Featured recipe

Yorkshire puddings

In Yorkshire the pudding was once served first, on its own with gravy, to fill people up before the meat; today these puffed, crisp-edged cups sit beside the roast at Sunday lunch all over England. The batter is nothing but eggs, flour and milk, and the trick is in the heat: smoking-hot fat in the tin and a hot oven. Serve with onion gravy for a vegetarian roast. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 30 minutes, which helps the puddings rise tall and even.

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Jan in de zakFried steamed raisin pudding

Jan in de zak, 'John in the bag', is the old Flemish farmhouse pudding cooked for Shrove Tuesday and winter Sundays in West and East Flanders: a soft yeasted dough with raisins and currants tied up in a floured cloth and boiled for hours, then sliced and fried in butter and eaten with brown sugar or treacle. It is the Flemish cousin of Dutch 'Jan in de zak'. A common mistake is tying the cloth tightly, which leaves no room for the pudding to swell and makes it dense. Chef's tip: tie the cloth loosely, leaving room for the dough to double, and keep the water at a steady simmer.

180 min

Belgian Desserts

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Csabai kolbászPaprika pork sausage

Every October the town of Békéscsaba holds a sausage festival where teams grind, season and stuff pork by hand, and the town's name is on Hungary's most famous paprika sausage. The real csabai is smoked over beech and then air-dried for weeks; curing like that needs curing salt, careful temperature and humidity control and a lot of experience, so this recipe makes the same spicy pork mixture as a fresh sausage that is cooked through to 71 °C and never eaten raw. It is fiery, garlicky and deep red from sweet and hot paprika with a warm hint of caraway, and is excellent grilled or pan-fried, with mustard, fresh bread, pickled peppers and raw onion. The usual slip is letting the meat get warm while you work, which smears the fat and gives a dry, crumbly sausage; keep everything ice cold. Chef's tip: fry a small test patty before stuffing to check the salt and heat.

240 min

Hungarian Meat

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Jamaican hard foodBoiled banana, yam and dumplings

From Kingston cookshops to farm kitchens in the hills, "hard food" is the plain boiled base that sits under ackee, callaloo, stew peas or a fried egg: green bananas, a wedge of yellow yam, dasheen and chewy flour dumplings, all from one big pot. Each piece keeps its own character, from the banana's firm, faintly tangy bite to the yam's floury softness, so nothing is mashed. The usual mistake is dropping everything in at once; the roots cook at different speeds, so they go in stages. Peel green bananas with oiled hands or gloves, as the sap stains. Chef's tip: if the bananas fight you, boil them in their scored skins for 2 minutes first and the peel slips straight off.

45 min

Jamaican Sides

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Jamaican grater cakeCoconut sugar squares

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

40 min

Jamaican Desserts

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CsalamádéSweet-sour mixed pickle

Late August in the Hungarian countryside means a kitchen full of jars: the last cucumbers, a white cabbage and a basket of pale wax peppers all go into csalamádé, the mixed pickle that sits on the table all winter next to pörkölt, sausages and fried meat. It is shredded, crunchy and bright, sweet-sour with a peppery bite, and it makes a fine side to any rich stew. The brine needs vinegar of at least 5% acidity (check the label) to keep the jars safe; never dilute it more than the recipe says. The usual slip is skipping the salting stage, which leaves the vegetables watery and the brine weak; salting draws out their juice first. Store unopened jars in a cool, dark cupboard for up to 6 months if processed, or in the fridge for a month if not; once a jar is open, keep it in the fridge and eat within 2 weeks. Chef's tip: wait at least 2 days before opening, so the flavours settle.

60 min

Hungarian Chutneys & Dips

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Jamaican hard dough breadDense sweet sandwich loaf

Chinese-Jamaican bakers gave the island hard dough bread, and today a sliced "hardo" loaf is in every shop from Montego Bay to Morant Bay, toasted with butter for breakfast, wrapped around fried fish or dipped in soup. The crumb is close, smooth and faintly sweet, firm enough to hold its own against ackee or bun and cheese. The usual mistake is making the dough too soft; it should be stiff and need hard kneading, which is where the name comes from. Allow around 2 hours for rising on top of the working time. Chef's tip: roll the dough into a tight Swiss roll before it goes into the tin, which gives the even, layered crumb that peels off in sheets.

70 min

Jamaican Breads & Parathas

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Jamaican Irish moss drinkSea moss drink

Sold chilled in bottles by roadside vendors and in Kingston juice bars, Jamaican Irish moss is a thick, creamy drink made from dried sea moss boiled down until it releases its natural jelly. Blended with milk, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, it tastes like a cool, spiced milkshake and is often drunk as a pick-me-up. The usual mistake is skipping the soak and rinse, which leaves a sandy, fishy taste. Chef's tip: the gel thickens a lot in the fridge, so blend it a little thinner than you want and chill it before judging.

60 min

Jamaican Drinks

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Ajiaco cubanoRoot vegetable and meat stew

Ajiaco is often called Cuba's national stew, and in Camagüey it is still cooked in huge pots for festivals and family gatherings: dried or fresh beef, pork and chicken simmered with malanga, yuca, boniato, green and ripe plantain, corn and calabaza until the roots break down and thicken the broth. It is a whole meal in a bowl, finished with lime and a fried sofrito. This version uses beef shin, pork shoulder and chicken thighs. The mistake most people make is adding every vegetable at once; firm roots go in first and soft pumpkin and ripe plantain last. Chef's tip: mash a few chunks of pumpkin and malanga against the side of the pot at the end, which gives the broth its body.

190 min

Cuban Soups

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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 min

Cameroonian Basics

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BelilaWheat berries in sweet milk

Cold mornings in Cairo and the Delta are when mothers put a pot of belila on the stove, and street vendors sell it in cups from big steaming pans in winter. Plump whole wheat grains are simmered until they burst, then served in hot, sweet, vanilla-scented milk and showered with nuts, raisins and coconut, so every spoonful is chewy, creamy and crunchy at once. Children love it for breakfast and it is a favourite for sahur before a day of fasting in Ramadan. The wheat needs soaking overnight; with ready-cooked wheat, it is done in 15 minutes. Undercooked wheat stays hard and chalky, so cook it until most grains have split open. Most people go wrong by not cooking the wheat long enough; the berries should burst and be tender, not chewy pellets in the milk. Chef's tip: cook a big batch of wheat and keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days, then warm portions in milk.

