Skip to content
LoginRegister
WhatToEat.Today
Carrot & nut cake
Featured recipe

Carrot & nut cake

A moist, oil-based carrot cake spiced with cinnamon and full of chopped nuts and mixed peel. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. For a change, use 2 cups drained, chopped tinned pineapple instead of the peel. Contains egg.

Read more 0 views

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Persian

A new country every day, from every cuisine on the site.

Persian

Dizi

Lamb and chickpea stew 245 minMore from Persian (131) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners578 recipes · a new collection every Monday

New this week

See all new →

Coming up

All occasions →

Latest recipes

Burmese palataLayered flatbread

Indian-Burmese tea shops around Yangon's Sule Pagoda and Mandalay's 84th Street fry palata from early morning until late at night on wide, oiled griddles, the cook stretching each ball of dough until you can see through it before folding it into coils of layers. The bread comes out crisp and blistered outside, soft and chewy within, and it is eaten two ways: sprinkled with sugar as a sweet snack with milky tea, or torn and dipped into a curry or a bowl of split-pea dal. Rushing the rest is where it fails; dough that hasn't relaxed in oil for at least an hour tears when you stretch it, and the layers never form. Chef's tip: once the palata is cooked, scrunch it between your palms while still hot; it breaks the coils apart into flaky layers.

55 minBurmeseBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Buraczki zasmażaneWarm grated beetroot

Sunday lunch in Poland has its trio: potatoes with dill, something from the oven, and a heap of these warm, glossy beets. Cooked beetroot is grated, then warmed through with a quick butter roux that turns it soft and spoonable, and balanced with lemon juice and a little sugar until sweet, sour and earthy at once. It goes with dumplings, eggs, fried cheese or a mushroom cutlet as well as with roasts. Where most people go wrong is adding the lemon too late; acid early keeps the beets ruby red instead of brown. Chef's tip: roast the beetroot whole in foil rather than boiling it for a deeper, sweeter flavour.

30 minPolishSides
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ginger milk curd

Born in the Pearl River Delta town of Shawan in Panyu, Guangdong, ginger milk curd crossed the border to become a favourite of Hong Kong dessert parlours in Jordan and Causeway Bay, ordered hot on a winter night. There's no setting agent: an enzyme in fresh ginger juice curdles hot milk within minutes into a trembling, spoonable custard that's sweet, creamy and warming, with a peppery ginger kick. It is eaten straight from the bowl while still warm, with nothing alongside. Long-life UHT milk is the classic mistake, since its proteins have been changed by the high heat and it simply won't set; use fresh pasteurised whole cow's milk. Chef's tip: use mature, fibrous ginger rather than young pink-tipped ginger, and heat the milk to 70–75 °C, measured with a thermometer.

15 minHong KongDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FiskekakerWhite fish cakes

In Bergen, the fishmongers at the harbour fish market sell fresh fiskekaker made that morning: white fish such as haddock or pollock blended with milk, potato starch and nutmeg into a soft, pale paste, shaped into flat cakes and fried in butter. They are served with boiled potatoes, grated raw carrot and a white sauce or melted butter, or cold in a sandwich. A common mistake is adding the milk too fast, which makes the mix loose. Chef's tip: blend the fish with salt first until sticky, then add the cold milk a little at a time, so the cakes come out springy and smooth. They are cooked when firm and opaque in the middle.

40 minScandinavianFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bündner BirnbrotPear and fig loaf

Birnbrot is the Christmas loaf of Graubünden, baked in Chur and the mountain villages in December: a dark, dense filling of dried pears, figs, raisins, walnuts, candied peel and warm spices is wrapped in a thin layer of plain bread dough and baked until the crust is golden. It keeps for weeks and is sliced thin with butter (or without, for a vegan loaf). Many families soak the fruit in pear brandy; this version uses pear juice. A common mistake is a thick bread wrapping, which dries out; the crust should be thin. Chef's tip: soak the dried fruit overnight so it is plump and the filling holds together.

120 minSwissBakingVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bündner GerstensuppeBarley and smoked meat soup

Bündner Gerstensuppe is the soup of every mountain hut and ski restaurant in Graubünden, from Davos to Arosa: pearl barley simmered slowly with leek, carrot, celeriac and cabbage and a piece of smoked pork or air-dried beef until thick and creamy, finished with a splash of cream and chives. This version uses smoked pork shoulder (Rippli), so it contains pork. A common mistake is skipping the soak, so the barley takes far longer and the vegetables turn to mush. Chef's tip: soak the barley overnight and cook the smoked meat in the soup from the start; it seasons the broth. Smoked pork should be heated through to 71 °C.

120 minSwissSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Singapore curry puff

Spiral curry puffs are a tea-time thing in Singapore, picked up warm in paper bags from Malay kueh stalls at Geylang Serai, from heritage bakeries in Tiong Bahru, or eaten at the 4 pm break with teh tarik. The pastry is the point: two doughs rolled together into a log, sliced, and rolled out so that the cut edge shows tight spirals that shatter into crisp layers when fried. Inside is a soft, peppery filling of potato and onion cooked with curry powder and curry leaves. Shops also sell versions with chicken and a wedge of hard-boiled egg; this one keeps to potato and uses vegetable shortening so the pastry stays dairy-free. The usual mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, which browns the outside while the inner layers stay doughy; a steady medium heat lets the spirals open. Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely and keep it fairly dry, or steam from the potato will burst the seams in the oil.

100 minSingaporeanSnacks & StartersVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BündnerfleischAir-dried beef platter

Bündnerfleisch is the lean beef of Graubünden, salted with mountain herbs, pressed into its square shape and air-dried for months in the cold, dry mountain air around Davos and the Engadine, until it is deep red, tender and intensely savoury. It is sliced paper-thin and served on a wooden board with rye bread, butter, gherkins and pickled onions, often with a glass of something on a mountain terrace. It needs the mountain climate and is bought ready-made, not made at home. As a raw cured meat, it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. A common mistake is slicing it thick, which makes it chewy. Chef's tip: slice it as thin as paper and leave it for 10 minutes at room temperature before serving, so the flavour opens up.

15 minSwissMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FlæskestegRoast pork with crackling

Flæskesteg is the Danish Christmas Eve roast: a pork loin or belly with its rind scored deep, rubbed with salt and bay, and roasted until the crackling puffs into crisp, golden ridges. This is a pork dish. It is served with brunede kartofler, red cabbage, plain boiled potatoes and gravy, and the crackling is the prize everyone fights over. A common mistake is scoring the rind too shallow or not all the way across, so it cracks unevenly. Chef's tip: start the joint rind-down in a little boiling water for 20 minutes, which softens the rind, then turn it up and roast; it crackles evenly. Whole pork joints are safe at 63 °C followed by a 15-minute rest.

140 minScandinavianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BulzPolenta balls with sheep's cheese

Shepherds in the Apuseni mountains and the sheepfolds above Sibiu made bulz from what they had in the hut: stiff mămăligă pressed in the hand around a lump of salty sheep's cheese, then pushed into the embers until the outside crisped and the cheese melted. At home it bakes in the oven and comes out with a golden shell and a molten, tangy middle, usually with a spoon of sour cream and sometimes a fried egg on top. Telemea, brânză de burduf and caș are often made with animal rennet, so for a vegetarian bulz use a feta-style or other salty white cheese labelled vegetarian. The usual slip is cooking the mămăligă too soft, so the balls slump and leak; it should be thick enough to hold a wooden spoon upright. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water before shaping so the hot cornmeal does not stick.

