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Parwal ki mithai
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Parwal ki mithai

Stuffed candied pointed gourd

Parwal ki mithai surprises anyone who knows pointed gourd only as a curry vegetable: in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh sweet makers peel the gourds, candy them in syrup until translucent, then fill them with sweetened mawa and nuts. They sit in shop windows at Diwali, Chhath and weddings, often glinting with silver leaf. The common mistake is undercooking the gourds before candying, which leaves them crunchy and vegetal; blanch until a knife slides in easily. Silver leaf (vark) is optional; choose one certified vegetarian. Chef's tip: scrape out every seed carefully, because even a few hard seeds spoil the soft bite.

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Sri Lankan vegetable roti

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Pickled green tomatoes

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Aab goshtMutton in spiced milk

Pale, gentle and fragrant with green cardamom, aab gosht is the Kashmiri kitchen's answer to anyone who thinks the cuisine is all chilli. Mutton on the bone is first boiled with whole spices, then finished in reduced milk with fennel and dry ginger until the sauce turns ivory and thick, almost like a savoury kheer. It is a wazwan dish and a family favourite for Sunday lunch among Kashmiri households in Muzaffarabad and Lahore, eaten over plain rice with a sharp green chutney on the side for contrast. Boiling the milk hard is what ruins it, since it catches on the base and leaves a scorched taste through the whole pot. Chef's tip: reduce the milk in a separate wide pan while the meat cooks, then combine them; it thickens faster and is far less likely to burn.

100 minPakistaniMeatGluten free
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Kaha bathTurmeric coconut rice

Burgher Sunday lunches, Christmas tables and Colombo wedding buffets share one thing: a heap of fragrant, saffron-coloured kaha bath, the yellow rice that also forms the base of lamprais. Long-grain or samba rice is fried with onion, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and curry leaves, then cooked in coconut milk with turmeric, lemongrass and pandan until every grain is separate, glossy and perfumed. It is served with chicken or beef curry, brinjal moju and a sharp achcharu, and is often scattered with fried cashews and raisins. Burgher cooks usually use ghee or butter and chicken stock; this version is vegan, with coconut oil and coconut milk carrying the richness. Lifting the lid to stir while it cooks is the slip that turns it mushy, so seal the pot and leave it alone. Chef's tip: rinse the rice until the water runs clear and drain it well; dry grains toast better in the oil and stay fluffy.

40 minSri LankanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Chanterelles in cream

From July, roadside sellers along the lake roads of Masuria hold up baskets of golden chanterelles, and holidaymakers in Mrągowo and Giżycko cook them the same evening. The mushrooms are fried with onion until their juices cook away, then bathed in sour cream and dill, giving a sauce that is peppery, faintly apricot-scented and very rich. Spoon it over new potatoes, buckwheat or a thick slice of toast. Where most people go wrong is washing chanterelles under the tap, so they boil in their own water and turn rubbery. Only eat wild mushrooms you have bought from a trusted seller or that an expert has identified. Chef's tip: brush the mushrooms clean, tear large ones and cook them in a hot, wide pan so they sear rather than stew.

25 minPolishVegetarianGluten free
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Tlitli (Algerian rice-shaped pasta with chicken)

Tlitli is a tiny pasta shaped like grains of rice, once rolled by hand and now sold dried, and in Algiers and Constantine it is cooked for family feasts such as Ennayer, the Amazigh New Year, or the return of a pilgrim. The pasta soaks up a red sauce of chicken, onion, tomato, paprika, cinnamon and chickpeas, and is piled on a platter with the chicken and halved boiled eggs on top. Expect a cosy, gently spiced dish, a bit like a red risotto, with soft pasta and tender chicken. Orzo is a good stand-in if you cannot find tlitli. Chef's tip: toast the pasta in oil before adding sauce; untoasted tlitli tends to clump and turn mushy, a common mistake.

