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Saimin

Saimin was born in the sugar plantation camps of Hawaii, where Chinese, Japanese and Filipino workers shared pots and combined their noodle soups into one, and it is still sold everywhere from old Kauaʻi diners to the snack bars at Little League games. Springy wheat noodles sit in a clear dashi and shrimp broth, topped with sliced char siu (roast pork), pink fish cake, egg and spring onion. Chef's tip: cook the noodles separately and rinse them, so their starch doesn't cloud the clear broth.

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Sirene po shopski

Order 'cheese the Shop way' in a Sofia mehana and it arrives sizzling in its own little clay pot, the lid still on: cubes of white brined cheese softened in butter with tomato and roasted red pepper, an egg set on top and a chilli pepper standing upright in the middle. The cheese goes molten at the edges and salty-soft in the centre, the tomato juices bubble around it, and you mop it all up with warm bread. It is a classic of the Shop region around Sofia, eaten as a hot starter with a cold salad. Traditional sirene is made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian white cheese or a feta labelled vegetarian. The usual slip is cracking the egg in too early, which turns the yolk chalky; add it only for the last few minutes. Chef's tip: soak very salty cheese in cold water for 30 minutes first, or the dish will be too sharp to eat.

30 min

Bulgarian Vegetarian

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Napoleon cake

Legend links this cake to 1912, the centenary of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, when St Petersburg confectioners cut triangular pastries shaped like his hat. By Soviet times it had grown into the tall round cake every family baked for birthdays and New Year's Eve. Eight wafer-thin rounds of quick flaky pastry are stacked with vanilla custard enriched with butter, then left overnight so the layers soften into something between a mille-feuille and a tender sponge; crushed trimmings give the snowy finish. Where most people go wrong is serving it the same day; without the long rest in the fridge it is crisp and dry instead of melting. Chef's tip: roll each piece of pastry straight onto baking paper and trim it around a 24 cm plate before baking, so you never have to lift thin raw dough.

240 min

Russian Desserts

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Patatnik

Up in the Rhodope Mountains around Smolyan and Chepelare, where potatoes grow better than almost anything else, patatnik is the dish every mountain inn puts on its menu. Grated potato is salted and squeezed, mixed with onion, crumbled white cheese, egg and plenty of dried spearmint (dzhodzhen), then cooked slowly in a heavy pan like a thick cake and turned once. The outside is a crisp, golden crust, the inside soft, salty and herby. Eat it hot in wedges with a bowl of thick sheep's yogurt and a tomato salad. Sirene is often made with animal rennet, so use a white cheese labelled vegetarian. The classic error is turning the heat up to hurry it, which burns the crust while the middle stays raw; it needs a low flame and patience. Chef's tip: slide the cake onto a plate, cover with a second plate and flip, then slide it back into the pan with a little more butter.

60 min

Bulgarian Vegetarian

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Cheremsha salad

Late April in Novosibirsk and Tomsk brings bunches of cheremsha to every market stall and roadside bucket: the first green vitamins after a long Siberian winter. The broad leaves and juicy stems of wild garlic taste of sweet, mild garlic with a peppery bite, and Siberians eat them simply, chopped with salt and fragrant unrefined sunflower oil, beside boiled potatoes and black bread. Some cooks add chopped egg or sour cream; this vegan version sticks to oil, with cucumber for crunch. Forage only with someone who knows the plant, or buy it: wild garlic has poisonous lookalikes such as lily of the valley, and real leaves smell strongly of garlic when crushed. Where most people go wrong is dressing it too early, so the leaves wilt and weep. Chef's tip: salt the chopped stems first and rub them for a few seconds; it softens their bite and draws out juice that becomes part of the dressing.

15 min

Russian Salads

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Scrumbie la grătar

Every spring, when the shad swim up the Danube to spawn, the fish markets of Tulcea and Brăila fill with scrumbie, and the smell of it grilling drifts across the riverside terraces through April and May. The fish is oily and full of flavour, so it needs nothing more than salt, a hot grill and a bowl of mujdei, the raw garlic sauce, with soft mămăligă to calm the heat of the garlic. Shad has many fine bones; diners eat it slowly, lifting the flesh off in strips. If you cannot find shad, herring or mackerel are the closest substitutes. The usual slip is turning the fish too early, so the skin tears; wait until it lifts on its own. Chef's tip: slash the sides of the fish every 1.5 cm right down to the bone; the heat gets in and the tiny bones soften.