45 minRomanianVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Filets de percheFried perch fillets

Filets de perche are the signature dish of the lakeside restaurants around Lake Geneva, from Geneva to Lausanne and Montreux: small, delicate perch fillets dusted with flour, fried quickly in butter until golden, and served with lemon, tartare sauce, a pile of fries and a green salad on a summer terrace. Lake perch is scarce today; ask for responsibly sourced perch or use small fillets of pike-perch or another delicate white fish. A common mistake is crowding the pan, which steams the thin fillets. Chef's tip: fry in batches in foaming butter for just a minute or so a side; the fish is done when opaque and it flakes.

25 minSwissFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gu lou yuk (Cantonese sweet and sour pork)

Ask a Hong Kong family what they order at a dai pai dong for the children, and gu lou yuk is near the top: nuggets of pork shoulder fried twice until shatteringly crisp, then tossed at the last moment with pineapple, green and red pepper and onion in a shiny, tangy, scarlet sauce. Cantonese cooks in Guangzhou and Hong Kong have made it for well over a century, and it is a fixture of wedding banquets and takeaway menus worldwide. Eat it fresh with steamed rice while the coating still crunches. A common pitfall is simmering the pork in the sauce, which turns the crust soggy within a minute; thicken the sauce first, then toss for a few seconds only. Chef's tip: the second, hotter fry is what makes it crisp, so don't skip it.

45 minHong KongMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bubur pulut hitamBlack glutinous rice porridge

Deep purple-black and gently sweet, bubur pulut hitam is ladled warm from big pots at dessert stalls in Singapore's hawker centres, from Old Airport Road to Tekka, and Malay families cook it for breaking the fast during Ramadan or for a rainy-afternoon treat. Black glutinous rice is simmered slowly with pandan until the grains burst and thicken the liquid, then sweetened with gula melaka, so the porridge is creamy, nutty and a little chewy. A swirl of salted coconut cream goes on top just before serving, and the salt is what makes it taste complete. The usual mistake is skipping the soak; unsoaked black rice stays hard at the centre however long you cook it, so soak it for at least 4 hours or overnight before you start. Chef's tip: add the palm sugar only once the grains are fully soft, because sugar firms the rice and stops it breaking down.

75 minSingaporeanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fini rotiLayered fried sugar bread

During Tihar, the five-day festival of lights in late autumn, sisters in Kathmandu and Pokhara prepare a basket of treats for Bhai Tika, and fini roti, a crisp round of fried bread made of dozens of paper-thin layers, sits in it beside sel roti, nuts and sweets. A simple dough of flour and ghee is rolled very thin, spread with a paste of ghee and rice flour, rolled into a log and cut, so that each piece fans out in the hot oil into a flaky spiral that shatters at the first bite. It is lightly dusted with sugar, lasts for days in a tin, and is eaten with tea or given to visiting relatives. The layers vanish if you make the paste with melted ghee, which seeps out instead of staying put. Chef's tip: beat the ghee and rice flour together until fluffy and pale like soft butter, and keep the dough cool so the layers stay distinct.

60 minNepaliBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Brunede kartoflerCaramelised small potatoes

No Danish Christmas Eve dinner is complete without brunede kartofler beside the roast pork or duck: small boiled potatoes rolled in golden caramel and butter until they are glossy, sweet and salty. Families boil the potatoes the day before so they are firm and dry. A common mistake is adding wet potatoes to the caramel; it seizes and splatters. Chef's tip: melt the sugar alone until amber, then add the butter, and roll cold, dry potatoes in it over a medium heat until coated.

40 minScandinavianSidesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BrunsvigerBrown sugar butter cake

Brunsviger is the cake of Funen, the island between Jutland and Zealand: a soft, light yeast dough baked in a tray and covered with brown sugar and butter that melts into sticky, bubbling pools in dimples you press into the top. It is the classic birthday cake at Danish schools and offices, cut into squares and eaten warm with coffee. A common mistake is spreading the topping on cold dough; it slides off. Chef's tip: press deep holes into the risen dough with your finger so the topping collects in pools of caramel.

55 minScandinavianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BublaninaCherry sponge traybake

Czech grandmothers make bublanina the moment cherries ripen in June, and again with apricots or plums later in summer, baking it in a big tray for afternoon coffee in the garden. The name comes from the bubbles that form as the fruit sinks into the batter. It is a light, buttery sponge, golden at the edges, with pockets of juicy, sharp fruit and a snowfall of icing sugar on top; children love it warm. A common mistake is folding in the flour too hard, which knocks out the air and makes a tough cake; mix until just combined. Pitted fruit is easiest for little eaters. Chef's tip: toss the fruit in a spoon of flour before scattering it over, so it sits in the sponge instead of sinking to the bottom.

50 minCzechBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Taiwanese radish omelette

Ask a Taiwanese grandmother what to cook when there's nothing in the fridge and the answer is often this: a few eggs and a handful of preserved radish turned into a thick, golden omelette, cut into wedges and passed round. It's a staple of the rice-and-small-dishes spread at Taipei breakfast shops and late-night congee counters, and it reappears on the stir-fry restaurant table and in home lunchboxes. The chopped radish fries up crunchy and caramel-sweet inside soft, puffy egg, with crisp brown lacy edges. Skipping the rinse is where most go wrong: unrinsed radish makes the omelette far too salty. Chef's tip: dry-fry the radish first until it smells toasty, then use plenty of oil and a hot pan so the egg puffs and the edges frill.

15 minTaiwaneseBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FijuelasHoney-soaked fried dough spirals

Fijuelas are the Hanukkah sweet of Moroccan Jews, also made for weddings and bar mitzvahs, and grandmothers in Netanya and Ashkelon still roll them by the hundred on a fork. Paper-thin strips of egg dough are wound into spirals as they hit the hot oil, puffing into crisp, lacy roses, then dipped in warm honey syrup with orange blossom. They should shatter when bitten and taste of honey rather than grease. The mistake that ruins them is rolling the dough too thick, which makes them chewy and oily; you should almost see the counter through it. Chef's tip: keep the syrup warm and the fried spirals cool, so they absorb a thin glaze and stay crisp for days.

60 minIsraeliDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Flaki po warszawskuBeef tripe soup

Warsaw's old milk bars and wedding receptions share one great soup: flaki, a peppery tripe broth scented with marjoram, nutmeg and ginger, served piping hot, traditionally late at night to revive tired guests. The Warsaw version adds tender beef meatballs (pulpety) and plenty of julienned root vegetables, so it is heartier than the plain flaki of other regions. Tripe has a soft, slightly chewy bite and soaks up the warm spices. Buy cleaned, blanched beef tripe from a butcher. A mistake that ruins many pots is skipping the first blanching: without it the soup smells strongly and never tastes clean. Make it a day ahead if you can; it improves overnight. Chef's tip: add the marjoram twice, a spoon during cooking and a generous pinch rubbed between your palms just before serving, which is what gives Warsaw flaki its signature smell.

240 minPolishSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minBalkanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minSri LankanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Burmese pea fried rice

Ask almost anyone from Yangon what they ate for breakfast as a child and the answer is often this: last night's rice, fried in a hot wok with soft boiled peas and plenty of onion, eaten before school with a glass of hot green tea. It is pale, gently savoury and comforting rather than spicy, with the peas bursting creamy against slightly crisp grains of rice. Families add a few slices of cucumber on the side and a spoon of crispy onions, and some cooks toss in a pinch of turmeric for colour. The usual error is using freshly cooked rice, which clumps and steams instead of frying. Chef's tip: crumble the cold rice with damp hands before it goes in the wok, so every grain hits the hot oil separately.

