Featured recipe

Sour cream dip

A simple, tangy dip made with thick home-made cottage cheese (hung yogurt) or ready-made sour cream, seasoned with garlic, chilli, black pepper and vinegar. Serve it cold with crisps, nachos and jacket potatoes. The book's other dips use this as their 'sour cream'.

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Pâté en croûtePork and veal pie in pastry

Lyon's charcuteries display pâté en croûte like jewellery: a tall loaf of crisp, golden pastry wrapped around a coarse terrine of pork and veal. A slice wrapped in paper is a picnic and lunchbox luxury, and the whole loaf is a Sunday project eaten over several days. The common mistake is undercooking it for fear of drying it out: as it is made with minced pork, the centre must reach 71 °C, so use a probe thermometer. The classic farce has a splash of cognac; it's optional here, and apple juice or extra stock is the alcohol-free swap. Chef's tip: chill the filled, unbaked loaf for 30 minutes before baking so the pastry keeps its shape and pattern.

150 min

French Meat

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Mugicha (roasted barley tea)

From the rainy season in June until the cicadas fall quiet in September, almost every Japanese household keeps a tall jug of mugicha in the fridge. It is poured for children coming in from summer club practice, for grandparents after an afternoon nap, and alongside cold sōmen at lunch, because it carries no caffeine and can be drunk all day. Whole barley grains roasted until deep brown give a cup that tastes of toast, a little of coffee and a little of popcorn, with a clean, dry finish and no sweetness at all. Supermarkets sell it in tea bags, but loose roasted grains simmered in a pan make a rounder, darker brew. The usual mistake is leaving the grains in the jug or letting the hot tea sit out on the counter for hours: it turns bitter and, being a grain infusion, it sours quickly in summer heat. Strain it, cool it fast in a sink of cold water, and drink it within two days. It is ready when the liquid is a clear amber-brown and smells like freshly toasted bread. Chef's tip: dry-toast the grains for two minutes before brewing to wake up a bag that has been open a while.

20 min

Japanese Drinks

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Suanmeitang (sour plum drink)

Old Beijing sold suanmeitang from brass bowls at street corners in summer, chilled with blocks of river ice, and the Qing court drank a version as a cooler. Today it comes in big jugs at copper-pot hotpot restaurants, where its sourness cuts through mutton and sesame sauce; families brew a pot every few days all summer. Smoked wumei plums give a deep, almost bacon-like smokiness, hawthorn adds fruity acid, licorice softens the edges and rock sugar rounds everything off, with dried osmanthus on top for a honeyed scent. It should be dark ruby, clear and refreshing, tart first and sweet after. The common mistake is boiling it hard for hours: the plum stones and hawthorn seeds release bitterness and the brew turns muddy. Simmer gently, strain early and chill fast. It is ready when the plums have collapsed and the liquid tastes clearly sour-sweet with a smoky finish. Licorice root is traditionally used in small amounts; people with high blood pressure, heart or kidney problems, or who are pregnant should keep the licorice out or check with a doctor. Chef's tip: add the osmanthus only after the heat is off, or its perfume vanishes.

70 min

Chinese Drinks

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Meen pollichathuFish wrapped in banana leaf

Meen pollichathu belongs to the backwaters of Alappuzha and Kumarakom, where karimeen (pearl spot) is caught in the lagoons and served wrapped in banana leaf at toddy shops, houseboats and Syrian Christian Sunday lunches. The fish is rubbed with chilli and turmeric, briefly pan-fried, then wrapped with a thick masala of shallots, ginger, garlic, tomato, curry leaves and a little coconut milk and cooked on a pan until the leaf chars. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high-protein fish with no flour. About 320 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion; serve with a small portion of red matta rice or vegetables. The usual mistake is skipping the first light fry, which leaves the skin soft and lets the fish fall apart in the parcel. Sea bream or pomfret work well. Chef's tip: cook the masala until it is almost dry, or the parcel steams instead of roasting.

55 min

Indian Fish

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Jambon-beurreHam and butter baguette

France sells millions of jambon-beurre every working day: half a crusty baguette, split, spread with good salted butter and filled with thin slices of jambon de Paris, the delicate cooked pork ham. Parisians eat it at the office, on a park bench or on the train. The common mistake is a stingy smear of hard butter; the butter is a filling, not a glue, so spread it soft and generous. Some add cornichons, which purists call a different sandwich. Chef's tip: fold each slice of ham loosely in half rather than laying it flat, so the sandwich is airy and every bite has ham.

