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Güllaç
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Güllaç

Rose milk wafer dessert

As soon as Ramadan begins, bakeries from Konya to Istanbul stack up packets of güllaç, the dried, almost transparent starch sheets that give this dessert its name. Soaked layer by layer in warm sweetened milk scented with rosewater, then filled with walnuts, the sheets turn soft and silky, and the dessert is served chilled after the iftar meal, often topped with pomegranate seeds. Common mistake: drenching the sheets in hot milk, which makes them dissolve into mush; the milk should be just warm. Chef's tip: make it at least 4 hours ahead, ideally overnight; it firms up enough to cut into clean slices.

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Chopped liver

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Puffed maple omelette

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Zviti (pounded pepper and flatbread mash)

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White cherry preserve

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GubadiaLayered rice and curd pie

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Grzybki marynowanePickled forest mushrooms

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Dakhine (rice with peanut sauce and lamb)

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Groninger mosterdsoepMustard and leek soup

Groningen in the far north of the Netherlands has been making mustard since the Middle Ages, and its creamy mustard soup is served in every café in the city: a velvety roux soup with leek, stock and cream, sharpened with a generous amount of coarse Groninger mustard. Most cafés top it with crisp bacon bits; this vegetarian version uses toasted croutons and chives. A common mistake is boiling the soup after the mustard goes in, which makes it bitter and grainy. Chef's tip: whisk the mustard in off the heat at the end, so it keeps its tang.

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Sevan trout

Ishkhan, 'the prince', is the name Armenians give to the trout of Lake Sevan, the vast blue lake high in the mountains north-east of Yerevan, and lakeside restaurants on the Sevan peninsula serve it grilled whole or stuffed with herbs and baked. The native ishkhan is now rare and protected, so the fish served today is farmed trout, cooked the same way: stuffed with tarragon, dill, coriander and garlic, roasted until the skin crisps, with lavash and lemon. A common mistake is wrapping the fish tightly in foil, which steams it soft; leave it uncovered for a crisp skin. Chef's tip: brush the fish with a little tkemali or pomegranate molasses in the last five minutes for a sweet-sour glaze. The fish is done when the flesh is opaque and flakes easily at the backbone.

40 minArmenianFishGluten free
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Bradj (date-filled semolina diamonds)

When the first warm days arrive, families in Constantine and across eastern Algeria mark the spring festival with picnics, boiled eggs and plates of bradj: diamonds of buttery semolina sandwiching a layer of spiced date paste, cooked slowly on a griddle rather than baked. The outside turns golden and crumbly, the date layer stays soft and sticky, and orange-blossom water perfumes the whole thing. Bradj is served warm with a drizzle of honey or a cold glass of buttermilk, and is just as good the next day with coffee. Chef's tip: press the dough together rather than kneading it; worked like bread dough, semolina turns tough, and bradj should break with a crumble.

75 minAlgerianDesserts
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GowurmaSlow-fried preserved lamb

Gowurma is how Turkmen herders kept meat through the winter: lamb or mutton cut into pieces, salted and cooked slowly in its own rendered fat until tender and golden, then packed into clay pots under a layer of fat. Spoonfuls are reheated through the winter to fry with eggs, stir into rice or eat with bread and tea. Today it is kept in the fridge. A common mistake is cooking over high heat, which fries the outside hard before the inside softens. Chef's tip: make sure every piece is fully covered by fat in the jar; that seal is what keeps it. Store in the fridge and use within 2 weeks; always reheat until piping hot.

140 minTurkmenMeatGluten free
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Gollash meat pie (filo and spiced beef)

Egyptian bakeries sell sweet and savoury gollash, but the minced-beef version is the one home cooks make for Ramadan iftar, Eid visits and big family lunches, cut into neat diamonds on a large round tray. Thin sheets of filo are brushed with melted butter and stacked around a filling of beef cooked dry with onion, pepper and a little allspice, then soaked with a splash of milk and egg so the top layers bake puffed and shatteringly crisp while the middle stays tender. Serve warm with a salad and yoghurt or as part of a spread of mezze. Avoid skimping on butter between the sheets; unbuttered layers bake dry and papery instead of crisp and golden. Chef's tip: let the cooked filling cool completely before layering; hot, steamy mince turns the bottom sheets soggy, which is the most common gollash disappointment.

