What to eat today?

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Corundas

Corundas come from the Purépecha people of Michoacán, around Lake Pátzcuaro and Morelia, and they look nothing like a usual tamal: small, plump and triangular or star-shaped, wrapped in the long green leaves of the corn plant rather than dried husks. The masa is soft and fluffy, usually plain or with a little cheese and poblano inside, and corundas are eaten with crema, salsa roja and crumbled cheese, often for breakfast or at fiestas. Traditional dough uses pork lard; we use vegetable shortening or butter. Cheese may be made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: beat the fat until it is white and fluffy before adding the masa; a spoonful of dough should float in water when it is light enough.

105 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lucanica con peperoni

Lucanica, the coiled fennel-seed pork sausage of Basilicata, is so old that Roman writers named it after the region. At home it's often cooked the simplest way, braised with sweet peppers and a little tomato until the peppers turn silky and the sausage fat flavours everything. It's a pork dish for a weekday supper or a village festival, served with crusty bread or a pile of soft polenta. If you can't find lucanica, use any coarse Italian pork sausage with fennel. Chef's tip: prick the sausage only once or twice; too many holes let all the juices run out and the sausage dries.

55 min

Italian Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Enfrijoladas

Think of enfrijoladas as enchiladas that swap chilli sauce for beans: warm tortillas dipped in a silky black-bean purée, folded into quarters and scattered with fresh cheese and raw onion. In Oaxaca they are a breakfast and supper dish, made from yesterday's pot of beans, and the purée is perfumed with toasted avocado leaves, which taste faintly of anise. Serve two or three per person with a fried egg or a spoonful of salsa. Queso fresco is often made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian feta or paneer-style fresh cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: keep the bean sauce loose, like double cream; it thickens on the plate and a stiff sauce tears the tortillas.

30 min

Mexican Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Memelas oaxaqueñas

Early morning at the Oaxaca City markets, women press masa into thick ovals, bake them on clay comales and pinch up the edges while they are still hot: these are memelas, eaten standing at the stall with coffee. Each one is smeared with asiento, the toasty unrefined pork lard of Oaxaca, then black beans, salsa and crumbled cheese. For a vegetarian version we use browned butter (or vegetable shortening for a dairy-free base), which gives a similar nutty richness. The masa should be soft and slightly chewy, the base speckled brown. Queso fresco is often made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian fresh cheese if needed. Chef's tip: pinch the rim while the memela is too hot to handle comfortably (use a damp cloth); once it cools, the masa sets and cracks.

35 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

French dip sandwich

Two downtown Los Angeles delis founded in 1908 still argue about who first dunked a roll into the roasting pan juices, but either way the French dip is LA's own sandwich: thin slices of roast beef piled into a crusty French roll that is dipped in a rich, savoury beef jus, eaten with hot mustard at the counter. Chef's tip: make the jus from the roasting pan; the browned bits stuck to the tin are where the flavour lives.

110 min

American Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salsa de chile pasilla oaxaqueño

The pasilla mixe is a small, wrinkled, red-brown chilli smoked in the Sierra Mixe mountains east of Oaxaca City, and it tastes of campfire, tobacco and dried fruit. Ground in a molcajete with roasted tomato and garlic, it becomes the salsa that sits on every table in Oaxacan fondas, spooned over memelas, eggs, beans and grilled vegetables. It keeps a week in the fridge and improves after a day. If you cannot find pasilla mixe, use chipotle mora plus one ancho. Chef's tip: grind the garlic and salt first, then the chillies, then the tomato; working in that order gives a rough, clinging texture rather than a watery purée.

20 min

Mexican Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chocolate de agua

Walk down Calle Mina in Oaxaca City and the air smells of cacao, cinnamon and almonds, roasted and ground into chocolate in front of you at the mills. Most Oaxacans drink it made with water, not milk, so the taste of the cacao comes through clean and slightly bitter, with a thick head of foam raised with a wooden molinillo. It is drunk for breakfast with pan de yema and at every wedding and Day of the Dead altar. The tablets already hold sugar and cinnamon; we give a version with dark chocolate too. Chef's tip: the foam is the point, so whisk hard just before pouring and serve in wide cups.

12 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dominosteine

Dominosteine were invented in Dresden in the 1930s as an affordable Christmas treat and are still bought by the box across Germany through December: a cube of soft gingerbread, a layer of tart fruit jelly and a layer of marzipan, all coated in dark chocolate. Homemade ones are fresher and less sweet than the boxed kind and make a beautiful gift. The jelly is set with pectin, not gelatine, so they suit vegetarians. The mistake people often make is cutting the slab while the jelly is still soft, which smears the layers; leave it overnight. Chef's tip: trim the edges of the slab before cutting so every cube has three clean, sharp stripes.

