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Bossam kimchi
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Bossam kimchi

Wrapped 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.

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Café guayoyoLong black coffee

In the coffee villages of the Venezuelan Andes, in Trujillo, Mérida and Táchira, the day starts in the dark with a pot of guayoyo, and it never really stops: a cup at breakfast with arepas, one mid-morning, one after lunch, one at the bodega counter in the afternoon. Guayoyo is the opposite of a short, dark negrito: plenty of water through a modest amount of coffee, poured through a colador de tela, a cotton cloth sock on a wire ring. It is light-bodied, mild and clean, closer to tea in strength, with gentle chocolate notes and almost no bitterness, so it is easy to drink cup after cup. It still has caffeine, so count the cups. The common mistake is pouring boiling water onto the grounds, which pulls out bitter flavours; let the kettle rest off the boil for a minute first. Never wash the cloth with soap either, or every cup tastes soapy. The coffee is ready when it runs through amber-brown, clear enough to see the bottom of a white cup. Sweeten with papelón (raw cane sugar) if you like. Chef's tip: keep the rinsed cloth in a jar of water in the fridge between uses so it never smells stale.

10 minVenezuelanDrinksVeganGluten free
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Cà ri chayVegetarian sweet potato curry

Cà ri chay is served at Buddhist temples and vegetarian restaurants across Saigon and the Mekong Delta, and many families cook it at home on rằm days, the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, when they eat no meat. Sweet potato and taro soften into a golden, lemongrass-scented coconut curry with fried tofu and meaty oyster mushrooms; it is mild and fragrant rather than fiery. Mop it up with a crusty baguette, or ladle it over rice vermicelli. The usual mistake is putting all the vegetables in at once: the sweet potato dissolves before the taro is cooked. Chef's tip: fry the taro and sweet potato briefly before simmering, which seals the outside so the chunks hold their shape in the sauce.

55 minVietnameseCurriesVeganGluten free
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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 minItalianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Masu zushiPressed trout sushi

Masu zushi is Toyama's famous ekiben, the boxed lunch sold at the station for the train ride: a round, flat cake of vinegared rice pressed under a layer of salted, vinegar-cured trout and wrapped in bright green bamboo leaves, cut into wedges like a pie. The fish is cured but raw, so use only fish sold as safe to eat raw and previously frozen, and keep everything cold; this version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. For a safer version, use hot-smoked trout fillet instead, which is fully cooked. The usual mistake is pressing the rice while it is still warm, which turns it mushy; cool it to body temperature first. Chef's tip: press the cake for a full hour under a heavy weight so it slices cleanly, then cut it with a wet knife.

85 minJapaneseFish
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Curried sausages

Curried sausages are pure Australian weeknight comfort, the dish generations of kids came home to in Sydney, Brisbane and country towns alike, usually made with thick beef or pork sausages and a tin of mild curry powder. The sausages are browned, sliced and simmered with onion, carrot, potato and peas in a gentle, slightly sweet curry gravy, then spooned over fluffy rice. The usual mistake is skipping the pre-cook: browning the sausages whole first keeps them juicy and gives the sauce its colour. Sausages, whether beef or pork, must reach 71 °C in the centre. Chef's tip: a grated apple simmered in the sauce is the classic Aussie trick for a rounded sweetness without extra sugar.

50 minAustralianMeat
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Popska yahniyaBeef and onion stew

Popska yahniya, the 'priest's stew', is cooked across Bulgaria in autumn and winter, often in a clay gyuveche in the oven, and appears at name-day dinners in Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo. Beef is braised with a heap of small whole shallot-sized onions, garlic, paprika, red wine and a splash of vinegar until the onions are sweet and jammy and the sauce is glossy. The wine is part of the dish and some alcohol can remain after cooking; for an alcohol-free version use the same amount of beef stock plus 1 extra tablespoon of vinegar. Pork shoulder is a common alternative to beef. The usual mistake is letting the onions break apart: add them after the meat has had an hour, so they hold their shape. Chef's tip: blanch the onions for one minute in boiling water and the skins slip off in seconds.

