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Armenian coffee
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Armenian coffee

Armenian coffee, soorj, is boiled in a small long-handled pot called a jazzve and poured unfiltered into tiny cups. It is offered the moment a guest sits down in any Yerevan home and lingers after meals while the grounds settle; when the cup is empty, it is turned upside down on its saucer so someone can read the patterns left in the grounds. The coffee is powder-fine, often scented with a pinch of cardamom, with a velvety foam (kaymak) on top that is a point of pride for the host. Serve with a glass of water and a little gata or dried fruit. Chef's tip: start with cold water and a low flame; the slower the coffee heats, the thicker and longer-lasting the foam.

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Osban (Tunisian stuffed lamb sausages)

Eid al-Adha in Tunisia means using every part of the sheep, and osban is how the tripe is honoured: cleaned pieces are sewn into pouches and packed with rice, chopped liver and lamb, chard, a big bunch of parsley and coriander, dried mint and harissa, then simmered in a red chickpea sauce and served over couscous. Families all over the country, from Tunis to the south, make a batch and freeze some for later. The filling cooks into a soft, herby, peppery sausage and the tripe turns tender. Buy tripe that the butcher has already cleaned and scalded, or use natural sausage casings for an easier version. Chef's tip: fill the pouches only two-thirds full and prick them with a needle; the rice swells as it cooks, and overstuffed osban burst, which is the most common mistake.

180 minTunisianMeat
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Fura da nono (millet balls in cultured milk)

Fulani women carry fura da nono to markets across the north in calabashes balanced on their heads: balls of spiced, cooked millet dough sold next to nono, cow's milk that has been left to sour. Crumbled into the milk and sweetened, the fura makes a thick, cooling drink that is part breakfast, part refreshment, tangy with ginger and a gentle heat from the spices. Traditional nono is made from raw milk; this home version uses pasteurised yoghurt and milk for safety, and it should be kept in the fridge. Mashing the fura straight into all the milk leaves lumps, so crumble it with a little milk first. Don't crumble the fura balls coarsely; large lumps stay chalky in the drink. Chef's tip: dust the shaped fura in millet flour and it keeps for 3 days in the fridge, ready to mix.

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Kammounia (Tunisian cumin beef stew)

Cumin, kammoun in Arabic, gives kammounia its name, and the dish uses it boldly: chunks of beef, or in many Tunis homes lamb's liver, simmer in a thick, dark sauce of garlic, tomato paste and a generous amount of ground cumin until the meat is tender and the sauce clings to it. It is everyday family food in Tunis and Sfax, scooped up with crusty bread or served alongside a salad and olives. The flavour is earthy, warm and garlicky with a gentle heat from harissa. The usual mistake is adding the cumin at the start and frying it hard, which makes it bitter; it goes in once the sauce is simmering. Chef's tip: add half the cumin at the start and the rest in the last 10 minutes; all of it at once risks a flat, slightly bitter sauce, while the late addition keeps the aroma bright.

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Ofe Owerri (festive ugu and okazi soup)

Owerri people speak of their soup with pride, and it is famous for how much goes into the pot: goat meat, tripe, stockfish and dried fish, simmered in palm oil and thickened with cocoyam, then finished with two leaves, chewy okazi and soft, sweet ugu. It is festive food for weddings, Christmas and big family gatherings across Imo State, and it is served with pounded yam or fufu. Adding the ugu too early is a common mistake that leaves the leaves dark and mushy; it goes in last, after the okazi has had time to soften. Stockfish needs an overnight soak first unless bought pre-soaked. Chef's tip: soak dried okazi in warm water for 10 minutes before cooking so it softens evenly.

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Bkaila (Tunisian spinach and beef stew)

Tunisian Jewish families in Tunis, and those who carried the dish to Paris and Israel, cook bkaila for Rosh Hashanah and for Friday-night dinners: a heap of spinach is fried in olive oil for over an hour, until it shrinks to a dark, almost black, crumbly paste, then simmered for hours with chunks of beef, white beans, garlic and dried mint. The result looks dramatic and tastes deep and earthy, a little like a long-braised green sauce, with tender meat and creamy beans. It is eaten with couscous or bread, and is even better reheated the next day. Start the beans soaking the night before. Chef's tip: fry the spinach over a medium-low heat and stir often; turning up the heat to save time is the classic mistake, scorching the leaves so the whole pot turns bitter.

