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British Breads & Parathas

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Kotopoulo me hilopites

Across the Thessalian plain, from Larissa to Trikala, Sunday lunch is often a chicken braised in tomato with a cinnamon stick, its sauce stretched with broth so the little hilopites pasta squares can cook right in the pot. The pasta soaks up the sauce until thick and almost risotto-like, and a fistful of grated cheese goes on at the table. Use homemade hilopites or a good shop-bought pack. Common mistake: adding the pasta to too little liquid — it absorbs a lot, so have hot water ready. Chef's tip: brown the chicken skin well, then finish the dish in the oven if you like a crispy top.

85 min

Greek Chicken

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Newcastle stottie cake

The stottie is the big flat round loaf of Tyneside and County Durham, with a dimple pressed in the middle and a dense, chewy crumb; bakers in Newcastle split them and stuff them with pease pudding, cheese or a bacon filling. Its name is said to come from 'stotting', or bouncing, because it is heavy enough to bounce off the floor. Chef's tip: bake it low in the oven so the bottom gets a deep golden colour while the top stays pale.

45 min

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Pease pudding

Pease pudding is the thick yellow split pea spread of Newcastle and the North East, eaten in a stottie cake with ham or simply with buttered bread, and the 'pease pudding hot, pease pudding cold' of the nursery rhyme. It was traditionally boiled in a cloth beside a ham; this plant-based version is simmered with onion, bay and a little smoked paprika for the savoury depth. Chef's tip: soak the split peas overnight; unsoaked peas take hours and cook unevenly.

100 min

British Sides

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Northumberland pan haggerty

Pan haggerty is a frugal supper from Northumberland and the Durham pit villages, made in a single heavy frying pan from thin layers of potato, onion and grated cheese. The bottom turns crisp and brown while the top melts under the grill, and it is eaten straight from the pan with pickles. Cheddar is often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian cheddar. Chef's tip: slice the potatoes paper-thin and dry them in a tea towel; wet slices steam instead of browning.

60 min

British Vegetarian

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Melomakarona

From early December, bakeries and kitchens all over Greece fill tins with melomakarona, the oval cookies that sit beside kourabiedes on every Christmas table and get handed to visitors with coffee. The dough is made with olive oil and orange juice rather than butter, scented with cinnamon and clove, then baked and plunged into warm honey syrup so the inside turns soft and sticky while the edges stay crisp. Common mistake: dipping hot cookies into hot syrup, which turns them to mush; one of the two must be cool. Chef's tip: mix the dough only until it comes together; overworking it squeezes out the oil and the cookies bake hard and greasy.

70 min

Greek Baking

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Giouvetsi

Giouvetsi takes its name from the glazed clay dish it is baked in, and in Greek homes it is the Sunday lunch that gets put in the oven before church: chunks of beef braised with tomato, cinnamon and allspice, then finished with kritharaki (orzo) that soaks up every drop of the sauce. It arrives at the table bubbling, with grated cheese melting on top. This version uses wine to deglaze, which is traditional; use extra stock for an alcohol-free dish. Common mistake: adding the orzo with too little liquid, so it bakes dry and sticks; it needs about four times its weight in hot stock. Chef's tip: stir the orzo halfway through baking so the top pieces don't harden.

170 min

Greek Meat

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Hawaiian sweet bread

Hawaiian sweet bread grew from the pão doce that Portuguese families baked in the islands at Easter, and bakeries in Hilo made it famous as a soft, golden, faintly tangy loaf. Pineapple juice gives a gentle fruity sweetness, and the crumb is pillowy and pulls apart in strands. Eat it toasted with butter, or use it for French toast. Chef's tip: the dough should be very soft; be patient during kneading instead of adding extra flour.

60 minPacific Islander Breads & Parathas

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Tsai tou vounou

Bunches of dried sideritis, the woolly-leaved herb Greeks call mountain tea, hang in village kitchens from Mount Olympus to Taygetos, and a pot is brewed at the first sniffle of winter or after a long walk. The tea is pale gold with a gentle lemony, earthy, slightly floral taste, and it is drunk with honey, a slice of lemon and sometimes a cinnamon stick. Common mistake: brewing it like black tea with boiling water for a minute; it needs a gentle simmer to draw out flavour. Chef's tip: break the dried stems into the pot along with the flowers; the flower heads hold most of the aroma, the stems add body.

10 min

Greek Drinks

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Horta vrasta

In Greek villages women still go out with a knife and a bag after the first autumn rains to gather horta: dandelion, wild chicory, amaranth, mustard greens. Boiled and dressed with the best olive oil and lemon, they are served warm or cool with almost every meal, from fried fish in a seaside taverna to a fasting-day plate of beans. The taste is pleasantly bitter and grassy. Common mistake: boiling them to khaki; cook only until the stems are tender and the leaves still deep green. Chef's tip: salt the cooking water generously like pasta water and dress the greens while warm, so they drink up the oil and lemon.

