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Polish-style cauliflower

‘Po polsku’ on a Polish menu means one thing: a vegetable topped with crumbs fried in plenty of butter. In Warsaw canteens and on Sunday tables, a whole cauliflower arrives this way next to potatoes and a salad, and children who claim to hate cauliflower eat it happily. The florets are tender and sweet, the crumbs nutty and crisp. A common mistake is boiling the cauliflower until it falls apart; it should keep a slight bite in the stalk. Chef's tip: a pinch of sugar and a splash of milk in the boiling water keep the cauliflower white and sweet.

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Nan-e panjereh

Nan-e panjereh, 'window bread', is the most delicate pastry on a Nowruz table, and in Tehran and Isfahan it is usually made at home with a flower-shaped iron passed down through the family. A thin batter of egg, milk and flour flavoured with rosewater clings to the hot iron, then drops off into the oil as a crisp, lacy rosette that shatters at the first bite. The usual mistake is dipping the iron too deep; the batter must come only to the top edge, or the rosette won't release. Chef's tip: dip the iron back into the hot oil for 30 seconds before every rosette so the batter sets the moment it touches the metal.

70 min

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Nan-e gerdooyi

In the run-up to Nowruz, when Tabriz, Tehran and Qazvin families are spring-cleaning and baking for the round of holiday visits, nan-e gerdooyi are among the first cookies to go into the tin. They are made with chopped walnuts held together by egg yolks and sugar, no flour at all, so they bake crisp at the edge and soft and chewy in the middle. A common mistake is grinding the walnuts to a paste; they should be chopped into small pieces so the cookies have texture and don't turn oily. Chef's tip: leave a good gap between them on the tray; they spread to about twice their size.

30 min

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Ash-e anar

Ash-e anar is a soup for Yalda, the long December night when families across Tehran, Tabriz and Mashhad stay up late with pomegranates, watermelon and poetry. Fresh pomegranate juice and molasses give the broth a sour-sweet ruby colour, thick with split peas, rice and a mass of parsley, coriander, mint and spring onion. Many families drop in small meatballs; this version leaves them out and finishes with a sizzling garnish of dried mint in oil (nana dagh) for depth. The common mistake is adding the pomegranate too early, which dulls the colour to brown; it goes in for the last half hour. Chef's tip: taste and balance at the end with sugar or more molasses; the soup should make your mouth water, sour first and sweet after.

100 min

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Favas guisadas com chouriço

When broad beans come in across the Alentejo in April and May, this is the dish that announces them: young beans stewed with chouriço and a little cured pork belly, garlic, onion and a big handful of coriander, until the beans are soft and the sauce is red with paprika fat. It is a weekday lunch with bread, or with a poached egg on top. This contains pork (chouriço and bacon). Frozen broad beans work well out of season. A common mistake is boiling the beans until they turn grey and mealy; stop when they are tender and still green. Chef's tip: a spoonful of vinegar at the end brightens the rich, fatty sauce.

50 min

Portuguese Meat

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Pa amb oli mallorquí

In Mallorca pa amb oli is supper on a hot evening, the snack in every village bar and the picnic on a boat. Slices of dense, unsalted brown country bread are rubbed with the island's tomàtigues de ramellet, small tomatoes kept hanging in bunches through winter, then soaked with olive oil and salted. On the side go green olives, capers, pickled sea fennel and slices of Mahón cheese; this vegetarian plate leaves out the usual cured ham. Mahón is normally made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian semi-cured cow's milk cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: toast the bread only lightly, or not at all, so it stays soft enough to drink up the tomato.

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Broas de mel

Alongside bolo de mel, every Madeiran Christmas table has a tin of broas de mel: small, round, dark biscuits made with the same sugarcane molasses and spices, crisp at the edge and slightly chewy inside. Children are given them when they go door to door on the Missas do Parto mornings before Christmas, and they are good dunked in coffee or tea. Chef's tip: chill the dough for half an hour before shaping; molasses dough is sticky when warm.

40 min

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Anar ba golpar

On Yalda night, the longest night of the year in late December, a bowl of jewel-red pomegranate seeds sits at the centre of the korsi in homes from Tehran to Shiraz, symbolising the dawn and the return of light. Many families sprinkle the seeds with golpar (ground Persian hogweed) and a little salt, which makes the sweet-sour fruit taste brighter and more savoury, almost like a salad. A common mistake is bashing the fruit too hard to free the seeds, which bursts them and leaves a puddle of juice. Chef's tip: seed the pomegranates under a bowl of water; the seeds sink, the white pith floats and the juice doesn't stain the kitchen.

15 min

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Torshi liteh

Torshi liteh is the dark, spoonable pickle of late summer, made in kitchens from Tabriz to Tehran when aubergines pile up cheaply at the bazaar. Roasted aubergine is chopped fine with garlic, a heap of dried herbs, nigella and golpar (Persian hogweed) and loosened with vinegar, then left for a couple of weeks until the flavours knit. It goes alongside rice and stews, inside a sandwich of bread and cheese, or next to kuku. Chef's tip: squeeze the cooked aubergine hard in a cloth; water left in it dilutes the vinegar and shortens the life of the jar.

90 min

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Sharbat-e khakshir

Khakshir are the tiny reddish seeds of flixweed, and in Yazd, Kashan and across the hot centre of Iran a glass of khakshir sharbat is what people drink on scorching summer afternoons and to break the fast on long Ramadan days. The seeds swell slightly and float through sweet iced water perfumed with rosewater, giving a gentle crunch; some add a squeeze of lime or a little sour cherry syrup. Find khakshir at Iranian grocers. Chef's tip: rinse the seeds in several changes of water and pour off anything that floats; dust and grit come away with it.

