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Pithla with jowar bhakri
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Pithla with jowar bhakri

Gram flour curry with sorghum flatbread

In villages across the Deccan plateau of Maharashtra, pithla bhakri is what a farmer's family eats when the pantry is low and the day is long: a pan of gram flour simmered with garlic, green chilli and onion until it sets to a soft, spoonable curry, with thick jowar bhakri patted out by hand and a raw onion on the side. It became a symbol of rural Maharashtra, served at roadside stalls near Sinhagad fort to trekkers and at political rallies alike. Zunka, the dry version, uses the same flavours but is stirred until crumbly. Serve with thecha or a wedge of lemon. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into cold water before it meets the pan; that one step is the whole secret to a lump-free pithla.

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KokonteDried cassava swallow

Dried in the sun and ground to a coarse brown powder, cassava keeps for months as kokonte, and in Ashanti villages it is the swallow of the dry season and of lean times. Cooked, it turns into a smooth, firm, earthy-tasting dough, darker than fufu and with a faint smokiness, that is classically eaten with groundnut soup or palm nut soup; its colour earned it the joking nickname 'face the wall'. It takes only minutes to make. Those soups usually carry meat or fish, so serve a vegetable soup for a meat-free meal. Chef's tip: mix a third of the powder with cold water to a paste before it goes into the boiling water; dumping dry powder into hot water is the common mistake and makes stubborn lumps.

20 minGhanaianBasicsVeganGluten free
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KoktalSmoked carp with vegetables

Koktal is the fishermen's dish of Lake Balkhash and the Ili River in south-east Kazakhstan: a large carp split open along the back, salted, scored and roasted skin-side out on a frame over smoky fires, then baked with tomatoes, peppers and onions. In Almaty restaurants it is brought to the table on a wooden board. This version smokes the fish briefly in a covered barbecue and finishes it in the oven. A common mistake is leaving the scales on near the head and tail; scale the fish well, or the skin turns leathery. Chef's tip: score the flesh in a deep diamond pattern so the smoke and seasoning get into the thick fillets. Cook until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily.

80 minKazakhFishGluten free
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Kola kendaHerbal red rice porridge

Early in the morning, outside bus stands in Kandy and along the walking paths of Colombo's parks, vendors ladle bright green kola kenda from big pots into cups, handing each customer a lump of jaggery to bite between sips. It is a thin, savoury porridge of red rice cooked until it breaks down, enriched with coconut milk and coloured with the juice of fresh leaves, most often gotu kola, though cooks also use hathawariya, mukunuwenna or even curry leaves. The taste is grassy, slightly bitter and very restoring, and older Sri Lankans drink it as a daily tonic. The leaf juice must never boil; adding it to a bubbling pot is the mistake that turns the porridge khaki and dulls the fresh flavour. Chef's tip: blend the leaves with cold water and strain them through a fine sieve, so the kenda stays silky with no stringy bits.

40 minSri LankanBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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KolbullarThick campfire pancakes

Kolbullar were the food of the charcoal burners who tended slow-smouldering kilns in the forests of Norrland and Bergslagen for weeks at a time: a thick batter of flour, milk and water fried in a pan over the fire, usually with pieces of salt pork mixed in. Today they are a favourite of Swedish hiking trips and forest festivals. This version leaves out the pork and is served with lingonberries and a pinch of flaky salt. A common mistake is spreading the batter thin like a crêpe; kolbullar are thick and chewy. Chef's tip: let the batter stand for 20 minutes so the flour swells and the pancakes stay soft in the middle.

30 minScandinavianBreakfast & Brunch
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KoldskålCold buttermilk soup

On the first warm day of summer, Danes buy cartons of koldskål and packets of kammerjunker, small crunchy rusks, and the season has begun: koldskål is a cold, sweet, tangy buttermilk 'soup' with lemon and vanilla, eaten from bowls as a dessert or a light supper, sometimes with strawberries. Homemade, it is whisked with egg yolks for richness. Raw egg yolk is not suitable for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system, so this recipe uses pasteurised egg yolks. A common mistake is serving it at room temperature; it must be very cold. Chef's tip: whisk the yolks and sugar until thick and pale before the buttermilk goes in, which gives a silky, foamy soup.

