Featured recipe

Galinhada

Chicken and turmeric rice

Sunday lunches, church festas and roadside restaurants in Goiás all revolve around a big pot of galinhada: chicken browned with garlic and onion, then cooked with rice in its own stock until each grain is golden from açafrão-da-terra. In Brazil that word means turmeric, not true saffron, and it is turmeric that gives the dish its colour. Goianos add pequi, the cerrado fruit with a heady, cheesy-tropical scent; you can buy it in jars in Brazilian shops, but warn your guests: the stone is covered in fine spines under the flesh, so nibble gently and never bite into it. It comes out moist, fragrant and comforting, finished with plenty of cheiro-verde. The common mistake is adding too much water, which makes it mushy; the rice should be loose, like a paella that has just settled. Chef's tip: brown the chicken until it leaves a dark crust in the pot, then let the rice dissolve it.

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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 min

Filipino Snacks & Starters

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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 min

Korean Fish

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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 min

South African Desserts

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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 min

Taiwanese Chicken

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DenningvleisTamarind and allspice braised lamb

Older Bo-Kaap cooks make denningvleis for family lunches and for the day after Eid, when there is lamb to use up: chunks of shoulder braised with a mountain of onions, bay leaves, allspice and sour tamarind, finished with a little brown sugar. It is not a curry; there is barely any chilli, and the flavour is all sweet against sour, with the fragrance of bay running through a dark, sticky gravy. Serve it with geelrys, the Cape's turmeric rice with raisins, and a sharp tomato-and-onion sambal. The classic slip is pouring in tamarind pulp straight from the block, seeds and stringy fibres included, so soak and strain it first. Chef's tip: let the onions cook down almost to a jam before adding liquid; they thicken the sauce, so you never need flour.

120 min

South African Meat

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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 min

New Zealand Meat

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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 min

South African Fish

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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 min

Chilean Chicken

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SosatiesCurried lamb and apricot skewers

Bo-Kaap kitchens gave the braai one of its sweetest-sour treats: cubes of lamb soaked overnight in a cooked curry marinade of fried onion, apricot jam, vinegar and lemon leaves, then threaded with plump dried apricots and onion and grilled over coals. Every butchery in the Cape now sells them ready-marinated, yet homemade ones taste brighter and less sugary. Expect tender, slightly charred meat, sticky-sweet apricots and a warm curry tang that begs for yellow rice, a green salad or simply a soft roll. Pouring the marinade over the lamb while it is still warm is a common slip; it starts to cook the surface and the meat turns grainy. Chef's tip: boil the leftover marinade for a few minutes and brush it on in the last minutes of grilling for a glossy glaze.

60 min

South African Meat

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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 min

Japanese Sides

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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 min

Venezuelan Baking

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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 min

Korean Soups

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Maksym (Kyrgyz grain drink)

On summer days in Bishkek and Osh, blue and yellow street barrels sell maksym by the glass, next to chalap and kymyz. It is a sour grain drink of Kyrgyz herders: barley (or millet or corn) is toasted, ground and cooked with fried wheat flour into a thin gruel, then left overnight with a little of yesterday's batch until it turns pleasantly sour and slightly sparkling. It is drunk cold with plov, samsa or simply to cool down in July heat. It tastes nutty, like toast and rye bread, with a yogurt-like tang and a gentle salty edge; the texture is thicker than kvass, about like thin buttermilk. Like all ferments it develops a trace of alcohol, well under 1% when drunk young. The classic mistake is adding the starter while the gruel is still hot, which kills it; wait until it feels just warm, about 30 °C. It is ready when small bubbles rise, it smells pleasantly sour and a foamy cap forms. Keep it in the fridge in a loosely capped jug for 3–4 days; it gets sourer and more alcoholic as it sits. Discard if you see coloured mould, slime or smell anything rotten. Contains gluten. Chef's tip: toast the barley until it smells like coffee for the deepest flavour.

95 min

Kyrgyz Drinks

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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 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Catuto (mültrün)Pounded wheat cakes

In the Mapuche communities of Araucanía, around Temuco, mültrün (catuto in Spanish) is made by cooking whole wheat grains until soft, then pounding them on a grinding stone into a sticky dough that is shaped into little logs. They are eaten as they come, toasted on the hearth, or dipped in honey or pebre, and they are sold in Temuco's market alongside merkén and piñones. A food processor does the job of the stone. The usual mistake is undercooking the wheat: the paste won't hold together. Chef's tip: shape with wet hands, and flatten the logs slightly before toasting so they crisp on two sides.