20 minBurmeseBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Figgy duffSteamed raisin pudding

Figgy duff is the pudding that boils in its cloth bag alongside a Newfoundland Jiggs dinner on Sundays; in Newfoundland, raisins are called figs. Breadcrumbs, molasses, raisins and spices make a dark, soft, steamed pudding that is cut into thick slices and eaten hot with molasses coady (a butter-molasses sauce) or custard. This home version steams in a pudding basin rather than a cloth. A common mistake is letting the pan boil dry; keep a kettle hot for topping up. Chef's tip: soak the breadcrumbs and raisins first so the pudding is moist all through.

170 minCanadianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Brassói aprópecsenyeFried pork with potato cubes

Despite the name, which points to Brassó (Brașov) in Transylvania, this is a Budapest invention, and it is still one of the most ordered plates in the city's small family restaurants. Small cubes of pork neck or shoulder are fried hard with onion, lots of garlic, marjoram and a little paprika until they are browned and juicy, then tossed with golden, crunchy fried potato cubes. It is a quick, salty, garlicky dish, best with a bowl of pickles or a crisp cucumber salad and a glass of cold mineral water. The usual slip is crowding the pan, so the pork steams grey instead of browning; fry it in two batches. Chef's tip: add half the garlic at the start and the rest in the last minute, so you get both the mellow and the sharp flavour.

45 minHungarianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bratislavské rožkyWalnut or poppy seed crescents

Bakers in old Pressburg, today's Bratislava, have shaped these little horns for nearly three centuries, and the city still treats them as its own Christmas and wedding pastry. The walnut ones are bent into a horseshoe and the poppy seed ones into a crescent, so you can tell them apart on the plate. The dough is rich and short, almost like a pastry, and the shiny brown top is crazed with fine cracks from a double egg glaze. A common mistake is glazing the second time before the first coat is dry, which leaves a dull, smooth top instead of the famous marbling. Patience is the whole trick: a cool rest after the yolk, then a warm rest after the white. Old recipes add a splash of rum to the walnut filling; this version uses lemon and cinnamon instead. Chef's tip: keep the dough cold and work quickly, so the butter stays in tiny flakes.

150 minCzechBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Armenian string cheese

Chechil, called tel panir in Armenian, is the plaited string cheese of Armenian families from Yerevan to Beirut and Boston: fresh curd is melted in hot water, stretched again and again into long, fine strands with nigella seeds worked through, then twisted into a braid. To eat, you pull the braid apart into thread-fine strings, good with herbs, lavash and a glass of tan. Traditionally made with animal rennet; vegetarian rennet works too. A common mistake is stretching a curd that is not acidic enough; it melts into a blob instead of pulling. Chef's tip: test a small piece in hot water first, as for sulguni; if it stretches 30 cm without breaking, it is ready.

90 minArmenianBasicsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Burmese pork curry

Glistening under a layer of brick-red oil, pork curry sits at the front of every Yangon htamin zain, the rice-and-curry shops where office workers queue at lunchtime and point at pots. Chunks of pork belly and shoulder are cooked very slowly in a paste of onion, garlic and ginger until the meat is spoon-tender, the fat has melted into the sauce and the oil floats free on top. It tastes savoury and gently sweet rather than fiery, and arrives with plain rice, a sour leaf soup, boiled vegetables and a dish of fish-paste dip. People often fry the onion paste too fast; it scorches before the water has cooked out and the curry turns bitter, so keep the heat at a steady medium. Chef's tip: the curry tastes even better the next day, when the pork has soaked up the sauce; lift off a little of the oil before reheating if you prefer it leaner.

120 minBurmeseCurriesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fever grass teaLemongrass and ginger tea

In Jamaican country yards a clump of fever grass, the local name for lemongrass, grows by the kitchen door, and a handful steeped in boiling water is the old remedy for colds, aches and restless nights. Brewed with fresh ginger, it is lemony, gently peppery and soothing, and is drunk hot, sweetened with a little brown sugar. The mistake people make is using the stalks whole, which gives a weak tea; bruise and cut them to release the oils. Chef's tip: tie long leaves in a knot before you add them, as country cooks do, so they are easy to lift out.

15 minJamaicanDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BramboračkaPotato and mushroom soup

Ask anyone from Bohemia what their grandmother cooked on a cold Saturday and bramboračka comes up first: a thick, earthy potato soup that smells of dried porcini, caraway and marjoram. It is a fixture of pub lunch menus and mountain chalets, ladled out with a slice of dark rye bread. Floury potatoes break down at the edges and thicken the broth, while carrot, parsley root and celeriac add sweetness under the woodland flavour of the mushrooms. This version is fully plant-based, with the roux made in oil. A common mistake is adding the marjoram and garlic at the start, where long boiling dulls them; they go in at the very end, off the heat. Chef's tip: rub the dried marjoram between your palms over the pot to wake up its oils before it drops in.

50 minCzechSoupsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FatirLayered butter flatbread

Fatir is the rich, flaky flatbread of Tajik homes and Dushanbe bakeries, made for qurutob, for guests and for festivals: dough rolled thin, spread with butter or ghee, folded and coiled into many layers, then baked against the wall of a tandir until crisp outside and soft and layered inside. It tears into flakes and soaks up sauces beautifully. A common mistake is baking it too slowly, which dries it out; it needs a very hot oven. Chef's tip: brush with ghee as soon as it comes out, then wrap it in a cloth for 5 minutes to soften the crust slightly.

75 minTajikBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lo mai gai (sticky rice in lotus leaf)

Unfold the dried lotus leaf at a Hong Kong yum cha table and a cloud of tea-scented steam rises from a parcel of glossy sticky rice, hiding a centre of soy-braised chicken thigh, shiitake and slices of lap cheong, the sweet Chinese pork sausage. Teahouses from Sheung Wan to Mong Kok sell it from the morning trolleys, and office workers grab one as a filling breakfast with a pot of pu'er. The rice is chewy and sticky but each grain stays whole, and the leaf gives it a faint grassy perfume. Shaoxing rice wine goes into the filling; an alcohol-free swap is given in the ingredient list. The most common mistake is cooking the rice in water like plain rice: soaked glutinous rice must be steamed, or it turns into paste. Chef's tip: wrap the parcels tightly and steam them again from cold or frozen; they reheat better than almost any dim sum.

130 minHong KongRice & Grains
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fasolka po bretońskuWhite beans in tomato with sausage

Despite its name, nothing about fasolka po bretońsku is French; this is pure Polish canteen and milk-bar food, the thick, brick-red bean stew that has fed Warsaw students, soldiers and hungry families for generations. White beans simmer in tomato with smoked pork sausage, smoked bacon, onion and plenty of marjoram until creamy, smoky and slightly sweet. It is filling enough on its own with a hunk of bread and even better reheated the next day. Under-cooked beans are the most common disappointment; they must be soft right through before the tomato goes in, because acid stops them softening. Soak the dried beans overnight beforehand. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the cooked beans against the side of the pot before serving to give the sauce its typical velvety body.

90 minPolishMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FaworkiCrisp fried dough ribbons

On Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent, Polish queues for pączki are matched only by the piles of faworki, also called chruściki, sold by the bag. They are paper-thin strips of rich egg-yolk and sour-cream dough, each pulled through a slit to make a twist, fried for seconds until they blister and puff into shattering, bubbly shards. Many families add a spoon of spirit to the dough to make them extra crisp; vinegar does the same job alcohol-free and is used here. Where most people go wrong is rolling the dough too thick, which gives chewy biscuits rather than glass-thin crisps. Chef's tip: beat the dough with a rolling pin for 5 minutes before rolling; the air you trap makes the bubbles.

