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Bò bía
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Bò bía

Jicama 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.

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Arepa pelúaArepa with shredded beef and cheese

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AsierSweet dill pickled cucumbers

Late August in Danish allotments means the asie, a fat yellow-green cucumber left on the vine until its skin turns thick and its seeds big, and the smell of hot vinegar in every kitchen. The cucumbers are peeled, seeded and salted overnight, then sealed in jars with a sweet vinegar lage, dill crowns and mustard seeds. Asier are a fixture of the Danish table all winter: beside frikadeller, flæskesteg and roast duck at Christmas, sliced onto smørrebrød with liver pâté, and with boiled potatoes and brown gravy on any Tuesday. The pickle is crisp yet tender, sweet first and then sharply sour, with dill and mustard on the finish. Common mistake: skipping the overnight salting, which leaves watery, flabby asier that dilute the vinegar. The salt draws the water out so the cucumber stays firm. They are ready after two weeks, when the flesh has turned translucent and sweet-sour right through. Chef's tip: no asier? Use large, overgrown ridge or field cucumbers; ordinary salad cucumbers are too watery.

55 minScandinavianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Finger bunsIced coconut finger buns

Finger buns are the classic Australian school canteen and tuckshop bun, sold in every suburban bakery and supermarket from Perth to Brisbane: soft, slightly sweet long rolls, sometimes with sultanas, topped with bright pink icing and a scatter of desiccated coconut. Kids eat them split and buttered. A common mistake is icing them warm, which makes it run off; let them cool completely. Chef's tip: brush them with a sugar glaze straight from the oven for a soft, shiny crust under the icing.

45 minAustralianBaking
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Rum ballsChocolate rum balls

Rum balls are the grown-ups' Christmas sweet in Australia, rolled by the trayful in December and handed round at end-of-year parties from Sydney to Perth. They are made from chocolate cake crumbs or crushed biscuits, condensed milk, cocoa and dark rum, rolled in coconut. They contain alcohol and are for adults only; for children or anyone avoiding alcohol, use rum essence and a splash of orange juice instead. A common mistake is a mix that's too wet; chill it before rolling. Chef's tip: make them a day ahead so the flavours mellow.

30 minAustralianDesserts
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Tarta de zapallitosCourgette and cheese tart

In Buenos Aires every rotisería sells tartas by the slice, and at home a tarta de zapallitos is baked on Sunday evening so that a wedge can go into the vianda (packed lunch) for school and work all week. Zapallitos are round green courgettes; ordinary courgettes work just as well. The common mistake is adding the courgette raw, which floods the pastry; sauté it until the liquid has cooked away. Argentine queso rallado and many hard cheeses are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese. Chef's tip: bake the tart on a preheated baking tray so the base crisps before the filling soaks in.

70 minArgentinianBaking
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ChässuppeBread and cheese soup

Chässuppe comes from the farmhouses of Central Switzerland, from Unterwalden to the Entlebuch, where it was a thrifty way to use up hard bread and the end of a wheel of cheese. It is a winter supper, especially on carnival and Advent evenings: bread and grated mountain cheese are soaked in hot broth and stirred into a thick, almost spoonable soup, then topped with butter-fried onions. Serve with a green salad and a mug of hot tea. Most Swiss mountain cheeses are made with animal rennet; for a vegetarian pot, choose a hard cheese labelled vegetarian with a nutty, Alpine-style flavour. The usual mistake is letting it boil once the cheese is in, which makes it stringy and oily. Chef's tip: soak the bread in the broth for 10 minutes before heating, so it melts into the soup instead of staying in lumps.

40 minSwissSoups
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Curried egg sandwich

A school canteen and church-fete favourite across Australia, the curried egg sandwich is soft white or wholemeal bread filled with hard-boiled egg mashed with mayonnaise and a little mild curry powder, often with lettuce or cress. It goes into lunch boxes cut into fingers. The common mistake is mashing the eggs while warm, which turns the mayonnaise oily and the filling runny; let them cool completely. Chef's tip: warm the curry powder in a dry pan for 20 seconds first, and the raw, dusty taste turns sweet and toasty.