25 min

Greek Sides

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Karydopita

Karydopita is the cake Greek households bake for name days and Sunday visitors, cut into diamonds and set out with coffee or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ground walnuts and dried breadcrumbs replace much of the flour, giving a moist, dense crumb fragrant with cinnamon and clove, then the hot cake drinks up a cool syrup. Common mistake: pouring hot syrup over a hot cake, which leaves it soggy at the bottom and dry on top. Chef's tip: let it sit for at least 3 hours after syruping; it slices more cleanly and tastes even better the next day.

65 min

Greek Baking

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California avocado toast

Avocado toast took off in the cafés of Los Angeles and San Francisco, where California's Hass avocados are grown, and it is now the state's standard weekend brunch. The trick is simple ingredients done well: thick sourdough toasted hard, ripe avocado smashed with lemon and good salt, and something crunchy and sharp on top. Chef's tip: season the avocado more than you think, with salt and lemon; underseasoned avocado tastes flat.

15 min

American Breakfast & Brunch

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Green goddess dressing

Green goddess dressing was created at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in the 1920s, named after a popular play, and it came back as the herb-packed dressing of California salad bars and grain bowls. It is pale green and creamy, full of tarragon, parsley and chives. The hotel's original used anchovies; this vegetarian version gets its savoury punch from capers. Use it on salads, as a dip for crudités or on roast vegetables. Chef's tip: blend the herbs with the lemon first, before the creamy ingredients, so they break down fully and turn the dressing bright green.

10 min

American Chutneys & Dips

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Palm Springs date shake

The Coachella Valley around Palm Springs and Indio grows most of America's dates, and roadside date farms along the desert highway have sold this shake to thirsty drivers since the 1930s. Soft Medjool dates are blended with vanilla ice cream and milk into a thick, caramel-flavoured shake. Chef's tip: soak the chopped dates in a little warm milk for 10 minutes first, so they blend completely smooth instead of leaving chewy bits in the straw.

10 min

American Drinks

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Nashville hot chicken

Hot chicken has been a Nashville institution since the 1930s and is eaten at late-night shacks and the city's summer hot-chicken festival: crisp buttermilk-brined fried chicken painted while hot with a paste of cayenne and brown sugar in hot oil, served on a slice of white bread with dill pickle chips to cool things down. Chef's tip: brine the chicken overnight in the fridge; it seasons the meat right through and keeps it juicy under all that heat.

60 min

American Chicken

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Peperoni cruschi

In late summer the villages around Senise, in southern Basilicata, hang long garlands of thin red peppers from balconies to dry in the sun. Once dried, a few seconds in hot oil turns them into peperoni cruschi: glassy, brittle and sweet with a faint smoky note, eaten like crisps or crumbled over pasta, beans, fried eggs and mashed potatoes. Lucanians call them their red gold and keep a jar of them on the table all winter. Chef's tip: get the oil hot but not smoking and count to five; the colour should stay bright red.

10 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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Arni fricassee

When cos lettuces and spring onions flood the markets around Easter, Greek cooks make arni fricassee: lamb braised slowly with mountains of greens and dill, then thickened at the last moment with avgolemono, the frothy egg and lemon sauce. The result is tender, tangy and fresh, a lighter alternative to the roast lamb of Easter Sunday, served with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Common mistake: pouring the eggs straight into the bubbling pot, which scrambles them; temper them with hot broth first and keep the pot off the heat. Chef's tip: shake the pot to swirl the sauce in rather than stirring, so the lamb and greens stay whole.

125 min

Greek Meat

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Bifteki gemisto

In Greek grill houses (psistaries) and in summer back gardens, bifteki are big, flattened patties of minced beef with grated onion, mint and oregano, and the stuffed version hides a slab of feta that melts as they cook. Serve with chips fried in olive oil, a village salad and tzatziki. Common mistake: using lean mince, which makes dry patties; 15–20 % fat keeps them juicy. Chef's tip: grate the onion and squeeze out its juice before mixing; you keep the flavour without making the mixture too wet to seal around the cheese.

35 min

Greek Meat

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Kotopoulo me bamies

In late summer, when Greek markets are full of small, firm okra, home cooks braise them with chicken thighs, tomato and onions until the sauce is thick and glossy; it is a Wednesday-night dish, served with feta and bread. The trick is to keep the okra whole and un-slimy so it holds its shape. Common mistake: stirring the pot once the okra is in; shake it instead. Chef's tip: trim only the very top of each okra cone without cutting into the pod, then toss them with vinegar and salt and leave in the sun or a warm spot for 30 minutes; it firms them up and keeps the sauce clean.

