Featured recipe

Martabak manis

Thick sweet pancake

After dark, martabak manis stalls all over Indonesia fire up their heavy iron pans, and a queue forms for one thick, spongy pancake cooked until its top is pocked with holes, then slathered with butter and folded over chocolate sprinkles, crushed peanuts, sugar and condensed milk. It's often called terang bulan, "bright moon", and is said to have come from Bangka island before spreading through Java. It's sold by the box to share with family. Chef's tip: let the bubbles form and stay open before you add the sugar and cover the pan — that open honeycomb is what soaks up the butter.

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Kumaoni rasMixed dal broth

In the hill villages of Kumaon in Uttarakhand, ras is cooked through the cold months in a heavy iron kadhai that sits on the fire for hours; the iron turns the broth dark and earthy, and families drink it with rice or mandua (finger millet) roti. Several whole dals, here horse gram (gahat), black soybeans (bhatt), black urad and green moong, are simmered until their liquid becomes a rich, brown, silky broth, lightly thickened with ground rice and finished with a crackling mustard-oil tempering of jakhya seeds. The cooked dal solids are eaten too, as a dry side. The usual mistake is hurrying: the broth needs long, slow simmering to turn silky and full-flavoured. Chef's tip: jakhya (wild mustard seed) is sold in Uttarakhand shops; cumin is a fair stand-in.

105 min

Indian Curries

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Salatet tahinaTahini sauce

No Egyptian table is complete without salatet tahina: in Cairo and Alexandria it is served with fried fish, grilled kofta, ful and falafel, and it is on every mezze plate at Friday lunch. Sesame paste is whipped with lemon juice, garlic, cumin and cold water until it turns pale, fluffy and creamy, with no sugar at all. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, it brings sesame protein and healthy fats with very little carbohydrate: about 150 kcal and 5 g carbohydrate per portion of 3 tablespoons. The usual mistake is panicking when the tahini seizes and goes thick after the lemon goes in; keep adding cold water a spoon at a time and it loosens into a smooth sauce. Chef's tip: use ice-cold water, which makes the tahina whiter and fluffier.

10 min

Egyptian Chutneys & Dips

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Mâncare de dovleceiStewed courgettes

In Romanian homes, from Moldova to Oltenia, mâncare de dovlecei is the summer stew made when the garden is full of courgettes, and it fills a pot on fasting days when Orthodox families eat no animal products. Courgettes are cooked down slowly with onion, peppers and tomato until soft and sweet, then finished with a fistful of dill and garlic. Eat it warm or at room temperature with bread or a slice of mămăligă. The usual mistake is adding too much liquid: courgettes release their own water, and a watery pot loses its flavour. Chef's tip: let the onion and pepper soften properly before the courgettes go in; that sweetness is what seasons the whole stew.

40 min

Romanian Vegetarian

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ChyhyrtmaEggs with tomatoes and onions

Çığırtma is the Azerbaijani way with breakfast eggs: onions softened slowly in butter, ripe tomatoes cooked down with them, then beaten eggs poured over and set gently, sometimes with spinach or herbs and sometimes over chicken. This vegetarian tomato version is eaten in Baku with lavash or tandir bread and strong tea. The mistake is rushing the onions; they must turn soft and sweet before the tomatoes go in. Cook the eggs until set if serving anyone pregnant, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: do not stir once the eggs are in; cover the pan and let them puff over the tomatoes like a soft omelette.

25 min

Azerbaijani Breakfast & Brunch

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Pane toscanoUnsalted Tuscan bread

Pane toscano, called pane sciocco ('foolish' or 'bland' bread) in Florence and Siena, is the saltless loaf that Tuscans have eaten for centuries; legend blames a medieval salt tax. It has a thick, crackly crust and an open, chewy crumb, and it is made to be eaten with salty prosciutto, pecorino and ribollita, or soaked in panzanella and pappa al pomodoro. There is no salt in the dough: about 0.0 g salt per slice. The usual mistake is under-proving: without salt the dough rises fast, and with too little rest it tastes floury; a starter and a slow rise give it flavour. Chef's tip: bake with steam (a tray of boiling water in the oven) for the first 15 minutes, which is what gives the crust its proper Tuscan crunch.