85 min

Egyptian Desserts

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Egyptian dukkahHazelnut and sesame spice dip

Bread, a saucer of olive oil and a bowl of dukkah make one of the oldest snacks on an Egyptian table, set out at breakfast, with evening tea or for guests who drop by unannounced. Crunchy, nutty and fragrant with coriander and cumin, it is a dry, coarse mixture rather than a paste: you dip the bread in oil first, then into the dukkah so it clings. Families keep a jar of it in the cupboard and sprinkle it over boiled eggs, salads and roast vegetables too. Grinding it too long is the usual mistake; the nuts release their oil and it turns into a sticky butter, so pulse in short bursts and stop while it is still sandy. Chef's tip: toast each ingredient separately, because sesame browns in half the time hazelnuts need.

20 min

Egyptian Chutneys & Dips

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KossamFresh or soured Fulani milk

Fulani herders of the Adamawa plateau measure hospitality in kossam: a calabash of cool milk offered to a guest after a long ride, or sold in Ngaoundéré's markets fresh in the morning and pleasantly soured by afternoon. Fresh kossam is simply creamy whole milk, sometimes sweetened, drunk cold with couscous or on its own as a light meal in the heat of the day. For the tangy soured style, stir two spoonfuls of live plain yoghurt into the milk, leave it somewhere warm for 8–12 hours until thickened, then chill. Traditionally it is made with raw milk; at home, always use pasteurised. Chef's tip: chill the milk for several hours and whisk the sugar in hard just before serving, which gives the light froth you see on calabash-served kossam.

5 min

Cameroonian Drinks

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Arroz con dulceCoconut rice pudding

From the start of December to the Three Kings in January, trays of arroz con dulce cool on Puerto Rican kitchen counters, sliced into squares and handed round at parrandas when carollers arrive at the door late at night. Unlike a milky rice pudding, it is cooked in a water steeped with fresh ginger, cinnamon, cloves and star anise, then finished with coconut milk and raisins, so it is fragrant, firm enough to cut and dairy free. The common mistake is adding the sugar too early, which keeps the rice grains hard; sweeten only once they are soft. Chef's tip: soak the rice for an hour first, and it cooks evenly and absorbs the spiced coconut far better.

120 min

Puerto Rican Desserts

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Croûte au fromageWine-soaked bread with Gruyère

Croûte au fromage is the après-ski supper of Valais and Vaud, served in mountain restaurants from Verbier to Zermatt in sizzling dishes: thick slices of stale bread sprinkled with white wine, rubbed with garlic, heaped with grated Gruyère and baked until bubbling, often with a fried egg on top. This recipe uses white wine, as it traditionally does; for an alcohol-free version, use the swap in the ingredient note. Gruyère is made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian Swiss-style cheese. A common mistake is soaking the bread with too much wine, which makes it soggy. Chef's tip: toast the bread first, then sprinkle, so it stays crisp underneath and soft on top.

25 min

Swiss Vegetarian

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Bahamian guava duffSteamed guava roll

Guava duff is the Bahamas' best-loved dessert, served at Junkanoo season, Sunday dinners and Nassau restaurants alike: a soft dough spread with sweet stewed guava, rolled up, wrapped in cloth or foil and steamed until tender, then sliced and drowned in a warm butter sauce. Traditionally the sauce has rum in it, which is only lightly cooked, so the rum version is for adults only; the vanilla sauce below makes it alcohol-free for everyone. The most common mistake is rolling the duff too tight, which stops it rising; leave room in the wrapping for it to swell. Chef's tip: sieve the guava pulp to remove the hard seeds, and keep the thick paste for the filling.

135 minCaribbean Desserts

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Arroz con maízRice with sweetcorn

In central Cuba, when the fields are full of young corn, families cut the kernels straight off the cob into the rice pot with a sofrito of onion, pepper, garlic and annatto, cooking everything together until golden and sticky at the base. Many farm cooks add salt pork; this vegan version leans on cumin and a little smoked paprika. A common mistake is using too much water, as fresh corn releases its own milk, so keep to the amounts given. Serve with black beans or a tomato and avocado salad. Chef's tip: scrape the cobs with the back of the knife after cutting off the kernels and add that milky pulp; it gives the rice a creamy sweetness.

45 min

Cuban Rice & Grains

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Jamaican fried dumplingsFried flour dumplings

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

30 min

Jamaican Breakfast & Brunch

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KahkEid ghee cookies

In the last nights of Ramadan, Egyptian kitchens fill with flour dust, trays and relatives as families bake kahk for Eid al-Fitr, and many still send them to the neighbourhood bakery's big oven. Hot ghee is rubbed into the flour so the cookies bake up crumbly and melting, fragrant with sesame and kahk spice, and each one is pinched with a patterned tweezer or pressed in a wooden mould before baking. They are filled with agameya, a sticky honey, nut and sesame paste, and buried under icing sugar, then served to every Eid visitor with tea or coffee. Overbaking is the mistake to avoid; kahk should be pale on top and only golden underneath. Chef's tip: the dough is ready to shape once a ball holds firm but crumbles if you squeeze it hard; it should never feel stretchy.

110 min

Egyptian Baking

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LibRoasted pumpkin and watermelon seeds

Paper bags of lib are what Egyptians crack through during football matches, Ramadan nights in front of the television and long evenings on the balcony, bought by weight from the roasters (mahmasa) on almost every Cairo street. White pumpkin seeds (lib abyad) and black watermelon seeds (lib asmar) are soaked in salty water, then roasted until the shells crack between the teeth and the kernel inside is toasty. Shelling them one by one is half the pleasure. The usual mistake is roasting too hot: the shells scorch before the seeds have dried, so keep the oven moderate. Chef's tip: let them cool completely on the tray; they only turn properly crisp as they cool.

25 min

Egyptian Snacks & Starters

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KhoshafDried fruit compote

Bowls of khoshaf sit on the iftar table all through Ramadan in Egyptian homes, and many people break their fast with a few dates and a glass of it before anything else. Dried apricots, prunes, figs and raisins soak overnight in lightly sweetened water until they swell, and the liquid turns into a fruity, amber syrup; toasted almonds and pistachios go on top for crunch. It is cool, gentle on an empty stomach and full of natural sugars. Soaking it on the counter in warm weather is the usual mistake, as it can start to ferment, so always soak it in the fridge. Chef's tip: add a teaspoon of orange blossom water just before serving rather than at the start; it fades overnight.

20 min

Egyptian Desserts

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Jamaican janga soupCrayfish soup

In the river valleys of Portland, around the Rio Grande, children once caught janga (freshwater crayfish) with baskets in the shallows, and the catch went into a deep red, peppery soup said to give strength. Pumpkin, coco (eddoe) and flour dumplings make it hearty, and scotch bonnet and pimento give it heat and warmth. Buy live crayfish from a fishmonger, or use frozen cooked crayfish tails or large prawns. The common mistake is cooking the shellfish from the start; add it at the end so it stays sweet and tender. Before cooking, discard any live crayfish that are dead, limp or smell bad. Chef's tip: simmer the shells in the broth first for a deeper, sweeter flavour.