75 minAlgerianPasta & Noodles
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Christmas mushroom soup

In many Polish homes the Christmas Eve supper opens with either beetroot barszcz or this soup, and families argue about which is better. Dried porcini picked and threaded on strings in September are soaked and simmered with root vegetables into a clear, deep-brown broth with a smoky, almost meaty depth, then served with thin noodles or łazanki. It is fully meat-free, as Wigilia tradition requires, and kept dairy-free here. A common mistake is pouring the soaking water in with its grit; let it settle and leave the last spoonfuls behind. Chef's tip: soak the mushrooms overnight in cold water and cook them in that water for the most flavour.

90 minPolishSoupsVegan
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Cabbage with peas

Of the twelve dishes on a Polish Christmas Eve table, this is the humblest and often the one people go back to for seconds. Sour, tangy sauerkraut is braised slowly with yellow split peas until the peas collapse into a soft, savoury mash that binds the cabbage, with dried mushrooms and golden onion for depth. Serve it warm next to pierogi or potatoes, and know that it tastes even better reheated the next day. The usual slip is adding salt before the peas are cooked, which keeps them hard; season only at the end, as the sauerkraut is salty anyway. Chef's tip: if your sauerkraut is very sour, rinse it once and squeeze it, keeping a little juice to adjust the sharpness later.

90 minPolishVegetarianVeganGluten free
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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 minPolishSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Sfiria (cheese croquettes in chicken sauce)

Sfiria belongs to the old bourgeois cooking of Algiers, served on Ramadan evenings and at family celebrations: little croquettes of soaked bread, grated cheese and egg, scented with cinnamon, are fried golden and then laid in a pale chicken and chickpea sauce flavoured with cinnamon and white pepper. The croquettes are light and spongy, soaking up just enough sauce to be juicy, and the dish tastes delicate and faintly sweet. Day-old white bread without crusts gives the best texture. Chef's tip: add the croquettes to the sauce only at the last minute; leaving them to simmer is the common mistake, and they swell, go soggy and fall apart.

80 minAlgerianChicken
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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 minPolishMeatGluten free
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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 minPolishFish
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Smoked eel

Fish smokehouses dot the shores of the Great Masurian Lakes, and an eel hot-smoked over alder, golden-skinned and glistening, is the prize of any summer trip to Węgorzewo or Ruciane-Nida. The flesh is rich, soft and smoky-sweet, and it is eaten cold on rye bread with grated horseradish and a squeeze of lemon. European wild eel is endangered, so buy farmed eel from a responsible fishmonger, ready gutted. This is a fully hot-smoked version: the fish is brined in the fridge and cooked through in the smoker. Smoked fish can carry listeria if it is not cooked through or kept cold, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system unless reheated until steaming. Many home smokers run the heat too low throughout, which leaves the eel smoky but undercooked. Chef's tip: ready hot-smoked eel from a lakeside smokehouse is the easy route; just serve it well chilled with the same garnishes.

240 minPolishFishGluten free
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Fried Christmas carp

For many Polish families, Wigilia, the meatless Christmas Eve supper, is not complete without fried carp, bought live from market tanks in mid-December or, more often today, cleaned and cut into steaks at the fishmonger. The steaks are salted, floured and fried until the skin crisps and the white flesh turns sweet and juicy. Serve with boiled potatoes, sauerkraut with peas, or simply bread and a lemon wedge, after the beetroot barszcz. Keeping a scale from the Christmas carp in your wallet is said to bring money all year. Carp has a reputation for tasting muddy, and the usual culprit is skipping the salting and resting time. Ask the fishmonger to score the steaks finely so the small Y-shaped bones soften as they fry. Chef's tip: salt the steaks and leave them in the fridge for 20 minutes, then pat completely dry; the flesh firms up and the flour clings in a thin, even crust.