70 min

Italian Breads & Parathas

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Panes con chumpeTurkey rolls in pumpkin seed sauce

On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve in El Salvador, families line up crusty rolls and fill them with turkey (chumpe) soaked in a rich, rust-coloured recado of tomatoes, toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds, mild dried chillies and warm spices, then stuff in watercress, cucumber, radish and tomato. At home, turkey legs and thighs give all the flavour of a whole bird and fit an ordinary oven. The common mistake is a thin, watery sauce; it should be thick enough to cling to the meat and soak into the bread without dripping off. Chef's tip: marinate the turkey overnight in the fridge and add its roasting juices to the recado; they carry most of the flavour.

180 minCentral American Chicken

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Bol renverséUpside-down rice bowl

Order a bol renversé in a Port Louis canteen or a Grand Baie food court and it arrives as a neat dome of rice with a fried egg perched on top; break into it and a glossy stir-fry of chicken, prawns, mushrooms and Chinese leaves spills out. The trick is building it backwards in a bowl, egg first, then the stir-fry, then rice packed down, before flipping it onto a plate. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the vegetables but loose enough to soak into the rice. People often make the sauce too thin and the dome slides apart in a flood, so simmer it until it glazes the back of a spoon. Chef's tip: fry the eggs only until the whites are set and the edges are crisp, and lay them yolk-side down in the bowl so the yolk faces up and stays runny when you turn it out.

45 min

Mauritian Rice & Grains

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FlijaLayered batter pie

Flija is the dish of long summer afternoons in Kosovo, from the Rugova valley to the villages around Prizren, when friends gather and take turns tending the saç, a domed iron lid heaped with embers. Thin batter is painted onto a round tray in spokes, cooked under the heat, brushed with a mix of sour cream and yogurt, then painted again, until 15 or more layers have built up over a couple of hours. Cut into wedges, it is chewy, buttery and lightly scorched, served with honey, white cheese, pickled peppers or a bowl of yogurt. At home, a very hot oven grill stands in for the saç. The most frequent mistake is crowding the batter: each spoke must leave a finger-wide gap for the next layer to fill, or the pie becomes a thick, gummy pancake. Chef's tip: keep the batter as thin as single cream, and whisk in a spoonful of water whenever it thickens as it stands.

240 minBalkan Baking

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FlatkökurRye flatbread

Flatkökur are round, flat rye breads that Icelanders char straight on the hot plate of the stove, or over a gas flame, until they are speckled black and smoky; they are eaten buttered, with smoked lamb (hangikjöt) or cheese, at every Christmas and confirmation and in lunchboxes all year. The dough is made with boiling water so it is soft and easy to roll. A common mistake is letting the dough cool before rolling; scalded rye dough stiffens and cracks. Chef's tip: roll it while warm and prick all over with a fork so it stays flat as it chars.

30 minScandinavian Breads & Parathas

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FlødebollerChocolate marshmallow wafer treats

Flødeboller, 'cream buns', are Denmark's favourite party sweet: a soft, fluffy meringue foam piped onto a thin wafer or marzipan base and dipped in dark chocolate, so it bites like a cloud in a crisp shell. Children take them to school on birthdays, and Copenhagen chocolatiers make fancy versions with liquorice or raspberry. This version uses a cooked sugar-syrup meringue, so the egg whites are heated safely. A common mistake is dipping warm foam into chocolate; it melts and slides. Chef's tip: chill the piped foam well, then pour the chocolate over rather than dipping, which is easier and gives a smooth shell. For gluten free, use marzipan bases.

80 minScandinavian Desserts

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Ka'ak nakache (date-filled semolina rings)

Constantine bakers own a special brass tweezer, the nakache, just for decorating these rings: a rope of buttery semolina dough is wrapped round spiced date paste, joined into a circle and pinched along the top into chevrons and leaves. Baked pale, ka'ak nakache is crisp and short outside with a soft, cinnamon and clove scented filling, a classic of Eid trays and of the coffee served to guests in the old city. Without the tweezer, a fork or the back of a small knife makes a good pattern. Chef's tip: let the buttered semolina rest for at least 30 minutes before adding water; skipping the rest is the usual mistake, and the rings crack as you shape them.