135 minBulgarianMeatGluten free
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Caldo de bolas de verdeBeef broth with plantain dumplings

Caldo de bolas is the big Sunday soup of Guayaquil and the Guayas coast: a clear beef broth with corn and cassava in which float fist-sized dumplings of green plantain, each stuffed with a savoury filling of beef mince, egg, peas and peanuts. It takes time, so families make it for gatherings and serve it with lime, chilli and rice. Peanuts are an allergen and optional here. The usual mistake is a plantain dough that is too dry, which cracks and falls apart in the broth; it should feel like soft play dough. Cook the mince filling until no pink remains. Chef's tip: mix boiled and raw grated plantain; the raw starch is the glue that holds the bolas together.

160 minAndeanSoupsGluten free
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Đậu hũ khoBraised tofu with shiitake

Đậu hũ kho is the vegetarian cousin of the caramel braises (kho) cooked in clay pots all over Vietnam, and in the south it is a standard of Buddhist fasting days and a good companion for a pot of rice through the week. Golden fried tofu and chewy shiitake are braised in a dark caramel, soy sauce and coconut water until the sauce turns sticky, salty-sweet and peppery. Serve with steamed rice, a plate of fresh cucumber and a light soup. The usual mistake is letting the caramel go too dark, which makes the whole dish bitter; stop when it is the colour of strong tea. Chef's tip: coconut water gives a rounder sweetness than plain water, and the braise keeps for 3 days in the fridge.

35 minVietnameseVegetarianVegan
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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 minCzechMeat
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Frijoles coladosStrained black beans

Every cocina económica and family kitchen in Mérida keeps a pot of frijoles colados for the midday meal, the smooth, almost soupy black beans that sit beside cochinita, poc chuc, eggs or simply rice and tortillas across the Yucatán. The beans are cooked soft with epazote, pushed through a sieve, then simmered with onion fried until sweet. Traditionally the onion is fried in pork lard; this version uses oil so it is vegan. The usual mistake is straining beans that are not fully cooked, which gives a gritty, floury purée, so cook them until they crush with no effort. Chef's tip: drop a whole habanero into the simmering purée for 5 minutes for perfume without much heat, then fish it out.

120 minMexicanSidesVeganGluten free
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Nasi tutug oncomRice mashed with roasted oncom

In Tasikmalaya, West Java, warung serve nasi tutug oncom from early morning: steaming rice pounded together with toasted oncom, a fermented cake of peanut press-cake with a savoury, nutty, slightly funky taste, plus chilli and kencur. It comes with fried tempeh and tofu, sambal and a pile of raw greens called lalapan. Outside Indonesia oncom can be hard to find; fresh tempeh, crumbled and fried, gives a similar earthy result. The common mistake is mixing oncom into cold rice: the rice must be freshly cooked and hot so it absorbs the oil and aroma. Chef's tip: dry-roast the oncom until crisp at the edges before seasoning, which takes away its raw sourness.

40 minIndonesianRice & GrainsVeganSpicy
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Chungmu gimbapRice rolls with spicy squid

In the harbour town of Tongyeong (once called Chungmu), fishermen's wives made plain rice rolls in laver with the spicy side dishes packed separately, because filled gimbap spoiled in the heat of the boats. Today Chungmu gimbap is a lunchbox and road-trip classic all over Korea: finger-sized rolls eaten with a toothpick, sweet-spicy squid and fish cake, and crunchy radish kimchi. The common mistake is overcooking the squid, which goes rubbery; blanch it just until it turns white and curls. Chef's tip: brush the gim lightly with sesame oil before rolling, which keeps it from going chewy.

45 minKoreanRice & GrainsSpicy
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ChapeaRed beans with plantain and sausage

Chapea comes from the countryside of the Cibao and the south of the Dominican Republic, where it is cooked for big Sunday lunches and family gatherings: red beans stewed with auyama squash and ripe plantain, smoky pork longaniza or salami, then rice cooked right in the bean broth until it is soft and creamy, somewhere between a moro and a stew. The sweet plantain melts into the pot and gives the rice a gentle sweetness. Dried red kidney beans must be soaked and then boiled hard for 10 minutes before the gentle simmer, to destroy a natural toxin; tinned beans are already safe. The usual mistake is adding the rice to too little liquid, which leaves it hard; it should be swimming at first. Chef's tip: fry the sofrito until it smells sweet and the oil turns red before the beans go in, as that is where chapea gets its depth.

