Featured recipe

Malakofftorte

No-bake sponge finger torte

Malakofftorte is the cake Viennese families put together for name days and summer parties, because the oven stays off. Sponge fingers are dipped in milk and layered with a rich almond cream made from butter, cooked vanilla custard and whipped cream, then chilled until it slices like a soft mousse cake. In many Austrian homes the soaking milk is laced with rum or almond liqueur; this version is alcohol-free and uses vanilla milk, and you can add 2 tbsp dark rum to the milk if you want the traditional taste. A common mistake is soaking the biscuits too long, so they go soggy and the layers collapse; one quick dip is enough. Chef's tip: make it the day before; it needs at least 6 hours to set and tastes best the next day.

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Jamaican plantain tartsSpiced plantain turnovers

Bakeries across Jamaica sell plantain tarts in the glass case beside gizzada and bulla, each a half-moon of short pastry with a sticky, spiced ripe plantain filling and a pink-red rim from a dab of food colouring in the crimped edge. They are eaten as an afternoon snack with a cold drink or a cup of cocoa tea. People often use plantains that are only half ripe, and the filling never turns jammy; you want skins that are mostly black. The red edge is traditional but optional. Chef's tip: cook the filling until it is thick enough to hold a trail when you drag a spoon through it, or it will leak in the oven.

70 min

Jamaican Baking

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Abenkwan (palm nut soup with goat)

Sunday lunch in Kumasi often means a deep bowl of abenkwan, the brick-red palm-nut soup that chop bars serve all week with pounded fufu. Goat is first steamed in its own juices with onion and ginger, then simmered with garden eggs, tomatoes and pepper that are blended back in, and finally with the rich cream of palm fruit until a layer of orange oil floats on top. Smoked fish adds a savoury, smoky edge. The soup is thick, slightly sweet, earthy and peppery. Canned palm nut cream, sold in African shops, saves hours of pounding fresh fruit; small white aubergines can replace garden eggs. Chef's tip: simmer until the palm oil rises and collects on the surface; serving it earlier is the most common mistake and leaves the soup tasting raw and heavy.

130 min

Ghanaian Meat

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Singapore breakfast fried bee hoon

Before office hours in Toa Payoh or Ang Mo Kio, the economy-rice stalls already have a steel tray of pale-brown fried bee hoon on the counter, and people point at it, then add a side or two from the trays beside it: a fried egg, fried tofu, braised cabbage, a curry potato. The noodles themselves are kept deliberately simple, springy and lightly savoury from soy sauce, threaded with cabbage, carrot and crunchy bean sprouts, then finished with a spoon of sambal chilli. Because it is plain, every strand needs to be seasoned evenly and still separate. The usual mistake is over-soaking the vermicelli, which then clumps and breaks in the wok; soak it only until bendy. Chef's tip: toss the noodles with tongs or chopsticks in a lifting motion rather than stirring with a spatula, so the soy coats every strand without breaking it.

25 min

Singaporean Pasta & Noodles

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Salt and pepper squid

Late at night in Temple Street, or at a seafood restaurant on Lamma Island after a ferry ride, someone at the table always orders the jiu yim squid: tender pieces under a thin, shattering coat, wok-tossed with a heap of fried garlic, chilli and spring onion and showered with a peppery spiced salt. It is crunchy, salty and a little fiery, ideal with a cold soft drink or as one of several dishes with rice. Squid cooks in seconds. The most frequent mistake is crowding the oil, which drops its temperature so the coating turns soggy and the squid goes rubbery while you wait; fry in small batches. Chef's tip: score the inside of the squid in a criss-cross pattern so it curls up and catches more of the salt.

25 min

Hong Kong Fish

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Sharmout (Sudanese dried beef, oven method)

Across Darfur and Kordofan, and in kitchens throughout Sudan around Eid al-Adha, strips of lean beef are salted and hung to dry in the hot, dry air for several days until they turn hard and dark. That sharmout is then pounded and fried with onion to give tagalia, kawal and other stews their rich, savoury depth. Air-drying raw meat at home is risky, so this safer version heats the strips to 71 °C first and then dries them slowly in a low oven, and the finished sharmout is kept in the fridge. The traditional raw air-dried version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Leaving fat on the strips is the usual mistake: fat does not dry and turns rancid, so trim every bit. Chef's tip: partly freeze the beef so you can slice it into even 5 mm strips along the grain.

330 min

Sudanese Basics

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Malian tô (millet swallow)

Across Mali, from Bamako courtyards to villages along the Niger, the evening meal very often means tô: a firm, smooth paste of millet or sorghum flour, beaten in a pot over the fire until it holds its shape. It is the plain, filling partner to slippery sauces of okra or baobab leaf (lalo), torn off with the right hand and dipped. Tô has a mild, slightly sour grain taste and a texture like firm polenta. A little tamarind water or lime helps it set and keeps it from tasting flat. Chef's tip: add the flour to the porridge in several small batches and beat hard after each one; dumping it all in at once is the classic mistake, and it leaves dry lumps that never smooth out.

30 minAfrican Basics

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Jamaican Easter bunSpiced Easter loaf

Every Good Friday, Jamaicans from Kingston to London buy or bake a dark, glossy spiced bun to slice and eat with processed cheese, a tradition that grew out of the British hot cross bun. This quick-bread version is moist and dense with dried fruit, molasses and warm spice; it traditionally uses stout, which contains alcohol, so for an alcohol-free bun use the same amount of malt drink. The commonest mistake is slicing the bun warm, when it is still sticky and crumbles; it needs a day to firm and mellow. Chef's tip: brush the hot loaf with a honey or sugar syrup glaze straight from the oven for the shiny top.

90 min

Jamaican Baking

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Jamaican fish teaPeppery fish broth

Fish tea is what Jamaicans along the coast from Kingston to Old Harbour sip from a cup when they feel run down, and it is ladled out at beach fish shacks and dances to steady late-night appetites. It is a thin, peppery broth made from fish heads and bones or cheap small fish, with green banana, pumpkin, thyme and a hint of scotch bonnet, light but full of flavour. The mistake to avoid is boiling it hard for a long time, which makes it cloudy and bitter; simmer gently and strain. Chef's tip: mash a few pieces of the soft pumpkin into the broth for body without any flour.