35 min

Romanian Fish

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Andijviestamppot

Stamppot, mashed potato stirred with vegetables, is the Dutch winter dinner, and the endive version is a little lighter: raw, finely shredded curly endive is stirred into piping-hot mash, so it wilts slightly but keeps a fresh, bitter crunch, then cubes of aged Gouda are folded in and start to melt. Dutch families eat it with gravy and a smoked sausage; this vegetarian version uses a pool of brown butter. Aged Gouda is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian aged Gouda-style cheese. A common mistake is cooking the endive, which turns it soggy and grey. Chef's tip: stir the endive in off the heat at the very last moment.

30 min

Dutch Vegetarian

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Nasi rames

Nasi rames is a whole Indonesian rijsttafel on one plate, and it is a fixture of Indonesian takeaways (toko) in The Hague and Amsterdam, a legacy of the Indo-Dutch families who came to the Netherlands after 1945: a mound of rice surrounded by small portions of several dishes, such as sweet soy tempeh, vegetables in coconut, a boiled egg in sambal, serundeng and prawn crackers. This version is vegetarian. A common mistake is serving everything at the same temperature from one pan; the point is many small contrasting dishes. Chef's tip: make the serundeng and atjar a day ahead and the plate comes together in 40 minutes. Prawn crackers contain shellfish, so use cassava crackers for a vegetarian plate.

80 min

Dutch Rice & Grains

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Tsatsa

Beach kiosks from Varna to Sozopol sell tsatsa by the paper cone all summer: handfuls of tiny sprats fried so crisp that you eat them head, bones and all, with a squeeze of lemon and a cold glass of ayran. They taste sweet and briny and crunch like the best chips. At home, serve them with lemon wedges, a tomato and cucumber salad and bread. Buy fish that smell of the sea, with bright eyes and firm bodies; frozen sprats work once thawed in the fridge. Where most people go wrong is frying too many at once: the oil cools, the fish stick together and turn greasy. Chef's tip: shake the floured sprats in a sieve before they go in, so only a thin film of flour clings and they fry up lacy and light.

20 min

Bulgarian Fish

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Kajmak

At the Zlatibor and Čačak markets, women sell kajmak from wide tubs, cut in soft ivory folds that taste of cooked milk, butter and a little salt. It is made by slowly heating rich milk, letting it settle in shallow pans and lifting off the thick skin that forms as it cools, then layering those skins with salt. This home version uses pasteurised milk and cream and stays in the fridge throughout; the long-aged, raw-milk kajmak of the villages is not something to copy at home. Spread it on warm lepinja or proja, or stir it into hot potatoes. A common mistake is letting the milk boil: the bubbles tear the skin and you end up with flecks instead of a thick sheet. Chef's tip: keep the skimmed milk left underneath for porridge, proja or pancakes; nothing goes to waste.

1440 minBalkan Basics

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Popara

Ask Bulgarians about popara and most will smile about childhood: a bowl of yesterday's bread torn into chunks, scalded with hot milk or sweet tea, then stirred with a knob of butter and a handful of crumbled white cheese. It is what grandmothers in villages from the Balkan Mountains to Sofia made on cold mornings, and what students still cook when the cupboard is empty. Soft, warm, salty and comforting, it should be spoonable but not a soup. Some families make it sweet with sugar instead of cheese. Bulgarian sirene is usually made with animal rennet, so pick a white cheese labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. Where most people go wrong is using soft fresh bread, which dissolves into paste; it must be properly stale and dry. Chef's tip: cover the bowl with a plate for two minutes after pouring the milk, so the bread swells evenly before you stir in the butter.

10 min

Bulgarian Breakfast & Brunch

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Tutmanik

Weddings, christenings and long Sunday lunches in western Bulgaria often begin with a tutmanik on the table, still warm and torn by hand rather than sliced. The yeast dough is enriched with yogurt, eggs and oil, rolled, scattered with crumbled white cheese, folded and baked until it rises tall and golden, with salty pockets of melted cheese running all through the soft crumb. Eat it with a glass of ayran or a bowl of tarator in summer. Sirene is often made with animal rennet, so use a white cheese labelled vegetarian. A common mistake is adding too much flour to a sticky dough; it should stay soft and slightly tacky, or the bread bakes dense. Chef's tip: brush the top with yolk mixed with a spoon of yogurt rather than milk, for the deep, glossy crust Bulgarian bakers aim for.