100 min

Greek Chicken

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Chile con queso norteño

In Ciudad Chihuahua and the farming towns of the Sierra, chile con queso is not the runny orange dip of Texas bars but a skillet of roasted long green chillies, onion and tomato with mild Chihuahua cheese melted through it, scooped up with flour tortillas at a carne-asada Sunday or eaten as a main with beans. Chihuahua cheese, also called queso menonita after the Mennonite farmers who make it, is like a mild, buttery cheddar. Chef's tip: steam the roasted chillies in a covered bowl; the skins then slide off in one go.

30 min

Mexican Chutneys & Dips

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Sembusek

Mardin's stone bakeries fill their ovens with sembusek on weekend mornings: thin rounds of dough folded over a filling of minced meat, onion, parsley and pepper paste, sealed into half-moons and baked until crisp and freckled. Families make big batches for picnics and Ramadan, and eat them warm with ayran or a glass of tea. The meat goes in raw and cooks inside the pastry, so roll the dough thin enough to cook through. Common mistake: a wet filling that makes the base soggy; squeeze the grated onion hard. Chef's tip: brush the tops with a little water and butter as they come out of the oven so they soften just enough to fold over a bite of salad.

65 min

Turkish Meat

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Grasmere-style gingerbread

The village of Grasmere in the Lake District has sold its own gingerbread since the 1850s, a cross between shortbread and a biscuit with a crumbly top and chewy base, wrapped in paper for walkers and visitors to Wordsworth's grave. The real recipe is a closely kept secret; this is our home version, made with oatmeal, brown sugar and plenty of ground ginger. Chef's tip: press only the bottom half of the crumb mixture firmly and scatter the rest loosely on top, which gives the two textures.

40 min

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Sticky toffee pudding

Sticky toffee pudding was made famous by a country hotel and a village shop in the Lake District, and Cumbria still claims it, though it now ends Sunday lunch in pubs across Britain. A soft, dark sponge made with soaked dates is soaked in a buttery brown-sugar sauce and served with more sauce, plus cream, custard or vanilla ice cream. Chef's tip: poke holes in the hot sponge and pour on a third of the sauce, so it soaks right in.

55 min

Lebanese Snacks & Starters

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Lancashire cheese and onion pie

This is the pie of the Lancashire chippy and the Bolton market stall, a vegetarian staple of the North West long before the word was common. Sliced onions and potato are softened, then mixed with plenty of crumbly Lancashire cheese and baked in shortcrust until the filling is creamy and tangy. Traditional Lancashire is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian Lancashire or a vegetarian crumbly cheese. Serve with mushy peas or beans. Chef's tip: let the onions cool before mixing in the cheese, or it melts into oil before the pie is baked.

75 min

British Vegetarian

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Mazorca desgranada

Food trucks and street corners in Bogotá and Medellín sell mazorca desgranada in plastic tubs, late into the evening: sweet corn kernels cut off the cob, fried in butter and layered with shredded chicken, melted cheese, crunchy potato sticks, pineapple sauce and salsa rosada. Some stands add bacon, beef or quail eggs; this version keeps to chicken. It is sweet, salty and gooey, and a hit with teenagers. Using tinned corn without draining it well is a common error: the water dilutes the sauces and the tub gets soggy. Chef's tip: fry the corn until a few kernels brown and pop; that caramelised edge stands up to all the sweet sauces. For a vegetarian tub, skip the chicken and use a cheese made with microbial rennet.

35 min

Colombian Fast Food

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Caldo de costilla

Bogotá wakes up to caldo de costilla. Cafeterías near markets and bus terminals ladle it out from early morning, and it is the city's famous cure after a late night: beef short ribs simmered until tender in a clear, golden broth with potatoes, onion, garlic and a big handful of coriander. It's simple, beefy and restoring, served with an arepa, a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and maybe a slice of bread. People are tempted to boil it hard to save time; the broth turns cloudy and greasy and the meat tightens, so give it a slow, steady simmer. Chef's tip: make the broth the night before and chill it; you can lift off the solid fat in the morning and simply reheat with the potatoes for a fast, clean breakfast.

105 min

Colombian Soups

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Tlatlapas

In the villages of Tlaxcala, tlatlapas is the Lenten and rainy-season soup: dried beans, fava and peas are toasted on a comal, ground to a coarse flour and simmered into a thick, earthy purée seasoned with dried chilli, epazote and strips of cactus. It is a peasant dish with pre-Hispanic roots, cheap, filling and full of protein, eaten with corn tortillas and a squeeze of lime. Using split beans keeps the cooking under an hour. Chef's tip: toast the pulses until golden and nutty, not dark; burnt ones turn the whole pot bitter.

