Featured recipe

Savory canapés

Bread rounds baked in a muffin tray into crisp little baskets, filled with a gently spiced mixture of corn, potato, carrot and coconut. Topped with crushed crisps and dots of red, green and tamarind chutney, they make a pretty party starter.

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Tagella (Tuareg sand-baked bread)

Out in the Hoggar mountains around Tamanrasset, Tuareg cooks bury a thick disc of dough in sand heated by a wood fire, cover it with embers and dig it up half an hour later with a dense, chewy crumb and a thick crust that is beaten clean of sand. The bread is then broken into pieces and soaked in a spicy tomato and onion sauce, a hearty meal for a camp or a desert evening; meat goes in when there is some, and this is the plain version cooked on ordinary days. At home, a very hot oven with a cast-iron pan gives a similar crust. Expect a filling, rustic dish with a smoky, peppery sauce. A frequent slip is making the dough too dry; it should be soft, or the thick round cracks and stays raw in the middle. Chef's tip: bake the bread until it sounds hollow when knocked, because an underbaked, doughy centre turns to paste in the sauce.

90 min

Algerian Breads & Parathas

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Rougag (Saharan paper-thin flatbread)

Across the oases of the Algerian Sahara, from Biskra to Ouargla, women spread a soft semolina dough over a domed griddle so thin that light shows through it, then lift the sheet off within a couple of minutes. Rougag is the base of chakhchoukha and rfis, torn into pieces and soaked in sauce, but fresh sheets are also eaten folded around dates or a spoon of stew. Freshly made it is soft and flexible with toasty brown blisters; left to dry, it keeps for weeks in a tin. An upturned wok or a large non-stick pan stands in for the griddle. Chef's tip: oil your hands, not the pan; dough that is not wet enough to stretch is the common mistake, so it should feel almost too sticky to handle.

45 min

Algerian Breads & Parathas

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Zviti (pounded pepper and flatbread mash)

Fire-blistered green chillies, a few tomatoes and a fist of garlic go into a wooden mortar, and the cook in Bou Saâda or M'Sila pounds them with torn flatbread until everything turns into a coarse, hot, smoky mash. Zviti is served straight from that wooden bowl, sometimes in a carved mortar the size of a salad bowl, and eaten by hand with more bread, often on cold evenings in the steppe towns. The flavour is sharp and grassy from the chillies, sweet from the charred tomato and soothed by plenty of olive oil. Choose a mix of hot and milder long chillies to set the heat you like. Don't leave the charred skins on the peppers and tomatoes: they turn the mash bitter and stringy. Chef's tip: pound rather than blend; a food processor whips it into a watery soup, so if you must use one, pulse briefly and add the bread last.

30 min

Algerian Vegetarian

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Aghroum (Kabyle semolina flatbread)

Up in the villages of Kabylie, aghroum is simply the word for bread, and the everyday loaf is a flat, unleavened round of semolina, water, salt and a thread of olive oil, baked on a clay griddle over a low fire. It comes out firm and close-textured, with a crust speckled brown and a faintly sweet, nutty crumb that tastes of the grain. Kabyle families tear it to scoop up olive oil, dried figs and buttermilk at breakfast, or to mop the sauce of a bean or vegetable stew at midday. A heavy cast-iron pan or flat griddle does the job of the clay one at home. Chef's tip: keep the heat at medium-low and turn the bread often; a griddle that is too hot is the usual mistake, leaving a burnt crust around a raw, gummy middle.

45 min

Algerian Breads & Parathas

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Sevan trout

Ishkhan, 'the prince', is the name Armenians give to the trout of Lake Sevan, the vast blue lake high in the mountains north-east of Yerevan, and lakeside restaurants on the Sevan peninsula serve it grilled whole or stuffed with herbs and baked. The native ishkhan is now rare and protected, so the fish served today is farmed trout, cooked the same way: stuffed with tarragon, dill, coriander and garlic, roasted until the skin crisps, with lavash and lemon. A common mistake is wrapping the fish tightly in foil, which steams it soft; leave it uncovered for a crisp skin. Chef's tip: brush the fish with a little tkemali or pomegranate molasses in the last five minutes for a sweet-sour glaze. The fish is done when the flesh is opaque and flakes easily at the backbone.