15 minScandinavianDesserts
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KoloRoasted barley and peanut snack

While the beans are roasted and the coffee is brewed three times over, a basket or small bowl of kolo goes round the room, and guests take a handful between cups. It is the simplest of snacks: whole barley grains roasted in a dry pan until they crack and smell like toast, mixed with roasted chickpeas and peanuts, sometimes with sunflower seeds or a little berbere. The barley is crunchy and nutty, the peanuts rich, the chickpeas mealy. Street sellers in Addis Ababa scoop it into paper cones, and families keep a jar for children's lunchboxes and long journeys. Note that barley contains gluten. Chef's tip: sprinkle a little salted water over the barley in the last minute of roasting; it evaporates instantly and leaves the salt clinging to every grain.

23 minEthiopianSnacks & StartersVegan
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Kołocz śląskiSilesian cheese yeast cake

Silesian weddings once had kołocz delivered to every neighbour as a thank-you, and the wide trays still appear at christenings, harvest festivals and church fairs in Opole and around Katowice. The base is a soft, lightly sweet yeast dough, spread with a thick layer of vanilla twaróg and covered with a buttery crumble that bakes into craggy golden lumps. It keeps well for two days and cuts into neat squares for coffee. A common mistake is baking it before the dough has had its second rise under the topping, which gives a dense, bready base. Twaróg is usually rennet-free, but check the label. Chef's tip: keep the crumble in the fridge until the last moment so it stays in distinct lumps in the oven.

150 minPolishBaking
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KololakBeef and rice meatballs in broth

Kololak are the big, soft meatballs of Gyumri, Armenia's second city, where they are cooked for family Sunday dinners: very finely minced beef is beaten with rice, onion and egg until smooth and springy, shaped into balls the size of a small orange and simmered in a light broth with tomato and herbs. The broth is served first as soup, the meatballs after. A common mistake is skipping the long kneading, which makes the meatballs crumble in the pot. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water while shaping, and lower the balls into broth that is only just simmering, so they hold together. Minced meat must reach 71 °C in the centre.

90 minArmenianMeat
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Komplet lepinjaFlatbread with kajmak and egg

Roadside inns in the hills around Užice and Zlatibor in western Serbia serve this as a breakfast for people with a long day ahead: a round flatbread hollowed out and filled with kajmak and an egg, baked, then soaked with pretop, the hot fat and juices left from roasting pork or lamb. It is rich, salty and messy, eaten with your hands with a yogurt drink and pickled peppers. At home, save the drippings from a Sunday pork roast, keep them in the fridge and reheat until bubbling. The usual slip is cutting the lid too thin, which leaves no room for the egg and it spills over the side. Bake until the white is fully set; for anyone pregnant, very young, elderly or unwell, bake on until the yolk is firm too. Chef's tip: put the lid back on for the last two minutes so it toasts, then dunk it straight into the hot drippings.

25 minBalkanBreakfast & Brunch
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Konijn met pruimenRabbit with beer and prunes

Rabbit with prunes is the Sunday dinner of Flemish grandmothers, from the Westhoek to the Kempen: rabbit joints browned in butter or oil, then braised slowly with onions, thyme, bay and a bottle of brown or abbey-style beer, with prunes added for sweetness and a spoon of mustard for bite. It is served with fries or boiled potatoes and apple sauce. This recipe is cooked with beer, as it traditionally is; for an alcohol-free dish, use the swap in the ingredient note. A common mistake is boiling the rabbit, which makes the lean meat dry and stringy. Chef's tip: keep it at a gentle simmer under a lid, and add the prunes in the last 30 minutes so they stay whole.

150 minBelgianMeat
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KoprovkaDill sauce with potatoes and eggs

Summer in a Czech garden means dill gone wild between the cucumbers, and koprovka is where most of it ends up. This pale green, gently sour cream sauce is a staple of Bohemian home cooking and of workplace canteens, where it is served over boiled potatoes with halved hard-boiled eggs (or with bread dumplings). It should be smooth, silky and only lightly thick, balanced between cream, a little vinegar and a pinch of sugar. Where it usually goes wrong is boiling the dill: it turns grey and loses its fresh smell, so stir it in at the end, off the heat. Chef's tip: keep the dill stalks, chop them very finely and simmer them in the sauce, then add the soft fronds at the end for a double hit of flavour.