55 min

Mexican Soups

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Erk sous

In the lanes of old Damascus and Aleppo, the erk sous seller is heard before he is seen, clacking brass cups as he walks with a great curved jug strapped to his back. His drink is liquorice root, slowly dripped through with cold water, dark, earthy, faintly bitter and naturally sweet, poured with a flourish over the shoulder during Ramadan iftars and hot afternoons. At home a sieve and a cloth do the job. The mistake people make is pouring boiling water over the root, which pulls out harsh bitterness; cold water and patience give a smooth, foamy drink. Liquorice root raises blood pressure if you drink a lot of it, so keep to a glass or two a day and skip it if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure. Chef's tip: a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the damp root gives the drink its traditional thick, frothy head.

15 min

Syrian Drinks

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Turmus

Strolling the Beirut Corniche or a Sunday market in Amman, you will pass carts selling turmus: plump golden lupini beans kept in salted water, scooped into paper cones and eaten by nicking the skin with your teeth and popping out the bean. They are also a fixture on mezze tables and a fasting snack for Lent. Dried lupins are naturally very bitter and must be soaked for days to wash those compounds out; never eat them while they still taste bitter, and if you are allergic to peanuts, check with a doctor first as lupin allergy is linked. A jar of ready-debittered lupini, drained and seasoned, is a quick shortcut. The common mistake is salting the beans before they are fully sweet, which seals the bitterness in. Chef's tip: finish with lemon, cumin and a little chilli just before serving; the salty brine keeps them, the dressing makes them moreish.

90 min

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Eccles cakes

From the town of Eccles near Manchester, these flat pastry cakes are filled with butter-soaked currants and peel, slashed three times on top and baked until sugary and crackly. Lancashire people eat them with a slice of crumbly Lancashire cheese, the sweet and salty pairing locals swear by. Chef's tip: chill the filled cakes for 20 minutes before baking, so the pastry stays flaky and the filling doesn't leak.

50 min

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Yorkshire fat rascals

Fat rascals are big, rough, fruit-studded cakes from the North York Moors, halfway between a scone and a rock cake, and the famous Harrogate tea rooms made them a visitor's treat. Each one gets a face of glacé cherries and blanched almonds before baking. Eat them warm, split and buttered, with a pot of tea. Chef's tip: work the dough as little as possible, just until it holds; overmixed rascals bake up tough.

40 min

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Yorkshire curd tart

Curd tart is the Yorkshire tea-shop tart that was made at Whitsuntide, when farms had more milk than they could drink and turned it into fresh curds. The filling of curd cheese, eggs, currants and a good pinch of allspice is set in shortcrust, so it is creamy, slightly grainy and lightly spiced, a cousin of cheesecake. Market cafés from York to Ripon still sell it by the slice. Chef's tip: use proper curd cheese or well-drained ricotta; soft cream cheese makes it heavy and smooth instead of crumbly.

70 min

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Christmas pudding

The Christmas pudding is the dark, fruit-packed pudding that ends Christmas dinner in English homes, traditionally mixed on Stir-up Sunday in late November when every family member stirs and makes a wish. This one uses vegetarian suet and is soaked with brandy or stout, so it contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free pudding use the same amount of strong black tea or orange juice. It is set alight at the table with warmed brandy (skip that for alcohol-free) and served with brandy butter or custard. Chef's tip: steam it again for 2 hours on the day; the second steaming darkens and enriches it.

520 min

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Kentish gypsy tart

Gypsy tart is the school-dinner pudding of Kent, remembered fondly by anyone who grew up in Margate, Maidstone or the Medway towns. Evaporated milk is whisked with dark muscovado sugar until it doubles into a toffee-coloured mousse, poured into a pastry case and baked just long enough to set into a fluffy, sticky, intensely sweet filling. Chef's tip: chill the evaporated milk overnight; cold milk whips up much more volume.

50 min

British Breads & Parathas

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Sally Lunn buns

The Sally Lunn is a huge, airy, enriched bun from the Georgian city of Bath, where an old house by the Abbey still serves it split and toasted, sweet with cinnamon butter or savoury with cheese. The dough is soft, with plenty of egg, butter and cream, so it bakes up light like brioche. Chef's tip: the dough is very soft; use a cake tin to hold its shape rather than shaping it freehand.