40 min

Armenian Fish

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Ka'ak nakache (date-filled semolina rings)

Constantine bakers own a special brass tweezer, the nakache, just for decorating these rings: a rope of buttery semolina dough is wrapped round spiced date paste, joined into a circle and pinched along the top into chevrons and leaves. Baked pale, ka'ak nakache is crisp and short outside with a soft, cinnamon and clove scented filling, a classic of Eid trays and of the coffee served to guests in the old city. Without the tweezer, a fork or the back of a small knife makes a good pattern. Chef's tip: let the buttered semolina rest for at least 30 minutes before adding water; skipping the rest is the usual mistake, and the rings crack as you shape them.

85 min

Algerian Baking

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Griwech (honey-dipped pastry knots)

No Ramadan table in Algeria feels complete without a plate of griwech next to the chorba, ready for the sweet craving that follows the fast. Thin sheets of dough are cut into rectangles, slit and twisted into knots, fried until crisp and golden, then plunged into warm honey and scattered with toasted sesame. Each piece snaps cleanly, then melts into a sticky, orange-blossom sweetness. Batches are made days ahead and kept in tins for visitors through the month and on into Eid. Chef's tip: keep the oil at 170 °C; oil that is too hot is the usual mistake, colouring the outside before the layers inside crisp, so the griwech goes soft in the honey.

120 min

Algerian Desserts

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Dziriettes (almond flower pastries)

Named after the women of Algiers, dziriettes are the jewels on any wedding or Eid tray: thin, crisp pastry pinched into a flower or crown, filled with a dome of almond paste scented with orange blossom, then baked and soaked in warm honey. They take patience, but the result is delicate and fragrant, with a shatter of pastry giving way to a soft, moist almond centre. Families often make a few hundred over several evenings, together, before a celebration, and serve them with mint tea or coffee. Chef's tip: roll the dough so thin you can almost see the worktop through it; thick pastry is the commonest mistake and turns dziriettes stodgy instead of crisp.

120 min

Algerian Baking

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Armenian string cheese

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

90 min

Armenian Basics

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Jamaican pumpkin soup

Ital kitchens in the Blue Mountains cook pumpkin soup on cool evenings, when the mist comes down over the coffee farms and something golden and peppery is needed. This one is meat-free and dairy-free: calabaza, carrot and chocho simmer with thyme, scallion and pimento until the pumpkin breaks down into a thick, naturally sweet broth, with a few spinners for chew. People often add the scotch bonnet already cut, which can make the whole pot ferociously hot; drop it in whole and take it out when the soup tastes right. Chocho (chayote) is optional, and courgette is a fair swap. Chef's tip: leave the soup chunky rather than blending; Jamaicans like to see the pieces of pumpkin collapsing into it.

60 min

Jamaican Soups

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Chicken tabaka

Tsitsila tabaka is named after the tapa, a heavy cast-iron pan with a screw-down lid that Tbilisi cooks use to press a split spring chicken flat as it fries, so every bit of skin touches the hot metal and turns golden and crackling. In old Tbilisi restaurants it comes with a little jug of garlic water (niortskali) and satsebeli tomato sauce. A common mistake is using a big chicken, which takes so long that the skin burns before the inside cooks; a small poussin is right. Chef's tip: a heavy saucepan filled with water works as the weight at home. Chicken is done when the thickest part of the thigh reaches 74 °C.

50 min

Georgian Chicken

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Begova čorbaChicken and okra soup

Fit for an Ottoman bey, this velvety soup is the opening course of special dinners in Sarajevo and across Bosnia and Herzegovina, ladled out at weddings, Bajram tables and in the old aščinice, the canteens of the Baščaršija bazaar. Chicken simmers with carrot, celeriac and parsley root, and small okra pods go in to give a gentle, silky body; at the end, egg yolks and sour cream turn it creamy and pale gold, with a sharp lift from lemon. A common mistake is pouring the yolks straight into boiling soup, where they scramble: warm them with a little broth first. Chef's tip: dried okra, if you can find it in a Turkish shop, is traditional and less slimy; soak it in water with a splash of vinegar.