60 minPolishDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BoulouAnise and raisin loaf

After the long Yom Kippur fast, Moroccan families in Beersheba and Dimona break it gently with tea and slices of boulou, a sweet, cake-like bread scented with anise and studded with raisins and walnuts. It keeps well for days, so many cooks bake it before the holiday and it lasts through Sukkot with coffee. The crumb is tight and tender, closer to a sweet brioche than to challah, with a shiny sesame top. People often under-bake it because the crust browns fast; check with a skewer, not by colour. Chef's tip: toast the anise seeds in a dry pan for a minute before adding them, which deepens the liquorice note without making it sharp.

70 minIsraeliBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hainanese curry rice

Late-night and early-morning crowds in Tiong Bahru, Beo Crescent and Jalan Besar know the drill at a Hainanese curry rice stall: point at what you want, then ask for it "banjir", flooded. A plate of white rice disappears under two gravies, a mild, coconut-rich curry with soft potato and chicken, and a dark, five-spice braising sauce, then gets topped with crumbed fried pork chop, braised cabbage and a runny-edged fried egg. It is messy, comforting and salty-sweet, and leftovers taste even better the next day. The usual mistake is a thin, watery curry; it should be thick enough to cling to the rice, so let the potatoes break down a little and reduce the gravy well. Chef's tip: crush cream crackers rather than using breadcrumbs for the pork chop, as the old Hainanese cooks do; they fry up shatteringly crisp and stay that way under the gravy.

70 minSingaporeanRice & Grains
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bouquettes liégeoisesBuckwheat raisin pancakes

Boûkètes are the buckwheat pancakes of Liège, sold at the Christmas market and eaten at home on New Year's Day: a yeasted batter of buckwheat and wheat flour studded with raisins, fried in butter into thick, nutty little pancakes and served with brown sugar or sirop de Liège. A common mistake is a hot pan; the outside burns before the thick middle cooks. Chef's tip: let the batter rise for an hour until bubbly, then fry over a medium-low heat with plenty of butter.

45 minBelgianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FendishaSweet or salted popcorn

Popcorn might seem an odd companion to coffee, but at an Ethiopian buna ceremony a heaped tray of fendisha is as expected as the incense and the little cups. The hostess pops it while the coffee boils, and it is eaten in small handfuls between the three rounds of coffee. Some families like it plain with a pinch of salt, others scatter sugar over it while it is still hot so it catches in the crevices; both are made here. It is crisp, light and best within an hour or two. Whole popcorn is a choking risk for children under five, so serve them something else. Chef's tip: leave the lid slightly ajar while it pops so the steam escapes; trapped steam is what makes popcorn chewy.

8 minEthiopianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BotvinyaChilled beet leaf and salmon soup

Summer dachas around St Petersburg once waited all year for the young beet tops and sorrel that go into this sharp, ice-cold soup, a grand dish of the old aristocratic table that is also cheap peasant food. Blanched greens are puréed, loosened with bread kvass and studded with cucumber and spring onion; a piece of gently poached salmon is set alongside, with horseradish and lemon. Kvass is lightly fermented and can carry a trace of alcohol: choose one labelled alcohol-free, or use the substitute of sparkling water, a little lemon and rye-bread soaking liquid given in the ingredients. The usual slip is serving it merely cool: it should be properly cold, even with an ice cube in each bowl. Chef's tip: poach the fish the day before so it is thoroughly chilled, and keep the whole soup in the fridge until the minute it goes to the table.

60 minRussianSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BotwinkaYoung beetroot soup

June markets in Kraków and Tarnów are piled with bunches of baby beetroot still wearing their leaves, and those bunches go straight into botwinka. The whole plant is used: the small roots, the rosy stalks and the greens, simmered quickly so the soup stays bright pink and fresh-tasting rather than earthy. It is finished with sour cream, lots of dill and a squeeze of lemon, and often eaten with new potatoes and a halved boiled egg. A common mistake is boiling it for too long, which turns the leaves khaki and dulls the colour. Chef's tip: add the lemon juice before the cream; the acid locks in the ruby colour.

40 minPolishSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Milkfish belly congee

Tainan breakfast stalls open before six for this, ladling it into bowls beside plates of fried dough sticks and braised fish skin. It is not the thick Cantonese kind: cooked rice is simmered briefly in a light, ginger-scented broth, so the grains stay separate, and slices of rich, boneless milkfish belly are poached in it until just set, then showered with celery, fried shallots and white pepper. Milkfish is farmed in the ponds around Tainan; look for boneless frozen belly in Asian supermarkets, or use sea bass belly. The error most cooks make is boiling the belly hard, which breaks the soft fat and clouds the broth. Chef's tip: lower the slices into the pot skin-side down and keep the liquid just shivering; the belly firms gently and keeps its sweet, silky layer of fat.

40 minTaiwaneseBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Teochew fish soup

Office workers in the CBD form long lunch queues for a dish that looks almost plain: a bowl of clear, sweet broth with thick slices of batang (Spanish mackerel), wedges of tomato, silken tofu, lettuce and a little salted vegetable, served with rice or thick rice noodles. Good stalls simmer fish bones for hours, but at home a well-flavoured stock and plenty of ginger get you close in half an hour. The fish should be just set and springy, the broth light, gently tangy from tomato and savoury from fish sauce. Most home versions go wrong by boiling the slices hard, which breaks them up and turns them chalky; they need only a few minutes at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: toss the fish slices with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of tapioca starch before cooking, which keeps them silky and stops them falling apart.

30 minSingaporeanSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bossche bolChocolate-dipped cream puff

The Bossche bol is the famous pastry of 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) in North Brabant: a choux bun the size of a tennis ball, filled to bursting with lightly sweetened whipped cream and dipped in glossy dark chocolate. Bakeries like Jan de Groot sell them by the thousand, and you eat it with your hands, leaning over the plate. A common mistake is taking the choux out too early, which makes it collapse. Chef's tip: bake until deep golden, then pierce the base and return to the switched-off oven for 10 minutes to dry out.

60 minDutchBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MiondoSoured cassava sticks

Douala's Duala families wrap their cassava dough into slim sticks no thicker than a finger, and bundles of miondo tied with string are stacked at every market from Akwa to New Bell. The roots are soaked for several days until they soften and sour, then ground smooth, drained, rolled, wrapped in leaves and boiled until firm and slightly translucent. The result is chewy, gently tangy and neutral enough to soak up ndolé, grilled fish or a fiery pepper sauce, and peeling back the leaf is part of the pleasure. Plan ahead: the soaking takes 3–4 days and the draining a few hours more, though the hands-on work is about an hour. Chef's tip: roll the sticks no thicker than your little finger so they cook through evenly; fat ones stay pasty in the middle.

150 minCameroonianBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BorșFermented wheat bran sour liquid

Before lemons were common in Moldavian and Wallachian villages, every household kept a crock of borș, the cloudy, tangy liquid that turns a plain soup into a ciorbă. Wheat bran and a little cornmeal are steeped in hot water, seeded with a starter and left to ferment for 3–4 days in total, so although the hands-on work is short, plan a long weekend: the timings shown cover only the first two days of waiting. It is naturally vegan and a staple of the fasting (post) kitchen, where it sours nettle, bean and vegetable ciorbe. Where people go wrong is using a jar that is not properly clean, which lets the wrong microbes win and turns the borș slimy or mouldy. Chef's tip: keep a few spoonfuls of the drained bran, dried, as the starter (huște) for your next batch.