60 min

Jamaican Soups

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Bajan pumpkin fritters

Barbadian grandmothers turn leftover boiled pumpkin into these little fritters for Sunday tea, frying spoonfuls of a soft, spiced batter until puffed and golden, then rolling them in sugar while still hot. Inside they are tender and custardy, with cinnamon, nutmeg and a hint of vanilla. They're best eaten warm, straight from the paper towel. The common mistake is a watery batter from wet pumpkin, which makes flat, greasy fritters: drain the cooked pumpkin well. Chef's tip: use the dense, orange West Indian pumpkin or butternut squash; watery jack-o'-lantern pumpkins don't work well.

30 min

Bajan Snacks & Starters

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Nyambeh nyebbeh (cassava and beans in palm oil)

Bright with red palm oil, nyambeh nyebbeh, cassava (nyambeh) and beans (nyebbeh), is a favourite Gambian lunch from Banjul compounds to roadside food stalls. Chunks of cassava and black-eyed beans are boiled until tender, then dressed with a hot sauce of red palm oil, onion and Scotch bonnet. Cassava gives starchy, slightly sweet bites, the beans turn creamy, and the palm oil adds its earthy, peppery depth. Dried fish is often crumbled in; this is the meat-free version. Chef's tip: always cook cassava fully and pull out the woody core string, since undercooked or raw cassava is unsafe to eat; it is ready when a knife slides through with no resistance.

70 minAfrican Vegetarian

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Kamounia (Sudanese cumin offal stew)

Named after kammoun, cumin, this Sudanese stew of lamb offal is a Khartoum favourite after Eid al-Adha, when every household has fresh heart, kidneys and liver from the sacrifice, and it is also sold in restaurants for breakfast and lunch. The meat is cooked with lots of onion, garlic, tomato and a heavy hand of cumin until the sauce is thick and dark and smells wonderful. It is eaten with bread or kisra and a squeeze of lime. Putting the liver in with the heart is the classic mistake: liver turns grainy and dry when overcooked, so add it only in the last 10 minutes. Chef's tip: toast whole cumin seeds in a dry pan and grind them yourself; the flavour is twice as strong.

90 min

Sudanese Meat

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Jamaican fried dumplingsFried flour dumplings

A Jamaican Sunday breakfast plate nearly always has fried dumplings on it, golden rounds with a crisp shell and a soft, slightly chewy centre, served beside ackee and saltfish, callaloo, or simply split with butter and a cup of cocoa tea. Many families still call them johnny cakes. The dough is just flour, a little baking powder, salt and water, and the mistake people make is overworking it, which gives tough, heavy dumplings; knead only until smooth. Fry them over medium heat, not high, so the middle cooks before the outside browns. Chef's tip: press a thumb into the centre of each ball before frying, which helps it cook evenly and stops it puffing into a hollow ball.

30 min

Jamaican Breakfast & Brunch

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Soy sauce fried noodles

Order this at a Hong Kong cha chaan teng or a dim sum breakfast and it lands on the table glossy, mahogany brown and smelling of the wok, a plate of nothing more than noodles, soy sauce, bean sprouts and spring onions. Thin egg noodles turn springy and slightly crisp at the edges, coated in a sweet-salty soy glaze, while the sprouts stay crunchy. Locals eat it for breakfast with milk tea, or share it at yum cha next to steamed dumplings, often with a dab of chilli oil. Wet noodles are the enemy here: if they go into the wok damp, they steam, clump and turn soggy instead of frying. Chef's tip: toss the noodles with chopsticks or tongs rather than a spatula, lifting and shaking them through the sauce, so the strands stay long and separate.

20 min

Hong Kong Pasta & Noodles

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Ebbeh (Gambian cassava and fish soup)

Bowls of ebbeh are a favourite late-afternoon snack and supper at Gambian markets and beach stalls, sold steaming from big pots. Cassava is boiled until it breaks down and thickens the broth, then fish, red palm oil, onion and plenty of chilli go in, and the soup is finished with a sharp squeeze of lime. It is thick and starchy, hot, sour and savoury all at once, with soft chunks of cassava and flaky fish. Some cooks add crab or a little smoked fish; this version uses fresh fish with smoked fish for depth. Avoid stirring hard once the fish goes in, or it breaks into shreds. Chef's tip: cook the cassava until some of it collapses before adding the fish, because the cassava itself is the thickener; undercooked cassava gives a thin soup and is unsafe to eat.

65 minAfrican Fish

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Fetri detsi (Ewe okra soup with crab)

Along the Volta lagoons and in towns like Ho and Keta, the Ewe cook fetri detsi when there are fresh crabs to be had: a light tomato and pepper broth made rich with beef or goat, smoked fish and crab, then thickened at the last minute with chopped okra until it turns silky and slippery. It is eaten with akple, a smooth dough of corn and cassava, which is dipped and pulled through the soup. The flavours are of the sea, smoke and fresh pepper. Buy live crabs from a reputable fishmonger and discard any that are dead, cracked or smell off before cooking. Avoid overcooking the okra; added too early it loses its bright green and its draw. Chef's tip: add the okra only at the end and cook it for no more than 8 minutes; overcooked okra loses its green colour and its slipperiness, the very thing this soup is about.

75 min

Ghanaian Fish

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Fante fante (Fante fresh fish stew)

Fishing towns such as Elmina and Winneba cook fante fante when the canoes come in: fresh fish laid into a fragrant red sauce of palm oil, onion, tomato and pepper and gently simmered until just cooked. It is quick, bright and spicy, with the palm oil giving the sauce its colour and a slightly floral, earthy note, and the fish staying sweet and juicy. Serve it with kenkey, banku or boiled plantain, and plenty of sauce. Any firm white fish or oily fish steaks work, from red snapper to mackerel. Chef's tip: once the fish is in, shake the pan rather than stirring; stirring is the usual mistake and breaks the fish into shreds.

45 min

Ghanaian Fish

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Nova Scotia oatcakes

Nova Scotia oatcakes are nothing like the plain Scottish kind: Cape Breton bakers, with their Highland roots, made them sweeter and richer, with butter and brown sugar, so they crunch like a cross between a biscuit and shortbread. They are sold at every coffee shop in Antigonish and Baddeck and eaten with tea, or with a slice of sharp cheddar. A common mistake is rolling them thick; 5 mm gives the proper snap. Chef's tip: chill the rolled dough before cutting so the squares stay sharp.

35 min

Canadian Baking

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Dakhine (rice with peanut sauce and lamb)

Somewhere between mafé and a risotto, dakhine is everyday Dakar comfort food: lamb or beef simmered in a peanut and tomato sauce, with the rice cooked right in the same pot until it soaks up all that nutty, savoury flavour. The result is thick, rich and very filling, the meat falling apart into the rice and a gentle heat from a whole Scotch bonnet. It is eaten from a shared bowl at lunchtime, with a squeeze of lime or a little chilli sauce on the side. Chef's tip: make sure the lamb is completely tender before the rice goes in, because the rice sets the timetable after that; adding it too early is the common mistake that leaves tough meat in mushy rice.