115 minPuerto RicanCurriesGluten free
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Frijoles maneadosPinto beans with chile and cheese

Frijoles maneados are the rich party beans of Sonora in northern Mexico, cooked for carne asada gatherings, weddings and Sunday lunch, and spooned onto flour tortillas. Soft pinto beans are mashed and beaten (maneados means stirred or worked) with dried red chile colorado, milk and so much melting cheese that the pot pulls into strings. Serve them with flour tortillas, grilled vegetables and a sharp salsa. The usual mistake is adding the cheese while the pot is boiling hard, which makes it go rubbery and oily; take the heat right down first. Chef's tip: Sonoran queso regional or Chihuahua cheese is often made with animal rennet, so for a vegetarian pot choose a vegetarian Monterey Jack-style or mild Cheddar cheese labelled suitable for vegetarians.

130 minMexicanVegetarianGluten free
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Sharbat-e zaferan (saffron sherbet)

Big steel urns of golden saffron sherbet are poured for guests at Iranian weddings and engagement parties, and the same drink is handed out on the street as nazri during Muharram and at memorial gatherings, when families offer something sweet and cool in the name of the departed. Saffron from Khorasan is ground with a sugar cube, bloomed in a little water and stirred into syrup with rose water and lemon. The result is honey-sweet and floral, with saffron's faint bitterness and hay-like perfume at the end, and a colour that should be a clear, sunny orange-gold. The usual mistake is dropping whole threads straight into cold water, which gives a pale, patchy drink and wastes expensive saffron; grind it first and let it bloom for at least 10 minutes. You know the bloom is ready when the water is a deep red-orange and smells strongly of saffron. Taste before serving: it should be sweet but finish clean, with the lemon just noticeable. Chef's tip: an ice cube placed on the ground saffron and left to melt slowly gives the deepest colour of all, an old Iranian trick.

20 minPersianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Paneer tikka

Paneer tikka is the vegetarian star of Punjabi dhabas and Delhi wedding buffets, and at home it is a weekend starter cooked under the grill or in a hot oven. Thick cubes of paneer, pepper and onion are coated in hung yogurt with ginger, garlic, chaat masala and roasted gram flour, then charred at high heat so the edges blister while the centre stays soft. Paneer set at home with lemon juice or vinegar uses no rennet; if you buy it, check the label. Serve with mint chutney and a big salad instead of naan. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 330 kcal and 10 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is a runny marinade, which slides off; hang the yogurt for 20 minutes first. Chef's tip: marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, and don't skip a final blast of high heat for the charred spots.

35 minIndianSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Camote cueCaramelised fried sweet potato

Camote cue is the three-o'clock merienda of Manila, fried in big woks by vendors on the corners of Quiapo, outside university gates on España Boulevard and along every jeepney route, alongside banana cue. Chunks of sweet potato are fried until tender, then brown sugar is scattered into the hot oil, where it melts and wraps each piece in a glassy, crackly caramel coat. They are threaded onto bamboo sticks and eaten warm, with a soft, sweet, chestnut-like centre. Chef's tip: let the oil cool slightly before adding the sugar; sugar dropped into very hot oil burns and turns bitter in seconds.

25 minFilipinoSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Frango xadrezChicken and pepper stir-fry

Frango xadrez, "chessboard chicken", was born in São Paulo's Chinese-Brazilian restaurants and named for its neat squares of chicken, pepper and onion. It is now a staple of lunch counters, delivery menus and the home-packed marmita, eaten over white rice. The common mistake is overcrowding the pan, so the chicken stews grey instead of searing; cook it in two batches. Chef's tip: toss the chicken with soy sauce and cornflour 15 minutes ahead; the coating keeps it juicy and thickens the sauce.