5 min

French Fast Food

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DakgangjeongSticky glazed fried chicken

Dakgangjeong is the boxed fried chicken of Sokcho's Jungang market on Korea's east coast, carried home by the tub and packed into lunchboxes the next day, because the double-fried pieces in their sticky glaze stay crunchy even when cold. The common mistake is frying only once; the second fry drives out moisture so the crust holds up to the sauce. Chef's tip: coat with potato starch rather than flour, and let the coated chicken sit for 5 minutes so the starch hydrates into a craggy crust.

55 min

Korean Chicken

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MutakuraBeans, cowpeas and maize

Mutakura is old Zimbabwean country food, cooked in rural Mashonaland after harvest from the store of dried beans, cowpeas, groundnuts and maize kernels, and eaten as a filling lunch or snack, often at gatherings and ceremonies. Everything is soaked, boiled for hours until tender, then simply seasoned with salt, so the beans are creamy, the maize chewy and the groundnuts soft and rich. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 340 kcal and 45 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is cooking everything together from the start: the maize needs a long head start, and the dried red beans must be boiled hard for 10 minutes to be safe. A pressure cooker cuts the maize time to about 40 minutes. Chef's tip: soak everything overnight in separate bowls; the maize and groundnuts need it most.

160 minSouthern African Vegetarian

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Batida de cocoCoconut cachaça cocktail

Along the barracas of Salvador's beaches and at the June São João parties across Bahia, batida de coco comes out of the blender in jugs, poured into plastic cups and drunk while the forró plays. It is a drink for adults only that hides its strength well: creamy, cold and sweet like a coconut milkshake, with cachaça warming the finish rather than shouting. The texture should be thick but pourable, pale ivory, with a soft froth on top. The common mistake is blending the ice for too long, which leaves a thin, watery drink that separates into a fatty layer within minutes. Blend the liquids smooth first, then add the ice and pulse only a few times, until the noise from the blender goes quiet and smooth. It is ready when no lumps of ice rattle and the batida coats the side of the glass. Because it tastes so gentle, keep the cups small and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: chill the cachaça, coconut milk and tin of condensed milk overnight, and you will need less ice and get a richer, denser batida.

8 min

Brazilian Drinks

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Douzhi (fermented mung bean drink)

Douzhi is the breakfast that divides Beijing. It is the sour liquid left over when mung beans are ground and their starch settles out to make noodles and jelly; left to ferment for a day or two, the grey-green whey turns tangy, a little cheesy and sulphurous. Old Beijingers drink it piping hot at dawn in hutong shops around Qianmen and Huguosi, with a dish of finely shredded salty pickle dressed in chilli oil and crisp fried dough rings (jiaoquan) from the bakery. First-timers often say it smells like stale socks; regulars say it tastes like home. The texture is thin and slightly creamy, the flavour sour, a little bitter and savoury. The common mistake is boiling the soured starch hard: it separates into grey water and sludge. Bring it up slowly, stirring, and take it off as soon as it froths. The ferment makes only a trace of alcohol, well under 1%. Ferment at 20–25 °C; normal signs are fine bubbles, a sour, yogurt-like smell and a grey colour. Discard it if you see fuzzy mould, pink or black patches, a slimy texture or a putrid smell. Chef's tip: save 100 ml of a good batch to start the next one, as Beijing workshops do.

50 min

Chinese Drinks

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PothichoruRice meal in banana leaf

Before steel tiffin carriers, Kerala's schoolchildren and office workers carried pothichoru, a parcel of hot rice, a dry vegetable thoran, coconut chammanthi and a dab of pickle, folded inside a banana leaf that had been passed over a flame. By lunchtime the leaf's aroma has seeped into the rice; the whole parcel is still sold on trains and at festivals. Fried egg or fish fry are often tucked in; this is the vegetarian version. The common mistake is wrapping the leaf without wilting it first, so it cracks and leaks. Chef's tip: pack the rice warm, not steaming, and eat within four hours, or cool everything and keep the parcel cold until lunch.