90 minBalkan Soups

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Trout with tarragon

In the river valleys of Racha, around Ambrolauri and Oni, cafés keep live trout in stone tanks fed by mountain streams, and the classic way to cook them is simply: stuffed with tarragon, garlic and a little salt, roasted or grilled over vine cuttings, and finished with a shower of pomegranate seeds and a squeeze of their juice. A common mistake is cooking the fish too long, which dries the delicate flesh. Chef's tip: slash the skin twice on each side so the heat reaches the thickest part evenly, then check by pressing the backbone: the flesh is done when it is opaque and lifts away in clean flakes.

30 min

Georgian Fish

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Apricot preserve

The apricot is Armenia's national fruit, and in July families in the Ararat Valley villages around Artashat and Masis cook whole ones slowly in syrup so they keep their shape and turn translucent, sometimes slipping a peeled kernel back inside each fruit. The jars come out on winter evenings, served in tiny glass bowls with black tea or coffee. A common mistake is boiling the fruit hard, which breaks it into jam. Chef's tip: cook in short spells, resting the pan overnight between them; the syrup seeps in slowly and the apricots stay whole and glossy. Bitter kernels contain a natural toxin, so use sweet almonds instead.

90 min

Armenian Basics

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Jamaican soursop juice

Soursop punch is a Sunday-dinner drink in Jamaica, made when a ripe, soft soursop comes from the market or a yard tree, and it is also sold in bottles at roadside juice stands. The white, custardy pulp tastes of pineapple, banana and strawberry all at once, and blended with milk, nutmeg and vanilla it becomes thick and creamy. The common mistake is blending the black seeds, which taste bitter and should not be eaten; always pick them out by hand. Chef's tip: use a fruit that gives softly all over when pressed, like a ripe avocado.

20 min

Jamaican Drinks

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Jamaican red pea soup

Saturday in many Jamaican homes means a big pot of red peas soup, thick enough to stand a spoon in and finished with chewy spinner dumplings. Outside Rasta households it usually carries pig's tail or salted beef; this is the ital version, where coconut milk, pimento, thyme and a smoky handful of browned onion do the savoury work. Dried kidney beans must be soaked and then boiled hard for at least 10 minutes before simmering, as undercooked red kidney beans are toxic, and many cooks spoil the soup by adding salt too early, which keeps the skins tough. Serve it on its own as a full meal. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of cooked beans against the side of the pot near the end to give the soup its creamy body without any flour.

140 min

Jamaican Soups

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Jamaican curried soy chunks

Ital cookshops in Half Way Tree and Papine sell curried "chunks" by the box with brown rice, steamed cabbage and a slice of ripe plantain, the Rastafarian answer to curry goat. The dried soya pieces soak up a deep, turmeric-gold sauce of Jamaican curry powder, thyme, pimento and coconut milk, and the potato thickens it as it breaks down. Most people skip squeezing the soaked chunks, which leaves them watery and bland; wring them out hard so they drink in the curry instead. Leave the scotch bonnet whole for warmth, or slit it for real heat. Chef's tip: fry the curry powder in the oil until it darkens a shade before anything wet goes in, the Jamaican "burn the curry" step that stops it tasting raw.

45 min

Jamaican Curries

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Beef smooreSpiced coconut milk beef roast

Smoore takes its name from the Dutch smoren, to braise, and in Burgher homes from Colombo to Galle it is the centrepiece for Christmas lunch or a big family Sunday: a whole joint of beef pierced, marinated in vinegar and spice, then simmered for hours in coconut milk with lemongrass, pandan and a spoonful of lime pickle. The pickle is the signature, adding a salty, bitter-sour sparkle that keeps the rich gravy lively. The joint is sliced at the table and served with yellow rice, a cucumber salad and plenty of the sauce. The biggest risk is letting the coconut milk boil fiercely for hours, which makes it split and greasy. Chef's tip: once the joint is browned, keep the pot at the barest shiver of a simmer, and turn the meat every half-hour so it cooks evenly.