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Obatzda

Obatzda is what a Munich beer garden puts beside a giant soft pretzel: overripe Camembert mashed with soft butter, sweet paprika, caraway and raw onion until it turns a creamy, rusty orange. It is a thrifty spread that grew up in Bavarian taverns as a way to use cheese that had gone a little too far, and it is still eaten in the afternoon sun with radishes and dark bread. Camembert is usually made with animal rennet, so pick one labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. A common mistake is blitzing it in a processor, which makes it gluey; mash with a fork so a few soft lumps stay. Chef's tip: make it an hour ahead and chill it, then let it stand 15 minutes before serving, so the paprika flavour blooms and it spreads easily.

15 min

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Samanu

Samanu is one of the seven 's' items on the Nowruz haft-sin table, standing for strength and abundance, and in many neighbourhoods of Tehran and Shiraz women still gather to stir the great pot through the night, singing and taking turns. It is made from nothing but sprouted wheat juice and flour, cooked very slowly for many hours until the natural malt sugars caramelise into a thick, toffee-brown, gently sweet pudding. This home version uses a smaller batch, but it still takes days of sprouting and a long, patient simmer. The common mistake is turning the heat up to rush it, which scorches the base and makes the samanu bitter. Chef's tip: drop a few clean walnut halves into the pot near the end; tradition says whoever finds one in their bowl will have a lucky year.

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Reshteh polo

On the last evening before Nowruz, and on the first night of the new year in many Tehran households, a platter of reshteh polo is set out so the family can 'take hold of the reins' of their luck for the year ahead; the noodles are the reins. Long-grain rice is par-boiled with toasted reshteh (thin, salty Persian noodles), layered with buttery dates, raisins and cinnamon and steamed until each grain separates, with a golden tahdig crust underneath. Meat is often served alongside, but the polo itself is meat-free. A common mistake is skipping the noodle toasting, which leaves them pale and gummy. Chef's tip: wrap the lid in a clean tea towel while the rice steams so condensation doesn't drip back and make the rice wet.

140 min

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Khiar shoor

Khiar shoor, salty cucumber, is the pickle that turns up in every Iranian sandwich shop: sliced into olivieh and kalbas rolls in Tehran, eaten whole beside a plate of polo, or offered from a jar with bread and cheese. Small, firm Persian cucumbers are packed upright with garlic, dill, tarragon and chilli, then covered with a vinegar-sharpened brine. They are ready in about ten days and stay snappy for months. Chef's tip: pickle the cucumbers within a day of buying them; even a few days in the fridge makes them hollow inside.

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Sagu de vinho

Glossy, wine-dark and wobbling with little translucent pearls, sagu is the dessert of the serra gaúcha, the Italian-settled wine country around Caxias do Sul and Bento Gonçalves, where it ends Sunday lunch at family tables and galeteria buffets. Tapioca pearls are cooked until clear, then simmered in red wine with sugar, cloves and cinnamon so they soak up the colour and spice. Locally it comes with a spoon of vanilla custard on top. The dish contains red wine, and simmering does not remove all the alcohol; for an alcohol-free version, use red grape juice and cut the sugar by half. Choose a vegan wine if that matters to you, as some are fined with egg or fish products. The common mistake is adding the wine before the pearls are clear, which leaves white chalky centres. Chef's tip: rinse the cooked pearls under cold water before they go into the wine, so the starch washes off and the dessert stays glossy.

50 min

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Frite extremeño

Frite is the simpler, drier cousin of caldereta and is especially loved around the sheep country of the Sierra de Gata and the Cáceres plains. Small pieces of lamb are fried in olive oil with lots of garlic, then cooked with bay, pimentón and a splash of vinegar until tender and coated in a dark red, clinging sauce. It is the dish people cook outdoors at the spring romerías and eat with bread straight from the pan. Chef's tip: ask the butcher to chop the lamb small, bones and all, so every piece gets crisp edges.

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Adasi

Adasi is the winter breakfast of Iran's cafés and university canteens, ladled out early in the morning in Tehran, Tabriz and Mashhad from big pots that have bubbled since dawn. Whole brown lentils are cooked soft with turmeric and onion until thick and spoonable, then finished with cumin, a little golpar (ground angelica seed), black pepper and lemon. It is eaten with warm barbari or sangak and sweet tea. The common mistake is cooking it at a hard boil, which leaves the skins split and the soup grainy rather than velvety. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of lentils against the side of the pot at the end; it thickens the adasi without any flour.

50 min

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Ajil-e moshkel gosha

On Chaharshanbe Suri, the bonfire night on the last Tuesday evening before Nowruz, families across Iran jump over small fires in the street and then share a big bowl of ajil-e moshkel gosha, the 'nuts that untie problems', making a wish as they eat. The same mix comes out again on Yalda, the longest night of the year in December. It mixes salted roasted pistachios and almonds with roasted chickpeas, sweet dried figs, white mulberries, raisins and sugared almonds, so every handful is sweet, salty and crunchy. The common mistake is using raw nuts; the toasting is what makes it taste like the bazaar version. Chef's tip: toss the warm nuts with a little salted water and let them dry in the oven for a light salty coating that sticks.

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Weißwurstfrühstück

In Munich the Weißwurst breakfast is a late-morning ritual, eaten between ten o'clock and noon in beer halls and butcher's cafés, with soft pretzels and a pot of sweet Bavarian mustard. The pale sausages of veal and pork back fat, flavoured with parsley, lemon and mace, are bought fresh from the butcher and gently heated, never boiled, then the skin is peeled off at the table. Making the mustard yourself is the easy, rewarding part. Vegetarians can heat plant-based white sausages the same way and keep the mustard and pretzel. Chef's tip: keep the water just below a simmer; boiling splits the skins and the sausages go grey and dry.

40 min

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