Featured recipe

Pain-omelette

Baguette with onion omelette

At dawn in Abidjan, kiosks on every street corner from Cocody to Treichville fry eggs to order and stuff them into a split baguette for workers and schoolchildren: the pain-omelette. The omelette is loaded with onion, tomato and fresh chilli, sometimes with a smear of mayonnaise or a spoon of spaghetti tucked in, and eaten wrapped in paper on the way to work. The common mistake is a thick, dry omelette; keep it thin and still soft so it folds neatly into the bread. Stock cubes often contain meat, so use a vegetable one. Cook the egg fully set for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people. Chef's tip: warm the split baguette on the same pan for 30 seconds while the omelette sets, so it's crisp and soaks up the oniony juices.

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Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice

In Hawaii, a breakfast plate at a diner in Honolulu or Hilo, or at a drive-in on Maui, often means slices of smoky, garlicky, paprika-red Portuguese pork sausage (brought to the islands by Madeiran and Azorean immigrants in the 1800s) fried until caramelised, two eggs, and two scoops of short-grain rice. A splash of shoyu on the rice is optional. The common mistake is frying the sausage over a high heat so the sugar in it burns before it heats through; fry it steadily over a medium heat until sizzling and piping hot (71 °C if your sausage is uncooked rather than smoked). Cook the eggs fully set for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people. Chef's tip: fry the eggs in the red fat the sausage leaves behind; they come out lacy and full of flavour.

20 minPacific Islander Breakfast & Brunch

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Chhena jhiliFried cheese patties in syrup

Chhena jhili comes from Nimapara near Puri in Odisha, where sweet shops fry these flat, oval chhena patties all day for pilgrims heading to and from the Jagannath temple. They are soft and spongy, golden-brown outside and creamy within, soaked in a thin syrup scented with cardamom, and are eaten at Rath Yatra, weddings and any good-news visit. The common mistake is using dry, crumbly chhena; it should be moist enough to press into a smooth patty without cracks, so hang it for no more than 30 minutes. Chef's tip: fry in ghee rather than oil for the true Odia flavour, keeping the heat gentle so the outside stays golden, not dark.

80 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Sem ki sabzi (flat beans with potato)

When flat green sem pods fill the sabzi carts in Lucknow and Jaipur in winter, they go into this dry stir-fry with potato and a crackle of ajwain, the classic partner for paratha in an office dabba. The beans stay a little firm and sweet, the potato soaks up the spices, and nothing drips into the roti. The mistake is leaving the stringy edges on the pods; they never soften. Snap the tip and pull the string down each side before chopping. Chef's tip: cook covered for the first half to steam the beans tender, then uncover and turn up the heat so the potatoes catch and brown.

32 min

Indian Sides

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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 min

French Fish

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Chhurpi ko jholCheese curry

Soft chhurpi is the fresh, crumbly cheese that Sikkimese and Darjeeling hill families make by souring leftover buttermilk, and on cold, misty evenings it goes into this thin, fiery soup that is drunk from a bowl alongside rice. The broth is little more than tomato, onion, chilli and coriander, so the cheese has to be good: ricotta-like and mild. The most common mistake is boiling hard once the cheese is in, which makes it rubbery and the soup grainy; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: if you cannot find chhurpi, drain fresh ricotta or crumble homemade paneer while it is still soft.

23 min

Indian Soups

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Golden syrup dumplings

Golden syrup dumplings are a winter pudding from Australian country kitchens, made during the Depression and still cooked by grandmothers in the Riverina and the Victorian high country when the nights turn cold. Soft scone-dough balls simmer in a sauce of golden syrup, butter and brown sugar until they swell and turn sticky. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard. A common mistake is a pan that's too small; the dumplings double in size and need space. Chef's tip: keep the lid on and resist peeking, so the tops steam light and fluffy.

35 min

Australian Desserts

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Chichi dangoCoconut milk mochi

Chichi dango are the soft, pastel-pink mochi squares made for Girls' Day, birthdays and graduations in Hawaii's Japanese-American families, and sold in little boxes at manapua shops and crack seed stores in Honolulu. Mochiko (sweet rice flour) is mixed with coconut milk and sugar, baked until set, then cut and dusted with potato starch. They are chewy, milky and lightly sweet. A common mistake is cutting them warm with a dry knife, which tears them; cool fully and use a plastic knife dusted with starch. Chef's tip: wrap the tin tightly in foil while baking so the top stays soft and smooth.

70 minPacific Islander Desserts

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BrudetFisherman's fish stew

Brudet (or brodetto) is the fisherman's stew of the Dalmatian coast and islands, cooked in Split, Hvar and Korčula with whatever the morning's catch brings, and eaten for Friday lunch and summer suppers. Thick fish steaks on the bone stew slowly in olive oil with onion, garlic, tomato and a dash of wine vinegar, and the pot is shaken, never stirred. It is high in protein and suitable as part of a balanced diet; polenta is the classic partner, but grilled courgettes, chard or a small portion of soft polenta keep the carbohydrate down. About 330 kcal and 10 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is stirring with a spoon, which breaks the fish into shreds. Chef's tip: use at least three kinds of fish, mixing firm and softer ones, for a deeper broth.

60 minBalkan Fish

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Chicken kelaguenGrilled chicken with lemon and coconut

Chicken kelaguen is the dish that tells you you're at a Chamorro fiesta in Guam or Saipan: grilled chicken chopped fine and tossed with lots of fresh lemon juice, onion, hot donne' peppers, salt and freshly grated coconut. It is eaten cold or at room temperature, scooped up with warm titiyas or alongside red rice. The chicken is fully grilled first; only some other kelaguen are lemon-cured raw. A common mistake is skimping on lemon; it should taste bright and sharp. Chef's tip: grill the chicken over charcoal for the smoky flavour that makes kelaguen special.