20 minAustralianSnacks & Starters
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Ají de arvejasPeas and potatoes in chilli sauce

Ají de arvejas is a homely Bolivian stew from La Paz and Cochabamba, cooked for weekday lunch or on Fridays and in Lent, when many families eat no meat. Green peas and potatoes simmer in a golden sauce of onion, tomato and ají amarillo (yellow chilli), and cubes of fresh white cheese are stirred in at the end so they soften without melting away. It is served with plain white rice and sometimes a boiled egg. Bolivian queso fresco is often made with animal rennet; for vegetarians, use a paneer or a fresh cheese labelled vegetarian. The usual mistake is boiling the cheese, which turns it rubbery. Chef's tip: cook the ají paste with the onion until it darkens slightly, which takes the raw edge off the chilli.

40 minAndeanVegetarianGluten free
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Aam ki launjiSweet and sour raw mango relish

In Rajasthan and across the Hindi belt, launji is the quick mango relish made the day the first raw mangoes come home in April, and it keeps appearing on the thali all through the scorching summer. Unlike the long-cured achaars, it is cooked in 20 minutes: mango pieces in mustard oil with saunf, kalonji, methi and cumin, then simmered with jaggery until glossy. The pieces stay soft but hold their shape in a thick, amber syrup that is sweet first, then sour, with a warm hum of chilli and a liquorice note from the fennel. Eat it with dal-baati, puri, paratha or plain khichdi; in the heat it is believed to cool the body. The common mistake is adding the jaggery too early, so it caramelises and turns bitter before the mango is tender; cook the mango first, then the jaggery. It is ready when the syrup coats the back of a spoon and the mango looks translucent at the edges. It thickens as it cools. Store in a clean jar in the fridge and eat within a week to 10 days. Chef's tip: leave a little peel on some pieces; it gives a pleasant chew and stops the mango from turning to mush.

30 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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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 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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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 minAustralianSnacks & Starters
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Bagoong alamangFried krill paste

Across Luzon, a jar of ginisang bagoong sits in nearly every kitchen. In the hot months from March to May, when green mangoes are sour and crisp, it becomes the classic merienda: thin slices of unripe mango dragged through sweet, salty, garlicky shrimp paste, often shared on a porch in the afternoon. It is also the essential partner to kare-kare and the base of binagoongang baboy. Raw salted alamang (tiny krill or shrimp) is sold pink and wet; frying it with garlic, onion and tomato, then sugar and cane vinegar, turns it deep reddish brown, thick, glossy and rounded, with the briny punch still there. The raw paste is a raw-cured seafood, so this recipe always cooks it right through; pregnant people, babies, older people and anyone with weak immunity should only eat bagoong that has been fully sautéed and kept cold. Common mistake: high heat after the sugar goes in, which scorches it and turns the bagoong bitter. Keep it at a medium-low simmer. It is ready when the oil separates and shines on top and it smells toasty rather than fishy. Chef's tip: a few slivers of crisp pork belly fried first make it richer.

40 minFilipinoChutneys & DipsGluten freeSpicy
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Pâté en croûtePork and veal pie in pastry

Lyon's charcuteries display pâté en croûte like jewellery: a tall loaf of crisp, golden pastry wrapped around a coarse terrine of pork and veal. A slice wrapped in paper is a picnic and lunchbox luxury, and the whole loaf is a Sunday project eaten over several days. The common mistake is undercooking it for fear of drying it out: as it is made with minced pork, the centre must reach 71 °C, so use a probe thermometer. The classic farce has a splash of cognac; it's optional here, and apple juice or extra stock is the alcohol-free swap. Chef's tip: chill the filled, unbaked loaf for 30 minutes before baking so the pastry keeps its shape and pattern.