40 minPolishFish
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Easter pâté

A thick slice of homemade pasztet belongs on the Easter breakfast table after the blessing of the food basket, next to ham, eggs, ćwikła and white sausage. This baked loaf combines pork shoulder, chicken thighs and pork liver, simmered with root vegetables and allspice, minced twice and baked until firm, so it slices cleanly yet stays moist and spreadable. Marjoram and nutmeg give it the classic Polish flavour; serve it cold with horseradish, beetroot relish and pickles. Overbaking dries it out, but underbaking is the bigger risk with poultry and liver, so always check the centre with a thermometer. Bake it two days ahead: it needs to chill overnight to set, and it keeps for five days in the fridge. Chef's tip: save the cooking stock and add it a ladle at a time as you mix; the mixture should be as soft as thick porridge, which keeps the finished loaf juicy.

180 minPolishMeat
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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.

50 minUkrainianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Bajan coconut turnovers

Glass cases in Bridgetown bakeries hold rows of turnovers, soft golden half-moons of sweet yeasted dough with a sticky filling of grated coconut, brown sugar, almond essence and spice peeking out at the edges, often tinted red. Bajans eat them mid-morning with a mug of cocoa or a cold sweet drink. The mistake is overfilling, which bursts the seams in the oven; leave a clear border to seal. Chef's tip: cook the coconut filling until almost dry and cool it fully before using, as warm wet filling makes the dough soggy.

60 minBajanBaking
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Chorba beida (Algerian white chicken soup)

Unlike the red chorba of the rest of the country, the 'white' chorba of Algiers has no tomato at all: chicken, onion and a cinnamon stick are cooked gently in butter, simmered with chickpeas and fine vermicelli, then thickened at the end with egg yolks and lemon. It is a classic of Ramadan tables in the capital, and is also cooked for guests at weddings and family gatherings. The soup is silky and pale gold, mild and comforting, with a soft lemony tang. Serve it with bread and a squeeze of extra lemon. Chef's tip: once the egg yolks are in, never let the soup boil; boiling is the common mistake that curdles it into scrambled threads.

60 minAlgerianSoups
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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 minRussianDesserts
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CervelatGrilled sausage

The cervelat, a short, fat, smoked sausage of beef and pork, is called Switzerland's national sausage, and it is what every Swiss child grills on a stick over a campfire on 1 August, National Day, on school trips and on mountain hikes: the ends are cut into a cross so they curl open like a flower as they cook, and it is eaten with bread and mustard. This sausage contains pork. Cervelat is bought ready-cooked and smoked; grilling heats it through and crisps it. A common mistake is grilling over flames, which burns the skin black before the inside is hot. Chef's tip: grill over glowing embers and turn often until the scored ends open out; heat until piping hot, 71 °C.

15 minSwissMeat
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Blini

Maslenitsa, the week of butter before Lent, is when Russia makes blini by the stack: thin, lacy, slightly sour pancakes raised with yeast and fried one after another in a hot pan, each brushed with melted butter. Old Moscow recipes used buckwheat, and a share of it here gives a nutty, earthy flavour and a speckled grey-gold colour. Eat them folded into quarters with sour cream, jam, honey or condensed milk; red caviar is the festive classic, but this version stays vegetarian. The usual slip is a pan that is not hot enough, which makes thick, pale blini that stick; the first one is always a test. A splash of boiling water whisked in at the end gives the lacy holes. Chef's tip: stack the blini on a plate and cover with a bowl as you go; the steam keeps them soft and supple.

120 minRussianBreakfast & Brunch
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Kissel

Kissel is the drink of Russian childhoods: a glass of silky, ruby-red berry juice, just thick enough to coat the tongue, poured warm at kindergarten lunch or cold in summer from a jug on the dacha veranda. It is also the old Maslenitsa and wake-table drink, and frozen berries make it possible all year. The flavour is sweet-sharp and fresh, the texture smooth and slightly jelly-like. A common mistake is adding the starch mixture to boiling liquid and letting it bubble for minutes; bring it just back to a simmer, then take it off, or it thins out again and can turn gluey. More starch makes a spoonable dessert kissel. Chef's tip: lay cling film or sprinkle a little sugar on the surface as it cools to stop a skin forming.