80 minEgyptianBaking
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Seared gored goredSeared beef cubes in spiced butter

Gored gored is a celebration dish in Addis Ababa, ordered at butcher-restaurants and served at weddings and holiday gatherings, where cubes of the best beef are dressed with melted niter kibbeh, awaze and mitmita and eaten with injera. Traditionally the meat is served raw. Raw beef is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system, so this version sears the cubes over a fierce heat until well browned on every side and cooked to at least 63 °C in the centre, then rests them; take them to 71 °C if you prefer them fully cooked. The result is tender and juicy, rich with spiced butter and fiery from the awaze. Chef's tip: dry the cubes thoroughly with kitchen paper and sear them in two batches; a crowded pan steams the meat grey instead of browning it.

22 minEthiopianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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GozinakiWalnut and honey diamonds

Gozinaki is the sweet every Georgian family makes for New Year's Eve, from Tbilisi flats to Kakhetian farmhouses: toasted walnuts stirred into honey boiled until thick, spread on a wet board and cut into diamonds that set glossy and crunchy. Children help shell the walnuts in December, and a plate of gozinaki sits on the table for the midnight toasts. A common mistake is taking the honey off too early; it stays sticky and the pieces never set. Chef's tip: cook the honey until a drop in cold water forms a firm, pliable ball, then work fast, because the mixture sets as it cools.

30 minGeorgianDessertsGluten free
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Trini curry shrimp

Sold from food stalls in San Fernando and eaten at south Trinidad family lunches, curry shrimp is the fast curry of the island: the sauce is built in minutes, and the shrimp go in only at the very end. Plenty of garlic, roasted geera and hot pepper give a bright, punchy curry that you wipe up with dhalpuri or spoon over rice. The mistake nearly everyone makes the first time is stewing the shrimp, which turns them rubbery; they need three or four minutes, no more. Chef's tip: save the shells, simmer them in the water for 10 minutes and use that stock in the curry for a much deeper seafood flavour.

25 minTrinidadianFishGluten freeSpicy
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Labrador tea

Labrador tea grows in the bogs and boreal forests right across northern Canada, and Cree, Dene and Inuit families have long dried its leathery, rust-backed leaves for a hot drink on the land and at home. It tastes resinous and piney, a bit like rosemary and eucalyptus, and is often sweetened with a little sugar. The leaves contain natural compounds that are harmful in large amounts, so brew it weak, drink a cup or two, and don't steep it for hours. It is not for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Only pick it if you know the plant well: the poisonous bog laurel grows alongside it; dried leaves from a trusted seller are safest. A common mistake is using a big handful of leaves; one tablespoon makes two cups. Chef's tip: steep below boiling and briefly; a long boil makes it bitter and stronger than you want.

10 minCanadianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Atadwe milkye (tiger nut pudding)

Tiger nuts, called atadwe in Twi, are small wrinkled tubers sold in heaps by market women across southern Ghana during the rainy season. For atadwe milkye they are soaked, blended and squeezed into a sweet, nutty milk, then cooked with ground rice and coconut milk into a pourable pudding that sets softly as it cools. Street sellers ladle it into small bags or cups, and at home it is eaten warm for breakfast or chilled as an afternoon treat. The flavour is mild, like almond and coconut with a light earthy note. Start soaking the tiger nuts the night before. Chef's tip: stir without stopping once the rice paste goes in; walking away for even a minute is the common mistake, and it leaves lumps and a scorched base.