75 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pfeffernüsse

Pfeffernüsse are small domed biscuits baked in German homes through Advent, especially in the north and in Saxony, and sold in bags at Christmas markets everywhere. They are made with honey and a warm spice mix, and in old recipes the 'pepper' in the name meant exotic spices in general, though a pinch of real black pepper adds a lovely bite. A thin white glaze sets crisp over a chewy centre. The mistake many people make is eating them straight away; they are hard at first and need a few days in a tin with a slice of apple to soften. Chef's tip: warm the honey only until runny, never boiling, or the biscuits turn tough.

35 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Black and white cookies

The black and white is a New York bakery fixture, a saucer-sized, soft, lemony cookie that is closer to a sponge than a biscuit, iced half in vanilla and half in chocolate. Delis and Jewish bakeries from the Upper West Side to Brooklyn sell them by the till. Chef's tip: ice the flat underside, not the domed top, and do the vanilla half first so the chocolate doesn't bleed into it.

45 min

American Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nicuatole

Nicuatole is a Zapotec sweet sold in little squares from glass cases at Oaxacan markets and at village fiestas, often with a bright pink top coloured with cochineal. It is made from corn masa cooked with water, sugar and cinnamon until it thickens enough to set when cool, a cousin of atole you can cut with a knife. The texture is soft, slightly bouncy and cool, and it is eaten as an afternoon treat. We give a coconut-milk option and use beetroot juice or a natural red food colouring instead of cochineal (which comes from insects) for the red layer. Chef's tip: cook it until the spoon leaves a clear path across the pan base for a full second; undercooked nicuatole never sets.

40 min

Mexican Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Brevas con arequipe

Bogotá's old sweet shops and the dessert counters of Cundinamarca sell brevas caladas, firm green figs cooked for hours in panela syrup until they turn dark, glossy and tender, then split and filled with arequipe. A slice of salty fresh cheese alongside balances all that sugar. They are a classic Christmas and Sunday treat and keep for a week in the fridge, so make them ahead. Use hard, unripe green figs from Middle Eastern or Latin shops; ripe figs fall apart. Arequipe is Colombian milk caramel, the same as dulce de leche. The fresh cheese is usually animal-rennet, so pick a vegetarian one. Skipping the first boils is the common error: the figs keep a bitter, milky sap that spoils the syrup. Chef's tip: cook the syrup slowly and keep the figs just covered; a hard boil splits the skins.

180 min

Colombian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Preserved lemons (l'hamd marked)

No Moroccan pantry is complete without a jar of l'hamd marked, lemons packed in salt and their own juice and left for about a month until the rind softens and takes on a mellow, floral, almost sweet flavour. The rind is what you use: finely chopped into salads, slivered over chicken with olives, added to fish tagines, chermoula and bean dishes. Fez cooks traditionally use small, thin-skinned doqq or beldi lemons, but any unwaxed lemon works. Hands-on work is only 20 minutes; the jar then needs 3–4 weeks in a cool, dark cupboard before it is ready. Chef's tip: press the lemons down hard every day for the first week; as they release juice they shrink, and you can squeeze one more lemon into the jar.

20 min

Moroccan Basics

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bakoula (warm mallow and herb salad)

When the winter rains come, bunches of khobiza, wild mallow, are piled up at Marrakech market stalls, and households turn them into bakoula: the leaves are steamed, chopped and cooked down with garlic, parsley, coriander, paprika and cumin, then finished with violet olives and slivers of preserved lemon. The result is soft, dark green and savoury with a lemony lift, a little like a well-seasoned spinach dish with more character. It is eaten warm or at room temperature as one of the cooked salads, scooped up with bread. Outside Morocco, use spinach with a handful of chard or rocket for a bit more bite. Most people go wrong by not squeezing the steamed leaves dry, which leaves the salad watery and bland. Chef's tip: squeeze the steamed greens hard in your fists before chopping; leftover water makes bakoula sloppy and dilutes the spices.