2880 minRomanianBasicsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

AasmiFried rice flour nests with syrup

Aasmi is the most delicate sweet on the Sinhala New Year table, a crisp, cream-coloured nest of tangled rice threads drizzled with pink syrup, and making it is a skill that village women in the Kandy and Kurunegala districts are rightly proud of. The batter gets its unique, almost glassy crispness from the slippery sap of davul kurundu leaves, a wild relative of laurel sometimes sold dried or frozen in Sri Lankan shops, which binds the rice flour and coconut milk. It is poured in a fine stream into hot oil to form a lace, folded while still soft and fried until crisp but still pale, then decorated with lines of thick sugar syrup. If you cannot find the leaves, a little tapioca starch helps the batter hold, but the lace will be softer. The usual error is frying until golden: aasmi should stay pale cream, so keep the oil moderate. Chef's tip: test the batter with one thread first; it should fall in a smooth, unbroken stream.

100 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Burus shapikCheese-filled flatbreads

Burus is the soft, crumbly fresh cheese of Hunza, made in summer pastures by heating the buttermilk left after churning until it curdles, and shapik means bread; together they make one of the valley's best-loved meals, a pair of thin wholewheat rounds sealed around a filling of cheese, onion, coriander, mint and green chilli. In Gojal and central Hunza it is cooked on a griddle for family lunch, for guests and for the walk up to the high pastures, and it is eaten hot, brushed with butter, with a cup of salty tea. Overfilling is the beginner's mistake; the dough tears and the filling leaks onto the pan. Chef's tip: crumbled paneer or well-drained cottage cheese works well in place of burus; paneer needs no rennet, but check cottage cheese is labelled vegetarian.

50 minPakistaniBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Njama njama and fufu cornHuckleberry leaves with corn fufu

Every chop house in Bamenda has its own pot of njama njama, the bitter-sweet huckleberry leaf that grows in Grassfields gardens, served next to a smooth white dome of fufu corn. The leaves are boiled briefly to tame their bitterness, squeezed and then stir-fried with onion, tomato and pepper until tender and glossy. Pinch off some fufu, press a dent into it with your thumb and use it to scoop up the greens; at home, grilled chicken or kati kati often joins the plate. Frozen huckleberry leaves are sold in African grocers, and spinach with a little kale is a fair stand-in. Avoid skipping the blanching of the huckleberry leaves; unblanched they stay bitter. Chef's tip: squeeze the blanched leaves hard by the handful; leftover water dilutes the tomato base and makes the greens soggy.

50 minCameroonianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Flamiche dinantaiseStrong cheese tart

The flamiche of Dinant is eaten only one way: straight from the oven, so hot it burns the fingers, as the townspeople say. It is a rich, wobbly tart of strong fresh boulette or Herve-style cheese beaten with eggs and plenty of butter on a thin yeasted base, and Dinant's 'Confrérie de la Flamiche' still holds an annual tasting. Boulette and Herve cheeses are usually made with animal rennet; a strong vegetarian soft cheese mixed with fromage frais works. A common mistake is letting it cool; it sets and loses its creaminess. Chef's tip: serve it the moment the top puffs and turns golden.

60 minBelgianVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Idrijski žlikrofiPotato and chive dumplings

Mercury miners in Idrija, the hill town in western Slovenia, lived on these: thumbnail-sized pasta parcels pinched into a little hat shape with a dimple in the middle and filled with potato, onion, chives and marjoram. They carry EU protected status, and in Idrija they come either with melted butter and crumbs or with bakalca, a slow-cooked lamb sauce; the traditional filling often has a spoon of pork fat or cracklings too. This vegetarian version uses butter throughout. Shaping 150 or so of them is a job for two people and a good chat. A wet filling is the usual downfall: boil the potatoes in their skins and mash them dry, or the dough tears when you pinch it shut. If you add the optional grated hard cheese, choose a vegetarian one, as parmesan-style cheeses use animal rennet. Chef's tip: dry the shaped žlikrofi on a floured cloth for 20 minutes before cooking so they hold their shape.

90 minBalkanPasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KhupluBeef, lamb and potato pie

The Chuvash people of the middle Volga bake khuplu for harvest festivals and to welcome guests: one large, round, closed pie with a thin yeast crust and a deep filling of diced meat, potato and onion, traditionally with a little vent on top and a ring of dough to decorate it. Cut at the table, it spills meaty juice into the potatoes, and it is eaten warm with a glass of cold buttermilk or a bowl of soup. The usual slip is under-baking; a pie this deep needs well over an hour and a thermometer check. Chef's tip: lay the potatoes at the bottom and the meat on top, so the potatoes drink the juices and the base does not go soggy.

150 minRussianMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

EscavècheCold fried fish in vinegar jelly

Escavèche is a speciality of the Chimay and Couvin area in southern Wallonia, a legacy of Spanish rule in the 16th century: fish fillets, traditionally eel or pike, fried and then covered with a hot marinade of vinegar, onion, thyme and bay that sets into a clear, tangy jelly as it cools. It is eaten cold, sliced, with crisp fries, in the brasseries of the Botte du Hainaut. A common mistake is not cooking the fish through before it goes into the marinade; cold marinade does not cook it. Chef's tip: let it set for at least 12 hours in the fridge; the vinegar mellows and the jelly firms. The fish should be opaque and flaking before marinating.

55 minBelgianFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

EtoMashed yam with palm oil

Eto is a dish for marking occasions among the Akan, made on birthdays and celebration mornings, when boiled yam (or plantain) is mashed in an earthenware asanka bowl with red palm oil, raw onion and a little pepper until it turns golden and fragrant. It is served in a mound with halved boiled eggs, slices of ripe avocado and a handful of roasted groundnuts, so every mouthful is soft, buttery and crunchy at once. It is filling, simple and very good. Avoid mashing the yam to a smooth purée; eto should keep a rough, crushed texture. Chef's tip: mash the yam while it is steaming hot and add the oil at the same time, because cold yam goes gluey and will not absorb the oil evenly.

40 minGhanaianVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bolo fiadoLayered pastry and cashew cake

The name comes from Portuguese and means something like spun cake, and among the Burgher families of Colombo and Batticaloa it is the showpiece of the Christmas sweet table, harder work than love cake and saved for special years. Paper-thin sheets of egg-rich dough are stacked in a tin, each brushed with melted butter and scattered with a sweet mixture of cashews, pumpkin preserve, sugar, cardamom and rosewater, then baked until the layers puff and turn crisp and golden. Cut into squares, it flakes at the top and stays tender and sticky inside. Where it usually goes wrong is the dough: sheets rolled too thick bake up bready instead of flaky, so roll until you can almost see the board through them. Pumpkin preserve (puhul dosi) is sold in Sri Lankan grocers; candied winter melon works too. Chef's tip: rest the dough properly, a full 30 minutes, because relaxed gluten lets you roll it far thinner without tearing.

135 minSri LankanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BombolinoSugared doughnuts

A legacy of the Italian years, bombolino is still part of the morning ritual in Asmara: a warm doughnut rolled in sugar, eaten at a café counter on Harnet Avenue with a small, strong macchiato. Eritrean bombolini are unfilled, either round or ring-shaped, with a pale band around the middle, a feather-light crumb and a hint of lemon in the dough. Bakeries fry them in the early morning and they sell out quickly. At home they make a lovely weekend treat; allow about 1½ hours for the dough to rise and prove. The most common mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, so the outside goes dark while the centre stays doughy; keep it at 170 °C and test the first one. Chef's tip: roll them in sugar while they are still warm, not hot, so the sugar clings without melting.

125 minEritreanDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican jerk pork

Boston Bay in Portland is where jerk pork was born, and the jerk pits there still slow-smoke pork shoulder over green pimento wood under sheets of zinc until the outside is dark and crusted and the meat is smoky and juicy. This home version uses boneless pork shoulder rubbed with a wet paste of scotch bonnet, pimento, scallion, thyme and ginger, then cooked slowly in a covered barbecue or oven and finished over high heat. The biggest mistake is rushing the marinade; it needs at least 12 hours in the fridge to get into the pork. Cook until the thickest part reaches at least 63 °C, then rest; for tender, chopped jerk like the stalls, keep going to about 85 °C. Chef's tip: throw a handful of soaked allspice berries and bay leaves onto the coals for the smoky pimento flavour of the real pits.