85 min

Algerian Baking

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Arroz a la cubanaRice with tomato and egg

Havana cafeterías put this plate on the lunch board when cooks want something cheap, fast and filling: a mound of plain white rice, a ladle of garlicky tomato sauce, a fried egg with a runny yolk and slices of caramelised ripe plantain. Breaking the yolk into the rice and sauce is the whole point, so the eggs should be fried at the last minute. The usual mistake is using plantains that are still yellow-green; they need black-spotted skins to turn soft and sweet in the pan. Serve with a simple avocado salad. Chef's tip: baste the egg whites with hot oil from the pan so they set with lacy edges while the yolks stay liquid.

30 min

Cuban Rice & Grains

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FlódniFour-layer poppy seed and fruit pastry

Four stripes of filling, black poppy seed, golden apple, nutty walnut and dark plum jam, stacked between thin sheets of shortcrust: that is flódni, the Hungarian-Jewish pastry of Budapest's old Jewish quarter around Kazinczy and Dob streets. Jewish families bake it for Purim and Hanukkah, and the bakeries of the seventh district sell it by the slab all year. Each cut slice should be moist, dense and not too sweet, best with a glass of tea or black coffee. Many families make the dough with a little sweet white wine and use margarine so it can follow a meat meal; this version keeps it alcohol-free with grape juice, and you can swap the butter for a firm baking margarine to make it dairy-free. The usual slip is rolling the sheets too thick, so the pastry swamps the fillings; each one should be barely 3 mm. Chef's tip: bake it a day ahead and slice it cold with a hot, wet knife, because the layers settle overnight and cut cleanly.

150 min

Hungarian Baking

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FlæskestegRoast pork with crackling

Flæskesteg is the Danish Christmas Eve roast: a pork loin or belly with its rind scored deep, rubbed with salt and bay, and roasted until the crackling puffs into crisp, golden ridges. This is a pork dish. It is served with brunede kartofler, red cabbage, plain boiled potatoes and gravy, and the crackling is the prize everyone fights over. A common mistake is scoring the rind too shallow or not all the way across, so it cracks unevenly. Chef's tip: start the joint rind-down in a little boiling water for 20 minutes, which softens the rind, then turn it up and roast; it crackles evenly. Whole pork joints are safe at 63 °C followed by a 15-minute rest.

140 minScandinavian Meat

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Wagasi in tomato sauce

In the Borgou and Alibori country of northern Benin, Fulani women carry wagasi to market in basins: small, springy rounds of fresh cheese, often with a red rind coloured by sorghum leaves. Sliced, fried golden and simmered in tomato and pepper sauce, it is sold across Benin and eaten with rice, akassa or bread. Herders traditionally set the milk with sap from the Calotropis shrub; that sap is toxic, so never use it at home. This version sets pasteurised whole milk with vegetarian rennet, giving the same mild, squeaky, slightly chewy cheese; bought wagasi, or paneer as a vegetarian stand-in, lets you skip straight to the frying. Chef's tip: let the slices sit undisturbed in the hot oil until a crust forms; moved too soon, fresh cheese sticks and tears.

120 minAfrican Vegetarian

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Flaki po warszawskuBeef tripe soup

Warsaw's old milk bars and wedding receptions share one great soup: flaki, a peppery tripe broth scented with marjoram, nutmeg and ginger, served piping hot, traditionally late at night to revive tired guests. The Warsaw version adds tender beef meatballs (pulpety) and plenty of julienned root vegetables, so it is heartier than the plain flaki of other regions. Tripe has a soft, slightly chewy bite and soaks up the warm spices. Buy cleaned, blanched beef tripe from a butcher. A mistake that ruins many pots is skipping the first blanching: without it the soup smells strongly and never tastes clean. Make it a day ahead if you can; it improves overnight. Chef's tip: add the marjoram twice, a spoon during cooking and a generous pinch rubbed between your palms just before serving, which is what gives Warsaw flaki its signature smell.

