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Chickpeas & mint rice
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Chickpeas & mint rice

A simple, fresh one-pot rice: chickpeas, beans, peas and cauliflower cooked with turmeric and green chilli, brightened with plenty of chopped mint and a squeeze of lemon. Serve hot with yogurt.

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Ají de fideosNoodles in red chilli with beef

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

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Tarta de zapallitosCourgette and cheese tart

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

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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.

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Torta de chile rellenoStuffed poblano sandwich

At Mexico City's torta stands and school gates, the chile relleno torta is the meat-free favourite: a whole poblano, roasted, peeled, stuffed with melting cheese, dipped in fluffy egg batter and fried, then pressed into a bolillo spread with refried beans and salsa. People buy them warm mid-morning or wrap them in foil for lunch. The common mistake is frying a wet chile: the batter slides off, so pat it dry and dust it with flour first. Oaxaca cheese and Monterey Jack are often made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian melting cheese, and check the refried beans are made without lard. Chef's tip: beat the egg whites to stiff peaks before folding in the yolks; that airy capeado is what makes it puff and stay crisp.

60 minMexicanFast Food
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Bubur kacang hijauSweet mung bean porridge

In Java, the bubur kacang ijo seller pushes a cart through the neighbourhood from early morning, ladling warm mung bean porridge sweetened with palm sugar and topped with thick coconut milk. Many people eat it with a slice of white bread dunked in, and late-night stalls in Jakarta sell it alongside instant noodles. The common mistake is adding the sugar too early, which keeps the beans firm; cook them soft first. Chef's tip: cook the coconut milk separately with a pinch of salt and a pandan leaf and pour it on top, so the bowl has a sweet layer and a slightly salty, creamy one.

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TsukuneChicken meatball skewers

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30 minJapaneseChicken
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Budín de zapallo italianoBaked courgette pudding

In late summer, when courgettes (zapallo italiano) pile up in Santiago's ferias, home cooks turn them into budín: a soft, savoury bake bound with eggs, milk and cheese, served in squares with rice or a tomato salad for a light weekday lunch. Chileans use mild queso chanco or gouda, which is usually made with animal rennet; choose a cheese marked vegetarian if that matters to you. The big mistake is skipping the draining step: courgettes are mostly water, and a budín made with wet courgette weeps in the dish. Chef's tip: salt the grated courgette, leave it 15 minutes and squeeze it hard in a clean tea towel until it stops dripping.

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Menchi katsu, a juicy mince patty of beef and pork in a crisp panko coat, is sold hot at Tokyo butchers' shops like the famous ones in Kichijoji and packed cold in bento across Japan, with shredded cabbage and a drizzle of tonkatsu sauce. Sweet fried onion makes the inside tender. The common mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, so the crumb burns before the pork and beef in the middle are cooked. Chef's tip: chill the shaped patties for 20 minutes before crumbing so they keep their shape and stay juicy.

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Kari debalDevil curry

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

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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.

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Boil-upPork bones with greens and kumara

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

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Teh halia (ginger milk tea)

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

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TenmusuPrawn tempura rice balls

Tenmusu, short for tempura musubi, began in Tsu and became a Nagoya speciality: small salted rice balls with a crisp little prawn tempura poking out of the top, wrapped in nori and sold in boxes at Nagoya Station as a travel lunch. The common mistake is wrapping hot, crunchy tempura straight into the rice, so it steams soft; let it cool on a rack first. Use raw prawns that smell of the sea; throw away any that smell of ammonia. Chef's tip: brush the cooled tempura with a quick sweet soy dip before you shape the rice round it, which is the Nagoya secret to its flavour.

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Burma athoBurmese noodle salad

When Tamil families returned from Burma in the 1960s they brought atho with them, and today it is cooked on carts around Burma Bazaar, Parry's Corner and along the roads near the harbour in George Town, busiest at lunch and in the early evening. Cold noodles are mixed by hand with raw cabbage and onion, crisp fried garlic, tamarind, chilli flakes, roasted gram powder and lime, and come with a peppery banana-stem soup on the side. It is sour, hot, crunchy and very moreish. Contains wheat. Chef's tip: fry the garlic slowly until only pale gold; it keeps darkening off the heat and turns bitter if you wait for brown.

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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.

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Burong manggaPickled green mango

From Pampanga to Pangasinan, the hot months of March to May bring piles of hard green carabao mangoes to every palengke, and many households slice them into a jar of burong mangga. A week in a sweet salt brine turns the mango from mouth-puckering to bright and juicy: still crunchy, sour at the core, salty-sweet on the outside. It is eaten on the side of inihaw na isda and pritong tilapia, with rice and fried pork at lunch, or as an afternoon merienda straight from the jar, and the brine is sometimes sipped too. Common mistake: using mangoes that have started to ripen; a yellow blush makes the slices go soft and slimy, so choose rock-hard, deep-green fruit. Because the brine has no vinegar it keeps only in the fridge. It is ready when the slices have turned from opaque white to a translucent yellow-green and taste evenly seasoned right through. Chef's tip: let the boiled brine cool completely before pouring, and add a few slices of fresh chilli if you like heat. Outside Asia, use firm green Thai or Indian mangoes from an Asian grocer.

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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.