75 min

Jamaican Soups

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CramiqueRaisin brioche

Cramique is the Sunday breakfast loaf of Brussels and Wallonia: a soft, golden brioche packed with raisins, bought from the bakery on Sunday morning and sliced thickly with salted butter. Its sister, craquelin, swaps the raisins for pearl sugar. A common mistake is adding the raisins at the start of kneading, which tears the gluten and turns the dough grey. Chef's tip: soak the raisins in warm tea for 20 minutes, then knead them in only at the end, gently.

75 min

Belgian Baking

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Jamaican coco breadCoconut milk bread rolls

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

48 min

Jamaican Breads & Parathas

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BandungRose syrup milk drink

Pink as a sweet in a glass, bandung turns up at almost every Malay drinks stall in Singapore, sipped through a straw at Geylang Serai, at kampung-style weddings and through the evenings of Ramadan when stalls sell it in tied plastic bags at the bazaars. Rose syrup is stirred into water and evaporated milk, then poured over plenty of ice, giving a drink that is floral, sweet and creamy without being heavy. It pairs well with spicy food such as mee rebus, satay or nasi lemak, cooling the chilli. The usual mistake is adding the evaporated milk to hot syrup, which can make it look curdled and dull; let the syrup cool, and mix with cold milk. Chef's tip: make the syrup in advance and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks, so a glass takes a minute; a few drops of rose water at the end lift the scent if your syrup is mild.

10 min

Singaporean Drinks

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Jamaican bullaMolasses ginger spice cakes

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

40 min

Jamaican Baking

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Jamaican coconut dropsGinger coconut clusters

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

45 min

Jamaican Desserts

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Sauce gouagouassouAubergine and smoked fish sauce

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

60 min

Ivorian Fish

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Jaffna curry powderRoasted chilli curry powder

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

30 min

Sri Lankan Basics

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Kebab-e-murghYogurt-marinated chicken skewers

Along Kabul's kebab streets, cooks fan long rows of skewers over charcoal troughs, and chicken kebab-e-murgh has become as popular as lamb, especially with families. The meat is soaked in yogurt with a lot of garlic, lemon and chilli, which keeps it juicy and gives it a tangy, slightly charred crust; it is served on a sheet of naan that catches the drips, with sliced raw onion, tomato and green chutney. At home a hot grill pan or barbecue does the job well. Breast meat cut too small dries out before it chars, so use boneless thighs in generous chunks. Chef's tip: thread the pieces close together but not squashed, which keeps the centres moist while the edges blacken.

30 min

Afghan Chicken

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Sauce djoumgbléDried okra sauce with smoked fish

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

95 min

Ivorian Fish

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Jamaican Easter bunSpiced Easter loaf

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

90 min

Jamaican Baking

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Couque de DinantHard honey biscuit

Couques de Dinant are the famously hard honey biscuits of Dinant on the Meuse, made only of flour and honey, pressed into carved wooden moulds showing castles, animals and the town's skyline, and baked so hot that the honey caramelises into a very hard, glossy biscuit. Dinant bakers say they keep for years; locals let a piece melt slowly in the mouth rather than biting. Honey is traditional; golden syrup makes a vegan version. A common mistake is a soft dough; it must be stiff enough to hold the mould's detail. Chef's tip: dust the mould with flour, press hard and tap the dough out sharply.

60 min

Belgian Baking

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DaqqusTomato garlic chilli sauce

Spoon by spoon, daqqus goes over almost every plate of kabsa, mandi and machboos from Riyadh to Kuwait City: a thin, bright sauce of ripe tomato, lots of garlic and hot chilli that cuts through rich rice. Restaurants in Najd serve it in little bowls beside the rice tray, and some families make it raw, others cook it briefly as here, which mellows the garlic and deepens the colour. It should be pourable and tangy, not thick like ketchup. People often overcook it into a paste; keep it loose with a splash of water. It also works with grilled fish and eggs. Chef's tip: grate the tomatoes on a box grater and discard the skins for a silky sauce without blending.

20 minGulf Arabian Chutneys & Dips

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KabatoCornmeal swallow with lemon

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

30 min

Ivorian Basics

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ÄggakakaOven egg cake with lingonberries

Äggakaka is the farmhouse egg cake of Skåne, Sweden's southernmost province: a thick, puffy batter of eggs, milk and flour baked in a hot pan until golden on top and custardy inside, cut into squares and eaten with lingonberries. In Skåne it usually comes with crisp fried pork belly; this vegetarian version leaves the pork out and adds a little butter-fried apple on the side. A common mistake is opening the oven early, which makes it sink. Chef's tip: heat the pan with the butter until it sizzles before pouring in the batter, so the base and edges crisp.

45 minScandinavian Breakfast & Brunch

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NkuiOkra and spice draw soup

Bamileke families in the West Region cook nkui for celebrations, and it is also a traditional food for new mothers in the weeks after a birth. Bark from the nkui shrub is steeped and squeezed until the water turns long and slippery, then simmered with a peppery blend of local spices and finished with okra for an even stronger draw. The soup is thin, silky and warming rather than rich, with a woody, citrusy heat. Lift it with a ball of fufu corn and let the strands trail from your fingers. Look for the bark and the spice mix in Cameroonian grocers; grated okra alone gives a lighter but similar draw. The usual mistake is boiling the soup hard after whisking; it loses its draw. Keep it at a bare simmer. Chef's tip: whip the soup hard with a whisk right after adding the potash; the beating is what builds the stretchy strands.

60 min

Cameroonian Soups

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Agbeli kakloCassava fritters

Roadside fryers in the Volta Region sell agbeli kaklo by the bagful, golden fingers of grated cassava seasoned with onion and chilli and fried until crunchy outside and chewy within. The classic way to eat them is with chunks of fresh coconut, whose cool sweetness balances the salty, peppery fritters, and they are an afternoon snack or a travel snack on the road from Ho to Accra. Cassava must be cooked through, so fry until deep golden. Chef's tip: squeeze the grated cassava very dry and fry at 170 °C; wet dough spits dangerously, and oil that is too cool, the common mistake, gives greasy, soggy fritters.

45 min

Ghanaian Snacks & Starters

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Mahi (Kabul fried fish)Fried battered fish

When the snow comes, Kabul's fish sellers set up their huge woks of oil, and the smell of mahi frying drifts across the city's bridges and bazaars, with stalls next door piling up bright orange jalebi to eat alongside it; mahi wa jalebi, fish and sweets, is a winter outing for the whole family. Chunks of firm fish are coated in a thin, spiced batter of flour, garlic, coriander seed, cumin and chilli and fried until crisp and reddish-gold, then eaten hot with naan, green chutney and a squeeze of lemon. Carp or other river fish is traditional, but any firm white fish works. Crowding the pan drops the oil temperature and gives soggy, greasy pieces, so fry only a few at a time. Chef's tip: salt the fish and leave it for 10 minutes, then pat it completely dry so the batter grips.

