakeries in Sofia and Plovdiv with a bottle of ayran or boza, and baked at home on New Year's Eve with lucky charms (kasmeti) tucked inside. Crumpled sheets of filo are layered with crumbled sirene and a custard of yogurt and eggs, then baked until the top is shatteringly crisp and the inside soft and tangy. It is not boiled like Turkish su böreği: the yogurt custard is what makes it Bulgarian. Chef's tip: crumple the filo loosely rather than laying it flat; flat, tightly packed sheets are the usual mistake and give a dense, doughy pie.

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Banh trang nuongGrilled rice paper pizza

Bánh tráng nướng is the snack of Da Lat's night market, where vendors grill sheets of rice paper over small charcoal braziers, crack on an egg, spread it with a bamboo brush and fold the crackling disc in half to hand over in a paper napkin. Visitors call it Vietnamese pizza. The usual toppings include dried shrimp and sausage; this vegetarian version keeps the egg, spring onion, sweetcorn and crispy shallots, finished with chilli sauce and squiggles of mayonnaise. A dry frying pan does the job at home. Chef's tip: keep the heat low to medium; rice paper scorches in seconds, and it needs time for the egg to set on top while it crisps underneath.

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ShchiFresh cabbage soup

Shchi is the oldest soup in Russian cooking, the one the proverb pairs with porridge: 'shchi da kasha, pishcha nasha' (shchi and kasha, that's our food). In villages from Vologda to Ryazan it was left to mellow in the warmth of the big masonry stove, and in summer and early autumn it is made with fresh young cabbage rather than the sour winter version. Unlike Ukrainian kapusniak there is no sauerkraut or millet here: just sweet cabbage, root vegetables, tomato, bay and dill, with a cold spoon of smetana stirred into each bowl. Chef's tip: shchi tastes better the next day, so make it a day ahead and reheat gently.

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Svíčková na smetaněBeef in creamy vegetable sauce

Svíčková is the dish Czech families make for weddings, name days and big Sunday lunches, and in Prague pubs it appears on the menu as the proud centre of the week. Beef is marinated for a day or two with root vegetables and spices, slow-roasted, and the vegetables are then blended into a smooth, sweet-sour cream sauce. It is always served the same way: sliced beef, a pool of sauce, bread dumplings, a spoonful of cranberry sauce, a twist of whipped cream and a slice of lemon. Many cooks under-season the sauce; it should taste clearly of vinegar, sugar and allspice, not just cream. The optional smoked bacon that flavours the vegetables is pork; leave it out and the sauce is still rich. Chef's tip: blend the sauce until completely velvety, then push it through a sieve; that silky finish is what makes svíčková special.

220 minCzechMeat
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