45 minPacific Islander Chicken

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Bún đậu mắm tômNoodles, tofu and shrimp paste

Bún đậu mắm tôm is served on round bamboo trays in the narrow alleys of Hanoi's Old Quarter, where groups of friends squat on low stools at lunch to share squares of pressed rice noodles, cubes of tofu fried until puffy, slices of boiled pork leg or belly and bundles of perilla and Vietnamese balm. Everything is dipped into mắm tôm, pungent fermented shrimp paste whisked with lime, sugar and a splash of hot oil until it foams. It is loud, salty and moreish. Chef's tip: whisk the shrimp paste hard for a full minute; it turns pale and fluffy and its harshness mellows.

50 min

Vietnamese Pasta & Noodles

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ChilenitosDulce de leche biscuit sandwiches

Chilenitos are small, fragile sweets from the bakeries and convent traditions of Chile's countryside: two paper-thin, crisp biscuits sandwiched with manjar and coated on top with a glossy white meringue. They are a fixture of once, christenings and the sweets table at weddings. The biscuits must be rolled almost transparent; thick dough gives a hard, dry chilenito. Chef's tip: use an Italian meringue (whites whisked with hot sugar syrup); it sets smooth and shiny and the eggs are cooked by the syrup, so it is safe to serve to everyone.

100 min

Chilean Baking

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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 min

Nepali Snacks & Starters

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ChilreBuckwheat pancakes

In the upper hills around Shimla and through Kinnaur, buckwheat (kuttu or ogla) grows where wheat struggles, and chilre are its everyday form: thin, lacy pancakes poured on a hot griddle for breakfast or a late-afternoon snack. They are eaten with a sharp mint-and-walnut chutney, or sweet with honey, and are naturally gluten free when made with pure buckwheat. The common mistake is making the batter too thick, so the chilre come out stodgy; it should pour like single cream. Chef's tip: let the batter rest 15 minutes so the buckwheat swells, and wipe the pan with an oiled cloth rather than pouring oil, for even, lacy pancakes.

25 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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SerobeChopped tripe and offal

At a Tswana wedding or a funeral gathering, the men tending the three-legged pots will make serobe from the insides of the slaughtered goat or ox while the seswaa cooks alongside, and it is served first to the elders. Tripe, heart and liver are boiled until tender, chopped very fine and seasoned simply with salt, onion and a little of the rich broth, so it comes out soft, chewy in places and deeply savoury. Eat it with bogobe, pap or samp and a spoonful of morogo. Buy dressed (cleaned and scalded) tripe from a butcher, and cook everything right through. Chef's tip: chopping it fine by hand is the whole point; a food processor turns it into paste, so take your time with a heavy knife.

180 minSouthern African Meat

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Chirimoya alegreCherimoya in orange juice

Chileans call it 'happy cherimoya': ripe custard-apple pulp dropped into fresh orange juice and served ice-cold. It turns up as the summer dessert after a big lunch in the Central Valley and in the Aconcagua valley, where much of Chile's cherimoya grows. The fruit should be soft like a ripe avocado; a hard one tastes starchy. The most common mistake is preparing the fruit ahead without juice, so it turns brown and loses its perfume: drop each piece straight into the orange juice. Remove every black seed, as the seeds must not be eaten or crushed. Chef's tip: squeeze the oranges yourself and taste before you sweeten; good juice often needs no sugar at all.

15 min

Chilean Desserts

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ThenthukHand-pulled noodle soup

In the Tibetan restaurants around Boudha stupa in Kathmandu, thenthuk is what people order on cold evenings and winter mornings: pieces of dough are pulled flat and pinched straight into a light broth with mutton or buffalo, tomato, radish and spinach. The noodles are thick, soft and slightly uneven, and the soup is gentle and warming, with a little soy and spring onion. This home version uses mutton or lamb. Contains wheat and soya. Chef's tip: pull the dough so thin you can almost see your fingers through it; thick pieces stay doughy in the middle.

50 min

Nepali Soups

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Chivo en cocoGoat in coconut milk

Goats graze the dry scrub of the Guajira peninsula, and in Zulia the meat is stewed in fresh coconut milk with a sofrito of onion, ají dulce and garlic until it falls from the bone. It's party and Sunday food in Maracaibo, served with fried ripe plantain, white rice or arepas to soak up the sauce. The common mistake is boiling the coconut milk hard, which splits it into a greasy sauce. Chef's tip: add the coconut milk only for the last 40 minutes and keep the pot at a gentle bubble.

180 min

Venezuelan Meat

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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 minScandinavian Chutneys & Dips

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Chochos con tostadoLupin bean and toasted corn salad

On street corners in Quito and Latacunga vendors pile paper cups with chochos, the pale Andean lupin beans, tossed with lime-soaked red onion and tomato and showered with crunchy toasted corn. It is a cheap, filling mid-morning snack, sour and salty with a nutty crunch, and it doubles as a light lunch with a fried plantain on the side. Buy chochos ready debittered, sold cooked in jars or vacuum packs: raw lupins are bitter and contain toxic alkaloids until they have been soaked and boiled for several days, so never use dried ones without that long treatment. Lupin is also a declared allergen and can affect people with peanut allergy. The common mistake is skipping the rinse, which leaves the beans tasting of brine. Chef's tip: salt the onion with the lime juice 10 minutes ahead so it softens and turns pink.

25 minAndean Snacks & Starters

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Bossam kimchiWrapped cabbage kimchi

Bossam kimchi comes from Gaeseong, the old Goryeo capital just north of today's border, and it is the kimchi families make with special care at kimjang time in late November and set out for Seollal guests. Instead of rubbing seasoning into whole cabbage halves, the inner leaves are folded around a rich filling of radish, Korean pear, chestnut, jujube, pine nuts and herbs, then wrapped in large outer leaves like a gift. Unwrapped at the table, it is crisp, juicy and sweet from the pear, with mellow chilli heat and the savoury depth of salted shrimp. Traditional versions add raw oysters; here they are optional. Raw oysters are not safe for pregnant people, babies, older people or anyone with weak immunity, so leave them out for those guests or for any kimchi you mean to keep beyond 3 days. The common mistake is under-rinsing the cabbage, which makes every parcel too salty; rinse three times and taste a stem. It is ready after 3–4 days in the fridge, when the juice turns pleasantly sour and slightly fizzy. Chef's tip: tie each parcel with a blanched scallion if the leaves won't stay closed.

