Featured recipe

Garroticos de Tudela

Chocolate puff pastry sticks

Walk past any bakery in Tudela on a weekend morning and the window will be full of garroticos, puff pastry rolls with a bar of dark chocolate baked inside and a crackly sugar top. The name means little sticks, after their shape, and they are eaten warm with coffee or bought by the half-dozen for an afternoon snack. Some bakers add a line of pastry cream next to the chocolate; this home version keeps it simple. Chef's tip: work with the pastry straight from the fridge, because cold butter layers are what make the pastry puff into flaky leaves.

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Nothing is cooked for doi chira, which is why it has been the breakfast of farmers and fishermen in Barisal for generations: flattened rice is rinsed, softened in thick, slightly sour curd and sweetened with jaggery or sugar, then mashed together with a ripe banana. The texture is soft and creamy with a little chew from the rice flakes, and the taste is cool, sweet and tangy. It is eaten on hot summer mornings, at village fairs and as part of the Pohela Boishakh spread, and it is a favourite of children and of anyone fasting who wants something gentle. The usual misstep is soaking the chira for too long, which turns it to paste; a quick rinse is all it needs before the curd does the rest. Chef's tip: use thick-cut chira, not the thin kind for frying, so the flakes hold their shape.

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Across the Prut, in villages from Vaslui to the Republic of Moldova, alivenci is what happens when a farmhouse has fresh cheese, sour cream and a sack of cornmeal: a soft, custardy cake baked in a tray and cut into squares while warm. It is lighter than mămăligă and richer than bread, with a tender, slightly crumbly crumb studded with curd, and is eaten for Sunday breakfast or as a side with stews and a dollop of sour cream. Traditional brânză de vaci (cottage-style cheese) is usually made without rennet, but some brands use it, so check the label. Where most people go wrong is using coarse polenta, which stays gritty; fine cornmeal gives the silky texture. Chef's tip: let the batter sit for 15 minutes before baking so the cornmeal hydrates and the cake sets evenly.

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Outside every school gate in Bangladesh during the hot months, a vendor with a glass box on his cart sells green mango makha: unripe mango sliced paper-thin and squeezed by hand with salt, sugar, chilli and a splash of mustard oil, handed over in a cone of newspaper with a toothpick. Makha means mixed by hand, and the hand matters, as the squeezing bruises the mango so it softens and drinks in the seasoning. It tastes sour, sweet, salty and hot all at once, with the sharp nose-burn of raw mustard oil, and it is eaten as an afternoon snack in April and May, especially around Pohela Boishakh. Slicing the mango too thick is the error that leaves it hard and bland in the middle. Chef's tip: stir in a spoon of kasundi, Bengali mustard relish, for the version the street sellers call kasundi makha.

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KamaRoasted grain flour with kefir

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5 minBaltic Breakfast & Brunch

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DibyazaApricot and date compote

No Eid table in Jeddah or Mecca is complete without a bowl of dibyaza, a thick, glossy compote that old Hejazi families make the night before the festival and serve at breakfast alongside cheese, olives and fresh bread. Sheets of dried apricot paste melt into a tangy orange syrup that wraps around soft dates, figs, prunes and crunchy nuts, so every spoonful is sweet, sour and jammy at once. Some households stir in fried onion for a savoury edge; this version keeps it to fruit and nuts. People often boil it hard and scorch the bottom, because apricot paste catches very easily. Keep the heat low and stir from the base. It keeps for a week in the fridge. Chef's tip: soak the apricot paste in hot water until completely soft before it goes near the heat; it then dissolves smooth instead of leaving rubbery shreds.