95 min

Senegalese Meat

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Aiyu jelly with lemonAiyu fig jelly with lemon

Squeezing a little cloth bag of seeds in a bowl of water until it turns into jelly sounds like a magic trick, yet that's how aiyu has been made for well over a century in Chiayi, at the foot of the Alishan hills where the climbing fig grows wild. The pectin in the dried seeds sets the water into a soft, glassy, pale-gold jelly with almost no taste of its own, so it's cut into cubes and served icy cold with tart lemon juice and honey syrup, the most refreshing thing on a sticky Taipei summer afternoon. The classic failure is a bowl that won't set, usually because the bowl was oily or the water was distilled or very soft; it needs ordinary tap or mineral water. Chef's tip: rub the bag steadily for 8–10 minutes and stop as soon as it feels slippery and nothing more comes out, or the jelly turns cloudy and bitter.

30 min

Taiwanese Drinks

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Stuffed three treasures with fish paste

Walk past the street stalls of Mong Kok or Sham Shui Po in the afternoon and you will smell jin yeung saam bou sizzling on wide griddles: chunks of green pepper, aubergine and tofu, each pressed full of bouncy white fish paste and fried until golden, then splashed with a little soy or a glossy oyster sauce gravy. People point at the pieces they want, take them in a paper bowl with a bamboo skewer and eat them while walking; at home they become a side dish with rice. The fish paste should be springy, the vegetables soft, the tofu creamy. The trap is wet vegetables: unless you dust the cut sides with cornflour first, the paste slides straight off in the pan. Chef's tip: slap the fish paste against the bowl for a few minutes; it gets bouncier the more you work it.

50 min

Hong Kong Snacks & Starters

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Hong Kong iced lemon tea

Ask for 'ling cha, dung' at any Hong Kong cha chaan teng and a tall glass arrives crammed with ice, a heap of thin lemon slices and a long spoon for pounding them, the default thirst-quencher with set lunches all year round. The tea is brewed almost bitter, so it holds its own against the ice, and the sharp lemon and simple syrup turn it bright, tangy and refreshing. It is drunk with everything from macaroni soup breakfasts to afternoon pineapple buns. The common slip is brewing tea at normal strength, which tastes thin and watery once the ice melts; double the tea. Chef's tip: press the lemon slices with the back of the spoon only a few times to release juice and oil from the zest; grinding them to a pulp brings out bitterness from the pith.

10 min

Hong Kong Drinks

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Lafidi (Guinean rice with lamb and peanut sauce)

High in the green hills of the Fouta Djallon in Guinea, Fula (Peul) families prepare lafidi for feast days and for guests: a mound of white rice topped with tender lamb and a generous peanut sauce, served on a shared platter. Some households make it with a leaf sauce of cassava or sweet potato leaves instead; this version uses the peanut sauce, which is smooth, nutty and lightly tangy from tomato, with a steady warmth of chilli. The lamb is simmered slowly in the sauce, so it is soft enough to pull apart with your fingers. Chef's tip: simmer the peanut sauce uncovered and stir it from the bottom often; peanut sauces catch and burn easily, and a scorched taste runs through the whole pot.

100 minAfrican Meat

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Singapore prawn noodle soup

Long before lunch, the big pots at Singapore's prawn mee stalls have been bubbling with fried prawn shells and pork bones, and the regulars from Zion Road to Tiong Bahru arrive with one question: soup or dry? This is the soup version, which is different from the stir-fried Hokkien prawn mee: a sweet, briny, rust-coloured broth poured over yellow noodles and rice vermicelli, topped with halved prawns, tender pork ribs, kangkong and bean sprouts, finished with fried shallots and a dusting of chilli powder. A dish of sliced red chilli in soy sauce sits alongside. The most common mistake is boiling the shells without frying them first, which gives a pale, thin broth; the depth comes from shells toasted in oil until they are deep red and smell like the sea. Chef's tip: freeze prawn shells and heads from other meals over a few weeks so you have a big bag ready for the stock.

135 min

Singaporean Pasta & Noodles

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Jamaican grater cakeCoconut sugar squares

Grater cake is the pink-topped coconut sweet sold in glass cases by higglers at Jamaican bus parks and on school gates, named for the hand grater that shreds the coconut. It is chewy and very sweet, with the fresh, milky taste of coconut and a breath of ginger, and the classic look is a white layer under a pink one. The mistake most people make is taking the pan off too soon: undercooked syrup never sets and the squares slump. Chef's tip: test a little on a cold saucer; if it holds a soft ball when pushed together after a minute, it is ready.

40 min

Jamaican Desserts

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Jamaican rundownMackerel in coconut milk

Rundown, "run dung" in patois, is an old coastal dish from Portland and the north coast, where coconut palms and fishing boats share the beach: coconut milk is boiled until it "runs down" into thick, oily custard, and fish is gently cooked in it with tomato, onion, thyme and scotch bonnet. Salted mackerel is traditional, though fresh mackerel works beautifully and needs no soaking. People often stir the fish around once it is in, which breaks it to shreds; let it poach undisturbed. Chef's tip: keep boiling the coconut milk until you see clear oil pooling on top; that is when the sauce becomes rich and custardy. Serve with boiled green bananas, dumplings or breadfruit.

55 min

Jamaican Fish

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Ye-kosta wat (Swiss chard and potato)

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

35 min

Ethiopian Sides

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Jaffna curry powderRoasted chilli curry powder

Jaffna families once made their year's supply of curry powder in one go, drying the spices on mats in the hard northern sun before carrying them to the local mill, and many Tamil households abroad still have a jar sent from home. It is far hotter and redder than the dark roasted curry powder of the Sinhala south, built on a big weight of dried red chillies with coriander, cumin, fennel, black pepper and a little fenugreek, plus crisp curry leaves and turmeric. This is what gives Jaffna crab curry, aubergine kulambu and odiyal kool their brick-red colour and their kick. Grinding the spices while they are still warm is the common error; the steam makes the powder clump and spoil quickly, so let everything cool on a plate first. Chef's tip: roast each spice separately, because the chillies and coriander need several minutes but fenugreek burns and goes bitter in under one.