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Kunun zaki (millet and ginger drink)

Chilled kunun zaki is what people reach for in the heat of Kano and Kaduna afternoons, and at Ramadan iftar it is one of the first things poured. Millet is soaked, ground with fresh ginger and cloves, then partly cooked; the uncooked portion stirred back in sweetens the drink naturally and gives it a light, refreshing tang. It is creamy-looking but thin, spicy at the back of the throat and best ice cold. Pouring boiling water over all the slurry is the classic mistake, since it stops the natural sweetening, so always keep a third raw. Chef's tip: start a day ahead (12 hours soaking, 4–6 hours resting) and strain twice through a fine cloth for a silky drink with no grit.

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Gizdodo (gizzards and plantain in pepper sauce)

No Lagos owambe buffet is complete without a tray of gizdodo, where chewy fried chicken gizzards and caramelised cubes of ripe plantain (dodo) are tossed together in a glossy, fiery tatashe and scotch bonnet sauce. It is sweet, hot and savoury all at once, and served as a starter, a side to jollof or a snack. Gizzards must be boiled until tender before frying, and for safety they should reach 74°C in the thickest part, which they easily do by the end of the simmer. Frying plantain that is too green is a common mistake, leaving it starchy instead of sweet, so choose yellow fruit with black spots. Chef's tip: fry the plantain last, just before tossing, so it stays crisp-edged rather than soggy.

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Ofe oha (oha leaf soup)

Tender oha leaves, with their mild, slightly sweet taste, are prized in Enugu and Anambra, and ofe oha is the soup many Igbo families bring out for Christmas, weddings and Sunday visits. Boiled cocoyam is pounded and melted into a palm-oil broth rich with beef, stockfish, dried fish and crayfish, giving a thick, velvety soup with the oha folded in at the very end, to eat with pounded yam, fufu or eba. Adding all the cocoyam at once is a frequent mistake that turns the soup gluey; add it in stages and stop at the thickness you want. Stockfish needs an overnight soak first unless you buy it pre-soaked. Chef's tip: tear oha leaves by hand rather than cutting them, as cooks traditionally do, and add them in the last 2 minutes.

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Djouzia (walnut and honey nougat)

Shops in old Constantine wrap djouzia in twists of paper and sell it by weight, a soft, pale caramel-coloured nougat of honey, whipped egg white and plenty of walnuts. It is chewier and darker than white Provençal nougat, with a deep honey flavour and the slight bitterness of walnut skins. Djouzia is a gift sweet, carried to weddings and offered with coffee to visitors, and keeps for weeks. A sugar thermometer makes it reliable. Chef's tip: cook the honey syrup to 125 °C; syrup that is pulled off too early is the most common mistake, and the nougat stays sticky and will not set enough to cut.

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Owo soup with fish

Owo looks almost like custard: palm oil is whisked with a little potash water until it turns from red to a creamy yellow, then thickened with cassava starch and seasoned with crayfish and pepper. Urhobo and Isoko homes in Delta State serve it with boiled unripe plantain or yam, which you dip and scoop rather than swallow, and it is a favourite on market days because it is quick once the fish is ready. Fresh or smoked fish both work; many cooks use both. Too much potash makes the soup soapy and bitter, so add the strained potash water little by little and stop as soon as the colour changes. The usual mistake is pouring in the potash too fast, which splits the palm oil instead of turning it smooth and yellow. Chef's tip: mix the starch with cold water first, then pour it into the pot in a thin stream while stirring, or it will set in lumps.

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Queen Elizabeth cake

Queen Elizabeth cake has been a favourite in Canadian homes and Quebec bakeries since the 1950s, especially around coronations and royal visits, and it still turns up at Montreal family birthdays and Sunday teas. A moist, tender date cake is baked, then covered in a bubbling coconut and brown-sugar topping and put under the grill until it caramelises. It is humble, rich and keeps well for days. A common mistake is walking away from the grill; the topping goes from golden to burnt in under a minute. Chef's tip: soak the dates in boiling water with the bicarbonate so they melt into the crumb.