55 minGhanaianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Aghroum (Kabyle semolina flatbread)

Up in the villages of Kabylie, aghroum is simply the word for bread, and the everyday loaf is a flat, unleavened round of semolina, water, salt and a thread of olive oil, baked on a clay griddle over a low fire. It comes out firm and close-textured, with a crust speckled brown and a faintly sweet, nutty crumb that tastes of the grain. Kabyle families tear it to scoop up olive oil, dried figs and buttermilk at breakfast, or to mop the sauce of a bean or vegetable stew at midday. A heavy cast-iron pan or flat griddle does the job of the clay one at home. Chef's tip: keep the heat at medium-low and turn the bread often; a griddle that is too hot is the usual mistake, leaving a burnt crust around a raw, gummy middle.

45 minAlgerianBreads & ParathasVegan
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Grandfathers in maple syrupDumplings in maple syrup

Grands-pères are the dessert of the Quebec sugar shack in March and April, when sap is running and the cabane à sucre serves long breakfasts. Soft scone-like dumplings are dropped into simmering maple syrup and cooked under a lid until they puff up and soak in the syrup from below. In Beauce and the Eastern Townships families make them at home with the first syrup of the year. Serve warm in bowls with cold cream poured over. A common mistake is letting the syrup boil hard, which scorches it and makes it bitter. Chef's tip: keep the lid on for the full cooking time; lifting it lets the steam out and the dumplings sink and turn heavy.

30 minCanadianDesserts
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HanumSteamed potato and pumpkin roll

Hanum is a rolled steamed dumpling loved across the Ferghana Valley and Tashkent: a thin sheet of dough spread with a filling, rolled into a long log, coiled and steamed in the tiers of a kaskan steamer, then sliced and served with tomato sauce or yogurt. Meat versions are common, but potato and pumpkin hanum is a favourite on fasting days and in autumn. A common mistake is rolling the dough too thick, which makes it heavy and doughy. Chef's tip: oil the steamer basket and coil the roll so it doesn't touch the sides; it expands as it steams. Without yogurt it is vegan.

85 minUzbekVegetarianVegan
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Bak chor meeMinced pork noodles

Queue at almost any Teochew noodle stall in a Singapore kopitiam before work and the order you hear most is a bowl of bak chor mee, dry, with extra vinegar. Springy flat mee pok is tossed at the bottom of the bowl in black vinegar, chilli paste, soy and a spoon of pork lard, then crowned with loosely poached minced pork, slices of pork liver, fish balls and sweet braised mushrooms, with a small bowl of clear pork soup on the side. It should taste sour first, then hot, then rich, and the noodles must stay bouncy rather than soft. Where most home cooks go wrong is cooking the noodles in one long boil: they turn limp and soak up the sauce instead of carrying it. Chef's tip: blanch the noodles twice, plunging them into cold water in between, which is how the hawkers get that al dente snap.

45 minSingaporeanPasta & Noodles
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GogalFlaky fennel and turmeric pastry

Gogal is baked for Novruz, the spring new year on 20 March, in kitchens all over Baku and the Absheron villages, beside shekerbura and pakhlava on the festive tray. A soft dough is rolled thin, brushed with butter mixed with ground fennel, turmeric and salt, then rolled, coiled and flattened again so it bakes into crisp, savoury, golden layers. A common mistake is using cold, hard butter for the spread; it tears the dough. Chef's tip: let the coiled pastries rest before flattening so the layers relax and stay distinct in the oven.

90 minAzerbaijaniBaking
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GogoșiFried yeast doughnuts

Fairground stalls, seaside promenades in Constanța and every grandmother with a big frying pan produce gogoși, fat, golden rounds of yeast dough fried and rolled in sugar while still too hot to hold. They are an everyday treat rather than a feast-day one, eaten with a mug of milk or filled with plum jam, sour cherry jam or sweet cheese. The dough is soft and enriched with eggs, milk and butter, so the inside should be fluffy and the outside thin and crisp, never greasy. Where most people go wrong is the oil temperature: too cool and the doughnuts soak up fat, too hot and they brown before the centre cooks. Keep a thermometer in the pan and never leave hot oil unattended. Chef's tip: fry one test doughnut first and break it open, so you can adjust the heat before the whole batch.