60 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Divul kiri (wood apple drink)

In Sri Lanka's dry zone, around Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and down towards Hambantota, wood apple trees fruit through the hot months, and roadside sellers crack the hard grey shells open for you. Divul kiri, wood apple with coconut milk, is what families blend at home in the afternoon heat or offer guests during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season in April. The pulp is brown, sticky and full of seeds, with a sour, funky smell that turns fruity once it meets creamy coconut milk and dark jaggery. The drink is thick and smooth, tangy-sweet and a little smoky. The common mistake is blending the seeds in: they break and make the drink gritty and bitter. Squeeze the pulp by hand and strain out every seed before blending. It is ready when it is thick enough to coat a glass, pale caramel-brown and tastes clearly sour under the sweetness. Outside Sri Lanka, look for frozen or tinned wood apple pulp in South Asian shops; there is no true substitute, though tamarind pulp with a few soft dates gives a similar sweet-sour idea. Chef's tip: pick a fruit that sounds hollow when tapped and smells strongly when cracked; it is fully ripe.

15 min

Sri Lankan Drinks

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Melting momentsLemon buttercream sandwich biscuits

Melting moments are the soft, crumbly biscuits found in Australian and New Zealand bakery jars and grandmother's tins, two rounds made with custard powder and icing sugar sandwiched with a lemon butter icing. The custard powder gives them their yellow colour and tender, short texture that melts in the mouth, hence the name. A common mistake is overbaking; they should be pale, not golden. Chef's tip: press each ball with a floured fork for the classic stripes.

40 min

Australian Baking

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Bokkeum kimchiStir-fried kimchi with pork belly

When a jar of kimchi turns very sour in Korean homes, it gets stir-fried with a little sugar and sesame oil, and often with pork belly, into bokkeum kimchi, a deep, mellow side dish that keeps for days and is a favourite in school and office dosirak. For a vegan version, use kimchi made without fish sauce or salted shrimp and leave out the pork. The usual mistake is using fresh, crisp kimchi, which tastes harsh when fried; it needs to be properly sour. Chef's tip: fry the kimchi until the edges just begin to catch and caramelise, which is where the flavour is.

17 min

Korean Sides

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Mi saoVegetable fried noodles

Chinese families who settled in Toamasina and Antananarivo a century ago brought mi sao with them, and it is now one of the most ordered plates at any hotely, often eaten at lunch with a bowl of clear soup on the side. This version is all vegetables: shredded cabbage, carrot, green beans and spring onion tossed with springy wheat noodles, garlic, ginger and soy sauce until glossy and a little smoky. Because of the soy sauce and wheat noodles it is not gluten free. Overcrowding the pan is the usual mistake; it steams everything into a limp tangle, so cook in two batches if your wok or pan is small. Chef's tip: rinse the boiled noodles in cold water and toss them with a few drops of oil, so they fry into separate strands instead of a sticky clump.

25 min

Malagasy Pasta & Noodles

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Yansoon (anise tea)

Every Cairo ahwa has yansoon on its menu, chalked up next to tea and helba, and in Egyptian homes it is the drink of evenings, colds and upset stomachs. It is made with green aniseed, often from Upper Egypt, simmered briefly and sweetened. People reach for it after a feast at Eid, during winter coughs, or simply at night because it is caffeine-free and traditionally drunk to calm and help sleep. It is pale gold and sweet, with a soft liquorice scent and a slightly peppery warmth at the end. Many Egyptian mothers give a weak version to infants, but herbal teas are not suitable for babies under six months; ask your doctor first. The common mistake is boiling the seeds for too long, which makes the tea cloudy and bitter: crush them lightly, boil for only a few minutes, then let them steep off the heat. Also do not swap in star anise, a different plant with a harsher taste. It is ready when the liquid is light golden and smells strongly of anise when you lift the lid. Chef's tip: a thin slice of lemon or a few drops of lemon juice brightens the cup without hiding the anise.