30 min

Sri Lankan Basics

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Bahamian conch salad

At the Fish Fry on Arawak Cay in Nassau, conch salad is made to order: a vendor cracks the shell, dices the conch with tomato, onion, sweet peppers and goat pepper, and drowns it in lime and sour orange in front of you. Traditionally the conch is eaten raw, "cooked" only by the citrus; that raw version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system, and this recipe gives a safer version in which the conch is poached briefly first. Buy cleaned conch from a trusted fishmonger and discard any that smells of ammonia. The common mistake is dicing unevenly; everything should be in small, matching cubes. Chef's tip: make it no more than an hour ahead, or the lime turns the vegetables limp.

28 minCaribbean Salads

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Burmese pumpkin curry

On a weekday lunch table in a Yangon home, this soft orange curry usually sits beside a sour leaf soup, a plate of boiled greens and a mound of plain rice. Wedges of pumpkin are cooked slowly in a pounded paste of onion, garlic and ginger with turmeric and chilli, until the flesh turns tender and glossy and the oil rises to the top, the sign of a well-made Burmese hin. It tastes sweet, gently hot and savoury all at once; many households stir in dried shrimp, but this version keeps it plant-based with a little salt and sugar. Where cooks go wrong is stirring the pot every few minutes: the pumpkin breaks into mash, so shake the pan instead. Chef's tip: leave the skin on a firm, dense pumpkin such as kabocha; it holds the pieces together and softens enough to eat.

35 min

Burmese Curries

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Potato leaf stew with groundnut

Freetown's Sunday pots and the cookshops of Lumley and Kissy turn out potato leaf almost as often as cassava leaf: tender sweet potato greens shredded finely, then simmered in red palm oil with onion and Scotch bonnet until the oil floats to the top. It is usually rich with fish or beef; this meat-free pot leans on a good spoonful of groundnut paste instead, which makes the sauce creamy and nutty and gives it real body. Spoon it over a mound of white rice, the way it is eaten all over Sierra Leone. Chef's tip: wait until the palm oil gathers in a red layer on the surface before you take the pot off the heat; that is the sign the stew is properly cooked.

75 minAfrican Curries

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Haitian konparètCoconut ginger spice bread

Jérémie, at the far western tip of Haiti, is the home of konparèt, dense round loaves of spiced bread made with grated coconut, fresh ginger, nutmeg and vanilla, baked until firm and golden. They are a Grand'Anse travelling food, carried home from the coast in baskets and eaten with coffee or hot cocoa in the afternoon. They are meant to be firm and close-crumbed, not fluffy, so the mistake is adding extra liquid to make the dough soft. Use freshly grated coconut if you can, as it gives the moistest crumb. Chef's tip: grate the ginger on the fine side of the grater and squeeze its juice into the dough too; that heat is the signature of a good konparèt.

55 min

Haitian Baking

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Liberian rice bread

Liberian rice bread sits somewhere between banana bread and a soft pudding: a moist, close-textured loaf made with cream of rice instead of wheat, sweetened with very ripe bananas and warmed with nutmeg. Families in Monrovia bake it for Sunday breakfast, birthdays and holiday gatherings, and slices are often eaten with tea or coffee. Because it contains no wheat flour, it is naturally gluten free when you use a gluten-free baking powder. The batter is surprisingly runny, so do not be tempted to add more rice. Chef's tip: let the loaf cool in the tin for at least fifteen minutes; rice batters firm up as they cool and fall apart if cut hot.

70 minAfrican Baking

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Flan de quesoCream cheese flan

Denser and tangier than a plain egg flan, flan de queso is the dessert Puerto Rican families bake for birthdays and Nochebuena, often a day ahead so it can chill overnight. Cream cheese is blended with evaporated and condensed milk and eggs, then baked slowly in a water bath on a layer of amber caramel, so it turns out glossy, sliceable and somewhere between a flan and a cheesecake. The common mistake is baking it too hot, which makes it puff, crack and weep; low heat and a water bath keep it silky. Chef's tip: take the caramel to the colour of a dark copper coin, as a pale caramel tastes only sweet and a bitter edge balances the rich cheese.

90 min

Puerto Rican Desserts

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Ertib (Addis Ababa street sandwich)

Ertib means 'wet' in Amharic, and the name fits: small kiosks around Piassa, Merkato and the universities of Addis Ababa split soft rolls and pack them with mashed spiced potato, sliced boiled egg, tomato, raw onion and a spoon of runny chilli sauce that soaks into the crumb. Some stalls tuck in a crushed sambusa or a spoon of canned tuna; this version keeps it meat-free with potato and egg, the way most students buy it. It is cheap, filling and messy, eaten standing up at lunchtime or after school. The sauce is a quick awaze-style mix of berbere, lemon and oil, so the sandwich is tangy and hot against the mild potato. Avoid filling the bread too far ahead; the sauce soaks through and the sandwich falls apart. Chef's tip: dress the onion and tomato with the lemon and salt a few minutes before building, so their juice softens the bread the way the street version does.

27 min

Ethiopian Fast Food

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Dominican berenjena guisadaStewed aubergine

Dominican home cooks make berenjena guisada as a weekday side next to white rice and beans, the aubergine stewed down with tomato, sweet peppers and plenty of dried oregano into a soft, savoury guiso. It is light, quick and good hot or at room temperature. The common mistake is adding all the water at the start, which boils the aubergine grey; let it soak up the oil and sofrito first, then add liquid a little at a time. Chef's tip: rub the dried oregano between your palms as it goes in, to release the oils; Dominican cooks swear by it.

35 min

Puerto Rican Vegetarian

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Sauce gouagouassouAubergine and smoked fish sauce

Bété country around Gagnoa and Daloa in western Côte d'Ivoire is known for sauces with plenty of chilli, and gouagouassou is one of the most loved: tomatoes, garden eggs and hot peppers boiled whole, then crushed by hand in a mortar and simmered with smoked fish. There is little or no oil, so the sauce tastes fresh, smoky and bright, with real heat and a rough, rustic texture. Spoon it over white rice or eat it with foutou at a weekday lunch. Use fewer chillies if you prefer, but keep at least one for the character. Chef's tip: soak the smoked fish in hot water for ten minutes first; it softens, rinses off ash and grit, and gives its flavour to the sauce more quickly.

60 min

Ivorian Fish

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Defo dabo (Ethiopian festive pot bread)

For Genna (Christmas), Fasika (Easter), weddings and christenings, cooks in Gondar and Gojjam bake defo dabo: a huge, tall round loaf whose dough is wrapped in enset or banana leaves and baked slowly in a heavy covered pot, traditionally with coals above and below. The leaves leave a faint green aroma and a pale, soft crust, and the crumb is fine and close, scented with black cumin, korerima and a little niter kibbeh. On feast days the loaf is blessed and cut before it is shared out. At home a cast-iron casserole in the oven does the job; allow about 2 hours of rising on top of the times given. Do not cut it hot: the crumb is still setting and turns gummy. Chef's tip: bake until the inside reads 94 °C on a probe thermometer; this dense loaf can look brown long before the centre is cooked.