30 minBrazilianChicken
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NeureosCoconut and jaggery pastries

No Goan Catholic kuswar, the tray of Christmas sweets sent to neighbours, is complete without neureos, little crimped half-moons of crisp pastry stuffed with fresh coconut cooked down with jaggery, cardamom and a few raisins or cashews. Families gather in the week before Christmas to roll, fill and pinch them by the hundred, and they keep well in a tin until New Year. The common mistake is a wet filling: if the coconut mix is still moist when sealed the pastries burst in the oil, so cook it until it leaves the pan and cool it fully. Chef's tip: use a fluted pastry wheel to trim the edge after crimping, which gives the classic frilly finish and a tighter seal.

75 minIndianIndian Sweets
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Jinmichae bokkeumGlazed dried squid strips

Jinmichae, shredded seasoned dried squid, is one of the most popular banchan in Korean lunchboxes: chewy, sweet and a little spicy, and it keeps for a week. Children across Korea find it in their dosirak and parents make a big tub on Sunday. The common mistake is glazing it over the heat, which turns the squid hard as wire; mix the strips into the warm sauce off the heat. Chef's tip: soak the squid briefly in water first and squeeze it out, so it stays tender even straight from the fridge.

15 minKoreanFishSpicy
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Gogji razmaKidney beans with turnips

In the Kashmir valley, gogji razma is a winter comfort dish, made in heavy pots when turnips are sweet after the first snow and dried beans from Bhaderwah fill the store. Red kidney beans and turnip chunks simmer in a thin, red gravy flavoured with mustard oil, ground fennel, dried ginger and Kashmiri chilli, without any onion or tomato. Serve with a modest bowl of rice or a millet roti and a green salad. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 300 kcal and 38 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is slow-cooking dried kidney beans without boiling them hard first; raw kidney beans are unsafe, so soak them overnight and boil hard for 10 minutes before simmering. Chef's tip: add the turnips only when the beans are almost soft, so they keep their shape and sweetness.

90 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Jitui fanFried chicken leg rice

In every Taiwanese town, the biandang shop at lunchtime sells jitui fan: a whole chicken leg marinated in soy, garlic and five-spice, coated in coarse sweet potato starch and fried crisp, laid over rice with three small vegetable sides and a scoop of minced-pork sauce if you ask. Office workers and students carry the paper boxes back to their desks. The common mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, so the coating browns while the meat by the bone stays raw; fry gently, then crisp it at the end. Chef's tip: let the starch-coated legs sit for 5 minutes until the coating looks damp, so it fries into crunchy little pebbles.

55 minTaiwaneseChicken
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Cape brandy puddingDate and walnut brandy pudding

Sometimes called tipsy tart, this baked pudding of dates and walnuts drenched in a hot brandy and butter syrup is what Cape Town and Winelands families bring out for Sunday lunch in winter and for Christmas. It contains brandy, and because the brandy goes into the syrup off the heat most of the alcohol stays, so serve it to adults only; the ingredient note gives an alcohol-free rooibos or orange syrup for everyone else. Expect a dark, sticky, cake-like sponge that is almost wet at the bottom, with crunchy walnuts and a warm caramel and spice flavour, served with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream. The mistake is pouring the syrup over a cooled pudding, which then won't absorb it. Chef's tip: prick the hot pudding all over with a skewer and pour the hot syrup on slowly, letting each ladle sink in before adding the next.

75 minSouth AfricanDesserts
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Bacon and egg pie

No Kiwi picnic, school trip or bach weekend is complete without a bacon and egg pie: flaky puff pastry wrapped around smoky pork bacon, peas and whole eggs that bake into golden rounds you can see when the pie is cut. It is served warm for tea and then sliced cold into lunch boxes the next day. The common mistake is pulling it out when the pastry looks done but the eggs are still runny in the middle; for a picnic pie that will be packed, the eggs must be fully set. Chef's tip: prick each yolk lightly before adding the lid, so the eggs cook evenly and don't bubble up through the pastry.