210 min

Sri Lankan Meat

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BazheWalnut sauce

Bazhe is the creamy walnut sauce of Guria, Samegrelo and Imereti, served cold with fried fish, roast chicken, boiled vegetables or a bowl of ghomi; families in Ozurgeti make it in large bowls for New Year. Walnuts are ground until they give up their oil, then let down with water and seasoned with garlic, blue fenugreek, coriander and a sour note until the sauce is pale, smooth and pourable. A common mistake is adding all the water at once; the sauce separates and turns thin and grey. Chef's tip: squeeze out a little walnut oil by kneading the paste with your hand, then drizzle it back over the finished sauce for a glossy, golden finish.

20 min

Georgian Chutneys & Dips

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Megrelian kharcho

In Samegrelo 'kharcho' means something quite different from the Tbilisi soup: chicken pieces simmered in a thick, golden sauce of ground walnuts, garlic, hot pepper and Imeretian saffron (dried marigold), so rich and spicy that it is eaten with plain ghomi to calm it down. Zugdidi families cook it for guests and for Sunday lunch. A common mistake is boiling the sauce hard once the walnuts go in; it turns oily and grainy. Chef's tip: grind the walnuts until they weep oil and spoon a little of that oil over the finished dish; Mingrelians judge kharcho by its glossy, orange sheen. Chicken must reach 74 °C in the thickest part.

90 min

Georgian Chicken

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Tarragon lemonade

Tarkhuna is the emerald-green soda that every Tbilisi child knows, sold from street fountains since the early 1900s and still poured in tall glasses at cafés on Rustaveli Avenue. The bottled kind is coloured; the home version gets its green from blitzing fresh tarragon with lemon and syrup, giving an aniseedy, sweet-sour fizz. A common mistake is boiling the tarragon, which dulls the colour and turns the flavour stewed. Chef's tip: blitz the herb into cool syrup and strain it straight away; the drink stays vivid green for a day in the fridge.

20 min

Georgian Drinks

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Gurian Christmas pie

On Christmas Eve, 6 January, kitchens across Guria, around Ozurgeti and Lanchkhuti, smell of baking ghvezeli: large crescent pies stuffed with fresh cheese and chunks of boiled egg, their shape said to recall the crescent moon. They are baked in batches, carried to relatives and eaten through the holidays with tea. A common mistake is overfilling, which makes the crescent split at the seam in the oven. Chef's tip: let the yeasted dough rise once, shape the pies, then give them 15 minutes more so they puff into soft, rounded crescents. Imeruli and sulguni usually use animal rennet; look for vegetarian ones.

70 min

Georgian Baking

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Imeretian cheese

Imeruli kveli is the everyday cheese of western Georgia: in Kutaisi's Green Bazaar it sits in wet white wheels, mild and milky with a faint sourness, ready to be grated into khachapuri, sliced with tomatoes and herbs, or stretched into sulguni. Families in Imereti make it in a morning from the day's milk. Traditionally it is set with animal rennet; use vegetarian (microbial) rennet for a vegetarian cheese. A common mistake is heating the curd too hard, which squeezes out the moisture and gives a rubbery cheese instead of a soft, springy one. Chef's tip: make a double batch, keep one wheel fresh for eating and leave the other in brine for two or three days, which gives it the saltier bite that bakers prefer for khachapuri.

70 min

Georgian Basics

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June plum juice

When June plums (ambarella) fall from backyard trees across Jamaica, families blend the sour green-gold fruit into a sharp, refreshing juice with fresh ginger and lime. It is tangy like green apple, with a faintly mango-like perfume, and is drunk ice-cold with Sunday lunch. The big mistake is blending the spiny stone in with the flesh; cut the flesh away first or the juice turns bitter and fibrous. Chef's tip: use slightly underripe, firm plums for the brightest, sharpest flavour.

15 min

Jamaican Drinks

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Svanetian salt

In the stone-towered villages of upper Svaneti, salt was precious and families stretched it by grinding it with garlic and the spices that grow on their slopes: blue fenugreek, coriander seed, dried dill seed, marigold and hot pepper. The result is a fragrant, damp, greenish salt that every Svan kitchen keeps in a jar, rubbed on potatoes, stirred into soups or sprinkled on tomatoes and cucumbers. A common mistake is using fine table salt, which turns to paste; coarse salt grinds the garlic and dries it at the same time. Chef's tip: spread the finished salt on a tray and let it dry for a day before jarring, so it keeps for months.