40 min

Afghan Fish

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CovrigiRomanian pretzel rings

Morning commuters in Bucharest buy them hot from a hole-in-the-wall covrigărie, a paper bag of rings still warm enough to fog the glass; in Buzău, the town most proud of them, people swear by the thin twisted kind. Covrigi are a lean yeast dough with no egg or milk, so they are eaten through the fasting seasons too. Each ring is dipped briefly in boiling soda water, scattered with coarse salt and seeds, then baked until shiny and chewy with a crisp crust. A common mistake is leaving them in the water bath too long, which wrinkles the surface; 20–30 seconds is plenty. Serve them on their own, with a glass of ayran-style yogurt drink or with soup. Chef's tip: shape the rings on a dry, unfloured worktop, as a little grip makes the ropes easier to roll thin and even.

90 min

Romanian Breads & Parathas

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Aruban pan batiSweet cornmeal pancakes

Aruban families put a stack of pan bati on the table with almost every bowl of soup or stew, from sopi di pisca to kabritu stoba: thick, slightly sweet pancakes of cornmeal and flour, cooked on a dry griddle and torn to mop up the broth. They are soft, a little grainy and golden at the edges. The mistake is cooking them too fast, so they burn outside and stay raw in the middle. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes so the cornmeal softens and the pancakes come out tender.

30 minCaribbean Breads & Parathas

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Asa tibsFried tilapia pieces

Down by the fish market on the shore of Lake Hawassa, cooks fry tilapia straight from the boats and serve it with injera, bread and a fiery dip, and asa tibs is the version you can easily make at home. Bite-sized pieces of fillet are dusted, fried until crisp and golden, then tossed briefly with soft onion, green chilli and a spoon of awaze, so the fish is crunchy outside, flaky and sweet inside, and coated in a spicy glaze. It is a favourite on fasting days for people who eat fish, and quick enough for a weeknight. Chef's tip: leave each piece undisturbed until it releases from the pan by itself; moving fish too early is the common mistake, and it tears the coating and breaks the flesh.

27 min

Ethiopian Fish

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PlacaliSoured cassava swallow

Abidjan's maquis serve placali in shining grey mounds next to bowls of sauce kopé, the okra sauce that slides off the spoon, and many Ivorians from the lagoon and southern forest regions eat it several times a week. It is made from soured cassava dough dissolved in water, strained and cooked while beaten hard until it becomes a translucent, sticky, stretchy paste. The taste is mildly sour and the texture smooth and elastic, meant to be swallowed rather than chewed. Pair it with okra, palm-nut or leaf sauces. Don't stop stirring once the dough thickens, or raw lumps hide in the swallow. Chef's tip: wet your hands and the serving bowl before shaping, otherwise placali clings to everything it touches.

35 min

Ivorian Basics

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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 Arabian Desserts

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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 min

Georgian Vegetarian

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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 min

Russian Chicken

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Jamaican fish teaPeppery fish broth

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

60 min

Jamaican Soups

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KhajurFried dough cookies

Khajur take their name from dates, which their plump oval shape resembles, but there is no fruit in them: they are little cardamom-scented dough cookies, pressed onto a sieve or the back of a grater for a ridged pattern and fried until deep gold. Afghan families fry great batches before Eid and Nowruz and pack them into tins to offer guests with tea, and Kabul bakeries sell them by the kilo. They are crunchy on the outside with a soft, cakey middle and only gently sweet. Oil that is too hot is the classic error, browning them in a minute while the centres stay raw and doughy; keep it moderate and patient. Chef's tip: fry one test khajur first and break it open, then adjust the heat before frying the rest.

55 min

Afghan Desserts

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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 Arabian Breads & Parathas

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Aseedat bobarPumpkin pudding with ghee

In Doha and Kuwait City, aseedat bobar arrives on winter evenings and at Ramadan iftar in a shallow dish, smooth and orange, with a little pool of melted ghee in the centre. Bobar is the Gulf word for red pumpkin, cooked down and thickened with toasted flour, sugar and cardamom into a soft, spoonable sweet that tastes a bit like a spiced pumpkin pie filling. Scoop it warm with a spoon or with pieces of bread, alongside Arabic coffee. Stopping the stirring too soon is the usual mistake: the pudding must cook until it pulls away from the sides, or it tastes of raw flour. Chef's tip: toast the flour in a dry pan until it smells like biscuits before it goes in; that nutty note is what makes it.

45 minGulf Arabian Desserts

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Afghan dopiazaLamb with onions and split peas

Afghan dopiaza has little in common with the Indian curry of the same name: in Kabul and Mazar it is a dish of chaikhanas and lunch restaurants, where a slab of naan is laid on the plate, covered with chunks of lamb braised with onion until soft, then topped with boiled yellow split peas and a tangle of red onions that have been sitting in vinegar until they turn pink. The juices soak into the bread, the onions are sharp and crunchy, the split peas earthy, and the whole thing is eaten with the fingers. Split peas cooked to mush ruin the contrast, so boil them only until just tender and drain at once. Chef's tip: soak the sliced onions in vinegar at least 30 minutes ahead; they lose their harshness and turn a beautiful bright pink.

120 min

Afghan Meat

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Iskus ko tarkariChayote and potato curry

Every hillside garden in the eastern hills, from Dharan up to Bhojpur, has an iskus vine rambling over the roof or a bamboo frame, and from late summer the pale green chayotes hang down by the dozen, so this simple dry curry appears on the table almost every day. The chayote is peeled, cut into chunks with a little potato and cooked in mustard oil with fenugreek, cumin, garlic, turmeric and green chilli until tender but still holding a crisp edge, with a splash of tomato for colour. It is mild, juicy and slightly sweet, the everyday tarkari beside dal, rice and a sharp achar, and it packs well into a tiffin box. The usual mistake is adding water, which turns the chayote watery and bland, as it releases plenty of its own juice. Chef's tip: oil your hands before peeling, because raw chayote leaves a sticky, tight film on the skin.

30 min

Nepali Vegetarian

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AfararWild herb and cottage cheese pie

In the mountain villages around Quba and Qusar, where many Lezgin families live, spring brings armfuls of nettles, sorrel, wild garlic and orache, and the first thing made with them is afarar: two very thin sheets of dough enclosing a filling of chopped herbs mixed with cottage cheese, cooked on a hot griddle or saj and brushed with butter. A common mistake is using wet herbs, which steam the dough and make it tear. Chef's tip: wilt the herbs in a dry pan for a minute and squeeze them, then mix with the cheese only just before filling. Check that your cottage cheese uses no animal rennet.