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Date squares

Date squares are on the tea table in every Canadian church hall and school bake sale, called carrés aux dattes in Quebec and matrimonial cake in the West. A buttery oat crumble is pressed into a tin, spread with a soft date filling and covered with more crumble, then baked until golden. They keep for days and freeze well. A common mistake is spreading the dates while hot onto loose crumb, which makes the base soggy; press the base firmly. Chef's tip: add a strip of orange zest to the dates for a brighter flavour.

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Smoked omul

On the shingle beaches of Listvyanka, at the edge of Lake Baikal, women sell omul still warm from the smoke, the fish split open, threaded onto alder sticks and set around a fire until the skin turns bronze and the flesh pulls away in moist, salty flakes. Omul lives only in Baikal, so at home use small whitefish, trout or mackerel, gutted and split. A short brine in the fridge seasons the fish, then it is hot-smoked in a kettle barbecue or a lidded smoker until cooked right through. Serve it warm or cold with boiled potatoes, black bread and spring onions. The usual slip is smoking over flames rather than smouldering chips, which chars the skin before the inside is done. Chef's tip: let the brined fish dry in the fridge, uncovered, for an hour: the tacky surface takes the smoke far better.

120 minRussianFishGluten free
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Nnam ngon with mushrooms

Steamed parcels of nnam ngon turn up at Beti weddings, funerals and big Sunday tables in the Centre, unwrapped to reveal a firm, pale cake of ground pumpkin seeds that slices like a terrine. The seeds are ground with onion, garlic, ginger and hot pepper, then bound with water and steamed slowly in leaves until rich, savoury and almost meaty. Smoked fish is the classic addition; here browned mushrooms take its place, so the parcels are vegan and still very filling. Serve with bobolo, boiled plantain or sweet ripe plantain. Chef's tip: brown the mushrooms in a dry pan first; added raw, they release water inside the parcel and leave the mixture loose.

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Hoilo garmaGreens with dough pieces

In early spring the first wild greens appear on the terraces of Hunza before anything else is ready, and families gather them for hoilo garma, a thick, warming pot of chopped greens cooked with small pieces of wholewheat dough pinched off by hand. The dough pieces turn soft and slightly chewy, almost like dumplings, and the greens melt into a glossy, savoury mass enriched at the end with butter and a little apricot-kernel oil. It is a one-pot lunch eaten from a shared dish with the fingers or a spoon, often with salty tea. Rolling the dough pieces too thick is the common error; they stay doughy in the middle. Chef's tip: spinach is the easiest choice, but a handful of dill, spring onion or chard makes it closer to the mix of wild greens used in the valley.

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Maple syrup pie

Tarte au sirop d'érable closes many a family meal in Quebec at Easter and through the sugaring season, a cousin of the sugar pie made with real maple syrup. The filling of syrup, cream and egg bakes into a soft, trembling, caramel-brown layer that tastes deeply of maple. Slice it thin; it is rich. A spoonful of crème fraîche or plain whipped cream cuts the sweetness. A common mistake is skipping the blind bake, which leaves a soggy base. Chef's tip: take the pie out while the centre still wobbles like jelly; it sets as it cools and over-baking makes it weep.

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Ocho beniseed soup

Beniseed, the local name for sesame, grows widely in Benue, and the Idoma turn it into ocho: a creamy, nutty soup thickened with the ground seeds, cooked with beef, dried fish and green leaves. It has a gentle, toasty flavour and a slightly grainy, pleasant texture, and it is eaten with pounded yam, often at family gatherings and festive meals. Cooks vary the leaves; spinach or ugu are easy to find. Some families add palm oil and some leave it pale; this version uses a little. Chef's tip: toast the beniseed in a dry pan only until it smells nutty and turns light gold; the common mistake is letting it go brown, which makes the whole pot bitter.

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Nigerian sausage roll

Every Lagos bakery and supermarket counter has a tray of these, wrapped in paper and eaten mid-morning with a cold soft drink, at school break or on the way to work. The Nigerian sausage roll is made with seasoned minced beef rather than pork sausage meat, flavoured with onion, thyme, curry powder and a little chilli, and wrapped in a rich, short pastry that flakes rather than puffs. Children love them, and they freeze well before baking. The filling goes in raw, so bake until the meat reaches 71 °C in the centre. Chef's tip: keep the butter and water ice cold and stop mixing as soon as the dough comes together; warm, overworked pastry is the common mistake that bakes up tough.