150 minFrenchMeat
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Lito (sarbottam pitho porridge)

Ask a mother in Kathmandu, Pokhara or a hill village what her baby eats after the pasni rice-feeding ceremony, and the answer is often lito: porridge made from sarbottam pitho, a 'super flour' that families roast and grind themselves from two parts soybean to one part each of maize and wheat. Cooked with water it becomes a smooth, nutty, toast-coloured porridge with more protein than plain rice. For babies there is no salt, sugar, jaggery, honey or ghee needed. It contains soya and wheat (gluten). Chef's tip: roast the grains separately, each until it smells nutty and cracks between your teeth, then grind and sieve; the beans need longest.

12 minNepaliBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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Hot jam doughnuts

Hot jam doughnuts have been sold from a van at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne since the 1950s, and the queue on a cold Saturday morning is part of the ritual. The small round yeast doughnuts are fried, injected with hot raspberry jam and rolled in sugar, then eaten straight from the paper bag; careful, the jam is scorching. A common mistake is frying at too high a heat, which browns the outside before the inside cooks. Chef's tip: let the shaped dough rise until it springs back slowly when poked, or the doughnuts will be heavy.

50 minAustralianDesserts
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MotohoFermented sorghum porridge

Highland mornings in Lesotho can be bitterly cold, and a mug or bowl of warm motoho, thin enough to sip and pleasantly tangy, is how many Basotho families in Maseru and the mountain villages start the day. Sorghum meal is mixed with warm water and a spoonful of starter from the last batch, left overnight by the stove to sour, then cooked into a smooth, pourable porridge with a yoghurt-like tang and a nutty, toasty flavour. Some sweeten it with sugar; others drink it plain with bread. If you have no starter, make one two days ahead with sorghum and water, as below. Chef's tip: keep the ferment warm but not hot; a pot left right on the stove gets too sour and too thin, so a spot nearby is perfect.

30 minSouthern AfricanBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Daging masak hitamBlack braised beef

Daging masak hitam, 'black-cooked beef', is a centrepiece of Hari Raya open houses and kenduri feasts across Malaysia, and it is just as good on an ordinary weekday with rice and cucumber. Beef is braised slowly with blended shallots, garlic, ginger and dried chillies, whole spices, tamarind and both sweet and dark soy sauce until the gravy reduces to a sticky, almost black glaze. It tastes better the next day, which is why cooks make it ahead for festivals. The usual mistake is reducing too fast over a high heat: the sugar in the sweet soy scorches and turns bitter. Chef's tip: once the gravy starts to thicken, stir from the bottom every few minutes and lower the heat.

130 minMalaysianMeatSpicy
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DhansakMutton and lentil curry

Dhansak is the Parsi Sunday lunch in Mumbai and the old Gujarat towns of Navsari and Surat, traditionally the first meat dish cooked when the meatless days after a death are over, and a weekend favourite the rest of the time, always with brown rice (rice browned in caramelised sugar and onion) and kachumber. Mutton is cooked together with toor, masoor, moong and chana dal, pumpkin, aubergine, tomato and fenugreek leaves, then the dal and vegetables are pureed into a thick, gently spiced sauce with dhansak masala. Veg version: leave out the mutton and cook the same dal and vegetables with vegetable stock. The usual mistake is not pureeing the dal finely; it should be smooth and velvety around the meat. Slow-cooker option: everything except the tempering on low for 8 hours, then blend. Chef's tip: fry the dhansak masala in ghee at the end and pour it over; it gives the dish its aroma.

130 minIndianCurries
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Jīdàn gēng for babies (steamed egg custard)

Jīdàn gēng, egg steamed with water into a quivering custard, is the dish Chinese grandparents everywhere from Shanghai to Guangzhou make for small children, and it is often the way a baby first meets whole egg at around nine months. The family version is finished with soy sauce, sesame oil and spring onion; this one is plain, so it tastes clean and gently eggy. Steamed slowly, it is smooth as silk and fully set. It contains egg and is free of milk, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame and fish. Chef's tip: cover the bowl with a plate while it steams; dripping condensation is what pockmarks the surface.