65 min

Azerbaijani Breads & Parathas

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Afang soupWaterleaf and afang leaf soup

Ask anyone from Calabar or Uyo what to serve a guest and afang will come up first. Finely shredded afang leaves, chewy and a little nutty, are cooked down with a mountain of waterleaf, palm oil, beef, cow skin, stockfish and periwinkles, and the waterleaf gives off all the liquid the soup needs. It is thick, dark green and deeply savoury, and it goes with pounded yam, fufu or eba. Outside Nigeria, frozen ground afang (also sold as okazi) and spinach stand in well. Periwinkles must be bought cleaned from a reputable seller; discard any with cracked shells or an off smell. Chef's tip: never add water to afang; if it looks dry, cover the pot for a minute and the waterleaf will release more.

90 min

Nigerian Meat

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Balatoni fogasButter-fried pikeperch

Fogas, the pikeperch of Lake Balaton, has been the pride of the lakeside restaurants of Tihany, Keszthely and Balatonfüred for over a century, and a fillet on a plate with parsley potatoes is the classic order on a summer evening with a view of the water. The flesh is white, lean and delicate, with a clean, slightly sweet flavour, and the simplest treatment is best: skin side down in foaming butter until the skin turns crisp, with lemon at the end. Zander from any good fishmonger works the same way. Where most people go wrong is moving the fillets too soon, which tears the skin; leave them until they release by themselves. Chef's tip: score the skin lightly twice so the fillets stay flat in the pan.

30 min

Hungarian Fish

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IshlekliMinced meat pie

Ishlekli is the shepherds' pie of the Karakum desert: a large round of dough filled with chopped lamb and onion, sealed, and buried in sand heated by a fire, so it bakes slowly into a thick, golden crust filled with juicy meat. Turkmen families still make it on camping trips and at holidays in the countryside around Ashgabat. This version bakes it in a hot oven on a preheated tray. A common mistake is using lean meat, which makes the filling dry; the lamb fat bastes the inside as it bakes. Chef's tip: chop the lamb by hand rather than mincing it; small chunks stay juicy and give the pie its rustic texture. The filling should reach 71 °C.

100 min

Turkmen Meat

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Isso curryPrawn coconut curry

Fishing boats come into Mirissa, Weligama and the harbour below Galle Fort every morning, and southern cooks turn their prawns into a curry that is quick, hot and gently sour. Goraka, the dried fruit of a garcinia tree, is soaked and ground into the gravy, and it gives a fruity tang that suits seafood far better than lime. Thin coconut milk carries the spices first, then a splash of thick milk at the end makes the sauce silky and pale orange, and the prawns go in only for the last few minutes. It is served with steamed white rice, a beetroot or snake-gourd curry and a crunchy sambol. Beginners tend to add the prawns too early and let them stew, which leaves them tough and shrunken. Chef's tip: leave the tails on and cook the prawns just until they curl into a loose C; a tight O means overdone.

35 min

Sri Lankan Fish

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Inlagd sillPickled herring

No Swedish midsummer, Easter or Christmas table is without inlagd sill: salt herring fillets soaked to remove the salt, then pickled for at least two days in a sweet, clear brine of vinegar, sugar, onion, carrot, allspice and bay. It is eaten with new potatoes, sour cream, chives and crispbread, and a mustard sauce variant (senapssill) sits beside it. Herring that is pickled, not cooked, is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Use salt herring that has been frozen, as commercial salt herring is. A common mistake is skipping the soak, which makes the herring far too salty. Chef's tip: taste a corner after soaking; it should be pleasantly salty, like an olive.

35 minScandinavian Fish

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ÎnvârtităRolled sweet cheese pastry

Sunday visits in the villages around Iași and Suceava rarely happen without a tray of învârtită, the coiled pastry whose name simply means 'twisted'. A soft dough is pulled over a floured tablecloth until it is as fine as paper, brushed with butter, covered in sweet cottage cheese with raisins and lemon zest, rolled up and wound into a snail before baking. Fresh from the oven it is crackly at the edges and moist in the middle; it is cut into wedges and eaten with coffee or a glass of milk. Families also fill it with sour cherries in June or grated pumpkin in autumn. Cottage cheese is usually made without animal rennet, but check the label if you keep strictly vegetarian. Lots of bakers stretch the dough too soon after mixing, and it tears into holes; give it the full rest. Chef's tip: drain the cottage cheese in a sieve for 20 minutes first, so the filling stays creamy and does not run out of the seams.

120 min

Romanian Baking

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IngriyiAubergine meat patty bake

Ingriyi is a Baghdadi-Jewish Shabbat dish that Iraqi families in Ramat Gan and Kiryat Gat make when aubergines are cheap in late summer: slices of fried aubergine and thin spiced beef patties are layered in a dish and baked in a sauce of tomato and tamarind until everything turns soft and glossy. The tamarind gives a dark sweet-sour tang that sets it apart from Levantine aubergine bakes. Serve it with white rice and a sharp salad. A common slip is frying the aubergine in too little oil at too low a heat, so it soaks up grease and stays grey; use hot oil and drain well. Chef's tip: salting the slices for 30 minutes makes them fry faster and drink less oil.

90 min

Israeli Meat

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IrimshikDried sweet cottage cheese

Irimshik is the sweet, caramel-coloured dried curd that Kazakh herding families make in summer on the jailau pastures: milk is soured with a little starter, heated until it splits, and the curds are cooked slowly in their own whey until they turn golden and fudgy, then dried in the sun. It is nibbled with tea in winter, from Almaty flats to steppe villages. This version needs no rennet, so it is vegetarian. A common mistake is draining the curd too soon; the long cook in the whey is what browns and sweetens it. Chef's tip: stir more often as the whey reduces, because the curd catches easily at the end.

180 min

Kazakh Basics

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Ilish polaoHilsa fish rice

Monsoon is hilsa season: as the fish run up the Meghna and the boats come back heavy into Chandpur ghat and the Barisal river markets, the richest cooks make ilish polao, a fragrant rice cooked in the oil left from frying the fish and in a light stock from the head and tail. Fried hilsa steaks are tucked into the rice to finish in the steam, so they stay moist and take on the scent of cardamom and bay. It is a dish for the hilsa season and for honoured guests, served with fried onions, a wedge of lime and a green chilli. The usual misjudgement is stirring once the fish is in; the steaks are fragile and fall apart into bones. Chef's tip: keep the oil the fish was fried in, because the whole dish depends on that hilsa-scented fat.