65 minNew ZealandMeat
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Jicai doufu gengShepherd's purse and tofu soup

In Shanghai and Jiangsu, shepherd's purse (jicai) is picked from field edges in early spring, and this gentle, lightly thickened soup is one of the first dishes of the season at home and in Shanghainese restaurants. Finely chopped greens and small cubes of soft tofu are simmered in vegetable stock with a few shiitake, then thickened just enough to coat a spoon, giving a soothing, savoury soup with a fresh, grassy taste. Serve it as a starter or with a small bowl of rice. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 110 kcal and 7 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding too much starch, which makes it gluey; it should flow off the spoon. Spinach works if you can't find jicai. Chef's tip: blanch and squeeze the greens before chopping, which keeps the soup bright green instead of murky.

25 minChineseSoupsVegan
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Ave paltaChicken and avocado roll

In Santiago's fuentes de soda and school kiosks, the ave palta is the lunch everyone orders: a soft hallulla or crusty marraqueta roll filled with shredded chicken in mayonnaise (ave mayo) and a thick layer of mashed avocado, palta. Chileans pack it for the office and for long bus journeys. The common mistake is mixing warm chicken with mayonnaise, which turns oily and is a food-safety risk; cool the chicken first. Pack it with an ice pack. Chef's tip: mash the avocado with lemon and salt just before assembling, so it stays green until lunch.

25 minChileanChicken
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SmoorsnoekBraised smoked snoek with potato

Smoked snoek hangs in the fish shops of Kalk Bay and Muizenberg, and cooks across the Cape Flats turn it into smoorsnoek on a busy weeknight: the fish flaked and ‘smothered’ with onion, potato, tomato and green chilli until it all melts together. It is smoky, salty, a little sweet from the soft onions and gently hot, with enough soft potato to make it a meal. Pile it on white rice with a spoon of fruit chutney or apricot jam on the side, which is how many Cape families like it. Snoek is full of long, fine bones, and missing them is the mistake that spoils the dish, so flake it slowly with your fingers. Outside South Africa, smoked mackerel is the nearest swap. Chef's tip: taste before you add any salt at all; smoked fish brings plenty of its own.

40 minSouth AfricanFishGluten free
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Daikon to aburaage no nimonoSimmered daikon and fried tofu

When winter daikon is fat, sweet and cheap in every Japanese market, home cooks from Hokkaido to Kyushu simmer it with strips of aburaage, the thin fried tofu pouches, as an everyday side for rice and grilled food. The radish turns soft and see-through and drinks up a light soy broth, while the tofu soaks up the rest like a sponge. This version uses a kelp and shiitake dashi instead of bonito, so the whole pot is vegan, and it tastes even better reheated the next day. The usual mistake is boiling it hard: the daikon edges crumble and the broth goes cloudy, so keep it at a lazy simmer under a drop lid. Chef's tip: pour boiling water over the aburaage before cutting it, which rinses off the stale frying oil and lets the broth soak in.

40 minJapaneseSidesVegan
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ChhwelaGrilled chicken with mustard oil

Chhwela (also called choila) is a Newar dish from the Kathmandu Valley, served at festivals, feasts and family gatherings, and today in every bar and snack house as a spicy side. Meat is grilled until smoky, cut small and tossed with a dressing of spices and fenugreek seeds fried in smoking mustard oil, plus raw garlic, ginger, chilli, timur pepper and lime. Buffalo is traditional; this version uses chicken, and lean beef works too. It is high in protein and suitable as part of a balanced diet; eat it with a salad of cucumber and radish rather than a big pile of beaten rice. About 290 kcal and 5 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is pouring the mustard oil on before it smokes, which leaves a raw, harsh taste. Chef's tip: grill the meat until well charred at the edges, because the smokiness is the point.

45 minNepaliChickenGluten freeSpicy
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Hobak jjigaeCourgette and tofu stew

Hobak jjigae is the late-summer stew of Korean home kitchens, made when the garden throws up more courgettes (aehobak) than anyone can eat, and it lands on the table in its own pot next to rice and kimchi on any ordinary weeknight. Potato and soft tofu soften in a red, gently spicy broth of gochujang and kelp, and the courgette turns silky without falling apart. Most cooks start with anchovy stock; this one uses dried kelp and shiitake so it stays vegan. The usual mistake is adding the courgette with the potato, which leaves it mushy and grey by the time the potato is cooked. Chef's tip: a final splash of soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) seasons the broth more deeply than salt without darkening it.