30 minCzechVegetarian
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KorbáčikyBraided fresh cheese strings

Korbáčiky (little whips) come from Orava in northern Slovakia, where cheesemakers pull hot, stretchy curd into long thin strings and plait them into braids. Sold at roadside stalls in the Tatra foothills, they are chewy, squeaky and salty, usually lightly smoked, and are pulled apart and eaten with fingers like a snack, often with a cold drink on a hike. At home you can make the curd yourself from pasteurised milk in under an hour. Traditional korbáčiky are set with animal rennet, so this recipe uses vegetarian (microbial) rennet; any shop-bought curd should say the same. Use pasteurised whole milk that is not UHT-treated, or the curd will not set. Where most people go wrong is stretching the curd when it is not hot enough: it tears instead of pulling into glossy ropes. Chef's tip: wear clean rubber gloves for stretching, so you can work with water hot enough to make the curd silky.

60 minCzechSnacks & StartersGluten free
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KoryushkaFried smelt

When the ice breaks on the Neva in April and May, St Petersburg goes mad for koryushka, small silvery smelt that famously smell of fresh cucumber. Stalls sell them by the kilo, the city holds a smelt festival, and every cafe fries them by the plateful. Dusted in flour and fried in hot sunflower oil, they come out golden and crunchy outside, sweet and tender inside, eaten with fingers, soft bones and all, with lemon and boiled potatoes with dill. A common mistake is crowding the pan, which drops the oil temperature and leaves the fish soggy; fry in small batches. Fish is done when the flesh is opaque and flakes easily from the backbone. Frozen smelt or sprats work out of season. Chef's tip: rye flour gives a darker, nuttier crust, a favourite in Petersburg homes.

25 minRussianFish
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KoththamalliCoriander and ginger brew

At the first sniffle, many Sri Lankan mothers put a pot of koththamalli on the stove, and in Colombo offices and up in the damp hill towns during the monsoon you will see people sipping it from steel tumblers instead of tea. Coriander seeds are toasted, cracked and boiled with plenty of ginger until the water turns amber, giving a warm, earthy, slightly citrusy drink with a gentle ginger burn. It is traditionally drunk unsweetened with a piece of kithul or palm jaggery held in the other hand and nibbled between sips, though you can dissolve the jaggery in if you prefer. Grinding the seeds to powder is a mistake, because the drink turns muddy and gritty; they should only be cracked. Chef's tip: toast the coriander just until it darkens a shade and smells like orange peel; that is when the oils are at their best.

20 minSri LankanDrinksVeganGluten free
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Koy paMinced fish salad

Fishing villages on the Mekong in Champasak, down towards the islands of Si Phan Don, make koy pa from the morning catch and eat it with sticky rice under the stilt houses at lunchtime. It is a fierce, fresh salad: finely chopped fish tossed with lime, roasted chilli, shallot, galangal and toasted rice powder, then buried in mint, dill and sawtooth herb. Traditionally the fish is raw and only 'cooked' by lime, and raw river fish in the region can carry parasites; that raw version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Here the fish is poached until opaque and flaking, then chopped, keeping the texture and punch. Stirring the rice powder into hot fish is the mistake that ruins it, turning the salad gluey. Chef's tip: toast your own rice powder with a lemongrass stalk and lime leaf; the shop-bought kind has nothing like the same nutty perfume.

35 minLaoSaladsGluten freeSpicy
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Moza (Egyptian lamb shanks with rice)

On Eid al-Adha, when there is lamb in every kitchen, and in the grill houses of Cairo where it is a favourite order, moza is the cut people point to: a whole shank per person, standing on a mound of rice. The shanks are first simmered gently with onion, cardamom, bay and a little mastic until the meat is ready to slip off the bone, then roasted in a hot oven so the outside turns brown and sticky. The rice cooks in the fragrant broth, so every grain carries the lamb flavour. A bowl of the remaining broth, a salad of tomato and cucumber and some tahini make it a feast. Chef's tip: skim the pot carefully in the first 15 minutes of simmering; a clear broth makes cleaner-tasting rice.