240 min

Polish Soups

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Jamaican soursop juice

Soursop punch is a Sunday-dinner drink in Jamaica, made when a ripe, soft soursop comes from the market or a yard tree, and it is also sold in bottles at roadside juice stands. The white, custardy pulp tastes of pineapple, banana and strawberry all at once, and blended with milk, nutmeg and vanilla it becomes thick and creamy. The common mistake is blending the black seeds, which taste bitter and should not be eaten; always pick them out by hand. Chef's tip: use a fruit that gives softly all over when pressed, like a ripe avocado.

20 min

Jamaican Drinks

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Sevan trout

Ishkhan, 'the prince', is the name Armenians give to the trout of Lake Sevan, the vast blue lake high in the mountains north-east of Yerevan, and lakeside restaurants on the Sevan peninsula serve it grilled whole or stuffed with herbs and baked. The native ishkhan is now rare and protected, so the fish served today is farmed trout, cooked the same way: stuffed with tarragon, dill, coriander and garlic, roasted until the skin crisps, with lavash and lemon. A common mistake is wrapping the fish tightly in foil, which steams it soft; leave it uncovered for a crisp skin. Chef's tip: brush the fish with a little tkemali or pomegranate molasses in the last five minutes for a sweet-sour glaze. The fish is done when the flesh is opaque and flakes easily at the backbone.

40 min

Armenian Fish

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Flamiche dinantaiseStrong cheese tart

The flamiche of Dinant is eaten only one way: straight from the oven, so hot it burns the fingers, as the townspeople say. It is a rich, wobbly tart of strong fresh boulette or Herve-style cheese beaten with eggs and plenty of butter on a thin yeasted base, and Dinant's 'Confrérie de la Flamiche' still holds an annual tasting. Boulette and Herve cheeses are usually made with animal rennet; a strong vegetarian soft cheese mixed with fromage frais works. A common mistake is letting it cool; it sets and loses its creaminess. Chef's tip: serve it the moment the top puffs and turns golden.

60 min

Belgian Vegetarian

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Flygande JacobChicken, banana and bacon bake

Flygande Jacob, 'flying Jacob', was invented in 1976 by Ove Jacobsson, an air-freight worker, and the recipe appeared in a Swedish magazine; within years it was one of the most-made party dishes in Sweden. Cooked chicken is mixed with whipped cream and chilli sauce, layered with sliced banana, baked, then topped with crisp bacon and salted peanuts and served with rice. This dish contains pork, in the bacon. It is sweet, salty and creamy, and gloriously retro. A common mistake is using raw chicken, which leaks juice and makes the sauce thin. Chef's tip: use roast chicken from the day before; it must already be cooked to 74 °C.

45 minScandinavian Chicken

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Filets de percheFried perch fillets

Filets de perche are the signature dish of the lakeside restaurants around Lake Geneva, from Geneva to Lausanne and Montreux: small, delicate perch fillets dusted with flour, fried quickly in butter until golden, and served with lemon, tartare sauce, a pile of fries and a green salad on a summer terrace. Lake perch is scarce today; ask for responsibly sourced perch or use small fillets of pike-perch or another delicate white fish. A common mistake is crowding the pan, which steams the thin fillets. Chef's tip: fry in batches in foaming butter for just a minute or so a side; the fish is done when opaque and it flakes.

25 min

Swiss Fish

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Fini rotiLayered fried sugar bread

During Tihar, the five-day festival of lights in late autumn, sisters in Kathmandu and Pokhara prepare a basket of treats for Bhai Tika, and fini roti, a crisp round of fried bread made of dozens of paper-thin layers, sits in it beside sel roti, nuts and sweets. A simple dough of flour and ghee is rolled very thin, spread with a paste of ghee and rice flour, rolled into a log and cut, so that each piece fans out in the hot oil into a flaky spiral that shatters at the first bite. It is lightly dusted with sugar, lasts for days in a tin, and is eaten with tea or given to visiting relatives. The layers vanish if you make the paste with melted ghee, which seeps out instead of staying put. Chef's tip: beat the ghee and rice flour together until fluffy and pale like soft butter, and keep the dough cool so the layers stay distinct.