30 minKoreanSoupsVeganSpicy
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Ivan-chai (fireweed tea)

Long before Chinese tea reached ordinary villages, peasants around Koporye near St Petersburg, and on through Karelia and the Arkhangelsk forests, were rolling and fermenting the leaves of fireweed, the tall pink-flowered plant that floods clearings every July. Ivan-chai is having a revival now, sold in paper bags at markets and drunk at the dacha in the evening from the samovar, because it has no caffeine and will not keep anyone awake. It brews to a clear amber with a soft, slightly fruity, honey-and-dried-apple taste and almost no bitterness. Granular kinds taste deeper, leaf kinds more floral. The common mistake is brewing it for two or three minutes like black tea; it needs a full 10 minutes in a warmed pot to open up, and it never turns bitter if you leave it longer. It is ready when the liquid is a deep golden-amber and smells of honey and dried fruit. It is traditionally drunk as a calming evening tea; if you are pregnant or on regular medication, check with a doctor before drinking it daily. Chef's tip: the same leaves give a second, lighter pot; just top up with fresh hot water and wait another 10 minutes.

13 minRussianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Aloo potoler dalnaPotato and pointed gourd curry

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

40 minIndianVegetarianGluten free
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CassareepCassava syrup

Cassareep is what makes Guyana's Christmas pepperpot dark, sweet-savoury and long-keeping, and in Amerindian villages of the Rupununi and along the rivers it is still boiled down from the juice of grated cassava. Traditional cassareep uses bitter cassava, whose raw juice is poisonous until it has been boiled for hours; this home version uses only sweet cassava (the kind sold in shops as yuca), and still boils the juice for a long time, because even sweet cassava must never be eaten raw. A little dark sugar helps it reach the deep colour that slow reduction gives in the villages. The usual mistake is stopping too soon, when it is brown and thin; it should be black and syrupy, like molasses. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat when it coats a spoon thickly, as it thickens much more as it cools.

220 minGuyaneseBasicsVeganGluten free
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Gulai pakisFern tip coconut curry

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

40 minIndonesianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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CatalinasChewy panela anise cookies

Catalinas are the big dark cookies stacked in clear bags by the till of every Venezuelan bodega and panadería, eaten as a mid-afternoon snack with a glass of cold milk or a small black coffee. The dough is sweetened with melted panela and perfumed with anise, cinnamon and clove, and they stay soft and chewy for days. The mistake people make is baking until hard; they firm up as they cool. Chef's tip: take them out when they have puffed and the edges just feel set.

45 minVenezuelanBakingVegan
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ThechwaniCrushed radish curry

Thechwani is a winter dish from the hill villages of Garhwal, Uttarakhand, cooked when the radishes are fat and sweet. Instead of chopping, the radish (or potato) is bashed with a stone or pestle so it cracks into rough pieces with lots of surface, then simmered in an iron kadhai with mustard oil, jakhya seeds and a little tomato. The broken pieces soak up the spices, and the iron pot darkens the gravy. It is eaten with rice or mandua (finger-millet) roti. Jakhya, a crunchy wild seed, is sold in hill stores; cumin is the swap. The usual mistake is slicing the radish neatly with a knife, which keeps the spices on the outside. Chef's tip: add the radish greens, finely chopped, in the last 5 minutes for colour and a peppery bite.

40 minIndianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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UmleqwaSlow-stewed chicken

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

120 minSouth AfricanChickenGluten free
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PhaanuGround mixed lentil stew

Phaanu is everyday food in Garhwal's hill villages, from Pauri to Tehri, made on cold days and in large pots for family gatherings. Mixed lentils are soaked overnight, ground to a coarse paste and simmered slowly in an iron pot until the paste turns into a thick, earthy stew, with spinach or other greens and a mustard-oil and jakhya tempering. It is eaten with steamed rice and a little ghee. The usual mistake is adding the paste to the pot and walking away; for the first 10 minutes it must be stirred constantly or it forms lumps and sticks to the bottom. Chef's tip: whisk the lentil paste into cold water before it goes on the heat; it thickens smoothly and never catches.