240 minJamaicanMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Galinha à portuguesa (Portuguese chicken)

Puzzlingly, you will not find this in Portugal: galinha à portuguesa belongs to Macau, where cooks mixed a Portuguese idea of a creamy baked chicken with the turmeric, curry powder and coconut milk that came through the Portuguese trading routes from Goa and Malacca. Macanese restaurants and Hong Kong's cha chaan teng serve it bubbling in a clay pot or baking dish, golden on top, with chicken and potatoes in a mild, yellow, gently sweet coconut sauce, always with white rice to soak it up. It is a favourite for family dinners and Christmas tables. The thing people get wrong is boiling the coconut sauce hard, so it splits and turns oily; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: brown the chicken well first, and finish under a hot grill for the speckled golden top that Macau restaurants are known for.

75 minMacaneseChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ErgoSoured milk

Cattle-keeping families across rural Ethiopia leave fresh milk to thicken in smoked clay pots or gourds, and the result, ergo, is tangier and looser than yoghurt, somewhere between set buttermilk and a soft curd. It is spooned beside a spicy kitfo or wat to calm the heat, eaten for breakfast with bread, or drunk as it is on hot afternoons. The traditional way relies on raw milk souring by itself, which is not safe to copy at home; this version uses pasteurised whole milk with a spoon of live buttermilk or yoghurt as the starter, so the right bacteria do the work. Allow about 24 hours at room temperature for it to set. Chef's tip: keep it somewhere steady at 22–26 °C; too cool and it barely thickens, too warm and it separates into whey and lumps.

15 minEthiopianBasicsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bonbon siwoMolasses gingerbread cake

Bonbon siwo, "syrup cake", is the moist, dark gingerbread that Haitian families bake for birthdays, church sales and an ordinary Sunday, sliced into squares and eaten with a cup of sweet coffee. The siwo is molasses or cane syrup, which gives it a slightly bitter, smoky sweetness alongside ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. The common mistake is overbaking: take it out as soon as a skewer comes out clean, or the edges dry and turn crusty. It contains egg, wheat and dairy. Chef's tip: mix the bicarbonate of soda into the hot water before adding it to the batter so it fizzes and lifts the cake evenly.

60 minHaitianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Erdélyi fatányérosMixed grill platter

The name means 'wooden plate', and that is how this Transylvanian-Hungarian feast is brought to the table in Cluj and Târgu Mureș restaurants: a big board heaped with fried potatoes and topped with grilled pork chops, veal escalopes and crisp smoked bacon, surrounded by pickled cucumbers, peppers and red cabbage. It is meant for sharing, two or four people picking from one board, and it smells of garlic, marjoram and smoke. The pork and bacon make this very much a pork dish, balanced by the sharp pickles. Where people most often go wrong is grilling everything at once; cook the bacon first and use its fat for the meat, so nothing dries out while waiting. Chef's tip: score the edge of each pork chop through the fat every 2 cm; it stops the chops curling up in the pan and cooking unevenly.

60 minRomanianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sweet potato ginger soup

Cheap, warming and ready in under an hour, this is the tong sui Hong Kong families make at home on cold, damp winter nights, ladled out after dinner or before bed rather than ordered in a shop. Chunks of orange, yellow or purple sweet potato turn tender and fudgy in a clear amber syrup made with brown slab sugar and plenty of smashed ginger, so each spoonful is sweet first and then pleasantly hot. Some cooks add a few pitted red dates or a piece of dried tangerine peel. Boiling the sweet potatoes from the start is the usual slip; by the time the ginger has given up its heat, they've collapsed and clouded the syrup. Chef's tip: soak the cut sweet potato in cold water for 10 minutes to rinse off surface starch, and add it only once the ginger broth has simmered for a good 10 minutes.

40 minHong KongDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BolicheChorizo-stuffed beef pot roast

Boliche is a Sunday and holiday centrepiece in Havana: an eye-of-round beef joint with a tunnel cut through the middle, stuffed with pork chorizo, then browned and braised slowly in tomato, onion, pepper, sour orange and dry white or red wine until it slices like butter. Potatoes go into the pot for the last hour to soak up the sauce. The wine is simmered for hours, though a little alcohol may remain; use extra stock with a spoon of vinegar for an alcohol-free version. The common mistake is rushing the braise, which leaves this lean cut tough, so keep the pot at a bare simmer. Chef's tip: chill the cooked roast in its sauce, then slice it cold and reheat the slices in the sauce; you get neat rounds with the chorizo in the centre.

210 minCubanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican conch soup

From Montego Bay's craft market cookshops to roadside pots around Falmouth, conch soup is sold by the cup on Fridays and Saturdays: tender pieces of conch in a thick, peppery broth with potatoes, pumpkin, carrot and chewy flour spinners. Conch is famously tough, so it is pounded and simmered slowly before the vegetables go in. Buy cleaned frozen conch meat from a fishmonger; thaw it in the fridge and throw away any that smells off. The most common mistake is not tenderising the conch, leaving rubbery chunks; pound it well and simmer until a knife slides in. Chef's tip: a little lime rubbed into the conch before pounding removes its slippery film and freshens the flavour.

120 minJamaicanSoupsSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Espageti ayisyenSpaghetti with hot dogs

In Haiti, spaghetti is a breakfast food, and Saturday mornings in many homes start with a big pan of espageti: thin pasta tossed with sliced hot dogs fried in epis, tomato paste and a little hot pepper, often eaten with a boiled egg or a slice of avocado. It is quick, salty, savoury and loved by children. The mistake to avoid is boiling the pasta fully, then frying; it turns mushy, so cook it just short of done. Fry the hot dogs until piping hot all through (71 °C), as with any sausage. Chef's tip: save a cup of the pasta water; a splash of it turns the tomato and epis into a glossy coating.

30 minHaitianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BlitvaSwiss chard and potatoes

Order grilled fish in any konoba along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, from Zadar down to Dubrovnik, and a heap of blitva usually comes with it. Swiss chard and potatoes are boiled together until soft, then crushed roughly with lots of good olive oil and a little garlic, so the potatoes turn creamy and the chard stays silky and green. It is humble, quick and very good, also with grilled vegetables, eggs or a simple bean dish. The usual slip is not draining well enough, which leaves a watery, grey mush; let everything steam dry in the colander for a minute. Chef's tip: use the best olive oil you have and add a final drizzle at the table, as Dalmatians do, so its peppery taste stays bright.

30 minBalkanSidesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Taiwanese sesame oil chicken soup

When the first cold fronts reach Taipei, steam rises from clay pots of this at street-corner stalls, and families make it at home for new mothers and anyone run down by winter. Bone-in chicken is browned in dark, toasty black sesame oil with a mound of ginger fried until curled and crisp, then simmered in rice wine for a deeply warming, slightly bitter-sweet broth that is eaten with rice or thin wheat noodles. This soup is traditionally made with plenty of rice wine, and simmering does not cook all the alcohol off; for an alcohol-free pot, use the stock option given with the wine. A common error is heating black sesame oil on a high flame: it scorches quickly and makes the whole soup bitter. Chef's tip: fry the ginger slowly in the oil before the chicken goes in, until the slices curl at the edges and look dry; that is where the soup's warmth comes from.