130 min

Korean Chutneys & Dips

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Chouris paoSpicy pork sausage in a bun

Chouris pao is Goa's favourite pork snack, sold from feast-day stalls at Mapusa's Friday market and village church fairs, and made at home whenever a string of chouriço comes out of the larder. The Goan pork sausage is cured with red chilli, garlic, spices and toddy vinegar (vinegar, not alcohol), then crumbled out of its casing and fried with onion and potato until sticky and red. The common mistake is frying it fiercely from the start: the fat needs a splash of water and gentle heat to render, otherwise the outside burns while the pork stays raw. Cook until the pork is no longer pink and reaches 71 °C. Chef's tip: soak the sausage links in hot water for 10 minutes first; it softens the casing and takes away harsh salt.

30 min

Indian Meat

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Chura matarFlattened rice with peas

When fresh peas pile up in the markets of Varanasi and eastern Uttar Pradesh in winter, breakfast becomes chura matar: thick flattened rice tossed in ghee with sweet green peas, ginger, green chilli and a pinch of sugar, finished with lemon and coriander. It is softer and richer than poha, and is often eaten on the ghats with a cup of chai. The mistake is soaking the chura in water; it turns mushy. Rinse it quickly in a sieve and let it rest, and it softens just enough. Chef's tip: crush half the peas lightly with the back of a spoon in the pan so they coat the rice and make each mouthful sweeter.

25 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Chura sabjiFermented cheese curry

High in Tawang, Monpa families make chura sabji from chhurpi, a cheese of yak or cow's milk left to ferment until it is pungent and soft, cooked down with green chillies and onion into a creamy, fiery curry. It is everyday food in the cold months, eaten with rice or buckwheat bread. The usual mistake is cooking on high heat once the cheese goes in, which splits it into oily curds; melt it gently. Chef's tip: if you cannot get fermented chura, use a strong, crumbly blue or feta mixed with a spoon of curd to imitate the tang.

23 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Bogobe jwa lerotseSorghum and melon porridge

When the lerotse melons ripen on the lands around Serowe and Mahalapye after the summer rains, households stir their pale flesh into the evening pot of sorghum, and the porridge turns soft, smooth and quietly sweet. Lerotse is a hard-skinned field melon, closer to a mild marrow than a dessert melon, so it melts into the bogobe and gives it a light, fresh taste against the sour, nutty grain. It is eaten as a side with seswaa, beans or morogo, or on its own for supper with a sprinkle of sugar. Outside Botswana, look for lerotse at African grocers; otherwise a firm cooking melon or a winter melon gives a very close result. Chef's tip: the mistake people make is dumping the sorghum in at once, which gives lumps; rain it in slowly while you whisk.

45 minSouthern African Sides

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ChutagiWheat pasta in vegetable soup

In Leh and the villages along the Indus, chutagi is the one-pot supper of the long winter: little hand-pinched bow-ties of wheat dough dropped into a broth of turnip, carrot, onion and greens. Families sit around the stove pinching the dough together while the pot comes to the boil, and the soup is eaten piping hot, often with a spoon of chilli paste on the side. The broth is light but the pasta makes it filling. The usual mistake is rolling the dough too thick, which leaves the centres of the bows doughy; roll it about as thin as a coin. Chef's tip: let the shaped bows dry on a floured tray for ten minutes before they go in, so they hold their pinched centre instead of opening up in the pot.

55 min

Indian Soups

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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 min

Guyanese Meat

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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 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Bún mắmFermented fish noodle soup

Vạn Kiếp Street in Saigon's Bình Thạnh district is lined with stalls serving bún mắm, a noodle soup that came up the river from the Mekong Delta. The broth is built on mắm cá linh or mắm cá sặc, small river fish fermented with salt, simmered until the bones dissolve and strained into a dark, savoury, lemongrass-scented stock. It is loaded with prawns, squid, white fish, slices of boiled pork belly and soft aubergine, and eaten with a mountain of herbs and bean sprouts. Look for jars of mắm at Vietnamese grocers. Chef's tip: strain the fermented fish through a fine sieve, pressing hard; tiny bones make the broth gritty.

95 min

Vietnamese Soups

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Pan-gayu (bread porridge)

Pan-gayu is a staple of the early rinyushoku (weaning) stage in Japan, the second grain after rice porridge, and it fills the 'first foods' pages of every baby magazine sold in Tokyo convenience stores. Crustless white bread is torn into a pan of water, breast milk or formula and simmered until it collapses, then mashed smooth for a soft, milky, faintly sweet porridge. Bread already contains a little salt, so this is an occasional porridge rather than an everyday one, and no extra salt, sugar or honey goes in. It contains wheat (gluten) and milk if made with milk. Chef's tip: choose the softest, plainest white sandwich loaf with the lowest salt on the label, and cut away every bit of crust.

8 min

Japanese Breakfast & Brunch

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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 min

Indian Vegetarian

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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 min

Indonesian Breakfast & Brunch

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Boller i karry for toddlersMeatballs in mild curry for toddlers

Boller i karry, meatballs in curry, is one of Denmark's best-loved dinners, voted a national favourite and cooked on weeknights from Copenhagen's Nørrebro to farmhouses in Jutland. The meatballs are pork, poached gently rather than fried, and the sauce is mild and creamy, made from the poaching liquid with apple and leek and just a pinch of curry powder. For toddlers from 12 months there is no stock cube and very little salt, and the meatballs are cut small. It contains wheat (gluten), milk and egg; there are no nuts or soya. Chef's tip: keep the poaching water at a bare shiver; boiling makes the meatballs tough and crumbly.