12 min

Egyptian Drinks

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MilcaoPotato bread

On Chiloé, where potatoes have been grown for thousands of years, milcao is the bread that comes with almost everything: it is buried in the curanto pit, boiled in broth, or pan-fried until crusty and eaten with honey or sugar in the afternoon. The dough is half grated raw potato and half mashed boiled potato. Islanders often press pork crackling into it; this version is plain and vegan. Forgetting to squeeze the raw potato is the mistake that makes milcaos fall apart in the pan. Chef's tip: let the squeezed potato juice stand for 5 minutes, pour off the water and scrape the white starch from the bottom of the bowl back into the dough; it is the glue that holds milcao together.

65 min

Chilean Breads & Parathas

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Katsu sandoPork cutlet sandwich

Katsu sando began in Tokyo tonkatsu shops in the 1930s as a cutlet you could carry, and is now a fixture of department-store food halls, train-station kiosks and lunchboxes all over Japan: a crisp panko pork loin cutlet soaked in sweet-sour tonkatsu sauce between pillowy white bread, crusts trimmed off. The common mistake is slicing it while hot, which squashes the bread and makes it soggy; let it rest under a light weight first. Pork loin is a whole cut, so cook it to 63 °C and rest it for 3 minutes. Chef's tip: butter the bread with a little mustard mixed in; it stops the sauce soaking through and adds a gentle kick.

35 min

Japanese Meat

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Kefir

Kefir is the sour, lightly fizzy fermented milk that families across Russia, Georgia and the North Caucasus drink plain from a glass at breakfast, as an evening snack or alongside a meal, and also use in pancakes and cold soups. It is made by leaving milk with kefir grains, a living culture of yeasts and bacteria, at room temperature for a day until it thickens. Nothing is added: no salt and no sugar. About 0.25 g salt per 250 ml glass, all from the milk itself. Always use pasteurised milk. The usual mistake is leaving it too long, until it separates into curds and whey; check after 18 hours and stop when it is just thick and pourable. Chef's tip: a second ferment of 6 hours in the fridge in a closed bottle makes it smoother and a little fizzier.

1445 min

Russian Drinks

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Kafae boran (old-style Thai coffee)

Before espresso bars reached Bangkok, coffee in Thailand meant kafae boran from Hainanese-Chinese shophouses and market carts: a dark robusta roast mixed with toasted grains, poured through a long cotton sock called a tung tom and stirred into thick sweetened condensed milk. Uncles still order it hot at 6 am with patongko dough sticks, and in the afternoon heat the same brew is poured over crushed ice and topped with evaporated milk as oliang or kafae yen. The taste is strong, roasty and slightly smoky, sweet and creamy, with a faint caramel-cereal edge from the grains; the iced version is silky and cold. The common mistake is brewing it like filter coffee with too little grounds: once milk and ice go in, it tastes thin. Use plenty, steep it in the sock and pour it through twice. The brew is ready when it is opaque, nearly black and leaves a brown film on a white spoon. It is high in caffeine, so not one for children or late evenings. Chef's tip: rinse the cloth sock in hot water only, never soap, and keep it in a jar of clean water in the fridge between uses so the coffee oils season it.

10 min

Thai Drinks

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Mirchi thechaPounded chilli, garlic and peanut relish

Thecha is the fiery pounded chilli relish of rural Maharashtra, from the Desh villages around Satara and Kolhapur, eaten with jowar bhakri and a raw onion at a farmhand's lunch and now a fixture of Pune's Marathi restaurants. Green chillies and garlic are blistered in a pan, then crushed with peanuts in a stone mortar. The common mistake is blending it smooth in a mixer; thecha should be coarse and rustic, so pound it or pulse briefly. Chef's tip: wear gloves or oil your fingers when handling this many chillies, and wash the pan straight away.

15 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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CancháncharaAguardiente, lime and honey cocktail

In the colonial town of Trinidad, in Sancti Spíritus province, the canchánchara is served in little clay cups to the sound of a son band in the late afternoon. Its roots are in the independence wars of the 1860s and 70s, when the mambí fighters drank cane aguardiente mixed with honey, lime and water, warm or at camp temperature. Today it comes with crushed ice, but it is still a drink for adults only, rustic and honest: floral honey, sharp lime and the raw, sugary heat of young cane spirit, cold and only slightly diluted. The classic mistake is pouring honey straight onto the ice, where it sets into a hard lump at the bottom and the drink tastes of nothing but sour spirit. Stir the honey into the lime and water first until no streaks remain, then add the ice and spirit. It is ready when the honey has disappeared into a cloudy, even mixture and the outside of the cup sweats with cold. Drink it slowly and responsibly. Outside Cuba, use unaged white rum or cachaça for the aguardiente; a short tumbler is fine if you have no clay cup. Chef's tip: soak the clay cup in cold water for ten minutes first; it keeps the drink cold for much longer.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Gobi matar (cauliflower and peas)

In Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, winter means cauliflower and fresh peas, and gobi matar is what fills countless school and office dabbas between November and February. It is cooked dry, so the florets brown a little at the edges, sweetened by the peas and sharpened by plenty of ginger. The mistake is cooking the cauliflower covered with water until it is soft and smells of cabbage; steam it briefly in its own moisture, then fry it uncovered. Chef's tip: cut the florets so they have one flat side; that face sits on the pan and browns while the rest steams tender.

30 min

Indian Sides

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DashmiMilk and jaggery flatbread

Dashmi is the bread Maharashtrian mothers make for pilgrimages, school trips and the first days of a long journey: wholewheat dough kneaded with warm milk instead of water and sweetened with jaggery, cooked on a tawa until soft and spotted. Milk and ghee keep it tender for two or three days without a fridge in cool weather, and children eat it plain or with pickle. The common mistake is rolling it too thin and cooking it on a fierce tawa, which makes it crisp like a khakhra; it should stay soft and pliable. Chef's tip: stack the dashmis in a cloth as they come off the tawa, so the trapped steam softens them further.

40 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Miyan yakuwaRoselle leaf stew

Miyan yakuwa is a home stew of Kano, Kaduna and the Hausa north of Nigeria, cooked through the rainy season when the sour young leaves of the roselle plant fill the markets. Beef simmers with ginger and garlic, then a pepper and tomato base fried in groundnut oil goes in with ground roasted peanuts and plenty of the tangy greens. It is eaten with tuwo shinkafa (soft rice swallow) or tuwo masara. The usual mistake is adding the leaves too early: they turn khaki and lose their sharpness, so they go in only for the last few minutes. If you cannot find roselle leaves, use spinach with the juice of a lemon. Chef's tip: toast the peanuts before grinding for a deeper, nuttier stew.

80 min

Nigerian Soups

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CassareepCassava syrup

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

220 min

Guyanese Basics

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Bachali kura pappuDal with Malabar spinach

Bachali, or Malabar spinach, climbs over back walls all across Telangana and Andhra, and its thick, glossy leaves go into this everyday pappu that turns up at lunch several times a month with rice, ghee and a pickle. The leaves give the dal a silky body and a faint lemony note. People often overcook it until the greens turn khaki; add them after the dal is soft and cook just long enough to wilt. Chef's tip: use the tender stems too, chopped small; they add a pleasant crunch.

35 min

Indian Curries

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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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Mochenye yablokiFermented apples

In the villages of central Russia, around Ryazan, Tula and Kursk, late autumn meant packing an oak barrel with whole Antonovka apples between layers of blackcurrant and cherry leaves, then pouring over a brine of water, salt, honey and a little rye flour. A month later, in the cold of the cellar, they had become mochenye yabloki: still crisp, very juicy, tart and lightly sweet, with a faint fizz on the tongue and an aroma close to cider. Through the winter they come out with roast goose or duck, on the zakuski table beside sauerkraut and salted cucumbers, and as a snack with tea. Like any lactic ferment they produce a trace of alcohol, well under 1% while young. The most common mistake is using soft, sweet dessert apples, which go mealy and fall apart; choose hard, sour, late-season apples without a single bruise and pack them tightly. They are ready when the brine is cloudy and smells pleasantly sour and a slice tastes tangy right to the core. Chef's tip: lay a clean cabbage leaf on top under the weight; it keeps the apples down and catches any surface yeast.