60 minTaiwaneseSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pickled watermelon

When the melon fields of Kherson and Mykolaiv end their season, the small, late watermelons that never got properly sweet go into barrels of brine. A few weeks later they come out fizzy, salty and sour, with the pink flesh still faintly sweet and the rind crisp like a pickled cucumber. Southern families eat them through the winter with boiled potatoes, buckwheat or a plate of fried mushrooms. A big glass jar works just as well as a barrel for wedges. The classic error is using a ripe, soft watermelon, which turns to mush in the brine; pick small, firm ones with pale pink flesh. Keep everything under the brine and throw out the batch if fuzzy or coloured mould appears or it smells rotten rather than sour. Chef's tip: slip a horseradish or cherry leaf into the jar; the tannins keep the rind crunchy for weeks.

30 minUkrainianBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BoniatilloSweet potato pudding

Boniatillo comes from the sweet tooth of old Havana, where white-fleshed boniato is boiled, puréed and cooked in a cinnamon and lime-peel syrup until it turns into a thick, glossy pudding. It is served at room temperature in small bowls, often dusted with cinnamon, at birthdays or simply after Sunday lunch. The mistake to avoid is using orange sweet potato alone, which makes it wet and very sweet; Cuban boniato or a white sweet potato gives the right dry, chestnutty texture. Chef's tip: beat in the egg yolks off the heat with a little of the hot purée first, so they thicken the pudding without scrambling.

55 minCubanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FafernuchyHoney and carrot Christmas cookies

Old Masurian and Warmian households baked fafernuchy weeks before Christmas and kept them in tins, where they slowly mellowed; children found them in their stockings and on the Christmas plate. They are small, hard, pebble-like biscuits, sweetened with honey and given a gentle colour and moisture from finely grated carrot, with a little spice in some homes. Expect a proper crunch, made for dunking in tea. A common mistake is expecting them to be soft straight from the oven; they are meant to be firm and soften only a little in the tin. Chef's tip: grate the carrot on the finest side of the grater so the dough stays smooth and holds its shape.

60 minPolishBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Biye barir roastSweet wedding-style chicken roast

Ask anyone who grew up in Bangladesh what they look forward to at a biye bari, a wedding house, and the chicken roast is near the top, a single fried leg or breast lounging in a thick, sweet-spiced, ghee-glossed gravy beside a mound of polao. The word roast is a bit of a misnomer: the chicken is fried until golden and then simmered in a gravy of onion paste, yoghurt, milk and a little sugar, perfumed with cardamom, mace and kewra, so it tastes rich rather than charred. Children love it because it is mild and gently sweet, with only whole green chillies for warmth. A common error is skipping the frying, which leaves the chicken pale and lets it fall apart in the sauce. Chef's tip: use bone-in thighs and drumsticks with deep slashes, so the gravy gets into the meat during the short simmer.

75 minBangladeshiChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChebabSaffron yeast pancakes

Chebab are the thick, spongy pancakes that Emirati families make for breakfast in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Al Ain, especially on Fridays and through Ramadan for suhoor. The batter is yeasted, so the pancakes rise in the pan and come out holey and soft like a crumpet, tinted yellow with saffron and scented with cardamom. They are served stacked with date syrup poured over and a spoonful of fresh chami or cream cheese on the side. Flipping too early is the classic error: wait until the top is covered in bubbles and looks dry at the edges, or the pancake tears. Chef's tip: leave the batter to rise until it is properly bubbly; a lazy batter gives flat, heavy chebab.

65 minGulf ArabianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Brabants worstenbroodSausage roll

Worstenbrood is a Brabant institution, bought from bakeries in Eindhoven, Tilburg and Den Bosch for birthday mornings, Sunday breakfast and above all for carnival in February: a soft, slightly sweet bread dough wrapped around a log of minced pork seasoned with nutmeg, pepper and clove, baked golden. This is a pork dish. A common mistake is wrapping the dough too thick, which leaves a doughy roll and an undercooked middle. Chef's tip: roll the dough thin and bake until the filling reaches 71 °C; eat it warm from the oven.

70 minDutchSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bistec encebolladoSteak with vinegar onions

Order bistec encebollado at a lunch counter in Santurce or a comedor in Santiago de los Caballeros and it comes the same way: thin steaks swimming in a heap of soft, sharp onions and a garlicky, vinegar-bright gravy, with white rice, beans and tostones alongside. Thin cuts are marinated in vinegar, garlic and oregano, seared, then braised gently with the onions until tender. The common mistake is boiling the meat hard, which makes thin steak tough; a gentle simmer under a lid keeps it soft. Chef's tip: give the steaks a few gentle pounds with a mallet before marinating so the vinegar can work into them.

45 minPuerto RicanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KhabeesaSaffron toasted flour sweet

Khabeesa is made in Emirati and Qatari kitchens for Eid mornings, new babies and Ramadan nights: flour toasted until golden, then cooked with saffron syrup and ghee until it turns into fragrant, crumbly clusters, a bit like a soft, buttery halwa that breaks apart. It is served in a small bowl on the coffee tray, eaten with a spoon or the fingers, and its aroma of saffron, cardamom and rosewater fills the house. The mistake to avoid is pouring in the syrup all at once, which makes lumps that never break up. Chef's tip: keep pressing and turning the mixture against the pan once the ghee goes in; that is what forms the little golden crumbs.

30 minGulf ArabianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BirzFresh honey water

In Gojjam and Gondar, where honey is plentiful, birz is poured for children, for guests who do not drink, and at church feasts and weddings beside the tej. It starts the same way as honey wine, with honey stirred into water, but it is drunk fresh within hours, so it stays sweet, mild and completely alcohol-free. Good, flowery honey is everything here; it should taste like a cool, floral lemonade without the lemon. Because birz is honey and water, it will start to ferment by itself if left warm, so drink it the same day and keep it in the fridge until you pour it. Honey is not suitable for babies under 12 months. Chef's tip: dissolve the honey in a little warm water first; stirred straight into cold water, it sinks to the bottom in a sticky lump.

10 minEthiopianDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bizcocho dominicanoOrange sponge with pineapple filling

Every Dominican birthday in Santo Domingo or Santiago has one: a tall, buttery, orange-scented sponge split and filled with sticky pineapple, then swirled all over with glossy white meringue frosting called suspiro. Traditional suspiro whips hot syrup into raw whites; this version uses a Swiss meringue, heating the whites with sugar to 70 °C so it is safe for everyone, including pregnant women and small children. The common mistake is overbeating the batter after the flour goes in, which makes the famously moist crumb tough. Chef's tip: beat the butter and sugar for a full 8 minutes until almost white; that air is what gives bizcocho its tender, springy texture.

100 minPuerto RicanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Trini curry duck

Curry duck is the dish of the riverside lime in south and central Trinidad, cooked in a big iron pot over a wood fire while friends cool off in the water. The duck is chopped small, marinated in green seasoning, then "burnt" into a curry paste fried until almost black, which gives the sauce its dark colour and deep, slightly bitter edge. It's served with rice, dhal and sada or paratha roti. A common mistake is serving it before the duck has fully broken down: duck is chewy and needs long, slow cooking. Chef's tip: spoon off the yellow duck fat that rises during cooking and keep it for roasting potatoes.

130 minTrinidadianCurriesGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bistec de palomillaThin steak with lime onion

Palomilla is the everyday steak of Havana lunch counters and Miami's Cuban cafés alike: top sirloin pounded very thin, marinated briefly in lime and garlic, seared in seconds and buried under a pile of raw chopped onion and parsley. It comes with white rice, black beans and fried plantain. The most common mistake is leaving the steak in the lime for hours, which turns the surface grey and mushy; 20 minutes to an hour in the fridge is enough. Beef steak can be cooked to your liking, but it is so thin it is usually cooked through. Chef's tip: get the pan smoking hot and cook one or two steaks at a time, or they stew instead of browning.