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Yubu jumeoniFried tofu pouches with glass noodles

Yubu jumeoni, "tofu pockets", are a Bupyeong Kkangtong Market speciality, said to have been dreamed up by a fish-cake vendor there in the 1980s. Little fried tofu pouches are stuffed with glass noodles and vegetables, tied with a strip of chive like a drawstring purse and left to soak in a steaming pot of anchovy and kelp broth. On cold Busan evenings they are served in a paper cup with a ladle of broth and a dab of soy. Chef's tip: fill the pouches only three-quarters full; they swell as they absorb the broth and split if packed tight.

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Bonchi curryGreen bean coconut curry

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

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Leshta chorbaLentil soup

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

50 minBulgarianSoupsVeganGluten 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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Cachitos de jamónHam-filled crescent rolls

Every Caracas panadería opens its morning with trays of cachitos: soft, slightly sweet crescent rolls wrapped around finely chopped cooked ham (pork), eaten standing at the counter with a café con leche. Some bakeries add a little bacon or cheese; cheese-only cachitos are a good vegetarian swap. The common mistake is overfilling, so the ham pokes out and burns. Chef's tip: roll each wedge snugly from the wide end and tuck the point underneath so it doesn't unroll as it bakes.

150 minVenezuelanBaking
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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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Guiso de fideosBeef and pasta stew

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

75 minArgentinianMeat
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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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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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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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Kaffeost (coffee with cheese)

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

6 minScandinavianDrinksGluten free
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Caldillo de congrioConger eel and potato broth

Caldillo de congrio is the soup of the central coast, from the fish stalls of Valparaíso to the little restaurants of Isla Negra, where Pablo Neruda wrote an ode to it: firm pieces of congrio (a white cusk-eel, not a true eel) poached in a tomato and onion broth with sliced potatoes, finished with a splash of cream and plenty of coriander. Outside Chile, use kingklip, monkfish, ling or thick hake. The common mistake is boiling the fish with the potatoes from the start; it falls to shreds. Add it at the end. Chef's tip: make the broth with the fish bones and trimmings if your fishmonger gives them to you; it doubles the flavour.

60 minChileanSoupsGluten free
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Paneer soda (rose soda)

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

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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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Caldo de gallinaHen broth with noodles

In Lima's markets and the all-night caldo stalls of districts like La Victoria, a bowl of caldo de gallina is the dawn breakfast for market porters, taxi drivers and anyone coming home late: a deep, golden broth from a slow-simmered hen (a boiling fowl) with ginger and spring onion, ladled over thick noodles and yellow potato, with a boiled egg, lime and ají chilli on the side. The common mistake is boiling the broth hard, which clouds it and toughens the meat; keep it to a lazy simmer. The chicken must reach 74 °C, though after this long simmer it will be well past that. Chef's tip: cook the noodles separately, then put them in the bowls; cooked in the pot they drink the broth and turn it starchy.

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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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Calzone frittoFried ham and mozzarella calzone

In Palermo the calzone is fried, not baked: a soft, slightly sweet milk dough wrapped around cooked ham (pork) and mozzarella, sealed and dropped into hot oil until puffed and bronzed. It sits on the glass counters of every rosticceria, from the bars of Via Maqueda to the beach kiosks at Mondello, next to arancine and sfincioni, and Palermitans grab one for a mid-morning merenda or a quick lunch. The crust is thin and crisp, the dough inside pillowy and the cheese stretchy. Chef's tip: dry the mozzarella in the fridge on kitchen paper for an hour; wet cheese makes the seams burst in the oil.

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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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NyembaCowpeas with peanut butter

Nyemba are cowpeas, grown on almost every rural plot in Zimbabwe, and the stewed beans are an everyday relish eaten at lunch or supper with a mound of sadza (white maize meal). Dried cowpeas are boiled until soft, then cooked down with onion, tomato and a generous spoon of peanut butter (dovi), which makes the sauce thick, nutty and rich. The usual mistake is adding salt and tomato too soon, which can keep the beans from softening; season once they are tender. Pressure cooker option: cook the soaked cowpeas for 12 minutes at pressure. Chef's tip: stir the peanut butter in off the boil and let it melt slowly; boiling it hard can make it gritty.

85 minSouthern AfricanCurriesVeganGluten free
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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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Ginger crunchGinger shortbread slice

Ginger crunch is in every New Zealand café cabinet and was in every school fair tin long before that, a recipe passed between generations in handwritten notebooks. A crisp, buttery ginger shortbread base is covered while still hot with a thick, fudgy icing of butter, golden syrup, icing sugar and plenty of ground ginger. Cut into bars, it keeps a week in a tin. A common mistake is letting the base cool before icing; hot base and hot icing set together properly. Chef's tip: use more ginger than you think; the icing should have a real bite.

40 minNew ZealandBaking
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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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Tibetan fried breadPuffed fried bread

Trekkers in the Everest and Annapurna regions, and early risers in Kathmandu's Boudha neighbourhood, know this bread: rounds of dough slashed down the middle and fried until they puff, golden outside and soft inside. Tibetan families eat it with honey or jam, with a bowl of potato or chickpea curry, and with salty butter tea. The mistake is rolling the dough too thin; at about 1 cm thick it stays tender, while thin dough fries into a hard cracker. Chef's tip: let the shaped rounds rest for 10 minutes before frying so the gluten relaxes and the bread balloons evenly.

60 minNepaliBreads & ParathasVegan
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