85 min

Chilean Breads & Parathas

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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 min

Indonesian Vegetarian

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Cauliflower avakayaCauliflower pickle

When the mango jars run low and the Andhra and Telangana winter brings piles of dense white cauliflower to the markets, from December to February, households make a cauliflower avakaya. Lemon juice stands in for the sour mango, and the florets are coated in the same masala of mustard powder, chilli, salt, fenugreek and garlic, tempered with gingelly oil. After two days the florets have soaked up the masala but still crunch; the pickle is hot, nose-tingling and bright with lemon. Serve it with hot rice and ghee, with chapati, or beside a plain dal. Cauliflower is not acidic by itself and this pickle contains raw garlic, so it is always kept in the fridge, with plenty of lemon. Common mistake: packing florets that are still damp; wash them in hot salted water to drive out any insects, then dry them for several hours until no moisture remains. It is ready when the florets taste seasoned to the core and the oil and lemon have formed a glossy red sauce. Chef's tip: cut the florets small, about 2 cm, so the masala can reach the middle.

35 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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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 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Masuri tey (rosehip tea)

Each October, Armenian families walk the hillsides around Dilijan, Tavush and Syunik picking the bright red hips of wild dog roses, then string or spread them to dry on balconies. Through the long winter they go into masuri tey, often made in a big pot in the evening and kept warm in a thermos for the next day, and it is the drink grandmothers press on anyone with a cold, alongside a spoon of homemade jam. It is fruity and tart, like hibiscus crossed with apple, with a gentle tea-like body, and a spoon of honey rounds it out. The common mistake is not straining it well enough: crushed rosehips are lined with tiny irritating hairs that scratch the throat. Strain through a fine sieve lined with a cloth or coffee filter. It is ready when the tea is deep orange-red and clearly sour, and the hips have swollen and softened. Simmer gently rather than boiling hard for long. Honey keeps this out of the vegan list; use sugar if you prefer. Not suitable as a sweetened drink for babies under one year because of the honey. Chef's tip: steep it overnight in a thermos after simmering; the flavour doubles.

30 min

Armenian Drinks

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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 min

Indian Curries

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Chalta acharElephant apple pickle

Chalta, the elephant apple, is a big green fruit of tightly wrapped, fleshy petals, and in Bengal it arrives in the markets in autumn, around Durga Puja, staying through early winter. Raw it is so sour and fibrous that it is almost impossible to eat, but cooked with jaggery and mustard it becomes one of the best-loved sweet-sour pickles of the region. The petals soften into chewy, slightly crunchy pieces in a thick, amber syrup, sour and sweet with a sharp kick of ground mustard and chilli. Serve it with dal and rice at the end of a meal, or with khichuri on a rainy day. The common mistake is skipping the pounding: after boiling, the pieces need a few firm knocks with a pestle to break the fibres, or they stay tough and never absorb the syrup. It is ready when the syrup coats a spoon and the chalta pieces look glossy and translucent. Keep it in a clean jar in the fridge for up to a month. Outside India, frozen chalta is sold in Bangladeshi grocers; hard, sour cooking apples with a squeeze of lime are a passable stand-in. Chef's tip: a pinch of ground mustard added at the very end gives the classic nose-tingling bite.

65 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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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 African Curries

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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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'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 min

Italian Meat

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Chamorro red riceAchiote rice

Red rice, hineksa' agaga', is on the table at every Chamorro fiesta, christening and Sunday barbecue in Guam and the Northern Marianas, its sunset colour coming from achiote (annatto) seeds soaked in water. The rice is cooked with onion and garlic and sometimes peas; it is soft, savoury and mild, the perfect side for grilled chicken, kelaguen and finadene. A common mistake is leaving the seeds in the rice; they're tough and bitter, so soak and strain them. Chef's tip: rub the soaking seeds between your fingers to release more colour.

45 minPacific Islander Rice & Grains

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Agretti all'agroSaltwort with lemon

Agretti, also called barba di frate or 'monk's beard', appear in Roman and Tuscan markets for a short season in March and April, tied in bunches that look like thick chives. Blanched for a minute and dressed all'agro, with lemon and good olive oil, they are a juicy, slightly salty spring side for an egg dish, grilled fish or beans. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, they are almost free of starch: about 80 kcal and 3 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is overcooking them into limp threads; they should keep a crisp, spinach-like snap. Chef's tip: agretti are naturally salty, so taste before adding any salt at all.

15 min

Italian Sides

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Tandoori pomfret

Tandoori pomfret is a fixture of Mumbai's coastal restaurants and Koli fishing families' feasts, especially in the cooler months when silver pomfret is at its best. Whole fish are slashed, given a lemon-and-salt first marinade, then coated in thick yogurt with ginger-garlic, Kashmiri chilli, ajwain and garam masala and roasted until charred at the edges and juicy inside. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high-protein fish with no batter. About 280 kcal and 6 g carbohydrate per portion; serve with onion-cucumber salad and mint chutney. The usual mistake is using runny yogurt, which slides off and steams the fish; strain it first. Chef's tip: a spoon of roasted gram flour (besan) in the marinade helps it cling and char.