60 minScandinavian Meat

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CortaditoEspresso with steamed milk

Havana runs on small cups of coffee: a cafecito standing at a ventanita, a colada shared in tiny plastic cups at work, and in the afternoon or with breakfast, a cortadito, which is Cuban coffee cut (cortado) with roughly as much hot milk. The coffee is brewed in a stovetop cafetera, and the first dark drops are whipped hard with sugar into a pale, thick espumita that floats on top of the cup. The result is rich, very sweet and caramel-like, with a velvety milk body and a strong, bitter edge underneath. It is high in caffeine, so it is not one for children. The common mistake is adding sugar to the pot or stirring it in at the end; without the espumita you get a thin, flat drink. Beat the first concentrated coffee with the sugar until it turns light tan and holds soft folds, then pour in the rest. It is ready when a pale foam floats on the cup and the milk has been heated until steaming, with small bubbles around the edge but not boiling. Chef's tip: catch only the first 2–3 teaspoons of coffee for the foam; later coffee is too thin to whip.

10 min

Cuban Drinks

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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 min

South African Chutneys & Dips

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Da chang bao xiao changSausage in a sticky rice bun

'Big sausage wraps small sausage' is one of the most photographed snacks at Shilin and Raohe night markets in Taipei. A plump, garlicky glutinous-rice sausage is grilled until crisp, split like a hot-dog bun and stuffed with a sweet Taiwanese pork sausage, pickled cucumber, sliced raw garlic, basil and a smear of sauce. This home version shapes the sticky rice in cling film instead of casing, so you do not need intestines. The Taiwanese sausage is pork and must be cooked through. Contains soy and peanuts. Chef's tip: chill the steamed rice log overnight; it slices and grills cleanly and holds its crust.

60 min

Taiwanese Fast Food

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BlåbärssoppaBilberry soup

Swedes have drunk blåbärssoppa for generations, warm on a winter morning and cold from a cup after the Vasaloppet ski race, where skiers are handed it at every station. It is a thin, deep purple soup of bilberries or blueberries, sweetened and thickened just enough with potato starch to coat the tongue. The common mistake is boiling the soup after adding the starch: it turns stringy and then thins out again, so take it off the heat as soon as it thickens. Chef's tip: wild bilberries give a far deeper colour and flavour than cultivated blueberries, and frozen ones work perfectly.

15 minScandinavian Soups

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Dak hanmariWhole chicken hot pot

Dak hanmari, literally 'one chicken', comes from the alley of restaurants beside Dongdaemun market in Seoul, where a whole chicken arrives in a basin of pale broth and finishes cooking on a burner at the table. Potatoes and chewy rice cakes simmer alongside, and each piece is dunked in a sharp dipping sauce of chilli, soy, vinegar and mustard that you mix to your own taste. When the chicken is gone, knife-cut noodles go into the broth. The usual mistake is rushing the first simmer: the broth needs its full time with garlic and leek to taste of chicken. Chef's tip: let everyone build their own dip, adding a spoon of hot broth so the chilli flakes bloom.

75 min

Korean Chicken

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Blote billetjes in het grasWhite and green beans with butter

Dutch grandmothers named this dish 'bare bottoms in the grass' for the pale white beans peeping out between the green ones, and it is a summer weekday supper all over the Netherlands, when runner and French beans are cheap. Green beans and cooked white beans are simmered together, then stirred with butter, a little stock and plenty of pepper, often with boiled potatoes on the side. Many families add bacon or a smoked sausage; this version keeps it vegetarian, so serve it with a fried egg or a vegetarian sausage if you want more. The usual mistake is boiling the green beans until grey: they should stay bright with a slight bite. Chef's tip: a splash of the bean-cooking liquid stirred in with the butter makes a glossy little sauce that clings to everything.

30 min

Dutch Vegetarian

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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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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 min

Chilean Drinks

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Dalimbi usalSprouted field bean curry

In Konkan and Pune homes, dalimbi usal is a festival dish, cooked for Ganesh Chaturthi, weddings and thread ceremonies and served on the thali beside puran poli and rice. Dalimbi are dried field beans (val) that are soaked, sprouted and peeled; the work takes two days but turns them creamy and sweet. They are simmered gently with fresh coconut, goda masala, kokum and a little jaggery, without onion or garlic. Field beans must always be cooked until fully soft; never eat them raw or half-cooked. The usual mistake is boiling them hard, which bursts the soft peeled beans into mash; keep the simmer gentle. Chef's tip: soak the sprouted beans in warm water for 30 minutes before peeling, and the skins slip off with a pinch.

60 min

Indian Curries

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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 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Nagori halwaSemolina puris with halwa

On cold winter mornings in Old Delhi, the halwais near Chawri Bazar and Sitaram Bazar set out trays of nagori: thumb-sized, rock-crisp puris made with semolina. You crack one open, spoon in warm, ghee-rich sooji halwa and eat it with a bite of spicy potato curry, the sweet and the savoury taking turns. It is a breakfast that keeps you going through a foggy December day. Chef's tip: roast the semolina for the halwa slowly until it smells of toasted nuts; under-roasted semolina makes a pasty, flat halwa.

60 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Bollitos pelonesBeef-stuffed corn dumplings in tomato sauce

Bollitos pelones are proper home cooking from central Venezuela: little balls of corn dough tinted with onoto, stuffed with a spoonful of spiced minced beef and simmered in a light tomato sauce until the dough firms. Mothers make them for school-day lunches with white rice, and they reheat well. The common mistake is stirring the pot, which breaks the balls apart. Chef's tip: give the pan a gentle shake instead of stirring, and don't touch them for the first 10 minutes.