110 min

Ethiopian Breads & Parathas

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Chuko (Tigrayan roasted barley and spiced butter snack)

Tigrayan mothers pack chuko for sons and daughters leaving home, for pilgrims walking to Aksum and for long bus journeys, because it keeps for weeks and a small piece goes a long way. Roasted barley flour is rubbed with warm niter kibbeh, berbere and a little sugar and salt, then pressed into a dense cake or shaped into fingers. The texture is crumbly and rich, like a savoury shortbread that melts in the mouth, with a slow chilli warmth and the toasty taste of the grain. It is eaten with coffee or black tea. The usual mistake is skimping on the butter, which leaves a dry mix that will not hold; squeeze a handful, and it should keep its shape. Chef's tip: warm the butter until just liquid, not hot, and work it in with your fingertips so every grain of flour is coated.

30 min

Ethiopian Snacks & Starters

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Jamaican bullaMolasses ginger spice cakes

Wrapped in paper at every Jamaican corner shop and school tuck shop, bulla is the cheap, dense little round cake that children take for lunch and grown-ups eat with a slice of cheese or ripe avocado. It is dark with molasses and brown sugar, warm with ginger and nutmeg, and has a slightly chewy crumb rather than a light sponge. This version uses oil, so it is vegan. The common mistake is overworking the dough, which makes bulla tough; mix only until the flour disappears. Chef's tip: leave the baked bulla in a tin overnight; the crumb softens and the spice deepens by the next day.

40 min

Jamaican Baking

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Karawala thel dalaStir-fried dried fish

Every Sri Lankan market from Negombo to Trincomalee has a stall stacked with karawala, sun-dried salted fish, and when the larder is low or the rain keeps the boats in, a quick thel dala turns a small piece of it into something to wake up a plate of rice. Strips or small whole fish are fried until crisp, then tossed with plenty of onion, tomato, green chilli and chilli flakes until they are glossy, salty, smoky and hot. It is eaten in small amounts beside dhal, rice and a mild vegetable curry, or with kiribath and pol roti for breakfast, and it keeps for a day or two. Watch out for the classic fault of skipping the soak, which leaves the dish far too salty to eat. Chef's tip: fry the soaked fish until really crunchy before the onions go in; that crisp edge is what makes it addictive.

25 min

Sri Lankan Fish

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Pescado con cocoFish in coconut sauce

On the Samaná peninsula in the north-east of the Dominican Republic, where coconut palms grow down to the sea and the local cooking carries traces of the African-American settlers who arrived there in the 1820s, fish is braised in fresh coconut milk with tomato, peppers and herbs. It is served at beach shacks in Las Terrenas with white rice and tostones to mop up the sauce. The common mistake is boiling the sauce hard once the coconut milk is in, which makes it split and oily; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: let the fish sit in lime, garlic and salt in the fridge for 15 minutes first, but no longer, or the acid starts to cook it.

40 min

Puerto Rican Fish

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Kinche (Ethiopian cracked wheat breakfast)

Rooms full of hotel guests in Adama and Bishoftu are offered kinche at breakfast, and in Oromo and Amhara homes it is the quick morning dish made from a sack of cracked wheat or barley kept in the cupboard. The grain is boiled until it has drunk all its water and turns fluffy and separate, like a cross between bulgur pilaf and porridge, then a generous spoon of niter kibbeh is stirred through so every grain is glossy and fragrant. It is nutty, soft and buttery, eaten with a spoon and a cup of coffee, sometimes topped with a little ayib or a spoon of berbere-spiked oil. The common mistake is too much water, which makes it mushy; measure it and keep the lid on. Chef's tip: toast the dry grain in a little of the butter for two minutes before adding water; it stays more separate and tastes nuttier.

25 min

Ethiopian Breakfast & Brunch

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MajareteCoconut rice-flour pudding

Puerto Rican grandmothers cook majarete on the stove in one pan, pour it into a dish and leave it to set while the Sunday dinner is eaten; it shows up again at Christmas beside the tembleque. Rice flour, coconut milk and whole milk are stirred with cinnamon and a little orange zest until they thicken into a silky, spoonable pudding, dusted with more cinnamon. In the Dominican Republic the same name goes to a version made with fresh grated corn. The common mistake is walking away from the pan; rice flour lumps and catches in seconds, so whisk constantly. Chef's tip: whisk the rice flour into the cold milks before the pan goes on the heat, and it will be perfectly smooth.

30 min

Puerto Rican Desserts

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Brav u mlijekuLamb slow-cooked in milk

Highland shepherds in northern Montenegro cook young lamb this way when the flocks come down from summer pastures, slowly in a covered pan with milk, garlic and rosemary until the meat comes off the bone and the milk has reduced to a savoury, slightly curdled, golden sauce over the potatoes. It sounds unusual but tastes wonderfully mellow, sweet and garlicky. Serve it with bread and a green salad. The usual slip is cooking it uncovered from the start, so the milk scorches before the lamb is soft. Chef's tip: uncover only for the last half hour, so the top browns while the sauce underneath stays creamy.

150 minBalkan Meat

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Kuti (Harari coffee-leaf tea)

Harar sits in old coffee country, and its households drink not only the beans but the leaves: kuti is made by toasting dried coffee leaves and brewing them into a light, amber tea. It tastes soft and grassy with a hint of roasted coffee and far less caffeine than a cup of buna, so it is sipped through the afternoon, during long chats and after the fast is broken in Ramadan. Many Harari homes add milk and sugar; leave the milk out or use a plant milk to keep it vegan. Dried coffee leaves are sold as coffee leaf tea by some coffee and tea merchants. Do not swap in cascara, which is the dried coffee cherry husk and makes a different, fruitier drink. Chef's tip: toast the leaves only until they darken a shade and smell like toasted hay; overdone, they taste of ash.