55 min

Indian Fish

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Bunelos agaBanana fritters

Bunelos aga are the banana fritters of Guam, sold at fiesta food tables and church fundraisers in Hagåtña and made at home whenever the bananas over-ripen. Mashed sweet bananas are mixed into a soft batter, fried in spoonfuls and rolled in sugar, so they're crisp outside and custardy within. A common mistake is frying at too low a temperature, which makes them greasy. Chef's tip: use the small, sweet local bananas or the ripest regular ones you can find.

30 minPacific Islander Desserts

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ApigigiGrilled coconut and tapioca parcels

Apigigi are an old Chamorro sweet from Guam and Saipan, made for fiestas and family gatherings: soft young coconut is grated and mixed with tapioca starch and sugar, wrapped in banana leaves and grilled over coals until chewy and lightly charred. They are sticky, mildly sweet and smoky. Grated frozen young coconut and tapioca starch from Asian shops make them easy at home. A common mistake is grilling over a fierce flame; the leaves burn before the centre sets. Chef's tip: steam them first for 15 minutes, then finish on the grill for flavour.

60 minPacific Islander Desserts

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LatiyaSponge cake with custard

Latiya is the Chamorro custard cake found at every Guam fiesta and wedding, a legacy of Spanish rule: a light sponge in a tray is covered with a thick, silky vanilla custard and dusted with cinnamon, then chilled and cut into squares. It is cool, creamy and perfect after a hot-weather feast. A common mistake is pouring hot custard straight onto a hot sponge, which turns it soggy; cool the cake first. Chef's tip: lay cling film directly on the custard as it cools so no skin forms.

55 minPacific Islander Desserts

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Chana methi nu athanuChickpea and fenugreek pickle

This is the thrifty, protein-rich pickle of Kathiawad and the Gujarati countryside, made in the May pickle season alongside methia keri. Brown chickpeas and fenugreek seeds are soaked until plump, then mixed with salted raw mango, split mustard, chilli and hing and sealed under oil. Over a few days the chana and methi drink up the sour mango juice and soften to a pleasant bite; the methi seeds lose most of their bitterness and turn nutty. The pickle is sour, hot and pungent, with plenty of crunch. A spoonful brightens khichdi-kadhi, bajra rotla or a plain dal-bhaat-shaak lunch. The common mistake is mixing in chickpeas that are still wet after soaking: dry them on a cloth for a few hours or the pickle will turn mouldy. It is ready in 4–5 days, when the chickpeas can be bitten through easily and taste sour all the way in. Because soaked pulses are low in acid, keep this one in the fridge once it is mixed, where it lasts up to 3 months, with the oil always covering the top. Chef's tip: use kala chana (small brown chickpeas); they stay firmer than large white ones.

50 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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Chanachur makhaSpicy snack mix

In Dhaka, chanachur makha is made in seconds by vendors with a tin box and a lid: a scoop of the crunchy, spicy fried mix of lentils, gram flour sticks and peanuts is shaken with chopped onion, tomato, chilli and coriander, splashed with raw mustard oil and lime, and poured into a cone of newspaper. It is the snack of the launch terminal at Sadarghat, of Ramna Park and of evening chats outside every university hall. Shop chanachur usually contains peanuts and may contain wheat. Chef's tip: deseed the tomato; its juice is the fastest way to turn the crunch soft.

10 min

Bangladeshi Snacks & Starters

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Chancho en piedraCrushed tomato, garlic and chilli salsa

Despite the name, 'pig in stone' has no pork in it. It is a rough salsa of ripe tomato, garlic and chilli crushed in a stone mortar (piedra), and it is on the table at every September fonda during the Fiestas Patrias, with hot sopaipillas, bread straight from the oven or choripán. Blending it smooth in a machine is the classic mistake: it should be rustic and juicy, with small pieces. Chef's tip: pound the garlic, chilli and salt to a paste first, then add the tomatoes; the salt acts as grit and the flavour gets into every bit.

15 min

Chilean Chutneys & Dips

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TúrókrémWhipped curd cheese cream

Hungarian kitchens use túró, a crumbly fresh curd cheese, for everything from noodles to pastries, and túrókrém is its simplest breakfast form: túró beaten with sour cream, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest into a light, fluffy cream. It is spread on bread or kalács, eaten with fresh berries, or spooned onto pancakes. The mistake is beating crumbly túró straight in a bowl and ending up with a grainy cream; push it through a sieve or blitz it first. Chef's tip: túró is acid-set and contains no rennet; if you can't find it, drained cottage cheese or quark works, but blend cottage cheese until completely smooth.

10 min

Hungarian Breakfast & Brunch

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