75 min

Venezuelan Meat

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Dhana ni panjiriRoasted coriander and coconut sweet

At midnight on Janmashtami, when Gujarati and Rajasthani families sing to baby Krishna, the prasad handed round is this fragrant panjiri of ground coriander seeds roasted in ghee and mixed with powdered sugar, coconut, makhana and dry fruit. Because it contains no grain, it is also eaten by those who keep the Janmashtami fast. It tastes warm, sweet and surprisingly floral. The common mistake is roasting the coriander powder on high heat; it burns in seconds and turns bitter. Chef's tip: grind the seeds yourself just before roasting, and stop when the kitchen smells like warm citrus, not toast.

20 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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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 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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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 min

Chinese Breakfast & Brunch

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Bihari aloo bhujiaFried potato sticks

In Bihar, aloo bhujia is not the packaged snack but the everyday matchstick-potato fry that sits beside dal, bhaat and chokha on the lunch plate, cooked in mustard oil with panch phoron and a slit green chilli. Patna households make it most days of the week because it takes twenty minutes and pleases everyone. The common slip is crowding the pan and stirring too much, which turns the sticks to mash; give them room and toss gently. Chef's tip: soak the cut potatoes in cold water for 10 minutes and dry them well; washing off surface starch keeps the sticks separate and lightly crisp.

25 min

Indian Sides

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DobradinhaTripe and white bean stew

Dobradinha came to Brazil with Portuguese settlers and is now a Saturday lunch in botecos and family kitchens from São Paulo to Minas Gerais, eaten with white rice and a splash of hot pepper sauce. Cleaned honeycomb tripe is simmered until tender, then stewed with white beans, smoked pork sausage (linguiça), bacon, tomato and plenty of green seasoning until thick and savoury. This recipe contains pork. The usual mistake is undercooking the tripe: it must be soft enough to cut with a spoon before the beans go in, or it stays rubbery. A pressure cooker does the tripe in 35 minutes. Chef's tip: blanch the tripe with a squeeze of lime first; it freshens the smell and the colour.

180 min

Brazilian Meat

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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 min

Filipino Snacks & Starters

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Lempeng kelapaThin coconut pancakes

On Malaysia's east coast, in Terengganu and Kelantan, lempeng is the morning flatbread nobody buys because every home can make it in minutes: flour, freshly grated coconut, salt and water, spread thin on a griddle. It is eaten warm, torn and dipped into sambal tumis or last night's fish or vegetable curry. The mistake is a thick batter; it should spread on its own into a thin round, or the middle stays doughy. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes so the coconut softens and the flour hydrates, which gives lempeng that bend without tearing.

30 min

Malaysian Breads & Parathas

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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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DouchiFermented black beans

Yangjiang in western Guangdong and Liuyang in Hunan are the two great douchi towns, and both traditionally make their fermented black beans in the dry season, when beans can be moulded indoors and dried in the sun without spoiling. Cooked black soybeans are covered until a yellow-green koji mould grows over them, then washed, salted, packed and fermented for weeks before drying. The result is wrinkled, soft-chewy beans with an intense salty, savoury, almost chocolate-dark flavour. A spoonful steamed with spare ribs or a whole fish, stir-fried with bitter melon or pounded into Hunan's chilli dishes seasons the whole plate. At home, buying koji spores (Aspergillus oryzae) is far more reliable than waiting for wild moulds. Common mistake: letting the beans sit wet or warm in a sealed container during the moulding stage; they must breathe at 28–32 °C. Good koji smells sweet and chestnut-like; discard any batch with black, pink or bright coloured mould, slime or a rotten smell. Keep the salt as given. It is ready when the beans are dark, wrinkled and dry outside but supple within. Store dried douchi in the fridge for 1 year. Chef's tip: rinse and lightly crush the beans before cooking.

180 min

Chinese Basics

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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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Dưa giáPickled bean sprouts

In southern Vietnam, dưa giá appears beside thịt kho trứng, the pork and egg braised in coconut water that every Saigon family cooks for Tết, and beside clay-pot caramel fish the rest of the year. The sprouts and chives sit overnight in a lightly salted, sweetened brine and come out tangy, crisp and squeaky, with a hint of garlic-chive sharpness that cuts straight through the fatty, sweet braises. Some cooks add carrot strips for colour. Raw bean sprouts can carry bacteria, so buy them very fresh and chilled, rinse them well, and pour the brine on hot to scald them lightly; pregnant people, small children, older people and anyone with weak immunity should blanch the sprouts for 30 seconds first. Common mistake: leaving the jar out too long in a warm kitchen, so the sprouts go limp and too sour; once it tastes right, chill it. It is ready when the brine is cloudy and smells pleasantly sour, and the sprouts are translucent but still snap. Chef's tip: pinch the brown root tails off the sprouts; it is fiddly, but they stay crunchier and look neater.

25 min

Vietnamese Chutneys & Dips

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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 min

Japanese Chutneys & Dips

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Dubki wale alooHing-scented potato curry

In the lanes of Mathura and Agra, breakfast is bedai or kachori with dubki wale aloo, a thin, peppery potato curry with so much gravy the puri can take a dip, or dubki. Its flavour comes from hing, crushed coriander seed and fennel rather than onion or garlic, which suits the Vaishnav kitchens of Braj and Holi mornings. The common mistake is making the gravy thick; it should run, so add enough water and mash only a few potatoes to give it body. Chef's tip: crush the boiled potatoes by hand into rough pieces rather than cubing them; the jagged edges soak up the spice.