50 min

Russian Sides

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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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Mofo menakelyRice flour doughnuts

Ring-shaped and no wider than a teacup, mofo menakely are fried in wide pans of oil at dawn on the street corners of Antananarivo and Antsirabe, then sold by the bagful to people heading for the bus. Rice flour gives them a crisp, slightly sandy shell and a chewy, faintly sour crumb from the slow rise, and they are only lightly sweet, which is why the Highlands dunk them in sugary coffee. Wheat flour helps the dough hold its shape; a few cooks go all rice and shape with wet hands. Expect the batter-like dough to feel too soft at first: adding more flour to make it handleable is a mistake that leaves them dense. Chef's tip: shape each ring straight into the hot oil from a wet palm, poking the hole with a wet finger, rather than trying to roll the dough on a board.

120 min

Malagasy Snacks & Starters

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Tian shui mianSweet spiced soy noodles

Tian shui mian, "sweet water noodles", are a fixture of Chengdu's old snack houses around Wenshu Monastery, ordered at lunch in a small bowl alongside dumplings and wontons. The noodles are cut as thick as chopsticks, cooked chewy and served at room temperature, coated in thick spiced soy syrup, red chilli oil, pounded raw garlic and sesame: sweet first, then hot and garlicky. Chef's tip: simmer the sweet soy until syrupy; if it is thin it runs to the bottom of the bowl instead of clinging to the noodles.

45 min

Chinese Pasta & Noodles

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MohalaSaffron and cardamom griddle bread

Mohala is a thick, spongy flatbread from the UAE, cooked on a flat pan for breakfast in Emirati homes, especially during Ramadan and on winter mornings. The yeasted batter is scented with saffron and cardamom and turns golden underneath and full of holes on top, like a giant crumpet. It is eaten warm with date syrup, honey, or salty cheese and tea. The mistake is a batter that has not risen enough; it should be bubbly and doubled, or the bread is dense. Allow about 1½ hours including rising. Chef's tip: cook it covered over a low heat; the lid steams the top so you never need to flip it.

45 minGulf Arabian Breads & Parathas

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Chocolate cracklesChocolate puffed rice cakes

No Australian child's birthday party is complete without chocolate crackles, served in paper patty cases alongside fairy bread at backyard parties from Adelaide to Cairns. Puffed rice cereal is bound with melted solid coconut fat, icing sugar, cocoa and desiccated coconut, then set in the fridge. Kids can make them almost entirely on their own. A common mistake is using hot fat, which makes the mixture greasy; let it cool a few minutes. Chef's tip: use solid white hydrogenated coconut fat sold in blocks, not jarred coconut oil, which won't set firm at room temperature.

20 min

Australian Desserts

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Bagoong alamangFried krill paste

Across Luzon, a jar of ginisang bagoong sits in nearly every kitchen. In the hot months from March to May, when green mangoes are sour and crisp, it becomes the classic merienda: thin slices of unripe mango dragged through sweet, salty, garlicky shrimp paste, often shared on a porch in the afternoon. It is also the essential partner to kare-kare and the base of binagoongang baboy. Raw salted alamang (tiny krill or shrimp) is sold pink and wet; frying it with garlic, onion and tomato, then sugar and cane vinegar, turns it deep reddish brown, thick, glossy and rounded, with the briny punch still there. The raw paste is a raw-cured seafood, so this recipe always cooks it right through; pregnant people, babies, older people and anyone with weak immunity should only eat bagoong that has been fully sautéed and kept cold. Common mistake: high heat after the sugar goes in, which scorches it and turns the bagoong bitter. Keep it at a medium-low simmer. It is ready when the oil separates and shines on top and it smells toasty rather than fishy. Chef's tip: a few slivers of crisp pork belly fried first make it richer.

40 min

Filipino Chutneys & Dips

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Empanadas de vientoFried cheese empanadas

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

55 minAndean Breakfast & Brunch

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PotbroodPot-baked bread

Out on Karoo farms, at the camp site or around the Saturday braai, potbrood is the loaf that bakes in a flat-bottomed cast-iron pot with coals underneath and heaped on the lid while the rest of the meal cooks. It comes out tall and round, with a thick, deep brown crust and a soft, slightly chewy crumb that tears beautifully, best eaten warm with butter and apricot jam or alongside a vegetable potjie. Indoors, a lidded cast-iron casserole in a hot oven does almost as well. Too many coals underneath is the mistake everyone makes once: the base burns long before the top is cooked, so put more heat on the lid than below. Chef's tip: grease the pot and dust it with flour so the loaf drops out cleanly.

180 min

South African Baking

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