20 minRussianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Mors

Northern Russia picks cranberries and lingonberries from the bogs in autumn, and many of them end up as mors, a tart, crimson drink served from a jug at family dinners and offered in cafes and canteens from Arkhangelsk to Siberia. Unlike kissel it is thin and refreshing, made by pressing out the raw berry juice, cooking the skins in water and then combining the two so the fresh vitamin-rich juice is never boiled. Honey goes in last, once the liquid has cooled a little, to keep its flavour. Where most people go wrong is boiling the pressed juice along with the pulp; keep it aside until the end. Honey is not for babies under one year old. Chef's tip: serve it cold with ice in summer or warmed gently in winter; it is good both ways.

20 minRussianDrinksGluten free
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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 minRussianBasicsVeganGluten free
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Mushroom julienne

Restaurants in Moscow took the French word for thin strips and gave it to a hot starter: mushrooms and onion in sour cream, baked bubbling under melted cheese in little metal cocottes with a handle. It became a fixture of New Year and birthday tables, served after the cold zakuski and before the main course, with a teaspoon and a slice of bread. The sauce is creamy and savoury, the top blistered and golden. Use mushrooms you can cut into neat strips; button or chestnut mushrooms work, and a handful of wild ones adds depth. The usual slip is crowding the pan so the mushrooms stew; fry them in a hot pan until their liquid has gone. Many hard cheeses are made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian hard cheese. Chef's tip: no cocottes? Bake it in ramekins or hollowed-out bread rolls.

35 minRussianSnacks & Starters
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Djelbana (Algerian lamb and pea stew)

Spring markets in Algiers fill with sacks of fresh peas and violet artichokes, and that is the moment for djelbana, a light, pale stew of lamb, peas, artichoke hearts and potatoes cooked with onion, garlic and a little turmeric, finished with fresh coriander. Families serve it at lunch with plenty of bread to soak up the sauce; on meat-free days it is made the same way without the lamb. It tastes fresh, sweet and gently peppery rather than heavily spiced. Frozen peas and artichoke hearts are fine out of season. Chef's tip: add the peas only for the last 10 minutes; peas put in with the meat are the usual mistake and turn grey and mushy.

90 minAlgerianCurries
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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 minGeorgianDrinksVeganGluten free
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KahiFlaky pastry with date syrup

Kahi is what Baghdadi families in Ramat Gan and Or Yehuda make on Shavuot and festival mornings: squares of dough folded with butter into many layers, baked until flaky, then doused with silan (date syrup) or sugar and eaten with tea or a little yogurt. Outside it shatters; inside the layers stay soft and buttery. The common mistake is letting the butter melt into the dough while folding, which leaves you with a flat, bready square. Chef's tip: chill the folded dough for 20 minutes between rolls if your kitchen is warm, and bake in a really hot oven so the layers puff.

60 minIsraeliBreakfast & Brunch
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Ayamase (ofada green pepper stew)

Ofada rice, the short, fragrant local rice from Ogun State, is almost always served in Lagos with ayamase, a stew so green and so hot it is sometimes called designer stew. Green bell peppers and green scotch bonnets are blended coarse, dried out in the pot, then fried in palm oil that has been bleached clear, with plenty of iru for a deep, funky savouriness. Assorted meat (beef, tripe and cow skin) and boiled eggs are folded in. Watery pepper is the mistake that makes it taste sour and raw, so boil the blended pepper dry before it meets the oil. Chef's tip: bleaching palm oil makes heavy smoke; open the windows, keep the lid nearby and never leave the pot.

120 minNigerianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Molasses with tahini

Upper Egypt grows the country's sugarcane, and its dark molasses, asal eswed or black honey, has found its way onto breakfast and supper tables from Aswan to Alexandria. Spooned over tahini and swirled together, it becomes a glossy, bittersweet, nutty dip that children love and grown-ups eat after a light evening meal, scooped up with warm aish baladi or fino. Many families eat it in winter, when they want something warming and filling. A frequent slip is stirring the molasses and tahini together completely; leave them swirled so each bite gets both. Chef's tip: stir the tahini jar thoroughly first; the thick paste at the bottom and the oil on top must be mixed, or the dip comes out stiff and dry.