15 minChineseBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Sev tameta nu shaakSev and tomato curry

Sev tameta nu shaak is roadside-dhaba and home food from Kathiyawad in Saurashtra, cooked when the vegetable basket is nearly empty but there are tomatoes and a tin of sev. Ripe tomatoes simmer with garlic, red chilli and a little jaggery into a thin, sweet-sour-hot gravy, and a handful of crisp gram-flour sev goes on top at the very last moment, so it is half-crunchy, half-soft when you eat it with bajra rotla, thepla or rotli. The usual mistake is stirring the sev in too early, which turns the curry into a paste. Most sev is made from gram flour, but check the packet if you avoid gluten. Chef's tip: use thick sev (ratlami or bhavnagari), which holds its crunch far longer than nylon sev.

25 minIndianVegetarianVegan
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Jambon-beurreHam and butter baguette

France sells millions of jambon-beurre every working day: half a crusty baguette, split, spread with good salted butter and filled with thin slices of jambon de Paris, the delicate cooked pork ham. Parisians eat it at the office, on a park bench or on the train. The common mistake is a stingy smear of hard butter; the butter is a filling, not a glue, so spread it soft and generous. Some add cornichons, which purists call a different sandwich. Chef's tip: fold each slice of ham loosely in half rather than laying it flat, so the sandwich is airy and every bite has ham.

5 minFrenchFast Food
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BekangFried fermented soybeans

Bekang is the Mizo name for soybeans boiled and left to ferment in leaves until sticky and strongly savoury, and fried bekang is one of the most loved sides on the Aizawl table, spooned over plain rice. To ferment your own, keep the wrapped, drained beans at 30–40 °C for 2–3 days: they are ready when coated in sticky white threads and smell of ammonia and nuts. Throw them out if you see black, green or pink mould or they smell rotten. The common mistake is frying on high heat until the beans scorch and turn bitter. Chef's tip: bought kinema, axone or natto work in place of homemade bekang.

17 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
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Ash-e dooghYogurt soup with rice and chickpeas

Ash-e doogh is the summer and autumn soup of Ardabil and the Azeri north-west of Iran, cooked in big pots for family gatherings and sold in bowls in the bazaars. Rice and chickpeas are simmered in tangy yoghurt with handfuls of dill, coriander, spinach and mint, and the soup is topped with crisp fried onion and dried mint. It is creamy and sour, never heavy. The usual mistake is stopping stirring: the yoghurt splits into grains if left to boil alone, so stir in one direction without stopping until it comes to the boil. Chef's tip: beat a spoonful of rice flour into the yoghurt before heating; it stabilises it and keeps the soup silky.

60 minPersianSoupsGluten free
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Bellam avakayaSweet raw mango pickle

In the Godavari districts of coastal Andhra, the same May afternoon that produces a jar of fiery avakaya usually produces a second jar of bellam avakaya for the children and anyone who likes it sweet. The mangoes are hacked into chunks with their skin and the hard shell of the stone still attached, then tossed with chilli, mustard powder, salt and plenty of grated jaggery. Over three or four days the jaggery melts into a dark, glossy syrup that clings to every piece. It tastes sweet first, then the mustard catches the nose and the chilli warms the back of the throat; the mango stays firm and sour. Eat it with pesarattu, dosa, chapati or curd rice. The salt is about 8% of the mango weight and the fruit is acidic, so it keeps all year under oil in a dry jar. Common mistake: cutting the mangoes wet or leaving sap and water on them; any moisture invites mould, so dry each piece with a cloth. It is ready when no jaggery grains remain and a film of oil rises to the top. Chef's tip: wipe off the milky sap at the stalk end before cutting; it stings the skin and tastes bitter.