20 min

Georgian Basics

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Fondue chinoise

Despite its name, fondue chinoise is a fixture of the Swiss Christmas and New Year table: a pot of simmering broth set on a burner in the middle of the table, into which everyone dips paper-thin slices of beef on long forks, cooks them for a few seconds and eats them with a spread of sauces, rice or potato chips, pickles and salads. It came to Switzerland via travellers to Asia in the 20th century. The broth is often made with white wine; this one uses stock only. A common mistake is slicing the meat thick, which takes too long and tightens. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for an hour so it slices paper-thin. Cook each slice until no longer pink, then eat; never use the same fork for raw and cooked meat.

45 min

Swiss Meat

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Gurian pickled cabbage

Gurian pickled cabbage turns heads at the Ozurgeti market: whole cabbage wedges stained deep pink by beetroot, layered with garlic, celery leaves and hot pepper and left to ferment in brine until crunchy and sour. Families in Guria put up big crocks in late autumn for the winter and the New Year table, and serve it beside fatty pork, beans and cornbread. A common mistake is using iodised salt, which can stop the ferment and darken the pickle. Chef's tip: keep the jar at cool room temperature for the first few days, then move it to the fridge once it tastes pleasantly sour, so it stays crisp.

30 min

Georgian Sides

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Fryske dúmkesAnise and hazelnut biscuits

Dúmkes, 'little thumbs', are crisp, spiced biscuits from Friesland, shaped by pressing the dough with a thumb or rolling it into a log and slicing; their flavour comes from aniseed and toasted hazelnuts, and they are dunked in coffee at Frisian kitchen tables. A common mistake is baking them pale, which leaves them soft; they should be golden and snap when broken. Chef's tip: lightly crush the aniseed before mixing, so its sweet liquorice flavour runs through every bite.

40 min

Dutch Baking

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Tklapi soup

Tklapi are thin sheets of plum purée dried on boards in the late-summer sun around Kutaisi, rolled up and hung from rafters for the winter; dissolved in hot water, they turn into a sharp, fruity base for soups and sauces. This Imeretian Lenten soup is made in the cold months when fresh fruit is gone, thickened with walnuts and lifted with coriander, mint and garlic. If you cannot find tklapi, use dried sour plum leather or a mix of tkemali sauce and prunes. A common mistake is boiling the soup hard after the walnuts go in; they turn oily and the soup splits. Chef's tip: soak the tklapi in hot water first and rub it through a sieve, so the soup is smooth and free of stones or skins.

40 min

Georgian Soups

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HurmašiceDate-shaped biscuits in lemon syrup

Plates of hurmašice come out for Bajram in Bosnia, offered to every visitor with a small cup of Bosnian coffee. The name comes from hurma, the date, because each little cookie is rolled into a date-like oval and pressed on the fine side of a grater to give it ridges. After baking they are soaked in cool lemon sugar syrup until they are moist, sticky and sweet right through, yet still hold their shape. A walnut half on top is a nice touch. Where most people go wrong is pouring hot syrup over hot biscuits, which turns them to mush; one of the two must be cool. Chef's tip: make them a day ahead; overnight the syrup spreads evenly and the texture becomes soft and tender.

75 minBalkan Desserts

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Mushrooms on ketsi

Every Tbilisi tavern has its sizzling ketsi, a shallow clay dish heated on the fire, and mushrooms baked in one with butter and a crust of melted sulguni are among the most ordered starters, brought to the table still crackling. In autumn, Georgian cooks use wild oyster mushrooms or field mushrooms; cups set gills up hold the butter like little bowls. A common mistake is overcrowding the dish, which makes the mushrooms steam instead of browning. Chef's tip: salt the mushrooms only after the first 10 minutes, so their juices stay inside and they cook in their own butter. Sulguni is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian cheese.

25 min

Georgian Vegetarian

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Guda cheese

Tush shepherds make guda in summer huts high above the Alazani valley, pressing sheep's-milk curd into bags sewn from sheepskin, where it ripens into a crumbly, pungent cheese that travels down to Telavi markets in autumn. You cannot copy the sheepskin at home, but you can make a firm, salty sheep's-milk cheese and ripen it in a cloth in the fridge for two to three weeks, which gives a similar sharp, grassy bite. Traditionally the milk is set with animal rennet; vegetarian (microbial) rennet works the same way. A common mistake is cutting the curd before it gives a clean break, which leaves a soft, wet cheese that sours instead of ripening. Chef's tip: grate aged guda over hot ghomi or khinkali; its strong flavour goes a long way.