120 minRomanianDesserts
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Jamaican curried soy chunks

Ital cookshops in Half Way Tree and Papine sell curried "chunks" by the box with brown rice, steamed cabbage and a slice of ripe plantain, the Rastafarian answer to curry goat. The dried soya pieces soak up a deep, turmeric-gold sauce of Jamaican curry powder, thyme, pimento and coconut milk, and the potato thickens it as it breaks down. Most people skip squeezing the soaked chunks, which leaves them watery and bland; wring them out hard so they drink in the curry instead. Leave the scotch bonnet whole for warmth, or slit it for real heat. Chef's tip: fry the curry powder in the oil until it darkens a shade before anything wet goes in, the Jamaican "burn the curry" step that stops it tasting raw.

45 minJamaicanCurriesVeganSpicy
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Gokul pithaCoconut milk patties in syrup

Gokul pitha is named after the pastoral home of the young Krishna, and it is a favourite of Hindu households across Bangladesh at Poush Sankranti, though by now everyone makes it for winter tea. Grated coconut is cooked slowly with milk and sugar until it dries into a fudgy filling, shaped into small flat patties, coated in a thin flour batter and fried, then dropped into hot syrup. Biting in you get a soft, crisp-edged shell, a milky coconut centre and a rush of syrup, all at once. Patties that are warm and soft when they go into the batter fall apart in the oil, which is the error most people make, so chill them first. Chef's tip: use khejur gur instead of sugar in the syrup for a darker, smokier version, as many families do when the new jaggery comes in.

60 minBangladeshiIndian Sweets
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Chicken tabaka

Tsitsila tabaka is named after the tapa, a heavy cast-iron pan with a screw-down lid that Tbilisi cooks use to press a split spring chicken flat as it fries, so every bit of skin touches the hot metal and turns golden and crackling. In old Tbilisi restaurants it comes with a little jug of garlic water (niortskali) and satsebeli tomato sauce. A common mistake is using a big chicken, which takes so long that the skin burns before the inside cooks; a small poussin is right. Chef's tip: a heavy saucepan filled with water works as the weight at home. Chicken is done when the thickest part of the thigh reaches 74 °C.

50 minGeorgianChickenGluten free
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Quebec pea soup

In Quebec farmhouses a pot of soupe aux pois went on the back of the wood stove on Saturday and fed the family through the cold weeks; it is still served at sugar shacks and on chilly Sundays from Gaspé to Gatineau. Whole yellow peas break down over three hours into a thick, golden, earthy soup scented with summer savory. The old version is cooked with a slab of salt pork; this pot leaves it out and builds depth with browned onion and a bay leaf instead, so it is vegan. Serve with crusty bread or a ploye. Chef's tip: use whole yellow peas, not split ones; they hold some bite and give the soup its proper rustic body.

200 minCanadianSoupsVeganGluten free
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GiyalingBuckwheat pancakes

Buckwheat, known locally as bro, grows in the cold upper villages of Hunza and Nagar where wheat struggles, and giyaling are the thin, lacy pancakes made from its flour for breakfast. The batter is no more than buckwheat flour, water and a little milk, poured thin onto a hot griddle so the pancakes cook in a minute or two, with crisp edges and an earthy, nutty flavour. They are stacked and eaten warm, smeared with butter and a few drops of apricot-kernel oil, sometimes with a drizzle of honey and always with tea, especially on cold mornings. A thick, gloopy batter is the frequent mistake, because it makes heavy, raw-tasting pancakes. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 15 minutes, then thin it to the consistency of single cream, and buy flour labelled gluten-free if that matters to you, as buckwheat is often milled alongside wheat.