45 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Gē da tāng (flour-knot soup with tomato and egg)

Gē da tāng is the soup of northern Chinese homes, from Beijing hutongs to the kitchens of Hebei and Shandong, made on cold evenings or when someone is under the weather. Water is dripped onto flour until it forms little knots, which are rained into a broth of soft tomatoes and finished with egg, so the bowl is part soup, part tiny dumpling. For toddlers from 12 months it is cooked without salt or soy sauce, and the egg is simmered until fully set. It contains wheat (gluten) and egg, and sesame if you add the oil; there is no milk, nuts or soya. Chef's tip: drip the water in a thin trickle while stirring with chopsticks, so you get rice-sized knots, not a paste.

20 minChineseSoups
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Goan bhaji paoPotato curry with bread rolls

Long before the cafés open their doors, Goan tea shops in Panaji, Mapusa and Margao are ladling out bhaji pao for workers and school children. This is not Mumbai's mashed pav bhaji: the Goan bhaji is a loose curry of potato and dried green peas in a roasted coconut masala, eaten by tearing fresh, soft pao and scooping it up, often with a cup of sweet milky tea. The mistake people make is grinding the coconut raw; it must be roasted until reddish-brown with the onion and spices, or the curry tastes flat. Chef's tip: soak the dried peas overnight and cook them separately until creamy, then they drink up the masala without going mushy.

60 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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DakgangjeongSticky glazed fried chicken

Dakgangjeong is the boxed fried chicken of Sokcho's Jungang market on Korea's east coast, carried home by the tub and packed into lunchboxes the next day, because the double-fried pieces in their sticky glaze stay crunchy even when cold. The common mistake is frying only once; the second fry drives out moisture so the crust holds up to the sauce. Chef's tip: coat with potato starch rather than flour, and let the coated chicken sit for 5 minutes so the starch hydrates into a craggy crust.

55 minKoreanChickenSpicy
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BettarazukeSweet koji-cured daikon

Every 19 and 20 October, the lanes around Takarada Ebisu Shrine in Nihonbashi fill with stalls for the Bettara-ichi, Tokyo's old pickle fair, where vendors hold up whole daikon dripping with rice koji and passers-by try not to get 'bettari', sticky. The pickle has been an Edo favourite since the 1700s: daikon salted, then buried in amazake, the sweet porridge that koji makes from rice. It tastes mild, sweet and fresh, with a clean crunch and a faint fermented, sake-lees perfume, which makes it a favourite with children and a pause between salty dishes. Bettarazuke is low in salt and acid, so it lives in the fridge from start to finish. The common mistake is adding the daikon while the amazake is still warm: it cooks the surface and softens the crunch, so cool it fully. It is ready when the daikon is translucent at the edges, juicy, and the koji coating tastes sweet with a light tang. Chef's tip: make the amazake in a rice cooker on keep-warm with the lid ajar and a cloth over it, so it holds about 60 °C; a thermometer helps the first time.

55 minJapaneseChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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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 minKoreanSidesSpicy
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LupisSticky rice with coconut sugar

At morning markets across Central and East Java, vendors unwrap banana-leaf triangles of chewy sticky rice, roll them in fresh grated coconut and drench them in dark palm sugar syrup, all served on a square of leaf. Lupis is breakfast and snack at once, eaten with sweet tea. The common mistake is packing the leaves too full: the rice swells as it cooks, so fill each cone only two-thirds, or the parcels split and turn watery. Chef's tip: steam the grated coconut with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes before using it; it keeps longer and the salt sharpens the caramel taste of the syrup.