75 min

Bangladeshi Fish

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Bakeapple jamCloudberry jam

Bakeapples, the amber cloudberries of the Labrador and Newfoundland bogs, ripen for a few weeks in late July and August, and families on the Northern Peninsula and the Labrador coast pick them by the bucket. Turned into jam, they taste of apricot, honey and wild herbs, and the soft seeds give it texture. It is spread on toast, tea biscuits and toutons, or stirred through cream. Frozen cloudberries work if you can't get fresh. A common mistake is boiling too long, which darkens the colour and dulls the flavour. Chef's tip: test the set early, on a cold saucer.

40 min

Canadian Chutneys & Dips

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BataSoft sticky rice

Long-grain palaw gets the glory at weddings, but on ordinary days in Herat and Kabul it is often bata that comes to the table: short-grain rice cooked until the grains burst and cling together in a glossy, gently salted mass. Its job is to sit beside something saucy, typically a qorma or sabzi, the dark, garlicky spinach, and to soak up every bit of it; children often eat it with just a spoonful of yogurt. It needs no spices at all. Rice that is drained or rinsed until the water runs clear will never go properly sticky, so rinse it once and cook it in a measured amount of water. Chef's tip: finish it under a lid wrapped in a tea towel on the lowest heat, which catches the drips of steam and keeps the top soft instead of wet.

40 min

Afghan Rice & Grains

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Atama soupPalm nut and atama leaf soup

From Abak and the Ibibio heartland of Akwa Ibom comes this palm-nut soup with a perfume all its own: atama leaves, which smell somewhere between mint, anise and fresh hay. The palm cream is cooked with assorted meat, stockfish, dried fish and periwinkles until the oil glistens on top, then the atama goes in near the end. It is weekend and visitors' food, eaten with pounded yam, fufu or eba. Dried atama is sold in African shops; dried tarragon is the closest substitute. Periwinkles should be bought cleaned, and any with cracked shells thrown away. Avoid adding the atama leaves too early: long boiling dulls their perfume. Chef's tip: go easy on the atama, as too much turns the soup bitter, so start with the amount below and taste before adding more.

90 min

Nigerian Meat

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Maqaw chicken soupMountain pepper chicken soup

High in the mountains of northern Taiwan, in Atayal villages around Wulai and Fuxing, maqaw berries are picked from the mountain litsea tree in summer and dried to flavour soups, grilled meat and tea. In this clear chicken soup, served at home suppers and in Indigenous restaurants with millet or rice and wild greens, the crushed berries give a fresh lemongrass-and-ginger perfume with a gentle peppery tingle. Bone-in chicken simmered slowly makes a light, golden broth. People spoil it by adding the maqaw at the start and boiling it for an hour, which turns it bitter; add it for the last 15 minutes instead. If you can't find maqaw, use black peppercorns, a stalk of lemongrass and a strip of lemon zest. Chef's tip: lightly crush the berries just before they go in; whole ones barely flavour the broth, while powder makes it cloudy.

60 min

Taiwanese Soups

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Imli aloo bukhara sharbatTamarind and plum cooler

Pakistani grandmothers prescribe this deep brown drink for heatstroke, an upset stomach and the sluggish days of Ramadan fasting in June, and it is sold in tall glasses at sehri and iftar stalls in Karachi, Hyderabad and Lahore. Tamarind and dried aloo bukhara plums are soaked, simmered, mashed and strained into a concentrate, which is then sweetened, seasoned with black salt and roasted cumin and served poured over ice. The flavour is fruity, tart and slightly smoky from the plums, with the savoury lift of the salt. The concentrate keeps for a week in the fridge, so a big batch lasts through a heatwave. The usual problem is skipping the straining step and serving it thick with fibres and seeds, which makes it more like a chutney than a drink. Chef's tip: let the plums soak in the hot liquid for an hour after simmering, so they give up all their sourness and colour before you strain them.

30 min

Pakistani Drinks

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Atjar tjampoerSweet-sour mixed vegetable pickle

Atjar tjampoer is the bright yellow pickle in every Dutch-Indonesian toko and on every rijsttafel: crisp cucumber, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower and shallot pickled in a sweet-sour vinegar brine coloured with turmeric, with a little chilli and ginger. It cuts through rich satay and rendang. A common mistake is cooking the vegetables, which makes them soft; they should only be blanched or simply covered with hot brine. Chef's tip: salt the cucumber first and squeeze it, so it stays crunchy for days.

30 min

Dutch Chutneys & Dips

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KibbelingBattered white fish chunks

Kibbeling is the fish snack of Dutch markets and harbours, sold in paper trays from fish vans at Saturday markets from Volendam to Rotterdam: bite-sized chunks of cod or pollock coated in a spiced batter and fried until crisp, with a pot of garlic sauce or remoulade. It began as a way to use the cheeks of cod. A common mistake is a thick batter, which turns bready and greasy. Chef's tip: season the batter well with a little curry powder and paprika, the market-van secret, and fry at 180 °C until golden; the fish is done when opaque and flaking.

25 min

Dutch Fish

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ManeštraBean, corn and potato soup

Farm kitchens across Istria, in north-west Croatia, keep a pot of maneštra on the stove through the cold months, a soup so thick a spoon nearly stands in it. Beans, sweetcorn and potatoes are its heart; in the villages it is usually cooked with smoked pork ribs or bacon, but this version is meat-free, with smoked paprika and a garlicky parsley and olive oil paste (an olive oil twist on the traditional pešt) to give it depth. Expect a sweet, earthy, creamy soup with soft corn kernels and herby green flecks; eat it with crusty bread and a drizzle of Istrian olive oil. The beans must soak overnight before you begin. A common mistake is serving it thin and brothy, so mash some of the potato against the side of the pot near the end. Chef's tip: maneštra is better the next day; loosen it with a little hot water when you reheat.

120 minBalkan Soups

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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 minBalkan Pasta & Noodles

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AchmaLayered cheese pie

Ask in Batumi and someone will call achma the Georgian lasagne: thin sheets of egg dough are boiled one by one, layered in a deep tray with salty cheese and a lot of butter, and baked until the top crackles and the inside is soft and molten. It is made for name days and holidays across Adjara, and slices are carried to neighbours on a plate. A common mistake is boiling the sheets too long; they should be barely cooked and still firm, or the layers merge into a heavy paste. Chef's tip: plunge every boiled sheet into iced water and lay it out on a towel, so the layers stay distinct and silky. Most sulguni and imeruli cheeses use animal rennet, so choose vegetarian versions.

105 min

Georgian Baking

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Achar goshtPickle-spiced mutton curry

Sour, hot and pungent, achar gosht borrows its whole flavour from a jar of pickle: fennel, nigella, fenugreek, mustard seed and cumin fried in mustard oil, with lemon and long green chillies stuffed with the same spices. It belongs to the Urdu-speaking kitchens of Karachi and Hyderabad, where it is made for dinner guests and shared at office lunches, and it is eaten with naan or tandoori roti, never with a delicate pulao. The gravy is thick and clings to the meat, glistening with oil. The step people rush is roasting the pickling spices; they must be toasted and coarsely crushed, not used whole, or the curry tastes raw and seedy. Chef's tip: mustard oil gives the true pickle tang; heat it until it smokes, then let it cool for a minute before adding anything, so it loses its harsh edge.