60 min

Nepali Baking

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Megrelian kharcho

In Samegrelo 'kharcho' means something quite different from the Tbilisi soup: chicken pieces simmered in a thick, golden sauce of ground walnuts, garlic, hot pepper and Imeretian saffron (dried marigold), so rich and spicy that it is eaten with plain ghomi to calm it down. Zugdidi families cook it for guests and for Sunday lunch. A common mistake is boiling the sauce hard once the walnuts go in; it turns oily and grainy. Chef's tip: grind the walnuts until they weep oil and spoon a little of that oil over the finished dish; Mingrelians judge kharcho by its glossy, orange sheen. Chicken must reach 74 °C in the thickest part.

90 min

Georgian Chicken

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Filet américainRaw minced steak spread

Despite its name, filet américain is a Belgian classic, served in Brussels brasseries with a mound of fries, or spread on a baguette as the famous 'broodje américain': very fresh lean beef, finely minced and mixed with mayonnaise, mustard, capers, chopped onion, parsley and a dash of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco, so it is creamy and tangy. The beef is eaten raw, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Buy a whole piece of the freshest steak from a trusted butcher, trim it and mince it yourself just before serving; never use ready-minced beef. A common mistake is preparing it in advance; make it and eat it at once. Chef's tip: chill the meat and the bowl well and mix with a fork, not a processor, so it stays loose. Use shop-bought mayonnaise, which is made with pasteurised egg.

20 min

Belgian Meat

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Aghroum (Kabyle semolina flatbread)

Up in the villages of Kabylie, aghroum is simply the word for bread, and the everyday loaf is a flat, unleavened round of semolina, water, salt and a thread of olive oil, baked on a clay griddle over a low fire. It comes out firm and close-textured, with a crust speckled brown and a faintly sweet, nutty crumb that tastes of the grain. Kabyle families tear it to scoop up olive oil, dried figs and buttermilk at breakfast, or to mop the sauce of a bean or vegetable stew at midday. A heavy cast-iron pan or flat griddle does the job of the clay one at home. Chef's tip: keep the heat at medium-low and turn the bread often; a griddle that is too hot is the usual mistake, leaving a burnt crust around a raw, gummy middle.

45 min

Algerian Breads & Parathas

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Key sir alicha (mild beetroot and potato)

A magenta heap of key sir is the splash of colour on a beyaynetu fasting platter, served in restaurants all over Addis Ababa and at home through Lent. Being an alicha, it is mild rather than fiery: beetroot and potato cook slowly with onion, garlic, ginger and oil until tender and shiny, sweet and earthy with only a little heat from green chilli. It balances the hotter wats and cools the palate between bites of injera. A common mistake is cutting the beetroot too large, so the potato turns to mush before the beet is tender; cut the beet smaller, or give it a ten-minute head start. Chef's tip: cook it a day ahead if you can, because the flavours mellow and the potatoes take on even more colour overnight.

50 min

Ethiopian Sides

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ArishtaButtered egg noodles

In Gyumri and the villages of Shirak, grandmothers still roll arishta by hand, cut it into thin strips and dry it in the sun to store for winter. To serve, the noodles are first toasted in butter until they turn golden and nutty, then boiled until tender and topped with garlicky matsun yogurt. It is simple, filling food for cold days on the Shirak plateau. A common mistake is skipping the toasting step, which gives soft, plain noodles without the characteristic roasted flavour. Chef's tip: dry the cut noodles for at least an hour before toasting, so they brown evenly instead of clumping.