120 minIndonesianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Cháo cá hồi bí đỏ (salmon and pumpkin congee)

Cháo cá hồi bí đỏ, salmon and pumpkin congee, is one of the most-shared ăn dặm (weaning) recipes among young parents in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, a sunny orange bowl full of omega-3 fats. Rice simmers soft with diced pumpkin, then fresh salmon is poached in the pot at the end, so it stays moist. There is no fish sauce, salt or sugar, just the natural sweetness of the pumpkin. It contains fish and is free of milk, egg, gluten, nuts, soya and sesame. Chef's tip: run your fingers along the salmon fillet before cooking and pull out the pin bones with tweezers; they are much easier to find raw.

40 minVietnameseRice & GrainsGluten free
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BinatogBoiled hominy with coconut

Binatog is an afternoon snack sold from bicycle carts that ring their way through the side streets of Manila, especially around Tondo and Sampaloc, the vendor scooping steaming white corn from a big tin can into small cups. The kernels are plump, chewy and nutty, piled with snowy grated coconut and finished with salt or sugar to taste, so everyone gets it the way they like. It is simple, filling and naturally vegan. Dried white hominy (pozole corn) has already been treated with lime, which gives the chewy, popped kernels; if you can only find canned hominy, rinse it and warm it for 10 minutes instead. Chef's tip: keep the kernels at a gentle simmer; a hard boil splits them before they become tender.

120 minFilipinoSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Tsestalulu (sea-buckthorn juice)

Sea buckthorn grows wild along the river beds of Ladakh, and in Leh the bright orange berries are pressed into tsestalulu, a sharp, tropical-tasting juice sold in summer cafés and made at home after the autumn harvest. It is drunk chilled, sweetened with sugar or honey and thinned with cold water. The berries are very sour and slightly oily, so the juice is always diluted. The common mistake is boiling the pulp, which dulls both the colour and the fresh taste; just blend and strain. Chef's tip: frozen sea-buckthorn berries or plain unsweetened purée from health shops work very well; strain twice through a fine sieve for a silky drink.

15 minIndianDrinksVeganGluten free
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BlatjangDried apricot chutney

Bo-Kaap households keep a jar of blatjang beside the salt, because a spoonful goes next to almost everything: bobotie, a bowl of curry and rice, cheese on toast, a braaied mielie. Dried apricots are simmered down in vinegar with onion, ginger, garlic and red chilli until the fruit collapses into a thick, glossy, burnt-orange paste that is sweet first, then sour, then warm at the back of the throat. Some aunties keep it chunky, others push it through a sieve until it is as smooth as a sauce; both are right. The usual mistake is to take it off the heat while it still looks loose in the pot, which leaves a runny chutney that weeps in the jar. Chef's tip: soak the apricots overnight in the vinegar and they break down in half the time, with a cleaner, brighter fruit flavour.

60 minSouth AfricanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Davidson plum jam

Davidson plums grow on slender trees in the subtropical rainforests of northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland, ripening dark purple in summer. They are far too sour to eat raw but make a stunning deep-crimson jam with a sharp, tangy flavour, sold at farmers' markets around Byron Bay and the Sunshine Coast. Spread it on scones or serve with cheese. A common mistake is boiling it past the set; the plums are high in pectin and set fast. Chef's tip: if you can't find Davidson plums, use dark sour plums and add a squeeze of lemon.

45 minAustralianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Bohar bhajiFlower bud curry

For a few weeks each spring, Raipur's markets sell small heaps of bohar, the young buds of the lasoda (Cordia) tree, and they are one of the most prized and pricey vegetables in Chhattisgarh. Cooked with onion, chilli and a spoon of curd, they have a pleasant, slightly sticky bite and an earthy taste, and families eat them with rice and dal for as long as the season lasts. People often skip the boiling step; without it the buds stay gummy and slightly bitter. Chef's tip: if you cannot find bohar, the same masala works with tender lasoda (gunda) fruit from Indian grocers, which is the same tree.