120 min

Georgian Basics

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Jamaican gungo pea soup

Gungo peas ripen around December, so this soup belongs to the Christmas season in Jamaica, when the same peas also go into the festive rice and peas. Fresh or frozen green pigeon peas give a nutty, earthy broth that coconut milk, thyme and pumpkin turn rich and golden, and flour dumplings make it a meal. A common mistake is boiling the coconut milk hard for the whole time, which makes it split and oily; add it once the peas are soft and keep the pot at a simmer. Dried pigeon peas work too: soak them overnight and allow an extra 40 minutes. Chef's tip: blitz about a quarter of the soup and stir it back in for body while keeping plenty of whole peas.

100 min

Jamaican Soups

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Jamaican pumpkin rice

Along the north coast between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, pumpkin rice turns up beside escovitch fish and steamed vegetables at Sunday lunch, the soft orange squash melting into the grains as they cook. Coconut milk, a sprig of thyme, scallion and a few pimento berries give it a gentle, savoury sweetness, and a whole scotch bonnet adds fragrance without much heat as long as it stays unburst. The common mistake is cutting the pumpkin too small, so it vanishes completely; 2 cm cubes partly melt and partly hold. Serve it with stew peas, jerk tofu or fried plantain. Chef's tip: rinse the rice until the water runs nearly clear, or the starch and pumpkin turn the pot sticky.

40 min

Jamaican Rice & Grains

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Jamaican sweet potato pudding

Once baked in Dutch pots with coals heaped on the lid, Jamaica's sweet potato pudding gave rise to the saying "hell a top, hell a bottom, hallelujah in the middle", and it is still a Sunday and Christmas favourite in homes across the island. Grated sweet potato, coconut milk, a little flour-free cornmeal and spice bake into a dense, moist slab with a soft, custardy layer on top. People often cut it hot, but it needs to cool for at least an hour to set. Chef's tip: grate the sweet potato on the fine side of the grater; coarse shreds make a grainy pudding.

110 min

Jamaican Desserts

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Jamaican roast breadfruit

Portland roadsides smell of smoke when breadfruit is in season, with whole fruit sitting straight in wood fires until their green skins turn black. Inside, the flesh steams to a soft, fragrant cream somewhere between potato and fresh bread, and it is eaten in thick slices with ackee and saltfish, callaloo or a knob of butter, or fried the next morning. People often pick a fruit that is either too ripe (it turns mushy and sweet) or too young (it stays hard and gluey); you want a heavy, firm one with a little sap beading on the skin. A gas hob or a hot oven works when there is no open fire. Chef's tip: cut a small cross in the stem end before roasting so steam can escape, and push a skewer into it to check doneness without opening the fruit.

75 min

Jamaican Sides

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Shoti bread

Every Kakhetian village has a bakery where the baker leans into a round, pit-like tone oven and slaps long, pointed loaves onto its hot clay wall; the bread comes out crackly at the tips and soft in the middle, and it is bought warm every morning in Telavi and Sighnaghi. Shoti is just flour, water, yeast and salt, so the shape and the blast of heat do the work. At home a pizza stone or an upturned heavy baking tray, heated for a long time, gives a good copy. A common mistake is a dry, stiff dough; it should be soft enough to stretch into a long canoe without tearing. Chef's tip: spray the oven walls with water as the bread goes in; the burst of steam gives the blistered, glossy crust of the tone.

50 min

Georgian Breads & Parathas

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Green beans with egg

In the villages around Gori and Mtskheta, high summer brings sacks of flat green beans, and this is how many Kartli families eat them on a weekday: slowly softened with onion, then tossed with coriander, basil and garlic and bound at the last minute with beaten egg. The result sits halfway between a warm salad and a soft scramble, eaten with a hunk of shoti bread and a few slices of cheese. A common mistake is adding the eggs while the pan is still wet with bean water; they turn watery and grey instead of clinging in golden curds. Chef's tip: Georgian cooks use purple basil (reyhan), and its clove-like scent is what makes the dish taste of home, so look for it at Turkish or Georgian grocers.