50 min

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Piccalilli

Piccalilli is the bright yellow pickle of the English ploughman's lunch, the Boxing Day cold cuts and the cheese board, and it has been made in farmhouse kitchens since the 18th century, when Indian pickles inspired it. Crunchy cauliflower, beans and onions are salted, then folded into a sweet, sharp sauce of mustard, turmeric and vinegar. Chef's tip: salt the vegetables overnight; it draws out water and keeps them crunchy for months.

45 min

British Chutneys & Dips

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Saimin

Saimin was born in the sugar plantation camps of Hawaii, where Chinese, Japanese and Filipino workers shared pots and combined their noodle soups into one, and it is still sold everywhere from old Kauaʻi diners to the snack bars at Little League games. Springy wheat noodles sit in a clear dashi and shrimp broth, topped with sliced char siu (roast pork), pink fish cake, egg and spring onion. Chef's tip: cook the noodles separately and rinse them, so their starch doesn't cloud the clear broth.

50 minPacific Islander Soups

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North Shore garlic shrimp

The shrimp trucks parked along Kamehameha Highway in Kahuku, on Oʻahu's North Shore, serve this on paper plates to surfers and day-trippers: shell-on prawns from the local farms fried in a heap of garlic and butter until the shells are crisp enough to eat, with two scoops of rice and lemon. Chef's tip: dust the prawns in a little cornflour before frying; it helps the garlic butter cling and the shells crisp.

30 minPacific Islander Fish

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Laulau

Laulau is one of the oldest dishes of Native Hawaiian cooking: fatty pork and salted butterfish are wrapped in young taro (lūʻau) leaves, tied in a ti-leaf parcel and steamed for hours until the leaves turn soft as cooked spinach and the pork is meltingly tender. It is the centrepiece of a plate with poi, lomi lomi salmon and haupia at lūʻau and family celebrations. Taro leaves must be cooked a long time, as they irritate the throat when undercooked; if you can't find them, use large spinach leaves and wrap in banana leaves or foil. Chef's tip: steam the bundles for the full four hours; shortcutting leaves the taro leaves scratchy.

280 minPacific Islander Meat

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Luncheon meat musubi

Musubi is Hawaii's favourite grab-and-go snack, sold wrapped in cling film by the till in every convenience store from Honolulu to Hilo and packed for beach days and school lunches. A slice of tinned pork luncheon meat is fried in a sweet soy glaze, set on a block of rice and belted with a strip of nori, a Japanese rice-ball idea adapted after the Second World War. Chef's tip: wet the mould and your hands so the rice doesn't stick, and press firmly so the block holds.

30 minPacific Islander Snacks & Starters

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Crab Louie

Crab Louie was on the menus of San Francisco's grand hotels and wharf restaurants by the early 1900s and is still a winter lunch when Dungeness crab is in season. Sweet crab meat is heaped on crisp lettuce with hard-boiled eggs, tomato, asparagus and avocado, and covered with a creamy, tangy pink dressing. Chef's tip: keep the crab in big pieces and add the dressing at the table, so the salad stays crisp.

35 min

American Salads

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Nous-nous (half-half coffee)

Sit down at a café terrace in Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech and order a 'nous-nous' (from 'nus', half) and you will get a small glass of half espresso, half steamed milk, often layered so the coffee floats in a dark band over the pale milk with a cap of foam. It is the default morning and afternoon coffee for many Moroccans, sipped slowly while watching the street, usually with a sugar lump or two on the saucer. It is smaller and stronger than a latte and milkier than a macchiato. A moka pot works fine at home if you have no espresso machine. Chef's tip: heat the milk only to 60–65 °C, hot to the touch but not scalding; boiled milk loses its sweetness and the foam collapses, a common mistake.

5 min

Moroccan Drinks

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Hangtown fry

The Hangtown fry is said to have been ordered by a miner who struck gold near Placerville, then nicknamed Hangtown, in 1849, asking for the dearest dish in the house: oysters shipped up from San Francisco Bay, bacon (pork) and eggs, which were rare and costly in the gold fields. Today it is brunch at old San Francisco grills. Crisp crumbed oysters and bacon are set in a soft omelette. Chef's tip: fry the oysters before they meet the egg so their coating stays crisp.

30 min

American Breakfast & Brunch

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Santa Maria tri-tip

In the Santa Maria Valley on California's Central Coast, ranchers' barbecues over red oak fires gave the state its own style: a triangular tri-tip roast of beef rubbed simply with salt, pepper and garlic, grilled until crusty, then sliced thin. It comes with pinquito beans, salsa and garlic bread at fundraisers and Saturday roadside barbecues. Chef's tip: tri-tip's grain changes direction in the middle, so cut the roast in two where the grain turns and slice each piece across its own grain.