50 min

Moroccan Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chalupas poblanas

On Sunday evenings in the old centre of Puebla, around the Barrio de San Francisco and the Paseo Bravo, stalls fry stacks of small, thin tortillas in shallow oil and paint them half red and half green with salsa. These are chalupas poblanas, sold by the half dozen on paper plates and eaten in a few bites. The Puebla version is usually topped with shredded pork; ours keeps the salsas, onion and cheese, which are the real flavour, and adds a few beans. The edges should be crisp, the middle still a little soft from the salsa. Cheese like queso fresco is often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian fresh cheese if you prefer. Chef's tip: spoon the salsa on while the tortilla is still in the pan so it sizzles and soaks in.

25 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rajas con crema

Rajas means strips, and in Puebla they mean poblano chillies, the dark green pepper the state is named after, charred, peeled and sliced, then simmered with onion, sweetcorn and cream. Poblanos are mild with a grassy, gently smoky bite, so the dish is rich rather than fiery. It turns up on Puebla tables as a side for rice, as a taco filling at fondas, or in a tamal for breakfast. Some cooks melt in Chihuahua or Oaxaca cheese, which may be made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian melting cheese if needed. Chef's tip: sweat the peeled chillies in a covered bowl for 10 minutes; the steam lifts the skins off cleanly without rinsing away the smoky flavour.

35 min

Mexican Sides

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vanillekipferl

No Austrian Christmas cookie tin is complete without Vanillekipferl, the pale little crescents that melt on the tongue; Viennese grandmothers bake them by the hundred in early December, and they are just as loved over the border in Bavaria. The dough is short and rich with butter and ground almonds, and the crescents are rolled in vanilla sugar while still warm so it sticks. The common mistake is overbaking: they should stay pale with only the tips turning golden, or they lose their tender, sandy texture. Chef's tip: chill the dough well and shape it with cool hands; warm dough cracks and the crescents spread in the oven.

42 min

Austrian Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortitas de Santa Clara

The nuns of the Santa Clara convent in Puebla are credited with this biscuit, and the city's Calle de los Dulces still sells it in boxes stacked beside camotes and jamoncillos. It is a crumbly, lightly sweet shortbread round, covered with a thick, pale cream made from ground pumpkin seeds, sugar and milk, which sets to a soft fudge-like layer. They are eaten with coffee in the afternoon and taken home as a gift from Puebla. Chef's tip: grind the peeled pumpkin seeds as fine as you can before cooking; any coarse bits make the topping gritty.

75 min

Mexican Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gougères

In the wine villages of Burgundy, around Beaune and Chablis, a basket of gougères lands on the table the moment guests sit down: small golden choux puffs, crisp outside and hollow and cheesy within. They are handed round at cellar tastings, christenings and Sunday aperitifs, and they are best eaten warm, within ten minutes of leaving the oven. The dough is the same as for profiteroles, but salted, peppered and beaten with grated Comté or Gruyère. Both cheeses are traditionally made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard mountain-style cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: dry the dough on the heat until it leaves a thin film on the bottom of the pan; drier dough takes more egg and puffs higher.

50 min

French Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cancoillotte

Cancoillotte is the loose, pale-gold melted cheese of Franche-Comté, the region around Besançon, Morteau and the Jura border. Families keep a pot of it in the fridge and warm it for Sunday supper, pouring it over boiled potatoes, dipping bread into it or spooning it over a baked potato. The real thing starts from metton, a ripened curd that is hard to find outside the region, so this home version uses quark and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, the same trick German cooks use for Kochkäse: the soda turns the curd soft and melty, and butter, garlic and a little milk give the silky, slightly tangy finish. Most quark is made with little or no rennet, but check the label if that matters to you. Chef's tip: leave the quark and soda to rest for a full hour; it should turn translucent and gooey before it goes near the heat.

80 min

French Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pain d'épices de Dijon

Dijon has been baking pain d'épices since the Middle Ages, and the shops near the old ducal palace still sell it by the slice, plain or glazed with orange. It is a dense, fragrant honey loaf, sold all year but eaten most in December, when Burgundian families toast slices for breakfast, spread them with butter, or serve them with cheese and pears. The Dijon style uses wheat flour and a whole egg, which makes it softer than the rye-flour loaves of Reims. Chef's tip: wrap it and wait a day before cutting; the crumb turns moist and the spices settle and deepen.

75 min

French Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Quenelles lyonnaises nature

Every charcuterie and traiteur in Lyon sells quenelles, the soft oval dumplings that the city's bouchons bake until they swell to twice their size in a bubbling dish. The famous version contains pike, but Lyonnais families also buy quenelles nature, plain ones made from a flour, milk, butter and egg panade, and bake them for a weeknight supper with a mushroom or tomato cream sauce and a green salad. Made at home they are light and wobbly, with a hint of nutmeg. Gruyère for the top is usually made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian alternative if you prefer. Chef's tip: chill the dough well and shape it with two wet spoons; cold dough holds a neat shape and puffs evenly.