35 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Bir pletokSpiced ginger drink

Bir pletok was the Betawi answer, in old Batavia, to the beer and wine drunk by the Dutch: a red, warming spice drink with no alcohol at all, served at weddings, at Lebaran open houses and in the evenings at Jakarta's Setu Babakan cultural village. 'Pletok' is said to be the popping sound it made when shaken in a bamboo tube to raise a foam. Ginger, lemongrass, pandan, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom are simmered with chips of secang (sappanwood), which turns the liquid deep ruby. It tastes hot and peppery from the ginger, perfumed from the pandan, sweet and lightly woody, and is drunk warm or with ice. The common mistake is skimping on ginger or slicing it thin and boiling briefly; you need plenty, bruised, and a slow simmer to draw out the heat. It is ready when the liquid is a clear ruby red and the ginger burn catches at the back of your throat. Secang chips are in Indonesian shops; dried hibiscus flowers give a similar red, slightly sourer. Keeps 5 days in the fridge. Chef's tip: shake each serving hard in a closed jar before pouring to get the foamy head.

40 min

Indonesian Drinks

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Vazhakkai podimas (raw banana podimas)

Podimas comes from Tamil Brahmin kitchens in Thanjavur and Chennai, where green plantain is boiled whole, grated into soft crumbs and tossed with a tempering of mustard, dal, ginger, green chilli and coconut, then sharpened with lemon. It is light and fluffy, and it sits happily next to sambar rice or rasam rice in a tiffin. The mistake is overboiling the plantain: it turns sticky and will not grate into crumbs. Pull it out as soon as a knife slides in with a little resistance. Chef's tip: grate it on the large holes of a box grater while still warm, then let it cool before tossing, so the shreds stay separate.

28 min

Indian Sides

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Bolo de pubaFermented cassava cake

In Bahia, Pernambuco and Maranhão the afternoon and early-morning coffee table often carries a slab of bolo de puba, a dense, custardy cake made from puba, cassava that has been soaked until it ferments and softens into a tangy white paste. Coconut milk, grated coconut, eggs and butter turn it into something between a cake and a pudding, with a caramel-brown crust and a moist, slightly springy middle; it is especially loved around the June São João festivals. Puba is sold in Brazilian and African grocers as massa puba or carimã; it contains no wheat, so the cake is naturally gluten free. The common mistake is cutting it hot: it sets as it cools and will be gummy if sliced too early. Chef's tip: squeeze the puba in a clean cloth first if it is very wet, so the batter is thick enough to hold the coconut in suspension rather than letting it sink.

75 min

Brazilian Baking

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Duo jiaoFermented chopped chillies

In late summer, Hunan kitchens ring with the thud of two cleavers chopping heaps of red chillies, the sound of duo jiao (chopped chilli) being made for the year. Chillies, garlic and ginger are chopped coarse, salted heavily and packed into jars to ferment for about a week, until the heat turns rounder, slightly sour and fruity. Spread thickly over steamed fish fillets, stirred into stir-fried pork or eggs, or spooned over steamed taro, it brings colour as much as fire. Common mistake: chopping it to a smooth paste in a blender; the texture should be rough, pieces the size of rice grains, so pulse briefly or use a knife. Normal ferment signs are a few bubbles, a sour smell and a little liquid rising; a fuzzy coloured mould or a rotten smell means discard. It is ready after 5–7 days at cool room temperature, when it tastes tangy rather than raw. Because it contains garlic and ginger and is a low-sugar paste, it then lives in the fridge for up to 3 months, or in the freezer for a year. Chef's tip: wear gloves and open a window; a kilo of chopped chillies is fierce.

30 min

Chinese Chutneys & Dips

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Bún mọcVermicelli with pork balls

Bún mọc is a Hanoi breakfast from the old Mọc village, now swallowed by the city: a clear, gently sweet pork broth poured over soft rice vermicelli, with bouncy balls of pounded pork and wood ear mushroom, slices of pork and a fistful of herbs. Locals eat it early at low plastic stools before work. The common mistake is mixing the pork paste with a spoon; it needs a hard beating so the balls turn springy instead of crumbly. Chef's tip: wet your hands and slap the paste against the bowl twenty times, and chill it for 15 minutes before shaping.

95 min

Vietnamese Soups

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Awan bangwiSticky rice with nuts

Awan bangwi belongs to the Kokborok-speaking communities of Tripura, who make it for weddings, Garia Puja and New Year gatherings. Soaked sticky rice is mixed with ginger, cashews, raisins and a little ghee, folded into cones of leaf and steamed until glossy and chewy. The mistake to avoid is packing the cones too tightly: the rice swells and the leaves split. Banana leaf or turmeric leaf replaces the local leaf well. Chef's tip: soak the rice overnight; under-soaked grains stay chalky however long you steam them.

75 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Caffè lecceseEspresso with almond milk over ice

In Lecce and the towns of Salento, summer mornings start at the bar with a caffè in ghiaccio, and the local version, a fairly recent invention now poured everywhere from Otranto to Gallipoli, adds a pour of latte di mandorla: the sweet almond-milk syrup Puglian bakers have made for generations from local almonds. A short glass is filled with ice, the almond syrup goes in, and a hot espresso is poured straight over so it cracks the ice and blends into a pale, cold, nutty coffee. It is sweet without being sticky, with a marzipan aroma and a clean bitter finish. The common mistake is letting the espresso cool before pouring: it no longer melts and mixes with the dense syrup, which then sits at the bottom. Pull the shot and pour it at once, then stir. It is ready when the drink is evenly caramel-coloured and the glass feels icy. Lecce bars serve it from about May to late September, often with a pasticciotto. Espresso means a fair hit of caffeine. Chef's tip: if you can only find unsweetened almond drink, stir 1 tsp of sugar into it first, but real Puglian almond syrup gives the true taste.

4 min

Italian Drinks

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Egg banjo (Indore style)Spicy egg pav

Indore eats late, and after the jewellery shops of Sarafa Bazaar shut their shutters at night the lane turns into a food market; egg banjo stalls there and at Chhappan Dukan keep frying until long after midnight. A soft pav is split, toasted in butter and packed with a masala omelette folded to fit, then green chutney, raw onion and a heap of fine sev for crunch. It is soft, buttery and hot all at once. Contains egg, wheat and dairy. Chef's tip: cook the omelette in a shape the size of the bun, so every bite has egg in it.