55 min

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San Francisco cioppino

Cioppino was cooked by Italian and Portuguese fishermen in San Francisco's North Beach in the late 1800s from whatever was left of the day's catch, and it is now the big, messy, bib-wearing dinner of Fisherman's Wharf, especially in Dungeness crab season from November. The broth is tomato, garlic, herbs and white wine; for an alcohol-free version, use extra fish stock with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Serve with sourdough to mop it up. Chef's tip: add the seafood in stages, slowest-cooking first, so nothing turns rubbery.

75 min

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Cedar-plank salmon

Cooking salmon on cedar comes from the Coast Salish peoples of Puget Sound, who roasted split salmon on wooden stakes beside the fire, and today a cedar board on the grill is the backyard summer supper from Seattle to Portland. The soaked plank smoulders and steams, giving the fish a gentle, woody smokiness, here with a brown sugar and mustard glaze. Chef's tip: soak the plank for at least an hour, weighted under water, so it smokes rather than burns.

40 min

American Breakfast & Brunch

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Cincinnati goetta

Goetta is Cincinnati's breakfast meat, brought by German immigrants who stretched a little pork and beef with steel-cut oats; the city even holds a summer Goettafest beside the Ohio River. Pork mince, beef mince and pinhead oats are simmered with onion and spices into a thick loaf, chilled, then sliced and fried until crisp and brown outside and soft within. Serve with eggs and toast. Chef's tip: fry the slices in a dry, hot non-stick pan and leave them alone for 5 minutes; turning too early makes them crumble.

170 min

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Minnesota pan-fried walleye

Walleye is Minnesota's state fish, pulled through the ice of its northern lakes in winter and fried at the cabin the same evening; restaurants from Duluth to Lake of the Woods sell walleye sandwiches and shore lunches. The mild, sweet white fillets are coated in crushed crackers or a light seasoned flour and pan-fried in butter until golden. Perch, pike-perch or haddock work too. Chef's tip: fry skin-side down first and don't move the fish for 3 minutes; that is how the crust sets.

22 min

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Kansas City burnt ends

Burnt ends were once the charred trimmings that Kansas City barbecue joints handed out free at the counter; today they are the most prized thing on the menu. The fatty point end of a beef brisket is smoked low and slow until tender, cubed, tossed in sweet, tangy Kansas City sauce and smoked again until sticky and caramelised. They're eaten on white bread with pickles and beans. Chef's tip: wait for the brisket to probe tender, like pushing into soft butter, before cubing; temperature is only a guide.

630 min

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Green Bay chicken booyah

Booyah is the great community stew of north-east Wisconsin, brought by Belgian and French-Canadian settlers around Green Bay; church picnics and fire stations cook it in huge kettles over wood fires all day and sell it by the quart at fall festivals and Packers tailgates. It is a thick, peppery stew of chicken, a little beef and lots of vegetables, cooked until the chicken falls apart. Chef's tip: cook it long and slow and stir it often; a good booyah is thick enough that the spoon nearly stands up.

210 min

American Soups

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Wisconsin Friday fish fry

Every Friday night in Wisconsin, supper clubs, taverns and church halls hold a fish fry, a Catholic Lenten tradition that became a year-round social event. Beer-battered cod, perch or bluegill is fried crisp and served with rye bread, coleslaw, tartare sauce and a lemon wedge. Many taverns use lager in the batter; it contains alcohol, which mostly cooks off, so for an alcohol-free version use sparkling water, which gives the same light, crisp coat. Chef's tip: dust the fish in flour before it goes in the batter, so the batter clings instead of sliding off.

50 min

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Door County fish boil

On the Door County peninsula of Wisconsin, Scandinavian fishermen cooked their catch in a cauldron over a wood fire, and summer 'fish boils' are still a show for visitors: when the fish is done, the boil master throws kerosene on the fire and the pot boils over, carrying off the fish oils. At home, a big pot and a skimmer do the same job. Lake whitefish, potatoes and onions are boiled in very salty water and served with melted butter, lemon and, for dessert, cherry pie. Chef's tip: the salt is high, so don't cut back; it raises the boiling point and seasons the fish without making it salty.

50 min

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Minneapolis Juicy Lucy

Two bars in south Minneapolis both claim to have invented the Juicy Lucy in the 1950s, and the city still argues about it over beers. Instead of cheese on top, the cheese is sealed inside the beef patty, so it melts into a molten pocket that spurts when you bite. It is served simply, with fried onions and pickles. Chef's tip: warn everyone to wait a minute before biting; the cheese inside is scalding hot.