30 min

Georgian Vegetarian

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Rachan ham

Rachuli lori is the pride of Racha: pork legs salted and hung in the smoky rafters above a wood fire, then sliced and fried until crisp, and above all eaten with lobiani bean bread, which in Racha is made with fried ham inside. This is a pork dish. Home kitchens cannot copy months in a chimney, so this version brines a boneless pork leg joint for two days in the fridge and then hot-smokes and roasts it until cooked through, giving a ham you can slice cold or fry. A common mistake is skipping the rinse after brining, which makes the ham far too salty. Chef's tip: smoke over fruit wood with a few dried bay leaves for the dark, sweet smoke of a Rachan kitchen. Whole pork joints are safe at 63 °C followed by a 10-minute rest.

240 min

Georgian Meat

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Bergen fish soup

Bergensk fiskesuppe is the soup of Bergen's rainy harbour: a creamy, slightly sweet-sour broth with julienned carrot, leek and celeriac, chunks of white fish and salmon, small fish dumplings and a spoon of sour cream, finished with chives. Bergen families make it on Saturdays, and every restaurant on the Bryggen wharf has its own. A common mistake is boiling the fish, which breaks it up and makes it dry. Chef's tip: add the fish at the end and poach it in barely trembling soup for 3–4 minutes, until just opaque and flaking.

55 minScandinavian Soups

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Skyr

Skyr has been made in Iceland since the Viking settlers arrived: skimmed milk soured with a spoonful of the last batch, set with a drop of rennet, then strained until very thick, high in protein and mildly sour. Icelanders eat it every day with milk or cream and berries, or whisked into a drink, and skyrkaka is a favourite cheesecake. You need a few spoonfuls of plain shop skyr with live cultures as a starter. A common mistake is skipping the long, slow set; rushed skyr is thin and grainy. Chef's tip: strain it in the fridge overnight and stir it smooth before serving. Rennet is traditionally animal; use vegetarian rennet.

50 minScandinavian Basics

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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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Red caviar butterbrods

When the Soviet festive table had one luxury, this was it: little slices of white bread, thick with cold butter and topped with glistening orange salmon roe, set out for New Year's Eve, birthdays and the first course of a wedding. The pleasure is in the textures, the bead-like eggs bursting with a salty sea taste against sweet butter and soft bread. Salmon roe is salted and cured, not cooked: buy pasteurised roe in a chilled jar or tin from a good fishmonger, keep it in the fridge and eat it the day it is opened; it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. A common mistake is spreading the butter thin; you need a proper layer to anchor the roe. Chef's tip: spoon the roe with a plastic or bone spoon rather than metal, and add it at the last minute so it stays plump.

10 min

Russian Snacks & Starters

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Mimosa salad

Named for the fluffy yellow mimosa flowers sold on every Moscow street corner for Women's Day on 8 March, this Soviet-era party salad is crowned with a snowfall of grated egg yolk. Underneath are layers of tinned salmon or saury, potato, carrot, onion and egg white, each with a little mayonnaise, so a spoonful is soft, rich and gently fishy. It is made ahead for birthdays and holidays and served chilled. Use shop-bought mayonnaise, which is made with pasteurised egg. A common mistake is mashing the fish with all its oil, which makes the bottom layer soggy. Chef's tip: grate the yolk straight over the salad at the very end, on the finest side of the grater, for the fluffiest flowers.

60 min

Russian Salads

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Herring with potatoes

This is the simplest and best-loved Russian zakuska, on every table from a Moscow kitchen to a Siberian railway compartment: fillets of salted herring with steaming boiled potatoes, rings of raw onion, dill and a drizzle of unrefined sunflower oil that smells of toasted seeds. The contrast of cold, silky fish and hot, floury potato is the whole point, and black bread goes alongside. Salted herring is cured but not cooked, so buy ready-salted fillets from a good fishmonger or deli (made from previously frozen fish), keep them in the fridge, and note that it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. A common mistake is serving the herring straight from very salty brine; taste it and soak it in milk or cold water first if needed. Chef's tip: use unrefined sunflower oil, its nutty smell is what makes the dish.

30 min

Russian Fish

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