5 minEgyptianBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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Kadala thel dalaStir-fried chickpeas

As the sun goes down over the sea at Galle Face Green in Colombo, vendors with glass-sided carts scoop warm kadala into cones twisted from old newspaper, and the same snack appears at temple festivals, perahera nights and every Avurudu gathering. Boiled chickpeas are tossed in coconut oil with mustard seeds, red onion, curry leaves, dried chilli and a handful of freshly grated coconut, so they are nutty, salty and gently hot, with a soft bite. Some vendors stir in Maldive fish; this version is vegan. Tinned chickpeas make it a ten-minute job, though home-boiled dried ones have a firmer, nuttier texture. Wet chickpeas are the problem to avoid, as they spit in the oil and the spices slide off; drain and pat them dry. Chef's tip: let the onion and curry leaves fry until the edges just begin to brown before the chickpeas go in; that toasty flavour is what makes street kadala so addictive.

20 minSri LankanSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Mimosa salad

Named for the fluffy yellow mimosa flowers sold on every Moscow street corner for Women's Day on 8 March, this Soviet-era party salad is crowned with a snowfall of grated egg yolk. Underneath are layers of tinned salmon or saury, potato, carrot, onion and egg white, each with a little mayonnaise, so a spoonful is soft, rich and gently fishy. It is made ahead for birthdays and holidays and served chilled. Use shop-bought mayonnaise, which is made with pasteurised egg. A common mistake is mashing the fish with all its oil, which makes the bottom layer soggy. Chef's tip: grate the yolk straight over the salad at the very end, on the finest side of the grater, for the fluffiest flowers.

60 minRussianSaladsGluten free
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Red caviar butterbrods

When the Soviet festive table had one luxury, this was it: little slices of white bread, thick with cold butter and topped with glistening orange salmon roe, set out for New Year's Eve, birthdays and the first course of a wedding. The pleasure is in the textures, the bead-like eggs bursting with a salty sea taste against sweet butter and soft bread. Salmon roe is salted and cured, not cooked: buy pasteurised roe in a chilled jar or tin from a good fishmonger, keep it in the fridge and eat it the day it is opened; it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. A common mistake is spreading the butter thin; you need a proper layer to anchor the roe. Chef's tip: spoon the roe with a plastic or bone spoon rather than metal, and add it at the last minute so it stays plump.

10 minRussianSnacks & Starters
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Rouz jerbi (Djerban steamed rice)

Djerba islanders cook rice the way the rest of Tunisia cooks couscous, in the top of a couscoussier: raw rice is mixed with small pieces of lamb, chopped spinach, a mound of herbs, chickpeas, tomato paste, harissa and spices, then steamed over boiling water until every grain is tender and stained red-gold. Rouz jerbi is a Friday and family-gathering dish on the island, served from one large platter. The rice stays separate and fluffy, the greens melt in, and the lamb picks up the scent of mint and tabil. Chef's tip: stir the rice from the bottom every 20 minutes; leaving it untouched is a common mistake, as the bottom turns soggy while the top stays hard.

100 minTunisianRice & Grains
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Chorbet hout (Sfax fish soup)

Along the coast around Sfax, a bowl of chorbet hout often opens the meal at Ramadan iftar, after dates and water: a red, peppery broth of tomato, harissa and caraway, thick with tiny bird's-tongue pasta and flakes of white fish, finished with a squeeze of lemon. Grouper, sea bream or mullet are the local choices, and any firm white fish works. The soup is warming and spicy with a fresh lift from parsley and celery, and goes well with bread and a brik. Chef's tip: poach the fish briefly, lift it out and only return the flakes at the end; leaving it to boil with the pasta is the common mistake, and it breaks into threads.

50 minTunisianSoupsSpicy
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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 minJamaicanDrinksGluten free
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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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