95 min

Pakistani Meat

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AushNoodle soup with beans and yogurt

Aush is the bowl Afghan mothers make when someone in the house has a cold or the first snow falls on Kabul, a thick, tangy soup of hand-cut noodles, kidney beans and chickpeas, enriched with garlicky yogurt and finished with a spoonful of spiced minced meat and a heavy dusting of dried mint. The broth is slightly sour, creamy and warming with chilli, and the noodles are soft and a little slippery. It is a meal in itself, eaten with nothing more than naan and pickles. For a vegetarian version, leave out the meat sauce and add a handful of cooked mung beans. Noodles dropped into a soup that has gone off the boil stick together into a clump, so keep it bubbling as you add them a few at a time. Chef's tip: stir the yogurt in only after the pan is off the heat, so it turns the broth creamy without splitting.

90 min

Afghan Soups

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Baku kurabiyePiped butter cookies with jam

Every Baku bakery sells these: short, crumbly butter cookies piped into flowers with a star nozzle and finished with a bright dot of jam in the centre, sold by the kilo for name days and served with tea in Azerbaijani homes. The dough must be soft enough to pipe but rich enough to hold the ridges in the oven. A common mistake is overbeating the egg whites into the butter, which makes the cookies spread and lose their pattern. Chef's tip: chill the piped cookies on the tray for 15 minutes before baking; the ridges stay sharp.

35 min

Azerbaijani Baking

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Hutki shiraDried fish and aubergine curry

Hutki is what Sylhetis call shutki, sun-dried fish, and a pot of hutki shira, a thin, soupy curry, is pure home cooking from Sylhet, Sunamganj and the haor villages, where fish dried in the dry season feeds families through the rest of the year. The broth is fiery with fresh and dried chilli and full of garlic, softened with chunks of potato, brinjal and sometimes tomato or shatkora, and it is ladled over plenty of plain rice. The smell of the dried fish is strong as it cooks, but it mellows into a deep savoury taste. Skipping the soak is the error that ruins it: unwashed hutki is gritty and far too salty. Buy dried fish from a busy, reputable Asian grocer, and choose pieces that are dry, firm and free of mould. Chef's tip: keep the broth loose; shira should be soupy enough to drown the rice.

50 min

Bangladeshi Fish

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Iftari chhola bhunaDry-fried spiced chickpeas

An hour before sunset during Ramadan, the pavement of Chawkbazar disappears under trays of iftar food, and the one thing every family buys or makes is a bowl of chhola bhuna. It is chickpeas fried down with onion, ginger, garlic and cumin until almost dry, so each one is coated in a thick, dark masala rather than swimming in gravy. On the iftar plate it sits beside piyaju, beguni, muri and dates, and many people toss it with puffed rice, chopped onion and mustard oil into a quick muri makha. A frequent error is adding the chickpeas while the onions are still pale, which leaves the dish flat and sweet instead of deep and savoury. Chef's tip: finish with a pinch of bhaja moshla, dry-roasted cumin, coriander and chilli ground together, for the smoky taste of the street version.

65 min

Bangladeshi Curries

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Hulbat marakLamb broth with whipped fenugreek

Inside the old walled city of Harar, cooking carries the flavours of centuries of trade with Arabia, and hulbat marak shows it clearly. A light, golden lamb broth, scented with cumin, turmeric and cardamom, is ladled into bowls and topped with a spoonful of hulbat: fenugreek soaked, then whipped with lemon and green chilli into a pale, frothy cream. Torn flatbread goes in to soak up the broth, and the slightly bitter, tangy foam slowly melts into the soup as you eat. It is warming, delicate and not spicy at all. Chef's tip: soak the fenugreek for at least 2 hours and pour off the water; that is what keeps the topping mellow rather than harshly bitter.

120 min

Ethiopian Soups

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Čočka na kyseloSour lentils with fried egg

Brown lentils, a good splash of vinegar and a crisp-edged fried egg on top: čočka na kyselo is the Czech school-canteen and workers' lunch that people grow nostalgic about. Bohemian families also eat lentils around New Year, when the small round seeds stand for coins. The lentils are cooked soft, bound in a light roux with fried onion and finished sour and a touch sweet, then served with a sliced pickled gherkin and fresh bread. The texture should be spoonable, not soupy and not stiff. Where most cooks slip up is adding the vinegar too early: acid keeps lentils firm, so they stay hard however long you cook them. Season at the end instead. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of mustard stirred in with the vinegar rounds out the sourness without making it taste of mustard.

50 min

Czech Curries

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HuzarensaladePotato, pickle and egg salad

Huzarensalade, 'hussars' salad', is the potato salad of Dutch birthdays and New Year's Day: diced potato, pickled gherkins, pickled onions, apple and boiled egg bound in mayonnaise, shaped into a mound and decorated with lettuce, tomato, egg and cucumber. It is normally made with cubes of cooked beef; this vegetarian version adds peas and a little extra egg. A common mistake is mixing warm potatoes with mayonnaise, which turns it greasy and loose. Chef's tip: let the potatoes cool completely and add a splash of pickle vinegar first, so they soak up flavour before the mayonnaise goes in.

50 min

Dutch Salads

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BakhshGreen rice with beef and liver

Bakhsh is the Shabbat and holiday rice of the Bukharan Jews, who lived in Bukhara and Samarkand for centuries before most emigrated to Israel and New York: rice mixed with small cubes of beef and liver and so much chopped coriander that it turns deep green, then cooked slowly in a cloth bag inside a pot of broth (bakhsh khalta) or in a pot sealed on the stove. It is fragrant, rich and moist. This version uses beef and calves' liver and the pot method. A common mistake is chopping the coriander roughly; it should be very fine so the rice turns evenly green. Chef's tip: cut the meat into rice-grain-sized pieces so it cooks in the same time as the rice. The liver and meat should be cooked through, 71 °C.

150 min

Uzbek Rice & Grains

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PloyesBuckwheat griddle cakes

Ployes come from the Acadian villages of the Madawaska in north-west New Brunswick, on the border with Maine, where they are eaten at almost every meal in place of bread. The batter of light buckwheat flour, plain flour and baking powder is poured onto a very hot dry griddle and cooked on one side only, until the top is covered in tiny holes. Roll them with butter and molasses, or use them to mop up a stew. Chef's tip: let the batter rest 5 minutes so the bubbles start; without them you get flat pancakes instead of the lacy holes.