14 min

Ethiopian Drinks

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Ayib be gomen (fresh cheese with spiced collards)

Gurage cooks bring ayib be gomen to the table beside kitfo, and it is just as welcome on its own with kocho or injera on an ordinary non-fasting day. Soft, mild ayib is mixed with collards that have been boiled and chopped fine, then dressed with warm niter kibbeh, garlic and mitmita, so the creamy cheese cools the chilli and the greens add an earthy bite. Ayib is an acid-set cheese made by gently heating soured milk or buttermilk (or milk with lemon juice) until curds form, so it needs no rennet and suits vegetarians. Ricotta or well-drained cottage cheese are close substitutes; if you use a bought cottage cheese, check the label for vegetarian rennet. Do not heat the cheese in the pan, or it turns rubbery and weeps; fold it in off the heat. Chef's tip: squeeze the cooked greens until they are almost dry so the dish stays fluffy rather than watery.

25 min

Ethiopian Sides

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Ensalada de coditosMacaroni salad

No Puerto Rican cumpleaños, baby shower or Thanksgiving-style family spread feels complete without a big bowl of coditos sitting next to the arroz con gandules. Elbow macaroni is folded through creamy mayonnaise with crunchy pepper, onion and celery, chopped hard-boiled egg and sweet pimientos, then chilled until the pasta drinks up the dressing. The common mistake is dressing the pasta piping hot, which makes the mayonnaise oily and split; let it cool first. Keep it in the fridge and don't leave it out in the sun for more than 2 hours. Chef's tip: toss the drained pasta with a splash of the pimiento liquid while it is still warm, so it is seasoned all the way through.

30 min

Puerto Rican Salads

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BreudherBurgher Christmas loaf

On Christmas morning in Dutch Burgher homes from Colombo to Galle, the breakfast table holds a tall, fluted breudher, the island's take on the Dutch Christmas loaf, sliced thick, spread with butter and topped with a slice of Edam. The dough is enriched with plenty of butter, eggs and sugar and studded with raisins, and the crumb is soft, golden and slightly sweet, closer to brioche than to bread. Old recipes leavened it with fermented palm toddy; this version uses ordinary yeast, so there is no alcohol. Edam is normally made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian Edam or Gouda if that matters to you. The most frequent failure is an impatient rise, which gives a heavy, close loaf, because butter-rich dough moves slowly; wait until it has truly doubled. Chef's tip: work the butter in a little at a time only after the dough has been kneaded smooth, and it will turn silky and elastic instead of greasy.

85 min

Sri Lankan Baking

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Moringa leaf stew (Konso shiferaw)

On the stone terraces of Konso, moringa trees grow beside almost every house, and their young leaves are picked daily for a simple green stew eaten with sorghum dumplings or injera. The leaves are stripped from their stems and simmered with onion, garlic, a little green chilli and oil until soft, giving a deep green, slightly peppery dish that tastes a little like spinach crossed with watercress. It is plain, nourishing and naturally vegan, so it fits any fasting day. Fresh or frozen moringa leaves are sold in many Indian and Asian grocers; if you cannot find them, use spinach with a squeeze of lemon. Leaving the stems in is the usual mistake; they stay woody, so strip the leaves off. Chef's tip: add the leaves in handfuls and stop cooking as soon as they are tender, so they keep their colour and their gentle bitterness does not deepen.

35 min

Ethiopian Sides

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Bula (enset starch porridge with spiced butter and ayib)

Bula is the finest part of the enset plant, a white starch that settles out when the pulp is squeezed, and in Sidama and Gurage homes it is cooked into a smooth, wobbly porridge for honoured guests, new mothers and anyone feeling weak. Whisked into water and stirred until glossy and translucent, it is very mild and slightly elastic, then topped with melted niter kibbeh, crumbled ayib and a pinch of mitmita for warmth. It is eaten for breakfast or as a light supper, often with coffee. Dried bula is sold in Ethiopian shops; tapioca starch is the closest stand-in. Lumps are the common mistake, so always slake the starch in cold water first and whisk as it heats. Chef's tip: keep stirring right to the end; bula thickens suddenly and catches on the base of the pan in seconds.

20 min

Ethiopian Breakfast & Brunch

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Grenadian nutmeg ice cream

Grenada, the Spice Isle, grows much of the world's nutmeg, and in St George's ice cream parlours the local favourite is a rich egg-custard ice cream scented with freshly grated nutmeg. The flavour is warm and almost floral, nothing like the dusty jar spice, and it is lovely with fried plantain or a slice of black cake. The common mistake is overheating the custard so the eggs scramble; take it off the heat as soon as it coats a spoon. Chef's tip: grate the nutmeg straight into the hot milk and let it steep for 20 minutes before making the custard, so the flavour runs all the way through.

40 minCaribbean Desserts

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Bajan salt bread

Every rum shop and fish fry in Barbados sells "bread and two", and the bread is almost always salt bread: plain, crusty rolls with a soft, slightly chewy crumb and a split down the top, made for stuffing with fish cakes, a slice of cheese or fried flying fish as a cutter. Despite the name, they aren't especially salty; the name sets them apart from sweet bread. The usual mistake is pale rolls with a soft crust from too cool an oven. Chef's tip: put a tray of boiling water in the bottom of the oven for the first 10 minutes for a properly crisp crust.

50 min

Bajan Breads & Parathas

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Buticha (whipped chickpea flour dip)

Ethiopian Orthodox kitchens make buticha on fasting days as a plant-based stand-in for scrambled egg or fresh cheese, and it often sits as a pale, fluffy mound on the vegan platters of Addis Ababa's restaurants. Chickpea flour is cooked with water into a thick paste, cooled, then beaten with oil and plenty of lemon juice and mixed with raw red onion and green chilli. The texture is soft, crumbly and light, the flavour tangy and fresh against the rich, red wats. Serve it cool with injera, or as a dip with kita. A common mistake is beating it while still hot, which makes it gluey instead of fluffy; let it cool completely first. Chef's tip: cook the paste a full eight minutes after it thickens, so no raw, beany taste is left.

20 min

Ethiopian Chutneys & Dips

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Timatim fitfit (torn injera with fresh tomato)

Leftover injera never goes to waste: torn into bite-sized pieces and tossed with juicy chopped tomato, red onion, green chilli, lemon and oil, it becomes timatim fitfit, a cool, tangy salad eaten for a light lunch on hot days and on fasting days all over the country. Unlike timatim salata, which is just the tomato salad, this version is a meal in itself: the injera drinks up the dressing and turns soft and spongy while keeping a little chew. It is usually served in a bowl and eaten with more injera or with a spoon. The common mistake is mixing it too early, which turns the bread soggy; toss it no more than ten minutes before eating. It is gluten free only if your injera is made from 100% teff. Chef's tip: use day-old injera, which is slightly drier and holds its shape better than fresh.