30 minIndianVegetarianGluten free
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Ginger beef

Ginger beef was created in the 1970s at a Chinese restaurant in Calgary and is now on the menu of nearly every Chinese-Canadian restaurant on the Prairies. Thin strips of beef are coated in a cornflour batter and fried until shatteringly crisp, then tossed in a glossy sweet-sour sauce full of fresh ginger, garlic and chilli with strips of carrot and pepper. Serve at once with steamed rice. A common mistake is saucing the beef too early, which turns the crust soggy. Chef's tip: fry the beef twice; the second fry is what makes it crunchy.

50 minCanadianMeatSpicy
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Leche con plátanoBanana milk

Ask anyone who grew up in Chile, from Arica to Punta Arenas, what they drank after school and many will say leche con plátano. It is made in a blender in two minutes, usually at onces, the late-afternoon tea, alongside marraqueta rolls with butter or avocado, and it is the first thing many children learn to make by themselves. It is pale, foamy and thick enough to leave a moustache, tasting simply of sweet ripe banana and cold milk, sometimes with a pinch of cinnamon. The common mistake is making it ahead: within half an hour the banana turns the milk greyish-beige and the foam collapses, so blend it just before drinking. It is ready when it is completely smooth, light and frothy, with no banana lumps at the bottom of the jug. Use bananas with a few brown freckles: they are sweet enough that you may need little or no sugar. Chef's tip: slice and freeze overripe bananas, then blend them straight from the freezer; the drink comes out icy and extra thick without any ice.

5 minChileanDrinksGluten free
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Fish in coconut milk

Ika vakalolo is the Sunday and everyday fish dish of iTaukei Fijian homes, from the fishing villages of the Coral Coast to the outer islands of Lau. Fresh reef fish is gently simmered in lolo, fresh coconut milk, with onion, tomato, chilli and a squeeze of lemon, then served with boiled cassava, taro or rice. It is mild, creamy and ready in half an hour. A common mistake is stirring once the fish is in, which breaks the fillets; just spoon the sauce over. Chef's tip: lemon goes in at the very end so the coconut milk doesn't split.

30 minPacific IslanderFishGluten free
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BostongurkaSweet cucumber relish

Every Swedish korvkiosk, from Stockholm's Södermalm to the ferry ports of Gothenburg, offers bostongurka in a squeeze bottle, and most Swedes still put it on their grillkorv with mustard, ketchup and crispy fried onions. Families make their own in August and September, when cucumbers are cheap at the farm stands, and spoon it onto hot dogs at summer barbecues, beside meatballs, into potato salad and onto cheese sandwiches all winter. It is a fine-chopped relish: sweet and sour, golden-yellow from turmeric, with crunch from the cucumber and the soft warmth of mustard seed. Common mistake: skipping the overnight salting; without it the cucumber leaks water and the relish turns soupy and dull. Squeeze the vegetables hard before cooking. It is ready when the vegetables are just tender but still crunchy and the liquid has thickened enough to cling to them. Chef's tip: chop by hand or pulse very briefly in a processor; a purée loses the crunch that makes it bostongurka.

50 minScandinavianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Kaju pulao (cashew pulao)

Kaju pulao is the "special" tiffin of Mumbai and Hyderabad homes, packed for a birthday at school or a festival day at the office, yet it takes no more effort than plain rice. Basmati is cooked with whole spices and golden onion in ghee, and a generous handful of cashews fried separately until crisp is folded through at the end. The mistake is cooking the cashews with the rice, which leaves them soft and pale; fry them on their own and add them last. Chef's tip: stop frying the cashews when they are light gold; they keep darkening in the hot ghee after you lift them out. Contains milk (ghee) and cashews.

35 minIndianRice & GrainsGluten free
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LaphingCold starch sheet noodles

Laphing came to Kathmandu with Tibetan families, and the alleys around the great stupa at Boudha are full of tiny stalls selling it every afternoon, to monks, students and office workers alike. Flour dough is washed in water to separate the starch from the gluten; the starch is steamed into thin, jelly-like sheets and the gluten into a spongy filling, then everything is rolled up and drowned in fiery chilli oil, garlic water, soy sauce and vinegar. It is cold, slippery, chewy and very hot. Contains wheat (gluten) and soya. Chef's tip: steam each sheet no thicker than 3 mm; thick layers set rubbery instead of silky.