35 minPakistaniBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Egg salad guédille

A guédille is the snack-bar sandwich of Quebec, sold at the casse-croûte stands along the St Lawrence and in the Lower Saint-Lawrence towns all summer. A top-split hot-dog bun is buttered and toasted on the flat-top, then stuffed high with shredded iceberg and a soft egg salad. By the sea the same bun is filled with lobster, but the egg guédille is the everyday version kids order with fries. It takes 25 minutes and is just as good for a picnic lunch. A common mistake is filling the buns too early, which turns them soggy. Chef's tip: shred the lettuce very finely and put it under the egg so the bun stays crisp.

25 minCanadianFast Food
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GhomiWhite corn porridge

Across Samegrelo and Guria, ghomi plays the role bread plays elsewhere: a soft, smooth porridge of white corn and cornmeal, set on the table unseasoned so that slices of sulguni can be pushed into it to melt, and so that bazhe, ajika or bean stew can be scooped up with it. In Zugdidi homes it is cooked in a heavy pot and stirred with a flat wooden paddle. A common mistake is stirring too little; ghomi catches easily and lumps form at the bottom. Chef's tip: cook it until it comes away from the sides in one smooth mass, then wet a spoon and smooth the top; ghomi should feel like soft polenta that can be scooped, not runny porridge.

40 minGeorgianSidesVeganGluten free
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Dakuwa (groundnut and grain balls)

Hawkers in northern towns carry dakuwa on trays to schools and motor parks, and it keeps well enough to be a travelling snack. Roasted groundnuts are pounded with toasted maize or millet, sugar and warm spices until the oil from the nuts binds everything, then pressed into firm balls that are sweet, nutty and gently peppery. No cooking beyond toasting is needed. The usual mistake is over-blending until the nuts turn to butter and the mixture goes greasy; pulse and stop as soon as it holds when squeezed. Chef's tip: shape the balls while the mixture is still warm from the processor, when the oils are soft and it presses together easily.

40 minNigerianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Dziriettes (almond flower pastries)

Named after the women of Algiers, dziriettes are the jewels on any wedding or Eid tray: thin, crisp pastry pinched into a flower or crown, filled with a dome of almond paste scented with orange blossom, then baked and soaked in warm honey. They take patience, but the result is delicate and fragrant, with a shatter of pastry giving way to a soft, moist almond centre. Families often make a few hundred over several evenings, together, before a celebration, and serve them with mint tea or coffee. Chef's tip: roll the dough so thin you can almost see the worktop through it; thick pastry is the commonest mistake and turns dziriettes stodgy instead of crisp.

120 minAlgerianBaking
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GhonghiSnail curry

When the monsoon fills the rice paddies of the western and central Terai, Tharu families gather ghonghi, the little freshwater snails, and cook them in a dark, fiery curry thickened with ground roasted linseed; the tip of each shell is snipped so the meat can be sucked out at the table, and the dish is loved as both a treat and a monsoon tonic, eaten with rice or dhikri. Wild freshwater snails can carry parasites such as rat lungworm and liver flukes, so never use snails you have collected from ponds, ditches or paddies yourself. At home use only cleaned, purged farmed snails in their shells from a specialist supplier, or cooked, frozen farmed escargots, or live periwinkles from a good fishmonger as a stand-in, and boil them hard before they go into the curry. The usual error is skimping on the boiling, which is both unsafe and leaves the snails rubbery; they need a rolling boil and then a long simmer. Chef's tip: roast the linseed until it pops before grinding, for the nutty, dark Tharu flavour.