60 minGulf Arabian Desserts

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MounaOrange-flower brioche

Oran's mouna came over with Spanish settlers as the Easter mona, and it is still baked for spring outings, recalling the Easter Monday picnics once held at the Santa Cruz chapel above the city. It is a tall, light, golden brioche with a crackly sugar crust, softly flavoured with orange-flower water and lemon zest rather than butter-heavy, and it tears into long, feathery strands. Eat it with coffee or hot chocolate, plain or with jam. The dough is slow and sticky, so give it time. Chef's tip: let the dough rise slowly overnight in the fridge after the first knead; it becomes easier to shape and the flavour deepens.

75 min

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Luang Prabang khao lamSticky rice with black beans

Lines of blackened bamboo tubes propped beside smouldering charcoal mark the khao lam sellers on the roads into Luang Prabang, busiest in the cool season after the November harvest, when new-crop sticky rice is at its sweetest. Inside each tube, rice and black beans have cooked slowly in salted coconut milk, picking up a faint smoky, grassy flavour from the bamboo lining. You split the tube, peel back the thin inner skin and eat the dense, chewy, gently sweet log by hand, often on the morning walk or on a bus journey. At home the tubes roast in the oven or over a barbecue, and a lidded dish lined with banana leaf works if you can't get bamboo. Overfilling the tubes is the usual slip: the rice swells, the plug pops and the coconut milk boils away. Chef's tip: soak the rice overnight; well-soaked grains cook evenly right to the centre of the tube.

90 min

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Kancha aamer tok dalGreen mango lentil dal

When the first hard, green mangoes fall from the trees around Rajshahi in April and May, cooks slice them into the dal pot, and the result is the most refreshing bowl of the hot season. Tok dal is deliberately thin, almost like a soup, with soft red lentils and slices of green mango that turn tender and tangy, finished with mustard seed and dried chilli crackling in mustard oil. It is eaten poured over plain rice, often as the last thing before a light fish or vegetable curry, because the sourness is meant to cool the body in the heat. Adding the mango at the start leaves it mushy and the dal overly sour, so it goes in once the lentils are soft. Chef's tip: taste the mango first; very sour fruit may need a pinch more sugar to balance it.

35 min

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MatlouhSemolina flatbread

In Algiers and all over Algeria, homemade matlouh is the bread of choice for Ramadan iftar and for dipping into chorba or chakchouka. The dough is made with fine semolina and yeast, almost as wet as a batter, left to rise until airy, then shaped into thick rounds and cooked on a clay tajine or a heavy frying pan rather than in an oven. The result is soft and springy inside, with a thin, freckled, golden crust and the sweet, nutty taste of semolina. Eat it warm, torn by hand. Chef's tip: keep your hands wet with water, not floured, when shaping the sticky dough; flour makes the crust dry and floury.

55 min

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Schoolchildren in Oran spend their pocket money on karantika, a savoury chickpea-flour flan baked in huge trays and cut into squares by street vendors, who sprinkle it with cumin and harissa and often stuff it into a piece of baguette. Its roots go back to the Spanish calentica of Oran's past, and it has spread across western Algeria. Made with only chickpea flour, water, oil and egg, it bakes into a soft, custardy, slightly wobbly middle under a crisp, burnished top. Serve it warm, cut into squares, with harissa; to keep the dish gluten free, skip the bread. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 30 minutes before baking; the flour hydrates and the flan sets smooth instead of grainy.

45 min

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

50 min

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DhikriSteamed rice flour dough shapes

For Maghi, the Tharu new year in mid-January, and for Dashain and Atwari, families in Dang, Bardiya and Kailali sit together on the floor shaping dhikri, long pieces of rice-flour dough rolled and twisted into ropes, spirals, fish, birds and finger-marked ridges before they are steamed. The finished pieces are soft, smooth and chewy, with a clean, sweetish rice flavour that makes them a canvas for whatever is served alongside: a spicy tomato and sesame chutney, a lentil soup, a vegetable curry or, in many homes, a festive meat curry. Leftovers are sliced and fried the next day. The usual mistake is mixing the dough too dry, which cracks as you shape it and steams up hard. Chef's tip: keep the dough covered with a damp cloth while you shape, and dip your fingers in water if it starts to crack.