200 min

French Pasta & Noodles

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cervelle de canut

The name means 'silk weaver's brain', a joke from the Croix-Rousse hill in Lyon, where nineteenth-century canuts worked the looms and could not afford the lamb's brains their bosses ate. Their version was fromage blanc whipped with shallot, garlic and herbs, and it is still served in every bouchon as a starter or after the main course, with bread, toast or boiled potatoes. Some cooks splash in white wine; this version uses a little white wine vinegar instead, so it is alcohol-free. Some fromage blanc is set with rennet, so pick a brand labelled vegetarian if that matters. Chef's tip: make it an hour ahead; the shallot softens and the herbs flavour the cheese right through.

15 min

French Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Uchepos

When the summer corn comes in across Michoacán, families in Morelia and the Tierra Caliente grate the young kernels and make uchepos: soft, moist tamales of fresh corn, milk and a little sugar, wrapped in the green husks they came from. They taste like the sweetest corn pudding, and are eaten for breakfast or supper with cream, crumbled cheese and a tomato salsa, sweet and savoury together. Cotija or queso fresco may be made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian cheese if needed. Chef's tip: use the freshest, milkiest corn you can find (a kernel should spurt when pressed); old corn is starchy and the uchepos come out dry.

100 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sopa tarasca

Named after the Tarascan (Purépecha) people of Michoacán, sopa tarasca is the soup served in the restaurants around the plazas of Pátzcuaro and Morelia, especially on cool highland evenings. It is a smooth, brick-red purée of beans, tomato and ancho chilli, poured over crisp tortilla strips and finished with cream, fresh cheese and fried chilli rings. Some versions use chicken stock; this one uses vegetable stock and loses nothing. Fresh cheese may be made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: fry the blended soup base in hot oil before adding the stock; it cooks out the raw tomato taste and deepens the colour.

50 min

Mexican Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Enchiladas placeras with potato and carrot

Under the arcades around Morelia's plazas, cooks sell enchiladas placeras in the evenings: tortillas dipped in guajillo sauce, fried on a griddle, folded over crumbled cheese and onion, then buried under fried potato and carrot cubes, shredded lettuce and pickled chillies. In Michoacán they usually come with a piece of fried chicken on the side; we leave that out, as the potatoes and carrots fried in the chilli-stained oil are the part everyone fights over. Cheese may be made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: fry the potatoes and carrots in the same pan after the tortillas so they pick up the red chilli oil.

55 min

Mexican Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Schokofrüchte

Schokofrüchte stalls glow under strings of lights at almost every German Christmas market, from Stuttgart to Hamburg, with rows of strawberries, grapes and banana chunks on wooden skewers dipped in dark, milk and white chocolate. Children choose with their noses pressed to the glass, and at home they are a fun job for small hands. The usual mistake is dipping wet fruit: even a drop of water makes chocolate seize into a grainy lump and stops it sticking. Chef's tip: melt the chocolate gently and let it cool to just warm before dipping; it then clings in a neat, thin shell and sets glossy. Many chocolates contain milk, so check the label if you need it dairy free.

20 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ate de membrillo

Morelia is Mexico's city of ates, the firm fruit pastes sold in long blocks at the Mercado de Dulces beside the old Jesuit college, in guava, mango, quince and more. Quince (membrillo) is the classic: cooked slowly with sugar until it turns from pale yellow to deep amber-red and sets firm enough to slice. In Michoacán it is eaten in thin slices with a fresh or aged cheese, or on its own as an afternoon sweet. Most cheeses here use animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: cook the fruit with its cores and peel tied in muslin; they carry most of the pectin that makes the paste set.

150 min

Mexican Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Agua de chía con limón

In the markets of Michoacán, especially in Uruapan and Morelia, the glass barrels of agua fresca often include one cloudy, speckled with tiny seeds: agua de chía, limeade with soaked chia seeds that swell into soft little pearls. Chia has been grown in central Mexico since long before the Spanish, and the drink is light, sharp and very refreshing, with a gentle texture from the seeds. It is drunk with lunch or on hot afternoons. Chef's tip: stir the seeds into the water twice in the first ten minutes; otherwise they clump into jelly-like lumps.

