Featured recipe

Stefánia szelet

Meatloaf with boiled eggs

Named, so the story goes, after Princess Stéphanie, wife of the Habsburg crown prince Rudolf, Stefánia szelet is the proud meatloaf of Hungarian school canteens, work cafeterias and Sunday tables. Seasoned minced pork, bound with a milk-soaked roll and flavoured with garlic, marjoram and mustard, is shaped around a row of peeled hard-boiled eggs and baked until browned, so every slice shows a golden yolk ringed with white. Serve it hot with mashed potato and pickled gherkins, or cold in sandwiches the next day. A common mistake is slicing it straight from the oven, which makes it crumble; rest it for 10 minutes first. Chef's tip: roll the boiled eggs in a little flour before you lay them in, so the meat grips them and the slices don't fall apart.

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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.

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For weddings, funerals, the enthronement of a chief or the return of a relative from abroad, the Bamileke of the West Region cook kondre. Chunks of goat are stewed slowly with green plantain, tomato and a fragrant blend of local spices including white pepper, pebe and country onion, until the plantain melts at the edges and thickens the sauce. The result is earthy, peppery and very satisfying, eaten straight from the bowl with nothing else alongside. Beef or lamb can replace goat; pebe and country onion are sold in Cameroonian grocers, with nutmeg and a pinch of clove standing in at a pinch. Marinate the meat in the fridge, never on the counter. Chef's tip: give the goat a full hour on its own before the plantain goes in; the meat needs far longer to soften.

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

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Arroz mamposteaoFried rice and stewed beans

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In July, when Finland's first new potatoes, baby carrots, peas and cauliflower arrive at market stalls in Helsinki and Turku, families make kesäkeitto: the vegetables simmered in water until just tender, then finished with milk and a knob of butter and lots of dill. It is light, sweet and pale green, eaten with rye bread and butter. A common mistake is boiling it once the milk is in, which can curdle the soup. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in order of cooking time, so each is just tender and keeps its colour.

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KhajurFried dough cookies

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55 min

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No plate of koshari is finished until it gets a splash of da'ah, the thin garlic vinegar every Cairo koshari counter keeps in jugs beside the shatta. Sharp, garlicky and warm with cumin, it cuts straight through the lentils, rice and fried onions, and it does the same for falafel, fried aubergine and cauliflower. It takes ten minutes and keeps for a week in the fridge. Chef's tip: fry the garlic only until it smells sweet and is barely coloured; brown garlic turns the whole sauce bitter.

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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

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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

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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

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Aruban pan batiSweet cornmeal pancakes

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30 minCaribbean Breads & Parathas

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Asa tibsFried tilapia pieces

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27 min

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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

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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

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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

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Kosa bel bechamelCourgette bake with béchamel

Cairene home cooks bake kosa bel bechamel in the same deep tray they use for macarona, and it turns up on Friday lunch tables and at family gatherings all year. Plenty of households layer the courgettes with spiced minced beef; this is the meat-free version, where soft, sweet courgette and onion sit under a deep blanket of nutmeg-scented white sauce that browns in patches on top. Spoon it out beside plain vermicelli rice, a baladi salad and a dish of pickles. The usual hard grating cheese, like most aged cheeses, is often made with animal rennet, so pick one labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: let the bake stand for ten minutes before cutting, or the béchamel runs and the slices fall apart.

75 min

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Afang soupWaterleaf and afang leaf soup

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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.

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Squeeze bottles of shatta stand on the tables of every koshari shop in downtown Cairo, and diners shake in as much as they dare along with the garlic vinegar. The Egyptian version is a fresh, bright, loose sauce of red chillies blended with garlic, vinegar, cumin and a little oil, quite unlike the dried-chilli shata of Sudan. It goes with ful, falafel, lentil soup, roast potatoes and almost any sandwich. Wear gloves when handling the chillies and keep your hands away from your eyes; capsaicin on the fingers is the classic mistake, and it lasts for hours. Chef's tip: a brief simmer after blending takes the raw edge off the garlic and lets the sauce keep for two weeks in the fridge.

15 min

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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Huevos a la habaneraBaked eggs with peppers and peas

Old Havana households bake eggs this way for a late Sunday breakfast or a light supper, cracking them into a bed of slow-cooked onion, green pepper and tomato and scattering peas and grated cheese over the top. The whites set softly in the steam of the sofrito while the yolks stay rich and loose, ready for mopping up with toasted Cuban bread. A frequent mistake is baking until the yolks turn chalky; take the dish out while the yolks still wobble. Many hard cheeses are made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian Gouda-style or Cheddar-style cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: make little wells in the sofrito with the back of a spoon so each egg sits in its own nest and doesn't spread.

35 min

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Htamin jinSour rice with fish

On the floating gardens and stilt-house kitchens of Inle Lake, the Intha make htamin jin to take out on the boats or to sell at the rotating five-day markets around the shore. Warm rice coloured with turmeric is kneaded by hand with flaked lake fish and tomatoes cooked down in garlic oil, then pressed into soft, tangy balls the size of a fist. It is eaten at room temperature, dressed with more garlic oil and crispy garlic, with fried dried chillies, whole raw garlic cloves and garlic chives on the side for crunch. Many cooks use firm, day-old rice, which never binds and crumbles apart; use freshly cooked rice that is a touch soft and still warm. Chef's tip: wear a food-safe glove and knead like dough for a full couple of minutes; the more you work it, the smoother and more evenly sour each ball becomes.

45 min

Burmese Rice & Grains

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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 min

Nigerian Fish

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Asopao de polloSoupy chicken and rice

Somewhere between a soup and a risotto, asopao is the pot Puerto Rican mothers put on for a rainy Sunday, a cold, or a hangover after a long party night, and it is spooned straight from deep bowls with tostones on the side. Bone-in chicken is seasoned with garlic, oregano and lime, simmered in a sofrito broth, then rice goes in until the whole pot turns thick and brothy, finished with olives, capers, peas and strips of roasted pepper. The common mistake is making it ahead: the rice keeps drinking the broth and turns stodgy, so cook it just before eating, or keep extra stock to loosen leftovers. Chef's tip: take the pot off the heat while the rice is still a touch firm; it carries on cooking in the bowl.

75 min

Puerto Rican Soups

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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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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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Houbový kubaBarley and mushroom bake

On Štědrý den, the Czech Christmas Eve, many families kept a meat-free fast until the evening carp, and houbový kuba was what filled the gap at lunch. Village cooks in Bohemia baked pearl barley with mushrooms picked and dried in autumn, plenty of garlic and marjoram, until the top went crunchy. The inside stays moist and chewy, almost like a mushroom risotto, while the edges crisp. It used to be made with lard; this version uses oil and is fully plant-based. Serve it on its own with sauerkraut or a sharp pickled salad, or as a side to roast vegetables. A common mistake is boiling the barley until soft right through, which turns the bake to paste; it should still have a little bite before it goes in the oven. Chef's tip: save the mushroom soaking water and cook the barley in it, for flavour all the way through.

75 min

Czech Rice & Grains

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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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