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Lac-Saint-Jean blueberry pie

Around Lac-Saint-Jean in Quebec the low wild blueberries ripen in August, and the region is so proud of them that locals are nicknamed bleuets. Every church supper and roadside casse-croûte there sells a deep tarte aux bleuets with a flaky top crust and a dark, jammy filling that holds when sliced. Wild berries are smaller and more intense than cultivated ones and frozen wild berries work well. Serve slightly warm with vanilla ice cream or a jug of cream. A common mistake is skimping on the cornflour, which leaves a soupy filling. Chef's tip: let the pie cool for at least three hours so the juices set; cut it hot and the filling runs all over the plate.

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Ghana sugar bread

Bread vans, kiosks and hawkers balancing glass boxes on their heads sell sugar bread all over Ghana, from Accra lorry stations to small-town junctions. The crumb is soft, fine and slightly yellow from egg and butter, with a gentle sweetness and a hint of nutmeg, and it tears into fluffy strands. Ghanaians eat it with a mug of tea or cocoa drink, spread with groundnut paste, or wrapped around an omelette for a quick breakfast. Allow about two hours for the two rises. Chef's tip: the dough should stay soft and a little tacky after kneading; adding extra flour to make it easy to handle is the usual mistake, and it gives a dry, crumbly loaf.

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Hobotnica ispod pekeBell-roasted octopus and potatoes

Order octopus under the peka in a Dalmatian konoba on Korčula or Hvar and you will often be asked to ring ahead, because it cooks for hours under an iron bell buried in embers. Octopus, potatoes, onion, garlic, rosemary and lots of olive oil steam in their own juices, then crisp at the edges, so the octopus becomes tender and sweet and the potatoes soak up the pink, briny juices. At home, a heavy cast-iron casserole in a hot oven does the job; many cooks add a splash of white wine, but this version needs none. Bring it to the table in the pot with bread and a green salad. Adding water is the usual slip, as the octopus releases plenty of liquid and extra just boils it. Chef's tip: buy frozen octopus, or freeze fresh for a couple of days, as the freezing tenderises it; thaw it overnight in the fridge.

120 minBalkanFishGluten free
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Asaana (caramelised corn drink)

Chilled in plastic bottles and sold from cool boxes at lorry parks, schools and roadside stalls, asaana is one of the most loved soft drinks in Ghana. Maize is soaked, ground and left to sour for a day, then boiled and strained, and the pale liquid is coloured and sweetened with sugar caramelised almost to bitterness. The result is tangy, toasty and refreshing, a little like a light malt drink. Boiling after the souring stops the fermentation, so asaana is a non-alcoholic drink. It needs about two days of mostly hands-off waiting. Chef's tip: take the caramel to a deep mahogany colour before adding water; pale caramel is the usual mistake and gives a flat, sugary drink without the classic toasted edge.

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Maple cream

Crème d'érable is sold in little jars in every Quebec market from Jean-Talon to the Beauce farm stands, and despite the name there is no cream in it: pure maple syrup is boiled to the soft-ball stage, cooled without stirring and then beaten until it turns pale and creamy. It is spread on toast, crêpes and warm bagels. Patience and a thermometer are the whole trick. The common mistake is stirring the syrup while it cools, which sets off large grainy crystals instead of a smooth cream. Chef's tip: use a light, golden syrup; dark syrups taste stronger but can stay runny.

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Mbourake (peanut and date bread crumble)

Yesterday's baguette never goes to waste in a Senegalese kitchen during Ramadan. Mbourake turns it into a rich, crumbly sweet: the bread is dried, rubbed to crumbs and pounded with roasted peanut paste and sugar until it clumps, then mixed with chopped dates and pressed into balls or served loose in a bowl at the ndogu, the evening meal that breaks the fast. Some families use steamed millet instead of bread. It tastes like a cross between peanut cookie dough and a date bar, sweet, nutty and filling, and it is good with a glass of café Touba or milk. Chef's tip: dry the bread fully until it snaps; soft bread gives a gummy paste instead of a light crumble.