15 min

Ethiopian Salads

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Burmese tomato salad

Come the cool season, when tomatoes are at their sweetest in Mandalay and the dry towns of Upper Burma, this thoke (a salad 'mixed by hand') is the quick dish that appears beside rice and curry at almost every meal. Slices of ripe tomato and onion are squeezed together with toasted chickpea flour, crushed peanuts and fried shallots in their oil, so the juices and flour turn into a light, nutty dressing that clings to every piece. Lime and fresh chilli sharpen it, and coriander lifts it. Home cooks often add fish sauce; this vegetarian version uses salt and a pinch of sugar. Dressing it too early is the most common mistake: salt pulls water from the tomatoes and leaves a soupy plate. Chef's tip: mix with your fingertips just before serving, pressing lightly so some tomato juice blends into the flour.

15 min

Burmese Salads

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Sauce djoumgbléDried okra sauce with smoked fish

Baoulé cooks in central Côte d'Ivoire dry okra in the sun during the harvest, then grind it into the dark green powder that makes sauce djoumgblé. Stirred into a beef and tomato stew with flaked smoked fish, it thickens the pot into a deep brown, slippery sauce with an earthy, smoky flavour quite different from fresh okra soup. It is the classic partner for foutou banane or placali in Bouaké and in Abidjan's maquis, where each mouthful of starch is pulled through the sauce. Look for the powder as dried or ground okra in African grocers. Chef's tip: whisk the okra powder into cold water before it goes into the pot; scattered straight into hot sauce, it forms lumps that never break down.

95 min

Ivorian Fish

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Kita (quick Ethiopian flatbread)

When there is no fermented injera batter ready, households across Ethiopia make kita: a plain unleavened flatbread of flour, water and salt, spread thin and cooked on the mitad or a heavy pan in minutes. It is soft and slightly chewy with toasty brown spots, and is eaten hot with tea, with shiro or buticha on fasting days, or torn up for kita firfir. Children often eat it warm with a sprinkle of berbere and oil. A wheat dough is easiest at home; mixing in a portion of teff flour adds an earthy flavour. Too thick a layer is the common mistake, as the middle stays raw; spread it thin and cook it covered. Chef's tip: wet your fingertips or the back of a spoon to press the batter-like dough out evenly in the hot pan.

25 min

Ethiopian Breads & Parathas

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Honey and milk bread (yemarina yewotet dabo)

Softer and sweeter than everyday ambasha, this round loaf is the bread Ethiopian families bake for a holiday table, a christening or guests at a coffee ceremony, when there is milk and good honey in the house. The dough is enriched with egg and butter, so it bakes up tender with a fine, cake-like crumb, and the spices are gentle: toasted coriander, a whisper of fenugreek and cardamom that perfumes the kitchen. It is sliced and eaten as it is, with spiced tea or coffee, or spread with a little honey. Allow about 1¾ hours for the two rises. Chef's tip: keep the fenugreek to a quarter teaspoon; any more and its bitterness takes over the honey.

165 min

Ethiopian Breads & Parathas

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Sambal stingray

Weekend evenings at the seafood stalls of Newton, Chomp Chomp and East Coast Lagoon smell of charring banana leaf, and the dish sending up that smoke is usually sambal stingray. A fan-shaped stingray wing is spread thickly with a dark red, slow-fried sambal of chillies, shallots, candlenuts and toasted shrimp paste, laid on banana leaf and cooked over high heat until the sweet, delicate flesh pulls cleanly off the soft cartilage in strands. It comes with calamansi or lime, raw sliced shallots and a little dish of sour chinchalok, and a plate of steamed rice. Underfrying the sambal is the classic error: until the oil splits away and turns red, the paste tastes raw and harsh. If you can't find stingray, skate wing is the best substitute and cooks the same way. Chef's tip: score the thick end of the wing and push sambal into the cuts, so the flavour gets right into the flesh.

50 min

Singaporean Fish

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Jamaican coco breadCoconut milk bread rolls

Every patty shop in Kingston keeps a stack of coco bread by the till, because the classic lunch is a hot beef or vegetable patty tucked inside one of these soft, buttery folds. The rolls are rich with coconut milk and brushed with melted butter before folding, so they pull apart into two neat halves after baking. The common mistake is baking them too long; they should be pale golden and pillowy, not crusty. Allow about 1 hour 30 minutes of rising on top of the working time. Chef's tip: brush the tops with more butter the moment they leave the oven and cover them with a cloth, which keeps the crust soft.

48 min

Jamaican Breads & Parathas

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Nafaqo (Somali potato-wrapped eggs)

Sold warm from street stalls and cafés around Mogadishu, especially in the late afternoon and at iftar in Ramadan, nafaqo is a fried snack with a surprise inside: a whole boiled egg wrapped in mashed potato seasoned with onion, coriander and xawaash. A light chickpea-flour batter gives it a crisp golden shell, and it is cut in half to show the yolk and eaten with a squeeze of lime and hot green chilli sauce. Kids love it, and it travels well in a lunchbox. A common mistake is using wet, freshly boiled mash, which slides off the egg and splits in the oil; steam-dry the potatoes and let the mash cool before shaping. Chef's tip: roll the peeled eggs in a little chickpea flour before wrapping them, so the potato grips the slippery white.

55 min

Somali Snacks & Starters

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Eritrean frittata

Asmara's cafés kept the Italian word but changed the flavour: an Eritrean frittata is eggs beaten with softened onion, tomato and green chilli, warmed with berbere and cooked flat in a small pan until just set. It comes to the table in its pan with fresh bread and a coffee or sweet tea, and some places fold in a little extra chilli for those who ask. The texture is soft and moist in the middle, with sweet tomato and a gentle heat running through it. A common mistake is cooking the eggs over a high flame, which makes the base tough and brown before the top sets; keep the heat low and cover the pan. Chef's tip: cook the tomato until its juice has evaporated before the eggs go in, or the frittata turns watery.

20 min

Eritrean Breakfast & Brunch

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Karawila sambolaFried bitter gourd salad

Even people who claim to hate bitter gourd tend to come round to karawila sambola, the crunchy, tangy salad that turns up on rice and curry plates from the coast to the eastern towns. Paper-thin slices of the knobbly green gourd are salted to draw out some of the bitterness, fried until they are crisp like crisps, and then tossed at the last minute with raw red onion, green chilli, tomato and plenty of lime. The result is salty, sour and gently bitter, a bright contrast to rich coconut curries. Many cooks also scatter in Maldive fish flakes; this vegan version leaves them out. The mistake to avoid is mixing the salad too early, since the lime and tomato juice soften the fried slices within minutes. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted slices really hard in a clean cloth before frying; the drier they are, the crisper and less oily they come out.