20 min

Indian Fast Food

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Chai pohPreserved radish

Chaozhou and Shantou on the Guangdong coast dry chai poh in the clear, breezy weeks after the winter radish harvest, laying white strips across bamboo mats on every flat roof. Repeated rounds of salting and drying turn juicy daikon into golden, chewy strips that are salty, sweet and faintly funky, and the Teochew diaspora carried it to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Diced and fried until crisp, it goes into chai poh neng (preserved radish omelette), chwee kueh topping, congee and stir-fried kway teow. This home version uses a little sugar for the sweet style. Common mistake: drying the strips too fast in a hot oven; the outside hardens while the inside stays wet and spoils. Low and slow keeps the texture chewy-supple. It is ready when the strips are amber, flexible and leathery, have lost about 80% of their weight and feel dry, not tacky. Store in a clean airtight jar in the fridge for up to 6 months; discard if mould, slime or a sour, rotten smell appears. Chef's tip: soak the chopped radish for 5 minutes and squeeze before frying, then fry with a pinch of sugar until it smells toasty.

45 min

Chinese Chutneys & Dips

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Tom BrownRoasted maize and groundnut porridge

Tom Brown is the porridge Ghanaian babies grow up on: a blend of roasted maize, groundnuts (peanuts) and soya beans, ground fine and sold in bags at Makola Market in Accra and in clinics' nutrition corners, or roasted and milled at home. Cooked with water it becomes a smooth, beige porridge that smells of toasted corn and peanuts, and it is rich in protein and energy. It is loved in Nigeria too. For babies there is no salt, sugar, evaporated milk or honey. It contains peanuts and soya. Chef's tip: early, regular peanut is recommended for most babies, but if your baby has severe eczema or a known egg allergy, talk to your health visitor or doctor before the first spoonful.

12 min

Ghanaian Breakfast & Brunch

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Cơm nắm muối vừngRice blocks with sesame salt

Before trains, buses and school trips, families in northern Vietnam press warm rice into firm, dense blocks and wrap them in banana leaf or paper with a twist of muối vừng, toasted sesame and peanut salt, for dipping. It is humble, filling and keeps its shape for a whole day's journey. Peanuts and sesame are both allergens. The common mistake is using cold or loose rice, which will not stick; it must be pressed hot. Chef's tip: mix a handful of sticky rice into ordinary jasmine rice before cooking, and the blocks hold together firmly without being gluey.

40 min

Vietnamese Rice & Grains

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Ensalada salvadoreñaChopped fruit apple drink

Order an ensalada at a pupusería in El Salvador and a tall glass arrives: apple juice crowded with tiny cubes of apple, mango and marañón (cashew fruit), drunk through a straw and finished with a spoon. It is the country's favourite cooler for hot afternoons and Sunday lunches. Outside Central America cashew fruit is rare, so pineapple stands in well. Cutting the fruit too big is the mistake people make; pieces should be small enough to come up a wide straw. Chef's tip: chop the apple last and drop it straight into the juice so it stays white.

15 minCentral American Drinks

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Empanadas de vientoFried cheese empanadas

In Quito cafés and markets, empanadas de viento ("wind empanadas") are fried to order: big, thin pastries stuffed with crumbled fresh cheese and onion that puff up like balloons in the hot oil, then get a generous shower of sugar. Ecuadorians eat them for breakfast or afternoon cafecito with coffee or a mug of colada morada. The salty-sweet contrast is the point. The common mistake is overfilling; too much cheese stops them puffing and makes them burst. Some queso fresco is made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian one made with microbial rennet. Chef's tip: roll the dough very thin, under 2 mm, and press the edges firmly; that's what traps the steam and makes the "wind".

55 minAndean Breakfast & Brunch

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Ensalada chilenaTomato and onion salad

Every Chilean barbecue, every plate of empanadas on 18 September and most weekday lunches come with this salad: ripe peeled tomatoes and white onion cut into fine 'feathers' (corte pluma), dressed with oil, salt and coriander, sometimes with a little green chilli. It is cool, juicy and sharp, the perfect counterweight to grilled meat or a bean stew. The mistake that ruins it is using raw onion straight from the board: it overpowers everything. Soak the slices in cold salted water first and they turn sweet and crunchy. Chef's tip: peel the tomatoes, as Chileans do, so they drink up the dressing.

20 min

Chilean Salads

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SinasirRice pancakes

Across Kano, Zaria and Niger, sinasir is a breakfast and snack food: a fermented rice batter poured into a small pan, covered and cooked on one side only, so the top stays soft and covered in holes like a crumpet while the base turns lightly golden. They are eaten warm with sugar, with groundnut oil and yaji, or alongside miyan taushe (pumpkin soup). Traditionally the rice is soaked and ground; this home version uses rice flour plus a little cooked rice for the same soft chew. The common mistake is flipping them: sinasir is meant to have a pale, holey top, so cover the pan and let steam cook it instead. Chef's tip: the batter is ready when it has doubled and looks bubbly; if it hasn't, give it longer rather than adding more yeast.

165 min

Nigerian Breakfast & Brunch

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Ensalada de gallinaChristmas chicken salad

Ensalada de gallina is the creamy salad that sits on every Venezuelan plato navideño, next to hallaca, pan de jamón and dulce de lechosa: poached chicken shredded with diced potato, carrot, peas and crisp apple, bound with mayonnaise and a squeeze of lime. It is made the day before and served cold. Because it combines chicken and mayonnaise, keep it in the fridge and don't leave it out for more than 2 hours. The common mistake is overcooking the potatoes until they turn to mash when dressed. Chef's tip: cook them only until a knife just goes in, and cool them fully before adding the mayonnaise.