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Puffed wheat squares

Puffed wheat squares are the Prairie kids' party treat, made in Alberta and Saskatchewan kitchens for hockey bake sales and lunchboxes since the 1950s. Puffed wheat is stirred into a quick toffee of butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and cocoa, pressed into a pan and cut once set. They are chewy rather than crunchy and very hard to stop eating. A common mistake is boiling the syrup too long, which sets them rock hard; one minute of boiling is enough. Chef's tip: butter your hands, not just the pan, to press the mix down evenly.

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Ghanaian rock buns

Rock buns came to Ghana with colonial-era baking and never left: every neighbourhood bakery and many school canteens sell these rough, golden mounds, eaten with tea in the morning or with a soft drink after school. They are crisp on the craggy outside, soft and cakey inside, scented with nutmeg and studded with raisins. They take minutes to mix and are a good first bake for children. Chef's tip: keep the dough stiff and drop it in rough heaps without smoothing; too much milk is the common mistake, and the buns spread into flat cookies instead of rising into 'rocks'.

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Pumpkin millet porridge

Autumn in central Ukraine means piles of grey-skinned pumpkins in every yard, and the first thing many grandmothers make with them is this golden breakfast porridge. Diced pumpkin is simmered until it collapses, then millet and milk are added and the pot is left to cook down into something thick, creamy and faintly sweet, finished with butter and a spoon of honey. In villages around Cherkasy and Vinnytsia it was once baked for hours in the clay stove; a heavy pan on a low heat gives a very similar result. Serve it hot in deep bowls, with extra honey and a few raisins for children. The usual slip is skipping the rinse: millet carries a bitter dust, and only washing it in several changes of hot water takes it away. Chef's tip: choose a dense, deep-orange pumpkin such as butternut or a Ukrainian 'muscat' type; watery Halloween pumpkins make a thin, pale kasha.

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Hollandse nieuwe haringYoung herring with onion

Every June, the first barrel of Hollandse nieuwe, the new season's young herring, is auctioned in Scheveningen and the herring stalls of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague fly their flags: the fish is mild, fatty and lightly salted, sold cleaned with the tail on and eaten raw, either lowered head-back into the mouth by the tail or cut into pieces on a paper tray with chopped raw onion and gherkin. Dutch law requires the herring to be frozen first, which kills parasites; buy it ready-cleaned from a fishmonger. It is not cooked, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. A common mistake is keeping it at room temperature; serve it ice-cold. Chef's tip: eat it within a few hours of buying, on a cold plate, for the clean, sweet taste.

10 minDutchFishGluten free
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Ekwang with mushrooms

Rolling ekwang is a job for many hands: in the Southwest and around Douala, relatives sit together grating cocoyam and tucking it into leaves for a festive Sunday or a homecoming. The little green cigars are packed into a pot, drenched in red palm oil and left to simmer until the grated tuber binds into soft, almost creamy rolls in a rich, glossy sauce. Smoked fish and crayfish are the usual partners; this meat-free version gets its depth from fresh and dried mushrooms and a pinch of smoked paprika, so it suits vegetarian and vegan guests alike. Serve it on its own, scooping up the sauce, or with boiled plantain. Chef's tip: grate the cocoyam on the finest holes, almost to a purée, so the rolls hold together; coarse shreds stay separate and the pot turns grainy.

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Lakh (millet porridge with sweet curd)

Thick, warm millet porridge topped with cold, sweetened curd: lakh is a Senegalese pairing of contrasts that turns up at naming ceremonies, family gatherings and on Ramadan evenings in Dakar. The millet is rolled into tiny pellets and simmered until it sets like soft polenta, then a creamy sauce of soured milk, sugar and baobab powder is poured over, its tang lifted by vanilla or orange flower water. Each spoonful mixes chewy, nutty grains with something cool and lightly sour. Plain yoghurt mixed with a little cream stands in well for Senegalese soow; use pasteurised dairy and keep leftovers in the fridge. Don't pour the curd over hot porridge; let the lakh cool so the curd stays thick and fresh. Chef's tip: cool the porridge until just warm before adding the curd, so the sauce stays thick instead of thinning out.