155 minEgyptianMeatGluten free
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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 minGeorgianChickenGluten freeSpicy
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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 minJamaicanCurriesVeganSpicy
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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 minJamaicanSoupsVegan
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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 minJamaicanDrinksGluten free
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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 minArmenianBasicsVeganGluten free
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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 minGeorgianFishGluten free
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Kaware' (cow's trotter soup with fatta)

Old Cairo eateries that specialise in it open early, and kaware' has a loyal following on cold winter mornings and as a restorative after Ramadan nights; at home it is usually made after Eid al-Adha. Cow's feet are cleaned, blanched and then simmered for hours with onion, garlic and whole spices until the meat and skin turn soft and sticky and the broth sets like jelly when cold. It is served over fatta: layers of toasted flatbread and rice drenched with broth and a sharp garlic-and-vinegar sauce, with the tender trotter pieces on top. Ask the butcher to clean the feet and saw them into pieces. Chef's tip: a pressure cooker cuts the simmering to about 1 hour 30 minutes with no loss of flavour.

260 minEgyptianMeat
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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 minGeorgianChickenGluten free
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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 minJamaicanSoupsVegan
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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 minArmenianBasicsGluten free
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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 minAlgerianBaking
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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 minAlgerianDesserts
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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 minAlgerianBaking
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Abrisham kebabEgg thread rolls in syrup

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

45 minAfghanDessertsGluten free
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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 minArmenianFishGluten free
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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 minAlgerianBreads & ParathasVegan
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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 minAlgerianVegetarianVeganSpicy
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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 minAlgerianBreads & ParathasVegan
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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 minGeorgianMeatGluten free
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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 minGeorgianVegetarianGluten free
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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 minGeorgianBreads & ParathasVegan
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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 minJamaicanSidesVegan
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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 minJamaicanDessertsGluten free
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Agidi (set fermented maize in leaves)

Wrapped in green leaves and stacked in pyramids, ẹ̀kọ (Yoruba) or agidi (Igbo) is the solid form of ogi: the same fermented maize paste cooked much thicker, then left to set into a cool, wobbly block. It tastes gently sour and very clean, which is why it suits a hot pepper stew, moi moi, akara or a bowl of efo. Buka in Lagos and Ibadan sell it at breakfast and lunch. Undercooking is the most common mistake, and the agidi then stays soft and runny, so cook until a spoon leaves a clear trail across the pot. Chef's tip: pass banana leaves quickly over a flame until they turn shiny and supple, and they will fold without tearing.

45 minNigerianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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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 minJamaicanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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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 minJamaicanSoupsVegan
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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 minGeorgianBasicsGluten free
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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 minGeorgianVegetarianGluten free
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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 minBalkanDesserts
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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 minGeorgianSoupsVegan
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Gollash meat pie (filo and spiced beef)

Egyptian bakeries sell sweet and savoury gollash, but the minced-beef version is the one home cooks make for Ramadan iftar, Eid visits and big family lunches, cut into neat diamonds on a large round tray. Thin sheets of filo are brushed with melted butter and stacked around a filling of beef cooked dry with onion, pepper and a little allspice, then soaked with a splash of milk and egg so the top layers bake puffed and shatteringly crisp while the middle stays tender. Serve warm with a salad and yoghurt or as part of a spread of mezze. Avoid skimping on butter between the sheets; unbuttered layers bake dry and papery instead of crisp and golden. Chef's tip: let the cooked filling cool completely before layering; hot, steamy mince turns the bottom sheets soggy, which is the most common gollash disappointment.

80 minEgyptianBaking
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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 minDutchBaking
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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 minGeorgianSidesVeganGluten freeSpicy
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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 minSwissMeat
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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 minGeorgianBasicsVeganGluten free
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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 minJamaicanDrinksVeganGluten free
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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 minGeorgianBasicsGluten free
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