60 min

Armenian Pasta & Noodles

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Fried vendace

Sielawa, the small silvery whitefish of the deep Masurian lakes, is a holiday treat in Mikołajki, Giżycko and the lakeside fish huts, sold freshly fried on paper plates with a lemon wedge and a slice of bread. The fish are so slender that, once floured and fried in butter, the fine bones become soft enough to eat and the skin turns golden and crunchy around sweet, delicate flesh. A cold cucumber salad or chips are the usual companions. Overcrowding the pan is the chief error: the fish steam instead of frying and the coating goes pale and soggy. If vendace is hard to find, smelt, small whiting or sprats work the same way. Chef's tip: dry the fish properly before flouring and fry in two batches, adding a little fresh butter and oil each time so it never burns.

25 min

Polish Fish

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Jamaican red pea soup

Saturday in many Jamaican homes means a big pot of red peas soup, thick enough to stand a spoon in and finished with chewy spinner dumplings. Outside Rasta households it usually carries pig's tail or salted beef; this is the ital version, where coconut milk, pimento, thyme and a smoky handful of browned onion do the savoury work. Dried kidney beans must be soaked and then boiled hard for at least 10 minutes before simmering, as undercooked red kidney beans are toxic, and many cooks spoil the soup by adding salt too early, which keeps the skins tough. Serve it on its own as a full meal. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of cooked beans against the side of the pot near the end to give the soup its creamy body without any flour.

140 min

Jamaican Soups

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FiskekakerWhite fish cakes

In Bergen, the fishmongers at the harbour fish market sell fresh fiskekaker made that morning: white fish such as haddock or pollock blended with milk, potato starch and nutmeg into a soft, pale paste, shaped into flat cakes and fried in butter. They are served with boiled potatoes, grated raw carrot and a white sauce or melted butter, or cold in a sandwich. A common mistake is adding the milk too fast, which makes the mix loose. Chef's tip: blend the fish with salt first until sticky, then add the cold milk a little at a time, so the cakes come out springy and smooth. They are cooked when firm and opaque in the middle.

40 minScandinavian Fish

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FogueteFried pastry tubes with pumpkin preserve

Foguete means rocket in Portuguese, and these slim, golden pastry tubes, fried crisp and stuffed with sticky ash-pumpkin preserve, really do look like little fireworks lined up on the Christmas tray of a Portuguese Burgher household. A rich dough of flour, egg, butter and coconut milk is rolled thin, wrapped around metal tubes and fried until blistered, then filled with chopped preserve mixed with cashews, cardamom and rosewater. They shatter when you bite, then give way to a soft, fragrant, honeyed centre, and are eaten with tea through the Christmas week. The trap is frying in oil that is too hot, so the pastry browns before it crisps and goes soft once cool; keep it steady at about 170 °C. Use cannoli tubes, or short lengths of thick, clean wooden dowel. Chef's tip: grease the tubes well and seal each pastry with egg white only along the overlap, never on the tube, or the tubes will be impossible to slide out.

75 min

Sri Lankan Baking

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Arepa dominicanaSweet cornmeal coconut cake

Not the stuffed corn patty of Venezuela: in the Dominican Republic arepa means a dense, sweet cornmeal cake that grandmothers once baked in a covered pot with hot coals on the lid. The cornmeal is first cooked with coconut milk, milk, butter, sugar and cinnamon into a thick porridge, then baked until it sets with a dark, caramelised crust and a soft, pudding-like centre. It is eaten at merienda with coffee or a glass of cold milk. The common mistake is not cooking the cornmeal long enough on the hob, which leaves the cake gritty. Chef's tip: let the arepa cool completely before slicing; warm, it is too soft to cut cleanly.

75 min

Puerto Rican Baking

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June plum juice

When June plums (ambarella) fall from backyard trees across Jamaica, families blend the sour green-gold fruit into a sharp, refreshing juice with fresh ginger and lime. It is tangy like green apple, with a faintly mango-like perfume, and is drunk ice-cold with Sunday lunch. The big mistake is blending the spiny stone in with the flesh; cut the flesh away first or the juice turns bitter and fibrous. Chef's tip: use slightly underripe, firm plums for the brightest, sharpest flavour.