30 min

American Fast Food

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Breaded pork tenderloin sandwich

The breaded pork tenderloin sandwich is the pride of small-town diners in Indiana and Iowa: a pork cutlet pounded so thin and wide that the crisp, golden edges stick out far beyond the bun. It came from the German schnitzel tradition of the farming towns, and people drive miles to compare them. It's dressed simply with mustard, pickles, onion and lettuce. Chef's tip: pound the pork evenly to 5 mm; thin pork cooks through in the time it takes the crumb to turn golden.

40 min

British Breakfast & Brunch

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Moroccan almond milk (sharbat louz)

At Moroccan weddings and engagement parties, silver trays of tall glasses filled with sharbat louz are passed among the guests: chilled milk blended smooth with blanched almonds, sugar and a perfume of orange-flower water. It is also a favourite summer drink at home and is often offered to break the fast in Ramadan. The taste is creamy, delicate and nutty, a world away from carton almond milk, since it is real dairy milk enriched with almonds. Serve it very cold, on its own or with sweets. A common mistake is skipping the straining, which leaves a gritty drink instead of a smooth, silky one. Chef's tip: blend the almonds with the sugar and a little milk first, into a fine paste, before adding the rest; that way it ends up silky rather than gritty. Not for anyone with a nut allergy.

15 min

Moroccan Drinks

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Crumpets

Crumpets are the spongy, holey griddle cakes that Londoners and the whole of England toast on winter afternoons, soaked in melting butter. A loose yeasted batter is lifted with a little bicarbonate, poured into rings on a griddle and cooked gently on one side only, so bubbles rise and set into the famous holes. Chef's tip: grease the rings generously and keep the heat low; the top must set before the bottom burns.

45 min

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Mince pies

Mince pies are handed round with mulled drinks at every English Christmas gathering, from carol services to office parties, and children leave one out for Father Christmas. The mincemeat once held meat; this home-made version is all fruit, apple and spice, with vegetarian suet, and brandy is optional, so it can be alcohol-free. Chef's tip: make the mincemeat a week ahead so the flavours mellow; it keeps for months.

60 min

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Yorkshire parkin

Parkin is the dark ginger cake that West Yorkshire bakes for the 5th of November, cut into squares and handed round at Bonfire Night fires in Leeds, Halifax and Bradford. It is made with oatmeal, black treacle and golden syrup, so it is dense, chewy and gingery rather than light. It gets better with time, turning stickier after a few days in a tin. Chef's tip: wrap it and keep it for three days before cutting; fresh parkin is dry and crumbly by comparison.

65 min

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Yorkshire puddings

In Yorkshire the pudding was once served first, on its own with gravy, to fill people up before the meat; today these puffed, crisp-edged cups sit beside the roast at Sunday lunch all over England. The batter is nothing but eggs, flour and milk, and the trick is in the heat: smoking-hot fat in the tin and a hot oven. Serve with onion gravy for a vegetarian roast. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 30 minutes, which helps the puddings rise tall and even.

35 min

British Sides

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Chicken long rice

Despite its name there is no rice in it: chicken long rice is a gingery chicken broth with bean thread noodles, brought to Hawaii by Chinese plantation workers and now a fixture at every lūʻau and baby's first-birthday party alongside kalua pig and poi. The glassy noodles soak up the broth until it is almost a stew. Chef's tip: soak the noodles and cut them into short lengths before they go into the pot, or you get one long, tangled clump.

70 minPacific Islander Chicken

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Huli huli chicken

Huli means turn in Hawaiian, and this chicken was named in the 1950s when a farmer on Oʻahu grilled it between two racks and flipped it over the fire; today you smell it from roadside fundraiser stands and North Shore weekend grills. Chicken is marinated in soy sauce, pineapple juice, ginger and brown sugar, then grilled and basted until sticky and charred. Chef's tip: boil the leftover marinade before basting with it, so it is safe and turns into a glaze.

65 minPacific Islander Chicken

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Idaho finger steaks

Finger steaks are Idaho's diner and drive-in speciality, said to have been invented by a butcher in Boise in the 1950s who battered the trimmings of steaks and fried them. Strips of tender sirloin are dipped in a light, peppery batter and deep-fried until crisp, then eaten with chips and pink fry sauce at the county fair. Chef's tip: cut the beef into even strips about 1.5 cm thick so they cook to tender in the 2 minutes it takes the batter to brown.

35 min

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Chinese chicken salad

Chinese chicken salad is not from China but from 1960s and 70s California, popularised by a Chinese-American restaurant in Beverly Hills and by Hollywood lunch spots, then copied by every Los Angeles café. Shredded chicken, cabbage, carrots and spring onions are tossed in a sweet sesame-ginger dressing and topped with crisp fried wonton strips, toasted almonds and mandarin segments. Chef's tip: add the crunchy toppings at the last moment, or they go soft in minutes.