25 minCubanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BathithToasted flour and date bites

Bathith is an old Bedouin travel sweet from the United Arab Emirates, made from things that keep in the desert: flour toasted dark, dates and ghee, kneaded together into crumbly bites. Today it is served in Emirati homes with gahwa in the afternoon or put out at Ramadan, and it tastes of caramel, toasted nuts and warm cardamom, with a texture somewhere between shortbread crumble and fudge. It keeps well for a week in a tin. Under-toasting the flour is the mistake most often made: it must go a deep golden brown, or the bites taste pasty. Chef's tip: use the softest dates you can find and warm them with the ghee; they melt into a paste and bind the flour without extra fat.

25 minGulf ArabianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KhameerDate and fennel bread

In homes across the United Arab Emirates, from Abu Dhabi to the old quarters of Sharjah, khameer is the bread that comes out on a weekend morning, still warm, next to a pot of karak or cardamom coffee. Mashed dates sweeten the dough just a little, while fennel and saffron give it a gentle, perfumed warmth, and the rounds are cooked on a dry pan so they stay pillow-soft with freckled brown faces. Split them and fill with soft white cheese, a drizzle of date syrup or honey, or a fried egg. The usual mistake is cooking them over a fierce heat: the outside darkens long before the thick middle is done, so keep the flame moderate and be patient. Chef's tip: press the risen rounds flat with your fingertips just before they go in the pan; the dimples stop them doming and help them cook evenly.

50 minGulf ArabianBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bingka ubiBaked cassava cake

Golden-brown slabs of bingka ubi are cut from big trays at Malay and Peranakan kueh stalls in Singapore and taken home for tea, or baked at home for Hari Raya when there is a crowd to feed. Freshly grated cassava, coconut milk, eggs and sugar bake into a dense, chewy, slightly sticky cake with a custardy centre and a caramelised, almost leathery top, scented with pandan. It needs nothing with it but a cup of strong tea or kopi. Cassava must always be fully cooked and never eaten raw; buy it fresh from a trusted greengrocer, peel off every bit of the thick skin and pink layer, or use frozen grated cassava, which is already prepared. The usual mistake is pressing out all the cassava's liquid and adding too little coconut milk, which bakes it dry and rubbery. Chef's tip: finish under the grill for the last few minutes for the dark, blistered top, then cool fully before cutting so the slices hold.

80 minSingaporeanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BozartmaLamb stew with tomato and saffron

Bozartma comes from Ganja, Azerbaijan's second city at the foot of the Lesser Caucasus, where lamb on the bone is browned and then stewed with a mountain of onions and tomatoes until the sauce turns thick and red-gold with saffron. The name hints at the browning (boz, 'grey-brown'), and Ganja cooks say the onions must melt completely. It is eaten with bread and greens, and a chicken version is common too. A common mistake is adding water; the onions and tomatoes give all the liquid needed. Chef's tip: cook it uncovered for the last 15 minutes, until the fat rises to the top; that is how Ganja cooks know bozartma is ready.

105 minAzerbaijaniMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bint al sahnLayered honey bread

Bint al sahn, 'daughter of the plate', is the grand bread of Sana'a, set in the centre of the table for guests, weddings and Eid and pulled apart with the fingers while it is still warm. Many paper-thin sheets of egg-rich dough are stacked with melted ghee, baked until the top is deep gold and the inside is flaky and soft, then soaked with warm honey and sprinkled with nigella seeds. It is eaten with Yemeni coffee or tea, often as the sweet that opens a big meal. The mistake that ruins it is skimping on the ghee between the layers; without it the sheets fuse into a dense loaf. Chef's tip: roll the first sheets slightly bigger than the rest, so the bottom layers wrap up around the sides and hold the stack together.

105 minGulf ArabianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ElarjiCornmeal and cheese porridge

Elarji is the pride of Zugdidi and the rest of Samegrelo, where cornmeal is the everyday staple; the porridge is cooked until thick, then beaten with so much grated sulguni that it pulls up in long, glossy strings as you serve it. It goes to the table hot, with a bowl of bazhe walnut sauce or spicy ajika, and Mingrelians judge a cook by how long the cheese stretches. A common mistake is adding the cheese while the porridge is still loose; it sinks and goes rubbery instead of weaving through. Chef's tip: use a strong wooden spoon and beat hard in one direction as the cheese melts, which is what builds the stretch. Most sulguni is made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian one or use low-moisture mozzarella.

45 minGeorgianVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bihari kebabPapaya-marinated beef strips

Migrants from Bihar who settled in Karachi after 1947 brought this kebab with them, and it has become one of the city's signature grills, served from the smoky stalls of Burns Road, Hussainabad and Boat Basin. Thin ribbons of beef are beaten flat, marinated with raw papaya paste to tenderise them, mustard oil, browned onion and a heady spice mix, then threaded onto skewers and grilled fast over coals, finished with a puff of charcoal smoke. They are soft enough to pull apart with your fingers and are eaten with paratha, sliced onion and mint chutney. Leaving the papaya on too long is the risk, because it keeps working and turns the meat mushy; four to six hours in the fridge is plenty. Chef's tip: slice the beef while it is half-frozen, across the grain, and you will get even, paper-thin strips with ease.

40 minPakistaniMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lao bamboo shoot soup

When the rains arrive in June, Vientiane's morning markets fill with pale, freshly dug bamboo shoots, and pots of kaeng nor mai start simmering in kitchens across the city for the family lunch. The broth is a deep olive green, tinted by the juice squeezed from yanang leaves, and thickened with a spoonful of pounded soaked sticky rice so it coats the spoon. Earthy bamboo, sweet pumpkin and slippery mushrooms float in it with lemon basil on top, and a basket of sticky rice and a dish of jeow sit alongside. Skipping the pre-boil of the bamboo is where most cooks go wrong: raw shoots taste bitter and need cooking through to be safe, so always blanch fresh ones and drain. This version leaves out the fermented fish of village kitchens and seasons with salt and tamari. Chef's tip: squeeze the yanang leaves in cold water, never hot, or the broth turns brown and loses its grassy freshness.

60 minLaoSoupsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ekpang nkukwoGrated cocoyam and plantain parcels

Patience is the main ingredient of ekpang nkukwo, a festive dish of the Efik and Ibibio of Calabar and Akwa Ibom. Grated cocoyam and unripe plantain are rolled into little leaf parcels, stacked in a pot and cooked slowly in a broth of palm oil, periwinkles, prawns, smoked fish and pepper until the parcels set into soft, sliceable rolls in a thick, orange sauce. It is a meal in itself, often made for Christmas and family gatherings. Cocoyam leaves are traditional; large spinach or chard leaves work if you blanch them first. Raw cocoyam can itch the skin, so wear gloves to grate it, and cook the dish fully. Chef's tip: do not stir until the parcels have cooked for at least 25 minutes, or they will unroll and dissolve into the broth.

120 minNigerianFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

EleshChicken and potato pies

At Tatar weddings in the villages east of Kazan, elesh come to the table early, little pleated pies about the size of a fist, each filled with chopped chicken and potato and baked until the tops glow. The meat goes in raw with onion and butter, so it cooks in its own juices inside the sealed pastry and stays moist; a spoon of broth is added through a tiny vent halfway through. The pastry is rich with butter and sour cream and goes soft under a cloth after baking. A common mistake is leaving the chicken in big chunks; cut it small or the potato is done long before the meat. Chef's tip: use thigh rather than breast, it stays juicy through the long bake.

115 minRussianChicken
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 90 of 8,120 recipes

Page 251 of 903