45 min

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DoubaraSpicy chickpea stew

In Biskra, the oasis town at the gateway to the Algerian Sahara, doubara is street food, ladled from big pots into bowls from late afternoon and through Ramadan nights. Soft chickpeas or broad beans are simmered with cumin and garlic, then dressed with a fiery garlic-harissa sauce, olive oil, lemon and a heap of chopped tomato, onion, parsley and fresh chilli on top. It is hot, sour and very garlicky, filling yet fresh, and eaten with bread. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the chickpeas into the broth at the end; it thickens the stew so the sauce clings.

45 min

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BerkoukesLarge couscous pearls in vegetable broth

Berkoukes, the big chewy couscous pearls rolled by hand in Tlemcen and the west of Algeria, is cold-weather food and a classic dish for the end of winter or a family supper. Cooked directly in a thick, tomato-red broth with courgette, carrot, potato, turnip, peas and chickpeas, it becomes a spoonable, comforting stew, fragrant with garlic, paprika, dried mint and fresh coriander. Many families make it with meat or khlii; this is the vegetable version cooked at home on ordinary days. Bought berkoukes, maftoul or giant couscous are fine. Chef's tip: steam or toast the berkoukes before simmering it; the pearls hold their shape and don't turn to porridge.

60 min

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DhodhaMilk, wheat and ghee fudge

Every bus that stops in Khushab, on the road between Sargodha and the Salt Range, is met by boys carrying boxes of dhodha, the town's famous sweet and a standard gift for anyone visiting family in Punjab. It is lighter in colour and softer than habshi halwa, a moist, crumbly fudge of slowly reduced milk, a little wheat flour, ghee and sugar, packed with almonds, pistachios and walnuts and pressed into slabs about two fingers thick. The flavour is milky and nutty with a gentle caramel note, and it is sliced and eaten with tea, especially in the cold months. Where people slip up is under-reducing the milk, so the dhodha never firms and stays soft like a halwa. Chef's tip: keep stirring after you add the sugar until the mass leaves the sides of the pan cleanly and holds a ridge when you draw the spoon through it, then press it into the tin while still warm.

180 min

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Bermuda cassava pieCassava pie with chicken and pork

No Bermudian Christmas table is complete without cassava pie, a dense, golden, faintly sweet bake of grated cassava, eggs, butter, sugar and nutmeg layered around a filling of stewed chicken and pork. Families compare recipes and argue over sweetness; it is served in slices with the turkey on Christmas Day and eaten cold for days after. The pork here is boneless pork shoulder, stewed with the chicken until tender. The common mistake is underbaking: the cassava must set firm and brown deeply, or it is gluey in the middle. Use frozen grated cassava, squeezed dry. Chef's tip: make the filling the day before; cold meat is easier to layer and the stock gels into a juicy middle.

195 minCaribbean Meat

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KalkanFried turbot steaks

Turbot season on the Bulgarian Black Sea is short and strictly controlled, so in spring locals in Burgas and Balchik queue at the fish market for kalkan, the flat, diamond-shaped fish with firm, sweet white flesh. Seaside restaurants cut it across the bone into thick steaks, dust them with flour and fry them in sunflower oil until the skin is crisp and the flesh pearly, then serve them simply with lemon and a crunchy salad of shredded cabbage and carrot dressed with vinegar. Brill or halibut steaks work the same way if turbot is out of reach. A common mistake is turning the fish too soon, which tears the crust; leave it until it releases from the pan by itself. Chef's tip: score the dark skin twice so the steaks stay flat and cook evenly.