10 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tlacoyos de haba

Walk out of almost any Metro station in Mexico City in the morning and you will find a woman on a low stool patting out tlacoyos on a clay comal: thick, oval cakes of blue or white corn masa with a seam of bean or fava purée hidden inside, topped with cactus, salsa and crumbly cheese. They are bought hot, eaten standing up, and are one of the oldest street foods in the valley, older than the city itself. This version is filled with garlicky fava purée (habas) and topped with a quick nopal salad and salsa verde. Leave off the cheese and it is vegan. Chef's tip: keep the purée stiff, like mashed potato; a loose filling bursts through the masa when you flatten it.

70 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ensalada de nopales

In the markets of Milpa Alta, south of Mexico City, the nopal growers sell paddles already scraped of their thorns, stacked in towers, and the salad they become is on the side of every comida corrida in the region. Cooked cactus tastes a little like green beans with a lemony edge; dressed with tomato, white onion, chilli, coriander and lime, it is cool and crisp, and the crumbled cheese softens the sharpness. Serve it with rice and beans, inside tacos, or on a tostada. Chef's tip: cook the nopales with a few onion slices and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda; they keep their bright colour and the slime washes away faster.

25 min

Mexican Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tacos de canasta

From about nine in the morning, bicycles with a wicker basket strapped behind the seat roll into Mexico City offices and street corners, and the cry of 'tacos de canasta' goes up. Inside the basket, wrapped in cloth and plastic, a hundred small tacos have steamed in their own heat for hours, so the tortillas turn soft, glossy and slightly sticky with chilli-red oil. They are cheap, sold by the handful, and eaten with green salsa from a jar on the bike. The usual fillings are potato, refried beans, adobo and chicharrón prensado (pressed pork rind); this recipe makes the two vegetarian ones and leaves out the pork. Chef's tip: an insulated cool box lined with a tea towel does the same job as the basket and keeps them hot for two hours.

75 min

Mexican Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guajolota

Commuters in Mexico City grab a guajolota at the tamal stand by the bus stop at seven in the morning: a crusty bolillo roll split open with a whole steaming tamal pushed inside, sometimes with a smear of green salsa, eaten with a cup of atole. It is starch in starch, cheap and filling enough to last until lunch. The name means 'turkey hen', a joke about how stuffed it is. This recipe makes eight vegetarian tamales of roasted poblano strips and melting cheese (rajas con queso); four go into rolls and the rest freeze well. Shop-bought vegetarian tamales work if you are short of time. Chef's tip: warm the bolillo on the comal while the tamal rests, so the crust crackles against the soft masa.

120 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Schmalzkuchen

Schmalzkuchen are the paper bag of tiny golden diamonds sold at fairs and Christmas markets across northern and eastern Germany, from Hamburg's Dom fair to the markets of Berlin and Leipzig. Despite the name they are now fried in vegetable oil, so this version is vegetarian. The quick quark-and-baking-powder dough puffs up into soft, slightly crisp cushions that you shake in icing sugar while warm. A common mistake is frying at too low a heat: the dough soaks up oil and turns heavy instead of puffing. Chef's tip: cut the dough into small 3 cm diamonds; bigger pieces brown outside before the middle has cooked through.

35 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Heiße Maronen

From late October the Maronibrater set up their black drum ovens on street corners in Vienna, Salzburg and every German Christmas market, and the smoky smell of roasting chestnuts means winter has properly begun. Hot chestnuts in a paper cone warm your hands first and your stomach second. At home a hot oven and a bowl of water give the same soft, sweet, slightly charred result. The commonest mistake is not scoring the shells deeply enough: steam builds up inside and the chestnuts can burst in the oven. Chef's tip: wrap the roasted chestnuts in a tea towel for 5 minutes before peeling; the steam loosens the bitter inner skin so it comes away with the shell.

40 min

German Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Quesadillas de huitlacoche

Huitlacoche is a fungus that swells the kernels of rain-soaked corn into silvery-black, inky lobes, and in central Mexico it is a delicacy prized for its deep, mushroomy, slightly smoky taste. In the rainy months, the quesadilla stalls of Mexico City and Coyoacán fry it with onion, chilli and epazote and fold it into fresh masa turnovers; in the capital you ask for cheese separately. Fresh huitlacoche turns up at Mexican grocers from July to October, and tinned or frozen works the rest of the year. Chef's tip: cook it until the black juices have mostly evaporated; a wet filling makes the masa soggy and grey.