180 minNepaliSnacks & StartersVeganSpicy
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Bouillon d'awaraAwara palm fruit stew

Families in Cayenne, Kourou and Mana start bouillon d'awara days before Easter Monday, when it is eaten together and shared with neighbours; local lore says whoever eats it will come back to Guiana. The base is a thick orange paste of awara palm fruit, cooked very slowly with smoked chicken, salted pork, smoked fish, crab or prawns and a mass of vegetables until everything melds. Awara paste is sold frozen or in jars in Guianese and Antillean shops; if you can't find it, use a mix of palm-fruit concentrate (sold for West African banga soup) and puréed pumpkin, which gives a similar richness though not the same flavour. Salted meats must soak in the fridge overnight. The usual mistake is letting the thick stew catch on the bottom, so stir often. Chef's tip: the stew tastes even better on the second day, reheated until piping hot.

360 minGuyaneseMeatGluten free
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BourrideFish stew with garlic sauce

Bourride is the fish stew of Sète and the Provençal coast, a quieter, creamier cousin of bouillabaisse eaten for Friday lunch and summer dinners by the sea. Firm white fish poaches in a broth of fennel, leek, orange peel and thyme, then the broth is thickened with a rich garlic aïoli until it turns silky and pale gold. It is high in protein and suitable as part of a balanced diet; skip the traditional bread or keep it to one thin slice, and serve with steamed greens. About 400 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is letting the broth boil after the aïoli goes in, which splits it like scrambled egg. Chef's tip: use pasteurised egg yolks, and stir the broth over a low heat until it coats a spoon and reaches about 72 °C.

50 minFrenchFishGluten free
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AkibiyeCreamy taro with fermented soybean

Akibiye is Sumi Naga comfort food from Nagaland: colocasia boiled until it melts into a thick, creamy stew, flavoured with chilli and axone, the fermented soybean that gives Naga cooking its deep savour. It is eaten with rice, especially in winter. For homemade axone, keep boiled soybeans wrapped in leaves at 30–40 °C for 3–5 days until sticky and pungent, then dry or use fresh; discard if black, green or pink mould appears or it smells rotten. The mistake is handling raw taro with bare hands, which itches; wear gloves or oil your hands. Chef's tip: bought axone, kinema or natto work well.

45 minIndianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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JiaoquanCrisp fried dough rings

Jiaoquan are the thin, shatteringly crisp fried rings that old Beijingers dunk into a bowl of sour douzhi, or tuck inside a sesame shaobing for breakfast. Street cooks use alum to make them puff; this home version uses baking powder and soda, with a long rest so the dough becomes stretchy. The mistake is cutting the rest short: tight dough will not stretch thin and the rings come out chewy. The dough needs about 3 hours in total, most of it hands-off. Chef's tip: keep the oil steady at about 170 °C and turn the rings constantly with chopsticks; they should stay pale gold, not brown, and sound hollow when tapped.

60 minChineseBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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Bilahi chutneySweet-sour tomato chutney

Bilahi is the Assamese word for tomato, and this glossy red chutney, sweet with jaggery and warmed with nigella and dried chilli, closes a festive Assamese meal, especially at weddings and on Bihu, as the sweet-sour last course before curd and sweets. Everyday cooks in Jorhat and Guwahati make a quick batch in winter when tomatoes are cheap. The mistake to avoid is adding the jaggery too early, which scorches before the tomatoes have broken down. Chef's tip: a few dates or raisins added with the jaggery give the chutney a deeper, jammy sweetness.

25 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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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 minChineseDessertsVeganGluten free
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