80 minNepaliMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Gola gandaShaved ice with syrups

Nothing says summer evening at Clifton beach or Burns Road quite like the clatter of a gola ganda cart, where a block of ice is shaved on a hand plane, packed round a stick into a fist-sized ball and doused in rose-pink, mango-orange and purple kala khatta syrups. It melts fast in the Karachi heat, so children lick it from the bottom as it drips, and the fancier stalls serve it in a plate with condensed milk, desiccated coconut and a pinch of chaat-style salt on the sour syrup. At home a hand ice shaver or a powerful blender makes snow fine enough to press into balls. The most common disappointment is ice crushed too coarsely, which will not hold together and lets the syrup run straight through. Chef's tip: freeze the ice from boiled and cooled drinking water in a shallow tray, and put the glasses or plates in the freezer too, so the gola keeps its shape for longer.

10 minPakistaniDessertsGluten free
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BankuFermented corn and cassava dough

Chop bars from Jamestown to Teshie serve banku all day, usually beside grilled tilapia, okro stew and a fierce raw pepper sauce. Fermented corn dough and cassava dough are cooked together and turned hard with a wooden spatula until they become a smooth, stretchy, faintly sour ball that you pinch off with your fingers and dip into soup or stew. At home it is good with any Ghanaian soup, and a meat-free okro stew or pepper sauce keeps the whole meal vegan. Ready-made doughs are sold in African grocers. A lumpy banku comes from adding dough to hot water; always mix it with cold water first, then heat. The commonest mistake is stopping the stirring; banku needs constant turning with a wooden spoon or it goes lumpy and raw in patches. Chef's tip: keep a bowl of water next to the pot and wet the spatula and your hands as you shape the balls, so the banku comes out glossy and nothing sticks.

40 minGhanaianBasicsVeganGluten free
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Lac-Saint-Jean blueberry pie

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

100 minCanadianDesserts
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Maple syrup pie

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

70 minCanadianDesserts
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Ghanaian fufuPounded cassava and plantain

The rhythmic thud of a pestle in a wooden mortar is the sound of lunchtime in Kumasi, where fufuo is pounded by two people, one lifting the pestle and one turning the dough between strokes. Boiled cassava and unripe plantain are beaten together until they become a soft, stretchy, slightly springy ball, served in a bowl of light soup, palm nut soup or groundnut soup and eaten with the right hand. Those soups are usually made with meat or fish; serve it with a vegetable soup for a meat-free meal. Cassava must always be fully cooked, never eaten raw. A food processor makes a good version at home. Chef's tip: pound the plantain first, then add the cassava; adding too much water is the common mistake and leaves the fufu sticky instead of smooth and elastic.

60 minGhanaianBasicsVeganGluten free
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Gurian Christmas pie

On Christmas Eve, 6 January, kitchens across Guria, around Ozurgeti and Lanchkhuti, smell of baking ghvezeli: large crescent pies stuffed with fresh cheese and chunks of boiled egg, their shape said to recall the crescent moon. They are baked in batches, carried to relatives and eaten through the holidays with tea. A common mistake is overfilling, which makes the crescent split at the seam in the oven. Chef's tip: let the yeasted dough rise once, shape the pies, then give them 15 minutes more so they puff into soft, rounded crescents. Imeruli and sulguni usually use animal rennet; look for vegetarian ones.

70 minGeorgianBaking
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GesztenyepüréChestnut purée with cream

No Budapest cukrászda menu in autumn is complete without a glass of gesztenyepüré: sweet chestnut purée pushed through a potato ricer so it falls in loose brown strands, crowned with a cloud of whipped cream and often a glacé cherry. It is soft, nutty and creamy rather than sugary, and it came to Hungary from Viennese kitchens in the days of the empire. Classic café versions add a splash of rum to the chestnuts; this one leaves it out and uses vanilla and a little cocoa, so it is alcohol-free. A common mistake is pressing the purée into the glass with a spoon, which turns it into a dense paste; let the strands fall loosely straight from the ricer. Chef's tip: chill the purée well before ricing, because cold purée holds its strands and the cream stays on top.