90 min

Bulgarian Breads & Parathas

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Tsarska turshiya

Every autumn Bulgarian balconies fill with jars of turshiya, and the 'royal' one is the prettiest and the most loved: crisp cauliflower florets, carrot rounds, strips of red and green pepper and celery, steeped in a sweet-sour marinade with oil, garlic and peppercorns. It is served with hearty winter stews, with beans and with a glass of something cold at the table in the evening. This version is a fridge pickle, ready in three days and kept chilled, so it needs no sterilising bath. The mistake people make is overcooking the vegetables in the marinade; they should just lose their raw edge and still snap when you bite them. Chef's tip: pack the jars in colour layers, white, orange, red, green, and pour the marinade over while it is hot so the vegetables stay crunchy.

60 min

Bulgarian Chutneys & Dips

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Katino meze

Every Bulgarian mehana, the wood-panelled tavern, has Katino meze on the menu, sizzling in a small clay dish next to a shopska salad, and it is quick enough for a weeknight at home. Thin strips of pork loin are seared, then tossed with mushrooms, onion and pickled gherkin, deglazed with dry white wine and finished with cream, black pepper and a pinch of hot chilli. For an alcohol-free sauce, swap the wine for the same amount of vegetable stock with a teaspoon of white wine vinegar or a splash of white grape juice. Serve with crusty bread or chips. A common mistake is crowding the pan: the pork stews grey instead of browning, so sear it in two batches. Chef's tip: cut the pork across the grain into finger-thin strips while it is half-frozen; it slices neatly and stays tender.

35 min

Bulgarian Meat

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Drob sarma

Gergyovden, St George's Day on 6 May, is the great shepherds' feast in Bulgaria, when families roast spring lamb and make sure nothing goes to waste: the liver and heart go into drob sarma, baked alongside the roast and often eaten first. The offal is blanched, chopped small and fried with plenty of spring onion, then baked with rice in stock with dried mint and paprika until the grains are plump; a topping of yogurt beaten with eggs sets into a soft, golden, faintly tangy custard. Serve hot with a lettuce and radish salad. Liver is very high in vitamin A, so pregnant women are usually advised to avoid it. Where most people go wrong is over-frying the liver, which turns it grainy; it only needs to lose its pink before it goes into the oven to finish cooking. Chef's tip: beat thick, full-fat yogurt with the eggs until completely smooth, so the topping puffs evenly.

90 min

Bulgarian Meat

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Stonski kolač

Behind the long stone walls of Ston, on the Pelješac peninsula near Dubrovnik in Croatia, bakers make one of the strangest cakes on the Adriatic: a pastry case filled with short pieces of cooked pasta, ground walnuts, chocolate, cinnamon and citrus zest, all bound with eggs and sugar. It is served on feast days and at weddings, cut into dense, fragrant slices where the pasta gives a soft, chewy bite against the nutty filling. Many families add a splash of rum to the filling; this recipe is alcohol-free, and adults can add 2 tbsp of rum with the zest if they like. A common mistake is cutting the cake while warm, when the filling is still too soft to hold; leave it to cool completely. Chef's tip: undercook the pasta by a minute, because it keeps softening in the oven.

120 minBalkan Baking

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Salted saffron milk caps

Northern Russians rank ryzhiki, the orange saffron milk caps of the pine woods, above almost every other mushroom, and salted ones from around Arkhangelsk once travelled to the tsar's table. Salted, they keep their bright colour, turn firm and juicy with a clean, resinous taste, and are served with thin onion rings, sunflower oil and hot boiled potatoes; for non-vegans a spoon of sour cream is classic. Old cellars dry-salted them raw for months; this safer fridge version blanches the caps briefly and keeps them in a measured brine in the fridge, ready in about a week. Only use mushrooms identified by an experienced forager or bought from a trusted seller. Where most people go wrong is guessing the salt; too little lets spoilage start, so weigh it. Chef's tip: the caps bruise green where handled, which is normal, so don't worry when the edges darken.

30 min

Russian Basics

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Purica s mlincima

Up in Zagorje, the green hill country north of Zagreb in Croatia, this is the Sunday and Christmas roast: turkey roasted slowly and basted until the skin is crackling-brown, then served with mlinci, thin dried flatbreads broken into pieces, scalded and tossed in the roasting juices until they turn soft, chewy and glossy like rustic pasta. Serve it with a sharp cabbage or green salad. Where most people go wrong is soaking the mlinci too long, so they turn to porridge; one minute in hot water is enough. Chef's tip: bake the mlinci yourself the day before, but if you are short of time, good dried shop mlinci work beautifully.

180 minBalkan Chicken

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Filets de perche

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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