70 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Cerasee teaBitter melon vine tea

Cerasee grows wild on fences and roadsides all over Jamaica, a thin vine with lacy leaves, yellow flowers and small warty orange fruit. It is the best known of the island's bush teas: generations of Jamaican children were given a cup at the end of the summer holidays, before going back to school, as a wash-out, and adults still drink it now and then as a cleansing and cooling tonic, or for the skin. The tea is pale green-gold and seriously bitter, with a grassy, slightly vegetal taste; some add sugar or lime. The common mistake is boiling the vine hard for a long time, which makes the tea far harsher than it needs to be. Pour boiling water over it and let it steep instead, and leave out any ripe fruit and seeds. It is ready when the water is light green-gold and smells green and herbal. Do not drink it if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive, do not give it to young children, and check with a doctor if you have diabetes or take medication, as it may lower blood sugar. Chef's tip: dried cerasee from Caribbean shops works well; use a little less.

15 minJamaicanDrinksVeganGluten free
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Chagem pombaMustard greens and fermented soybean

Chagem pomba is a thick Meitei stew of mustard leaves and seasonal vegetables, bound with rice flour and flavoured with hawaijar, Manipur's sticky fermented soybean; it is cooked especially for Ningol Chakouba and family gatherings, and eaten with rice. To make hawaijar, keep boiled, drained soybeans wrapped in leaves at 30–40 °C for 3 days until stringy and pungent; discard if black, green or pink mould appears or it smells rotten. The mistake is adding dry rice flour straight to the pot, which forms lumps: whisk it into water first. Chef's tip: bought natto or kinema replaces hawaijar well.

45 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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'O pere e 'o mussoCold boiled pork trotters

"The foot and the snout" is one of Naples' oldest street foods: pork trotters and veal muzzle, boiled for hours, cooled and sliced, then sold from marble-topped carts in Porta Nolana, the Pignasecca and around Piazza Garibaldi. The vendor dresses each paper plate with coarse salt from a hollowed ox horn and a squeeze of lemon. It is eaten cold, at any hour, often as a snack with a beer or a glass of wine, though lemonade works just as well. The texture is soft and gelatinous with a little chew from the skin. Buy the snout already cleaned and scalded from a butcher. Chef's tip: slice everything while it is fridge-cold and firm; at room temperature the gelatin turns slippery and the slices tear.

210 minItalianMeatGluten free
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KiburuBanana and bean mash

Chagga farms around Moshi and Marangu grow bananas and beans side by side under the coffee bushes, and kiburu brings them together in one pot: green cooking bananas simmered with red beans and onion, then mashed into a thick, rustic, pinkish mound. It is filling everyday food, mild, starchy and savoury, with whole beans still showing through, and it is eaten with a spoonful of tomato-onion relish, a bowl of greens or a mug of sweet milky chai on the side. Red kidney beans must be boiled hard for at least 10 minutes before simmering, because undercooked kidney beans can make you ill. Chef's tip: rub a little oil on your hands before peeling green bananas; the sticky sap stains skin and knives.

75 minEast AfricanCurriesVeganGluten free
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Torta de mil hojasThousand-layer cake

Torta de mil hojas is the cake that turns up at Chilean birthdays, christenings and New Year: ten or more crisp, paper-thin pastry rounds stacked with manjar and chopped walnuts, which soften overnight into a cake that cuts cleanly yet still crunches. It is a labour of love, so families make it a day ahead and keep it cold. The common mistake is assembling and cutting it straight away: it shatters. Let it rest overnight in the fridge. Chef's tip: roll each sheet on its own piece of baking paper and bake it on that paper, so the thin rounds never have to be lifted raw. Walnuts are a tree nut: leave them out for anyone with an allergy.

170 minChileanBaking
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