15 min

Jamaican Drinks

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Imeretian cheese

Imeruli kveli is the everyday cheese of western Georgia: in Kutaisi's Green Bazaar it sits in wet white wheels, mild and milky with a faint sourness, ready to be grated into khachapuri, sliced with tomatoes and herbs, or stretched into sulguni. Families in Imereti make it in a morning from the day's milk. Traditionally it is set with animal rennet; use vegetarian (microbial) rennet for a vegetarian cheese. A common mistake is heating the curd too hard, which squeezes out the moisture and gives a rubbery cheese instead of a soft, springy one. Chef's tip: make a double batch, keep one wheel fresh for eating and leave the other in brine for two or three days, which gives it the saltier bite that bakers prefer for khachapuri.

70 min

Georgian Basics

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Stuffed eggs

The clever bit of the Polish Easter version is that the eggs are halved lengthways shell and all with a sharp knife, then the filling goes back into the shells and the cut sides are fried until crusty. It is a dish of the Easter breakfast and of name-day parties, served hot from the pan or cold from the fridge. The filling of mashed yolk, chives, mayonnaise and a little mustard turns golden and slightly crisp on top while staying soft beneath. Where most people go wrong is cutting with a blunt knife, which shatters the shell; use a large, very sharp knife and one firm stroke. Chef's tip: chill the boiled eggs fully before cutting so the white holds together.

30 min

Polish Snacks & Starters

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Arepa di pampunaCinnamon pumpkin pancakes

Curaçao and Aruba use the word arepa differently from their South American neighbours: arepa di pampuna are not corn arepas but small, sweet pumpkin pancakes, fried in a little oil and eaten warm for breakfast, or alongside a bowl of soup or stoba at lunch. The mashed pumpkin makes them tender and bright orange, with cinnamon and a little sugar. The mistake is too much flour, which makes them dense; the batter should be thick but soft. Chef's tip: cook the pumpkin the day before and drain it overnight in the fridge for the lightest pancakes.

30 minCaribbean Breakfast & Brunch

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Rose petal jam

Ask a Polish baker what goes inside a proper pączek and the answer is rose jam, not strawberry. In June, families gather the scented pink petals of wild beach roses (Rosa rugosa) from hedges along the Baltic coast and in gardens, then pound them with sugar into a sticky, intensely perfumed paste that keeps for a year. The flavour is floral and sweet with a little sharpness from lemon, lovely in doughnuts, swirled into yoghurt or spread on cheesecake. Pick only from plants that have not been sprayed and away from roads. Where most people go wrong is leaving the bitter white base of the petals on; snip it off. Chef's tip: lemon juice turns dull petals bright magenta, so add it right at the start.

40 min

Polish Chutneys & Dips

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AreekaWholemeal bread with ghee and honey

In the green mountains of Asir in south-west Saudi Arabia, areeka is the breakfast for guests, weddings and cold mornings in Abha: thick wholemeal breads are torn while still hot and kneaded with ghee into a smooth, soft dome, then hollowed out and filled with a pool of warm ghee, mountain honey and date syrup. Everyone eats from the same plate, pinching off pieces and dragging them through the sweet centre. It is rich, warm and comforting, with a nutty wheat flavour. The usual mistake is letting the bread cool before kneading; it must be worked hot or it will not bind. Serve with cardamom coffee or milky tea, and a spoonful of cream if you like. Chef's tip: wear clean rubber gloves so you can knead the bread while it is properly hot.

45 minGulf Arabian Breakfast & Brunch

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Fondue chinoise

Despite its name, fondue chinoise is a fixture of the Swiss Christmas and New Year table: a pot of simmering broth set on a burner in the middle of the table, into which everyone dips paper-thin slices of beef on long forks, cooks them for a few seconds and eats them with a spread of sauces, rice or potato chips, pickles and salads. It came to Switzerland via travellers to Asia in the 20th century. The broth is often made with white wine; this one uses stock only. A common mistake is slicing the meat thick, which takes too long and tightens. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for an hour so it slices paper-thin. Cook each slice until no longer pink, then eat; never use the same fork for raw and cooked meat.