20 minHungarianDessertsGluten free
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Gari soakingsSoaked gari with milk and groundnuts

Every Ghanaian who went to boarding school has a story about gari soakings, the cheap, quick fill-up that keeps students going between meals, and on hot Accra afternoons it is still the snack people make without thinking. Toasted cassava grains are soaked in cold water until they swell, then sweetened with sugar and evaporated milk and topped with roasted groundnuts, so it is cool, slightly sour, creamy and crunchy at once. Some add ice cubes or a little coconut. For a vegan bowl, swap the milk for coconut milk. A common slip is adding the groundnuts too early, so they go soft; scatter them on just before eating. Chef's tip: rinse the gari first and pour away the cloudy water with any floating husks, which makes the bowl cleaner and less sandy; eat it within a few minutes, before the grains go mushy.

5 minGhanaianSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Djouzia (walnut and honey nougat)

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

55 minAlgerianDessertsGluten free
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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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Kammounia (Tunisian cumin beef stew)

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

90 minTunisianMeatGluten 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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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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Bermuda fish chowder

Bermudians call fish chowder their national dish, and every Sunday brunch and Cup Match picnic has a pot of it: a dark, thick soup made from a long-simmered fish-head stock with tomatoes, vegetables and white fish, seasoned at the table with a splash of black rum and sherry peppers sauce (hot peppers steeped in sherry). This recipe contains alcohol in those optional table seasonings; for an alcohol-free bowl, use a few drops of hot pepper sauce and a little molasses instead. The mistake to avoid is a thin, watery stock; the bones must simmer long enough to give body. Ask your fishmonger for heads and frames from white fish, gills removed. Chef's tip: let the finished chowder rest for 30 minutes before serving; it thickens and the flavours deepen.

120 minCaribbeanSoups
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Gers ogailySaffron cardamom sponge cake

Gers ogaily is the plain, golden sponge cake that sits on every coffee tray in Kuwait and the UAE: served to visitors, at Eid gatherings and after Friday lunch with small cups of cardamom coffee. It is light and springy but not fluffy like a Western sponge, more like a fragrant, slightly firm tea cake, yellow with saffron and with sesame seeds toasted on top. A slice needs nothing else beside it but coffee or tea. The mistake to avoid is whisking the eggs and sugar too briefly; the whole rise depends on that foam, as there is little baking powder. Chef's tip: soak the saffron in warm rosewater before you begin, so its colour spreads evenly through the batter.

60 minGulf ArabianBaking
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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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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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GazozFruit syrup soda

Before bottled soft drinks, the kiosks along Rothschild Boulevard and in Florentin sold gazoz: a squirt of fruit syrup topped up with fizzy water from a tap. Tel Aviv cafés have revived it as a glass crammed with fresh and lightly fermented fruit, flowers and herbs, so it is pretty, tart and only gently sweet. Make it on hot afternoons, for children's birthdays or as an alcohol-free welcome drink. The mistake is pouring the soda too early, so it goes flat before you drink it. Chef's tip: macerate the fruit in syrup for at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight in the fridge, so it bleeds colour into the glass.

10 minIsraeliDrinksVeganGluten 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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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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Chbah essafra (almond fritters in lamb sauce)

Cooks in Algiers bring out chbah essafra for weddings and grand family dinners, where it is served as the sweet main course: diamonds of almond paste scented with lemon and cinnamon are dipped in egg, fried golden and laid around tender lamb in a pale, buttery sauce sweetened with sugar and orange-blossom water. The contrast of savoury meat and soft, sweet almond is the point, and the dish is rich, so small portions with bread are usual. Chicken can replace the lamb, with a shorter cooking time. Chef's tip: warm the fritters in the sauce only at the table; dropping them into bubbling sauce is a common mistake, and they fall apart.