70 min

Venezuelan Salads

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MoshOat and milk drink

In Guatemalan homes, mosh is what a mother hands a child on a chilly highland morning in Quetzaltenango or Huehuetenango: rolled oats cooked long and thin with water, milk, cinnamon and sugar, so it's drunk from a mug rather than eaten with a spoon. The common mistake is making it too thick like porridge; it should pour easily, so keep adding hot milk or water as the oats swell. Chef's tip: whisk it hard for a minute at the end; it breaks up the oats and makes the drink smooth and frothy.

15 minCentral American Drinks

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Escabeche beliceñoChicken and onion soup

Northern Belize, around Orange Walk and Corozal, makes escabeche very differently from the pickled fish of the same name elsewhere: it is a clear, peppery chicken soup piled with sweet sliced onions, sharpened with vinegar and scented with allspice, oregano and plenty of garlic. Families eat it for Sunday lunch or to settle a party night, tearing warm corn tortillas into the bowl. Cook the chicken until it reaches 74 °C at the thickest part next to the bone. The common mistake is adding the onions at the start, so they boil to mush; they go in at the end and stay soft but bright. Chef's tip: brown the chicken under the grill or in a hot pan after boiling, as many Belizean cooks do, for a smoky edge before it goes back into the broth.

75 minCentral American Soups

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PepitoGrilled beef and chicken sub

When the bars close in Caracas, the queues form at the pepito stands of Las Mercedes and Altamira: long soft rolls stuffed with griddled strips of beef and chicken, grated cheese, lettuce and tomato, a crunchy handful of potato sticks and squiggles of garlic sauce, ketchup and mustard. It's messy, generous food, best eaten on the pavement. The common mistake is crowding the griddle, so the meat stews instead of searing. Chef's tip: cook the beef and chicken separately in a very hot pan, in small batches.

30 min

Venezuelan Fast Food

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Escabeche guatemaltecoPickled vegetables

Guatemalan families keep a big jar of escabeche in the fridge for weeks: it goes into the bread rolls of shucos and panes con chile, beside fried fish during Lent and, above all, into fiambre, the enormous cold salad assembled for Día de Todos los Santos on 1 November. Carrots, cauliflower, green beans, onion and jalapeños are blanched just enough to lose their raw edge, turned briefly in oil with garlic, then left to soak in vinegar seasoned with thyme, bay, oregano, cloves and black pepper. The result is tangy, aromatic and only mildly hot, with vegetables that stay crisp-tender in a golden, lightly oily brine. The common mistake is boiling the vegetables until soft; they keep softening once the hot vinegar goes on, so blanch each one briefly and cool it at once in cold water. It is ready after a night in the fridge, when the carrots taste sour right through and the onion has turned soft, sweet and translucent. Chef's tip: blanch the vegetables one after another in the same pot, cauliflower first and carrots last, so the cauliflower stays snowy white.

45 minCentral American Chutneys & Dips

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DakjukChicken and rice porridge

All over Korea, dakjuk is the bowl a mother makes on a cold morning or when someone is under the weather: chicken simmered with garlic and ginger, the meat pulled into shreds, and soaked rice cooked down in the broth until it turns into a soft, savoury porridge finished with sesame oil. It is eaten for breakfast or as a gentle lunch, with a little kimchi on the side. The usual mistake is boiling the chicken hard, which clouds the broth and toughens the meat; keep it at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: fry the soaked rice in sesame oil for two minutes before the broth goes in, so the grains toast lightly and the porridge tastes nutty rather than flat.

90 min

Korean Rice & Grains

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Fa'alifu fa'iGreen bananas in coconut cream

Fa'alifu fa'i is one of the everyday staples of Samoa, cooked in family kitchens in Apia and the villages of Savai'i to go with fish, chicken or a Sunday umu. Green cooking bananas are boiled until soft, then finished in a rich, salty-sweet coconut cream sauce with onion, so they turn silky and soak up the flavour. A common mistake is using ripe bananas, which fall apart; they must be hard and green. Chef's tip: oil your hands before peeling green bananas so the sticky sap doesn't stain your fingers.

30 minPacific Islander Sides

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Huevos a la copaSoft-boiled eggs in a glass

In Chilean homes, huevos a la copa are a weekday breakfast and a sick-day comfort: eggs boiled until the whites are just set and the yolks still runny, then scooped out of their shells into a small glass (the copa), broken up with a spoon, salted and eaten with warm marraqueta for dipping. The common mistake is timing from cold water, which makes the result unpredictable; lower the eggs into water that is already boiling. Runny yolks are not suitable for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people; for them, boil the eggs for 9–10 minutes until fully set. If you need it gluten free, serve with gluten-free bread. Chef's tip: a tiny knob of butter stirred into the hot egg in the glass makes it silky.

8 min

Chilean Breakfast & Brunch

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Guihua jiangOsmanthus syrup

When the osmanthus trees around West Lake in Hangzhou and along the Li River in Guilin bloom in late September and October, the whole town smells of apricots, and families shake the tiny gold flowers onto sheets to preserve them. Guihua jiang, sweet osmanthus sauce, is the result: a loose, amber syrup thick with petals that is drizzled over glutinous rice cakes, sweet lotus-root stuffed with sticky rice, tangyuan in fermented-rice soup and plain congee through the Mid-Autumn Festival and all winter. It tastes floral, honeyed and faintly fruity, with a clean sugar sweetness and a soft, slippery petal texture. The flowers are salted briefly first, which takes away their green bitterness and helps them keep their colour. Common mistake: boiling the petals hard in the syrup, which turns them brown and flattens the perfume; add them only once the syrup is ready and let them barely bubble. It is ready when the syrup coats a spoon and the petals are evenly suspended rather than floating. Chef's tip: dried food-grade osmanthus from a Chinese grocer works well out of season; soak it for 10 minutes and use a third of the weight of fresh.

35 min

Chinese Basics

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