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Ngalakh (millet in baobab-peanut cream)

Every Easter, Christian families in Dakar, Thiès and Ziguinchor make big pots of ngalakh and carry bowls of it to Muslim neighbours and friends, a gesture of sharing that many Senegalese treasure. Steamed millet pellets are folded into a thick, tangy cream of baobab pulp and peanut butter, scented with vanilla, orange flower water and nutmeg, and sometimes studded with raisins. It is served chilled, sweet and nutty with a citrus-like sourness from the baobab, and it keeps well for a couple of days. No dairy is used, so it is vegan. Chef's tip: use plain peanut butter with no added sugar or palm oil, and let the dessert rest in the fridge for a few hours, because the flavours only come together once the millet has drunk up some of the cream.

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Sombi (Senegalese coconut rice pudding)

Spooned warm from a pot at the Ramadan ndogu, the evening break of the fast, or eaten as a gentle supper on cool Dakar nights, sombi is the Senegalese take on rice pudding. Broken rice is simmered in water first, then in coconut milk and a little dairy milk until it turns soft and creamy, sweetened just enough and finished with vanilla and a pinch of nutmeg. The texture is looser than a baked rice pudding, almost porridge-like, with a clean coconut taste. Broken rice, sold as brisures in African shops, cooks fastest and gives the right silky feel. Avoid boiling hard once the coconut milk goes in, or it splits and turns greasy. Chef's tip: add the coconut milk only after the rice is half cooked in water, because grains boiled from raw in coconut milk stay hard and the fat can split.

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Chura gerte (Gambian rice and peanut porridge)

Groundnuts are The Gambia's great crop, and chura gerte, rice porridge cooked with ground roasted peanuts, is how many families in Banjul and Serekunda start the day. Broken rice is simmered until soft and creamy, then the peanut paste goes in with sugar, a pinch of salt and sometimes vanilla or nutmeg. It is thick, comforting and nutty, a bowl that keeps children going until lunch. Some households pour sour milk over the top; leave it out, as here, and the porridge is vegan. Avoid adding the peanut paste in one lump; whisk it in loosened with hot liquid or it clumps. Chef's tip: stir the peanut paste into the rice only once the grains are completely soft, because rice cooked in peanut from the start catches on the base and stays chalky.

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Domedo (Ghanaian spiced pork)

Domedo is pork: chunks of pork shoulder or belly rubbed with ginger, garlic, onion, cloves and chilli, simmered until tender, then roasted or fried until the edges turn crisp and caramelised. Around Accra it is a favourite at chop bars and roadside grills in the evening, wrapped in paper with raw onion, sliced tomato and a pile of fresh pepper, often alongside kenkey. The meat is juicy and spicy with a crackling, salty outside. Cooking it twice means the fat renders out and the chunks stay moist. Chef's tip: dry the boiled pork well before roasting and give the pieces space on the tray; crowding them is the usual mistake, and they steam instead of crisping.

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Imli aloo bukhara sharbatTamarind and plum cooler

Pakistani grandmothers prescribe this deep brown drink for heatstroke, an upset stomach and the sluggish days of Ramadan fasting in June, and it is sold in tall glasses at sehri and iftar stalls in Karachi, Hyderabad and Lahore. Tamarind and dried aloo bukhara plums are soaked, simmered, mashed and strained into a concentrate, which is then sweetened, seasoned with black salt and roasted cumin and served poured over ice. The flavour is fruity, tart and slightly smoky from the plums, with the savoury lift of the salt. The concentrate keeps for a week in the fridge, so a big batch lasts through a heatwave. The usual problem is skipping the straining step and serving it thick with fibres and seeds, which makes it more like a chutney than a drink. Chef's tip: let the plums soak in the hot liquid for an hour after simmering, so they give up all their sourness and colour before you strain them.

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Chopped liver

Chopped liver is the first course of many Friday-night dinners in Ashkenazi homes from Haifa to Petah Tikva, spread on challah before the soup, and Tel Aviv delis still sell it by weight on Thursdays. Chicken livers are cooked through in schmaltz with a mountain of slowly browned onion, then chopped with hard-boiled egg into a coarse, rich spread that is sweet from the onion and deeply savoury. It is served cool, with challah, crackers or rye bread and a pickled cucumber. People often undercook the livers to keep them soft, but for safety they must have no pink left inside; the onion and schmaltz keep the texture tender anyway. Chef's tip: pulse in short bursts or chop by hand; a smooth purée loses the rustic texture that makes this different from a French pâté.

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