130 minAlgerianMeat
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Ojojo (water yam fritters)

Ojojo is what Yoruba households do with water yam when they want a snack instead of a pottage, and roadside fryers in the Southwest sell it hot in paper with akara. The grated yam is mixed with chopped onion, fresh chilli and salt, then dropped by the spoonful into hot oil, where it puffs into craggy, golden fritters with a crisp shell and a soft, slightly chewy centre. Eat it hot with a pepper sauce, or with ogi (fermented corn pap) for breakfast. Wear gloves to peel and grate water yam, which makes the skin itch. Chef's tip: grate the yam just before frying and don't let the batter sit; it darkens and loosens as it stands.

30 minNigerianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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GarnaalkrokettenGrey shrimp croquettes

Along the Flemish coast, from De Panne to Knokke, the North Sea grey shrimp is king, and garnaalkroketten are the dish every seaside restaurant is judged by: a molten, creamy shrimp-flavoured béchamel packed with little brown shrimps, set firm, crumbed and fried until golden, served with fried parsley and lemon. In Oostduinkerke, shrimp fishers on horseback still drag their nets through the shallows. A common mistake is a béchamel that isn't thick enough, so the croquettes burst in the oil. Chef's tip: make a strong shrimp stock from the shells, if you have them, for the béchamel, and chill the mix overnight so it is firm to shape. The shrimp are already cooked; fry until golden and hot through.

90 minBelgianSnacks & Starters
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GebzhaliaCheese rolls in mint yogurt sauce

Gebzhalia is one of the dishes Mingrelian hosts in Zugdidi and Martvili bring out when guests arrive: soft, freshly made cheese is warmed in hot milk until pliable, flattened into sheets, scattered with mint and rolled up, then served in a cool, minty yogurt sauce. It is mild, salty and refreshing, served as a starter at a supra. Fresh imeruli cheese is the traditional choice; fresh mozzarella curd works well too. A common mistake is overheating the cheese, which makes it squeaky and tough instead of silky. Chef's tip: keep the milk just below a simmer and work the cheese with a spoon until it is soft enough to stretch, then roll while it is still warm. Fresh cheeses are often made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian one.

40 minGeorgianSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Tahini cookies

Every Israeli bakery and grandmother's biscuit tin has ugiyot tahini, little domed cookies that crumble and melt on the tongue with a deep, toasty sesame flavour. They are baked for Shabbat coffee, for guests dropping by in Haifa or Jerusalem, and as an easy dairy-free sweet to follow a meat meal. This version uses oil rather than butter, so it is vegan. The mistake is baking until they turn golden all over; they firm up as they cool and should leave the oven pale with just-coloured bases. Chef's tip: stir the tahini jar thoroughly first, since the oil separates and a dry spoonful from the bottom makes sandy, dry cookies.

25 minIsraeliBakingVegan
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Griwech (honey-dipped pastry knots)

No Ramadan table in Algeria feels complete without a plate of griwech next to the chorba, ready for the sweet craving that follows the fast. Thin sheets of dough are cut into rectangles, slit and twisted into knots, fried until crisp and golden, then plunged into warm honey and scattered with toasted sesame. Each piece snaps cleanly, then melts into a sticky, orange-blossom sweetness. Batches are made days ahead and kept in tins for visitors through the month and on into Eid. Chef's tip: keep the oil at 170 °C; oil that is too hot is the usual mistake, colouring the outside before the layers inside crisp, so the griwech goes soft in the honey.

120 minAlgerianDesserts
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Megrelian kharcho

In Samegrelo 'kharcho' means something quite different from the Tbilisi soup: chicken pieces simmered in a thick, golden sauce of ground walnuts, garlic, hot pepper and Imeretian saffron (dried marigold), so rich and spicy that it is eaten with plain ghomi to calm it down. Zugdidi families cook it for guests and for Sunday lunch. A common mistake is boiling the sauce hard once the walnuts go in; it turns oily and grainy. Chef's tip: grind the walnuts until they weep oil and spoon a little of that oil over the finished dish; Mingrelians judge kharcho by its glossy, orange sheen. Chicken must reach 74 °C in the thickest part.

90 minGeorgianChickenGluten freeSpicy
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