30 min

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DhidoBuckwheat flour porridge

Before rice reached every corner of Nepal, dhido was what filled bellies in the high villages of Jumla, Dolpa, Mustang and the middle hills, and it is now enjoying a comeback in Kathmandu restaurants as a wholesome, gluten-free choice. Buckwheat or millet flour is rained into boiling water and stirred with a flat wooden paddle until it becomes a smooth, heavy, elastic mass, which is eaten with the fingers, pinched off and dipped into a sour vegetable soup, a bowl of lentils or a fiery tomato pickle. It has an earthy, slightly bitter flavour and a satisfying, sticky texture that is meant to be swallowed rather than chewed. Lumps are what ruin it most often, and they come from adding the flour too quickly. Chef's tip: add the flour in a thin stream with one hand while stirring hard with the other, and keep beating for a full 10 minutes once it is all in.

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Lukken are paper-thin, crisp waffle biscuits baked in West Flanders, around Kortrijk and Roeselare, in the days before New Year, when children go from house to house wishing neighbours a happy new year and are rewarded with them. They are made in a special iron that presses a fine pattern; a pizzelle iron or a thin-waffle (gaufrette) iron works. A common mistake is using too much batter, which makes them thick and soft. Chef's tip: use only a teaspoon of dough per biscuit and roll them while warm if you like, for 'rolled lukken'.

60 min

Belgian Baking

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Kalo jeera bhortaNigella seed mash

A bhorta lunch spread in a Bangladeshi home always has one tiny, dark mound that people eat a pinch at a time, and that is kalo jeera bhorta. Nigella seeds are toasted until fragrant, then ground on the shil-pata, the stone slab and roller, with garlic, roasted dried chilli, onion and mustard oil into a coarse, almost black paste that is nutty, bitter and fiery all at once. Grandmothers serve it in winter, believing it wards off colds, and a little is mixed into the first handful of hot rice before moving on to fish or dal. Burnt seeds make it acrid, so the trap is toasting over too high a heat; stop as soon as they smell toasty and start to pop. Chef's tip: grind the seeds alone first, then add the garlic and oil, for a smoother paste in a small grinder.

15 min

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KålrabistappeMashed swede

Kålrabistappe is the bright orange mash of swede that sits beside almost every Norwegian winter dinner: with pinnekjøtt lamb ribs at Christmas in western Norway, with raspeballer on Thursdays, with salted meat and sausages. It is simple: swede and a little potato boiled soft and mashed with butter, a splash of the cooking water and nutmeg. A common mistake is mashing it in a blender, which makes it gluey. Chef's tip: let the swede steam dry in the pan for a couple of minutes after draining; the mash stays fluffy, not watery.

40 minScandinavian Sides

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LutfiskLye-cured cod with white sauce

Lutfisk, lutefisk in Norway, is dried cod or ling soaked in water and lye for days until it swells into a soft, jelly-like fish, then rinsed and baked or steamed and eaten at Christmas with white sauce, peas, boiled potatoes, allspice and, in Norway, bacon fat. It divides families, loved by some, avoided by others. Lye is caustic, so never cure it at home; buy ready-soaked lutfisk from Scandinavian shops and fishmongers in December. A common mistake is cooking it in an aluminium dish, which reacts and discolours it. Chef's tip: salt the fish and leave it for 15 minutes before baking; it draws out water and keeps the flakes firm. It is done when it is opaque and flakes.

60 minScandinavian Fish

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Aish shamsiSun-risen sourdough bread

On the rooftops and in the courtyards of villages around Luxor and across Upper Egypt, women set trays of dough out in the sun to rise before baking them in mud-brick ovens, which is where aish shamsi, 'sun bread', gets its name. A sourdough leaven and the warmth of the sun make the rounds swell tall and domed, with a thin bran-flecked crust and an open, tangy crumb. It is eaten with mish, molasses, cheese and stews. Allow about 6 hours from mixing to baking, most of it rising time. A sunny windowsill or a warm spot at about 30 °C works fine at home; don't leave it in fierce direct sun above about 40 °C, which kills the yeast and dries out the skin. Chef's tip: cover the rising loaves with a light cotton cloth, just as village bakers do.