30 min

Sri Lankan Salads

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Baasto (Somali spaghetti with spiced beef sauce)

Pasta arrived in Mogadishu during the Italian colonial period and was firmly adopted, so that today baasto with suugo is a standard Friday lunch and a staple of the city's restaurants. The sauce is a long-cooked mix of minced beef, onion, peppers and tomato seasoned with xawaash, garlic and a little chilli, closer to a spiced Somali stew than to an Italian ragù. A ripe banana is served alongside and eaten in alternate bites, cooling and sweet against the spice; a green chilli sauce and a squeeze of lime finish the plate. Overcooking the spaghetti is the usual error, because it carries on softening in the hot sauce; drain it a minute before the packet time. For a meat-free version simply leave out the beef and add a tin of chickpeas. Chef's tip: let the beef brown properly before the tomato goes in; that colour gives the sauce its depth.

50 min

Somali Pasta & Noodles

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AkpessiPlantain and yam pottage

Around Bouaké and Yamoussoukro, akpessi is what Baoulé families cook when they want a filling one-pot meal with little fuss: chunks of green plantain and yam simmered right in a red palm oil and tomato sauce until tender. A few pieces are crushed into the liquid at the end, so the sauce turns thick and clings to everything. It is often made with smoked fish; this version keeps it meat-free, with soft garden eggs folded through for body. Expect an earthy, gently starchy dish with heat from the pepper, good with sliced avocado on the side. The usual mistake is stirring too much, which turns the whole pot to mush instead of leaving soft chunks. Chef's tip: oil your hands before peeling green plantains; the sticky sap washes off far more easily.

50 min

Ivorian Vegetarian

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Hilib ari (Somali slow-cooked goat with xawaash)

Goat is the festive meat of Somaliland, slaughtered for weddings, Eid and the arrival of guests, and hilib ari, goat on the bone cooked until it falls away, is the centrepiece of those meals. The meat is first simmered slowly with onion, garlic and xawaash, then the liquid is boiled away and the pieces are fried in their own fat until browned and crisp at the edges, so you get both tenderness and crunch. It is piled on a big platter of spiced rice with banana, lime wedges and green chilli sauce. Rushing the first stage is the mistake to avoid: goat stays chewy unless it simmers gently until a knife slides through. Chef's tip: ask the butcher for shoulder or leg cut into 5 cm pieces on the bone; the bones give the meat flavour and the leftover broth makes a good maraq.

125 min

Somali Meat

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AttoukpouSteamed fermented cassava balls

Along the lagoons east and west of Abidjan, Ebrié and Attié cooks turn soured cassava dough into attoukpou, a soft steamed paste that is gentler and less stretchy than placali. The crumbled dough is steamed until it turns translucent, then pounded with a little hot water into smooth, pillowy balls with a light sourness. It is served at home and at village gatherings with palm-nut sauce, a light pepper soup or aubergine sauce, and it soaks up gravy beautifully. Ready-made fermented cassava dough from an African grocer saves days of work. Avoid packing the dough tightly into the steamer; it needs space for the steam to move through. Chef's tip: crumble the dough very finely before steaming; big lumps stay chalky in the middle however long they cook.

55 min

Ivorian Basics

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Bahamian chicken souseChicken in lime broth

In the Bahamas, souse is the Saturday-morning cure after a late Friday: chicken (or sheep tongue or pig's feet, for the old-timers) simmered in a clear, sharp broth of lime juice, allspice, onion, potatoes and hot pepper, eaten with johnnycake. It is light, sour, peppery and very reviving. The common mistake is adding the lime too early and boiling it, which makes the broth bitter; most goes in at the end. Use bone-in pieces for flavour. Chef's tip: let the bowl sit for a few minutes after serving so the lime mellows into the broth.

65 minCaribbean Soups

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Shushumow (Somali syrup-soaked rolled pastries)

Trays of shushumow appear for Eid across Somalia and in Somali homes abroad, made by the dozen a day or two ahead so there is plenty for visitors. A soft, buttery dough is rolled very thin, rolled up like a cigar, sliced and pressed so the layers show, then fried until crisp and soaked briefly in cardamom syrup. The result is flaky and crunchy at the edges with a sticky, sweet centre that is perfect with black tea. Soaking for too long is the usual error; a quick dip of a few seconds keeps the crunch, while minutes in the syrup leaves them soggy. Chef's tip: have the syrup warm and the pastries hot from the oil when they meet, so the syrup soaks in evenly without making them heavy.

75 min

Somali Desserts

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Kalluun duban (Somali grilled whole fish)

Seafront restaurants on Mogadishu's Lido beach are famous for kalluun duban, whole fish rubbed with a paste of garlic, lime, chilli and xawaash and grilled over charcoal until the skin blisters. Diners pick a fresh catch, often snapper, grouper or kingfish, and it comes to the table on a platter of spiced rice with lime, salad, banana and fiery basbaas. The flesh should be moist and smoky, tangy with lime. Marinating fish for hours in lime juice is a mistake: the acid starts to 'cook' it and the flesh turns mushy, so 20–30 minutes in the fridge is plenty. Chef's tip: slash the fish deeply down to the bone on both sides, so the marinade gets in and the thick part cooks as fast as the tail.

40 min

Somali Fish

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KabatoCornmeal swallow with lemon

From Korhogo and Odienné down to Bouaké, households in northern and central Côte d'Ivoire eat kabato almost daily: a swallow of maize meal cooked with a squeeze of lemon. The acid gives the paste a faint tang and a firmer, cleaner bite than plain cornmeal. It is eaten warm with okra sauce, groundnut sauce or a sauce of pounded leaves, pinched off by hand and dragged through the bowl. A common slip is adding the cornmeal too fast, which makes lumps; rain it in while stirring. Chef's tip: whisk the lemony cornmeal slurry into the boiling water before adding the rest of the meal; starting with a thin porridge is what keeps kabato lump-free.

30 min

Ivorian Basics

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Jamaican coconut dropsGinger coconut clusters

Coconut drops are the lumpy brown clusters sold beside grater cake at Jamaican roadside stalls and markets from Ocho Rios to Mandeville, made with coconut cut into small dice rather than grated, so every bite is chewy. Brown sugar and fresh ginger boil down around the coconut into a sticky, toffee-like glaze. The most common mistake is stopping before the syrup is thick enough, which leaves the drops wet and runny; it must coat the spoon heavily. Chef's tip: dice the coconut very small and even, about 5 mm, so the drops hold together.

45 min

Jamaican Desserts

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