45 min

Swiss Meat

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Gurian Christmas pie

On Christmas Eve, 6 January, kitchens across Guria, around Ozurgeti and Lanchkhuti, smell of baking ghvezeli: large crescent pies stuffed with fresh cheese and chunks of boiled egg, their shape said to recall the crescent moon. They are baked in batches, carried to relatives and eaten through the holidays with tea. A common mistake is overfilling, which makes the crescent split at the seam in the oven. Chef's tip: let the yeasted dough rise once, shape the pies, then give them 15 minutes more so they puff into soft, rounded crescents. Imeruli and sulguni usually use animal rennet; look for vegetarian ones.

70 min

Georgian Baking

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AranygaluskaGolden walnut yeast dumplings

Aranygaluska means golden dumplings, and the pull-apart cake really does come out of the oven bronze and gleaming. Walnut-sized balls of sweet yeast dough are dipped in melted butter, rolled in ground walnuts and sugar, stacked loosely in a ring tin and baked, so the nuts caramelise into a sticky crust. It is a family Sunday pudding all over Hungary and a favourite at school canteens, and Hungarian emigrants took it to America, where it became monkey bread. Pour warm vanilla custard over each helping. Some cooks serve it with a wine custard; this version keeps to vanilla, so it is alcohol-free. Where it goes wrong is packing the balls tightly; leave gaps so they can rise and the walnut coating reaches every side. Chef's tip: spoon a little apricot jam between the layers for a tart note.

120 min

Hungarian Desserts

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Ye-kosta wat (Swiss chard and potato)

Kosta, Swiss chard, is grown in backyard plots from Bahir Dar to Hawassa, and during the long fasts it is stewed with potatoes into this simple green dish found on almost every vegan beyaynetu. Onion, garlic and ginger soften in oil, potatoes go in first, then the chopped chard stems and leaves, all cooking down together into a soft, juicy stew that is mild, fresh and a little sweet, with a gentle heat from green chilli. Spoon it onto injera beside spicier wats, or eat it with rice. The common mistake is adding the stems and leaves at the same time; the stems need a few minutes longer. Chef's tip: a pinch of turmeric is not traditional in every home but gives the potatoes a warm golden colour against the green.

35 min

Ethiopian Sides

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Figgy duffSteamed raisin pudding

Figgy duff is the pudding that boils in its cloth bag alongside a Newfoundland Jiggs dinner on Sundays; in Newfoundland, raisins are called figs. Breadcrumbs, molasses, raisins and spices make a dark, soft, steamed pudding that is cut into thick slices and eaten hot with molasses coady (a butter-molasses sauce) or custard. This home version steams in a pudding basin rather than a cloth. A common mistake is letting the pan boil dry; keep a kettle hot for topping up. Chef's tip: soak the breadcrumbs and raisins first so the pudding is moist all through.

170 min

Canadian Desserts

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Roast goose with apples

On 11 November, St Martin's Day and Poland's Independence Day, roast goose comes back to tables from Poznań to Gdańsk, and Pomeranian and Kujawy farms still raise their own white geese for it. The bird is rubbed with marjoram, garlic and salt, left overnight in the fridge, then stuffed with sharp apples and roasted slowly so the fat renders out and the skin turns crisp and mahogany. The meat is dark and rich, the apples collapse into a tart sauce. Serve with braised red cabbage, potato dumplings and the pan juices. Most people forget to drain the fat as it roasts, and the bird ends up frying in its own puddle; pour it off every half hour and save it for roast potatoes. Allow an extra night for the marinade. Chef's tip: prick the skin all over, especially under the wings and thighs, without piercing the meat, so the fat has somewhere to escape.

240 min

Polish Meat

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Tarragon lemonade

Tarkhuna is the emerald-green soda that every Tbilisi child knows, sold from street fountains since the early 1900s and still poured in tall glasses at cafés on Rustaveli Avenue. The bottled kind is coloured; the home version gets its green from blitzing fresh tarragon with lemon and syrup, giving an aniseedy, sweet-sour fizz. A common mistake is boiling the tarragon, which dulls the colour and turns the flavour stewed. Chef's tip: blitz the herb into cool syrup and strain it straight away; the drink stays vivid green for a day in the fridge.

20 min

Georgian Drinks

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