50 min

Egyptian Breads & Parathas

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Kalai rutiUrad dal and rice flour bread

In Chapai Nawabganj and Rajshahi, kalai ruti stalls fire up as the weather turns cold, and the bread has become such a regional symbol that people from Dhaka make the trip just to eat it. Flour ground from mashkalai, or urad dal, is mixed with rice flour and hot water, then patted by hand between wet palms into thick rounds and baked on a clay tawa until speckled and toasty. The texture is dense, soft and slightly chewy, with an earthy, nutty taste. It is always eaten with something sharp: a raw bhorta of onion, green chilli and mustard oil, a smoky begun bhorta, or duck or beef curry in winter. Over-wet dough is what defeats most first attempts; it should be soft but hold its shape when patted. Chef's tip: keep a bowl of water beside you and wet your palms before shaping each ruti, which stops sticking and gives the characteristic smooth surface.

45 min

Bangladeshi Breads & Parathas

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DemikátSheep's cheese soup over bread

Shepherds in the hills of central Slovakia needed only a kettle of water, a lump of bryndza and a loaf of bread to make demikát, a soup that comes together in a quarter of an hour at the salaš, the summer sheep hut. The soft, salty sheep's cheese is mashed with fried onion, paprika and caraway, loosened with boiling water and poured over chunks of bread, then finished with heaps of chives. It is tangy, creamy and very warming. Bryndza is traditionally made with animal rennet and sometimes from raw milk, so for a vegetarian, safer bowl choose a pasteurised sheep's cheese made with vegetarian rennet (a soft feta-style cheese mashed with a little cream cheese works well). The usual slip is boiling the soup after the cheese goes in, which makes it grainy; just bring it to steaming. Chef's tip: use day-old rye bread, toasted, so it soaks up the broth without falling apart.

20 min

Czech Soups

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KalakukkoFish and pork rye loaf

Kalakukko is the travelling food of Savonia in eastern Finland, a speciality of Kuopio's market square: a thick rye crust packed with small whole fish, usually vendace (muikku) or perch, and slices of fatty pork belly, sealed and baked for five or six hours, until the fish bones soften completely and the juices soak the inside of the crust. This dish contains pork. It is cut open like a lid and eaten in slices, crust and all, hot or cold. A common mistake is a crack in the crust, which lets the juices escape and dries out the fish. Chef's tip: patch any cracks with a little rye dough during baking, and wrap the loaf in foil and a towel after baking to rest.

420 minScandinavian Fish

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DibsDate syrup

Across the Gulf, from the date gardens of Al-Ahsa to the oases of Oman and the UAE, dibs is the dark, glossy syrup pressed and boiled from ripe dates, and it was the region's sweetener long before sugar was common. It tastes of toffee and dried fruit with a faint bitterness, and families pour it over chebab and khameer, mix it with tahini for dipping bread, and use it in sweets like luqaimat. Making it at home takes time but little effort, and a kilo of dates gives a jar that lasts for months in the fridge. The mistake is boiling the strained juice too hard at the end: it scorches and turns bitter. Chef's tip: squeeze the date pulp in the cloth when it is still warm; you get far more juice than from cold pulp.

180 minGulf Arabian Basics

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Roz me'ammarCreamy clay-pot baked rice

Village kitchens across the Nile Delta, from Menoufia to Sharqia, slide a clay pot of roz me'ammar into the bread oven for feasts, Fridays and Eid lunch. Short-grain rice bakes slowly in milk, cream and butter until it sets into a soft, rich block with a crisp, golden-brown crust on top that everyone fights over. In the Delta it usually comes with roast pigeon or duck; for a meat-free table it is just as good with a sharp salad, pickles and a dish of mish. Stirring it once it is in the oven is the mistake to avoid: it breaks the crust and makes the rice gluey. Chef's tip: use Egyptian or other round, short-grain rice; long-grain rice will not drink up the milk the same way.

115 min

Egyptian Rice & Grains

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