20 min

Canadian Breads & Parathas

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Bakonyi sertésszeletPork in mushroom paprika sauce

The Bakony hills north of Lake Balaton are known for their beech forests and mushrooms, and any Hungarian dish called bakonyi comes with a creamy paprika and mushroom sauce. Here it covers seared pork loin steaks, a favourite of roadside inns and Sunday lunches across Transdanubia. The sauce starts like a pörkölt with onion, paprika, pepper and tomato, then takes on sliced mushrooms and is finished with sour cream, so it is earthy, tangy and rich. Serve it with nokedli or rice to soak it up. Where most people go wrong is boiling the sauce after the sour cream goes in, which makes it split; keep it just below a simmer. Chef's tip: use a mix of wild and chestnut mushrooms if you can, and fry them hard first so they brown instead of stewing.

60 min

Hungarian Meat

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Chicken fricotChicken stew with dumplings

Fricot is the everyday stew of Acadian kitchens in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and on Chéticamp it is still what grandmothers serve when the family comes home. Chicken simmers with potatoes, onion and plenty of summer savory, and fluffy dumplings called pâte steam on top at the end. It is simple, comforting food for cold evenings. A common mistake is a stew that is boiling hard when the dumplings go in, which breaks them up; keep it at a lively simmer. Chef's tip: summer savory is the defining herb; use thyme only if you really can't find it.

90 min

Canadian Chicken

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Abrisham kebabEgg thread rolls in syrup

Despite the name there is no meat in abrisham kebab, the silk kebab: it is a show-off Kabul sweet made from nothing more than beaten egg drizzled in fine threads over hot oil until it sets into a lacy golden net, which is rolled up like a kebab on a skewer, dipped in syrup and dusted with ground pistachios. It is made for weddings, engagements and Eid, and the skill is in the wrist, so many families leave it to one aunt who has the knack. The texture is unusual and delightful, soft and springy, slightly chewy and soaked with cardamom-scented syrup. Pouring the egg too thickly gives you an omelette rather than silk; let it fall from your fingers in thin streams and keep moving. Chef's tip: strain the eggs first, as removing the stringy white makes the threads much finer and more even.

45 min

Afghan Desserts

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Huevos haminadosOvernight slow-cooked eggs

Sephardic families of Turkish and Greek origin in Jerusalem's Nachlaot and in Bat Yam tuck eggs into the Shabbat hamin or simmer them alone overnight, and by morning the shells are mahogany and the whites a pale coffee colour. The long, gentle heat turns the yolks creamy and the whites soft and faintly savoury, with none of the sulphur smell of a fast boiled egg. Serve them with bourekas, cucumber salad and grated tomato on Shabbat morning or at a Passover seder. The mistake is letting the pot boil hard, which cracks the shells and makes the whites rubbery. Chef's tip: a tight lid and the lowest oven setting are all you need; top up the water at bedtime so the eggs never go dry.

610 min

Israeli Breakfast & Brunch

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HusliankaFermented Hutsul milk

High in the Hutsul villages around Verkhovyna and Kosiv, milk was boiled, cooled and left to sour in a wooden keg called a berbenytsia, which held the cultures from the last batch and gave the drink its name and its gentle tang. The result is huslianka: thicker than kefir, smooth like loose yogurt, with a fresh, clean sourness that shepherds drank with mamalyha and new potatoes. Today you will find it bottled at Carpathian markets, but it is easy to make in a glass jar at home. For safety, always start from pasteurised milk, use a scrupulously clean jar and move it to the fridge as soon as it sets. The usual slip is adding the starter while the milk is still hot, which kills the cultures, so cool it to body temperature first. Discard any batch that grows fuzzy or pink mould or smells unpleasant. Chef's tip: keep two spoons of each batch to start the next one; the flavour gets rounder with every round.

1440 min

Ukrainian Drinks

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Ilish dim bhunaFried hilsa roe

Early in the hilsa season the female fish carry a pair of large, golden roe sacs, and in Barisal kitchens nobody would dream of wasting them. Ilish dim bhuna is the quick and greedy way to cook them: the roe is fried with lots of onion, turmeric and green chilli until it breaks into soft, rich, slightly grainy crumbs, a little like a savoury fish scramble. It is eaten as a side dish with plain rice and dal, often on the same day the fish itself is cooked in mustard. Roe spoils quickly, so buy it bright and fresh-smelling with the fish and cook it the same day. Many cooks stir the roe too early and too hard, turning it into paste; let it set first. Chef's tip: steam the roe sacs for 3 minutes before frying, so they firm up and break into neat crumbs.

25 min

Bangladeshi Fish

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Itek timDuck and salted mustard greens soup

Sour, salty and cleansing, itek tim is the soup a Nyonya kitchen in Katong or Joo Chiat puts on the table to cut through the rich curries and sambals of a Chinese New Year reunion dinner, and it is often made in a big pot that lasts for days. Jointed duck simmers slowly with salted mustard greens, tomatoes, salted sour plums and a little dried tamarind until the meat is tender and the broth turns golden, tangy and deeply savoury. It is served with rice and sambal belacan, and many families say it is even better on day two. Not soaking the salted mustard greens is the classic trap; they can make the soup far too salty, so soak and taste a piece first. Chef's tip: chill the soup overnight and lift off the duck fat in one sheet before reheating, which gives a clear, clean broth.

130 min

Singaporean Soups

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AboloSteamed corn and rice bread

Along the lagoon towns of Keta and Anloga, women carry trays of abolo to the lorry parks: pale, spongy little cakes of fermented corn and rice dough, sweetened a little and steamed until springy. They taste gently sour and sweet, a bit like a steamed bun, and are traditionally eaten with fried fish and shito or a raw pepper sauce; with fresh pepper sauce and avocado they make a meat-free meal. The batter needs about an hour to rise, which is counted in the timings below. Chef's tip: cook a small part of the corn dough into a thick porridge first and mix it back in; this is what gives abolo its soft, bouncy crumb, and skipping it, the common mistake, gives dense, heavy cakes.

120 min

Ghanaian Breads & Parathas

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AboboiBambara beans in palm oil

Bambara beans, round and speckled, are one of West Africa's oldest crops, and in Accra they become aboboi: simmered for a long time until creamy, then finished in red palm oil fried with onion and pepper. Street sellers dish it out in the evening, often with gari sprinkled on top for crunch and sometimes with fried fish; this version keeps it meat-free and lets the earthy, chestnut-like beans shine. It is filling, protein-rich and costs little. Dried Bambara beans are sold in African and Asian shops; black-eyed beans cook faster if you cannot find them. Don't add salt before the beans are soft, or the skins stay hard however long they cook. Chef's tip: soak the beans overnight and use a pressure cooker if you have one, as unsoaked Bambara beans can take three hours and still stay hard, which is the most common disappointment.

125 min

Ghanaian Vegetarian

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