45 min

American Salads

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Navajo tacos

Navajo tacos, also called Indian tacos, are what the queues are for at powwows, state fairs and roadside stands across the Navajo Nation and the Four Corners. A freshly fried, crisp-edged fry bread is piled with beef and pinto bean chili, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese, and eaten with a knife and fork. Chef's tip: make the chili first and fry the bread last, so it is still crisp when the toppings go on.

65 min

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Meskouta (Moroccan orange cake)

Every Moroccan home cook seems to have a meskouta recipe, the light, fluffy sponge that is baked in a ring tin and set out for afternoon tea, unexpected guests or a children's snack. This one is flavoured with fresh orange juice and zest; many families make a yogurt version instead, using the yogurt pot to measure everything, and that variation is in the steps. The crumb is airy and moist, not too sweet, and it pairs perfectly with mint tea or a glass of milk. No mixer is strictly needed, but it helps. Chef's tip: beat the eggs and sugar for a full 5 minutes until pale and tripled in volume; under-whipped eggs, the usual mistake, make a dense, flat meskouta.

55 min

Moroccan Baking

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Ktefa (milk pastilla)

Ktefa, also known as pastilla au lait, is the grand finale of many weddings and family feasts in Fez and Rabat: shattering layers of fried warqa piled up with a light orange-blossom milk custard and a sweet, cinnamon-scented crumble of toasted almonds, assembled at the very last moment so every bite crackles. It is served in wedges or straight from the platter. Filo fried in rounds makes an easy home version, and everything can be prepared ahead except the final assembly. The custard is cooked until it bubbles, so the eggs are fully cooked. Don't assemble ktefa ahead of time: once the custard sits on the crisp layers they go soggy within minutes. Chef's tip: assemble only when you are ready to serve; if it sits for more than 15 minutes, the custard softens the crisp layers, the most common way ktefa goes wrong.

60 min

Moroccan Desserts

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Almond briouats

Ramadan evenings, weddings and Eid all call for a tray of sticky almond briouats: small triangles of warqa or filo wrapped around almond paste scented with orange-flower water and cinnamon, fried until golden and then plunged into warm honey. They are crisp at first bite, then soft and chewy as the honey seeps in, finished with a few sesame seeds. Served with mint tea, they sit happily next to chebakia and sellou on the iftar table. Filo works well in place of warqa. Chef's tip: dip the briouats in honey that is warm but not boiling, for about 2 minutes; leave them longer, the common mistake, and they turn soggy.

75 min

Moroccan Desserts

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Mhancha (almond snake pastry)

M'hancha means 'the snake', and that is exactly what this festive Fez pastry looks like: a long tube of paper-thin warqa or filo filled with orange-blossom almond paste and coiled into a spiral, then baked until golden and brushed with warm honey. It is brought out whole for guests and family celebrations and cut into wedges at the table with mint tea. The pastry shatters, the filling is soft and fragrant with cinnamon, and the honey glaze makes it shine. Filo stands in well for warqa; most shop filo is made without butter, but check the label. Most people go wrong by letting the filo dry out while they roll; keep the sheets under a damp cloth so the long rolls don't crack when coiled. Chef's tip: roll the filling loosely in the pastry and coil it gently; packed too tightly, the snake cracks as you curl it.

70 min

Moroccan Desserts

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New Mexico green chile stew

When the Hatch chile harvest comes in each September, the smell of roasting green chiles fills supermarket car parks across New Mexico, and green chile stew becomes the dish of football Fridays and cold Santa Fe nights. It is a brothy stew of pork shoulder, potatoes and plenty of roasted, peeled green chile, served with a warm tortilla. Chef's tip: roast the chiles until the skins blister black all over, then sweat them in a covered bowl; the skins slip off easily.

120 min

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Texas carne guisada

Carne guisada is the South Texas comfort stew of the Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi, ladled into fresh flour tortillas for breakfast tacos or eaten from a plate with rice and refried beans. Cubes of beef chuck are browned and slowly stewed with onion, pepper, garlic and cumin in a thick, peppery brown gravy. Chef's tip: dust the beef with flour as it browns; it thickens the gravy just enough to cling to a tortilla.

135 min

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San Antonio puffy tacos

The puffy taco is San Antonio's own: a ball of fresh corn masa pressed flat and dropped into hot oil, where it puffs into a light, crisp, hollow shell, then shaped into a U and filled with seasoned beef mince, lettuce and tomato. Family-run Tex-Mex restaurants on the West Side have served them since the 1950s, and the city's baseball team even has a puffy taco mascot. Chef's tip: as soon as the dough puffs, press a spatula into the middle to make the fold, before it sets.

70 min