40 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Alegrías

Amaranth has been grown on the chinampa gardens of Xochimilco and Tulyehualco, in the south of Mexico City, since Aztec times, and each February Tulyehualco holds a fair in its honour. Its tiny seeds are popped on a hot comal and bound with honey or piloncillo syrup into alegrías ('joys'), crunchy, light bars sold at bus stops, school gates and church doors and studded with pumpkin seeds, peanuts or raisins. They are naturally gluten free and full of protein for a sweet. Chef's tip: use bought puffed amaranth; popping it yourself works but takes patience and a lidded pan, as the seeds jump everywhere.

30 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Café de olla

In ranch kitchens and roadside fondas across central Mexico, coffee is not dripped but boiled in a tall clay pot (olla de barro) with a cone of piloncillo and a stick of soft Mexican cinnamon, then strained into clay mugs. It is sweet, spiced and earthy, and is served with pan dulce at breakfast, on cold evenings, and to visitors on Day of the Dead. A saucepan works fine if you have no olla. Chef's tip: turn the heat off before adding the coffee and let it steep rather than boil, or it turns bitter.

15 min

Mexican Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Picadas veracruzanas

Breakfast in the port of Veracruz and in Xalapa often starts with picadas at a market fonda or a café by the harbour: palm-sized rounds of fresh masa, cooked on the comal, then pinched all around while hot (picar means to pinch) to make little ridges that catch the salsa. Half are spooned with red salsa and half with green, then scattered with onion and crumbled cheese, and eaten with black coffee. Cooks there drizzle them with hot pork lard; this recipe uses a little oil instead. Chef's tip: wet your fingertips in cold water before pinching, so you can work the hot masa without burning yourself.

35 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gordas de frijol negro

In the Sotavento region of southern Veracruz, around Tlacotalpan and Los Tuxtlas, cooks knead well-fried black beans straight into the corn masa, so the little cakes come out speckled grey-black, then fry them until they puff up like balloons. Gordas de frijol are a supper snack from street stalls and fiesta tables, split and topped with salsa, chopped onion and, for a non-vegan version, a crumble of fresh cheese. Avocado leaf in the beans gives a faint aniseed note. Chef's tip: the beans must be very thick and cooled; warm, wet beans make a sticky dough that will not puff.

40 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torito de cacahuate

Torito is the party drink of the port of Veracruz and the Sotavento, poured at weddings, saints' days and the Tlacotalpan Candelaria fair: a thick, cold, milkshake-like blend of peanuts, condensed and evaporated milk and cinnamon. The traditional version is spiked with aguardiente, the local cane spirit. This recipe is the alcohol-free version, so children can drink it too; adults who want the original add a measure of cane spirit to each glass. It contains peanuts, so check for allergies. Chef's tip: toast the peanuts until just golden before blending; raw ones taste flat and beany.

15 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dulce de tamarindo

Tamarind trees shade the coast of Guerrero, and around Acapulco and the Costa Chica the sticky pulp is cooked down with sugar into tangy little balls sold in paper twists at beaches, bus stations and corner shops. Children love the sharp sweet-sour pucker; adults buy the ones rolled in chilli and salt. They are naturally vegan and keep for weeks. Chef's tip: use blocks of seedy tamarind pulp from an Asian or Mexican grocer, not the thin concentrate in jars, which will not set.

45 min

Mexican Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gebrannte Mandeln

Gebrannte Mandeln are the warm paper cone you carry round a German Christmas market, from Munich's Marienplatz to the Striezelmarkt in Dresden, the stalls stirring copper kettles of almonds until the sugar crackles. At home they take one pan and twenty minutes, and a jar makes a good December gift. The sugar goes through three stages: syrup, then dry and sandy, then melted again into a shiny crust. The mistake most people make is giving up at the sandy stage, when it looks ruined; keep stirring and it melts back into a coating. Chef's tip: spread the almonds out on baking paper the second they are done and separate them with two forks, or they cool into one big brittle.

20 min

German Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Champignonpfanne

Walk through any German Weihnachtsmarkt, from Cologne's cathedral square to Nuremberg's Hauptmarkt, and you will smell the Champignonpfanne before you see it: a huge flat pan of button mushrooms frying with onion and garlic, scooped into paper boats and topped with a cool herb sauce. It is the market's favourite meat-free snack on a cold December evening, and it takes twenty minutes at home. Serve it with crusty bread or as a side to potato pancakes. The common mistake is piling every mushroom into the pan at once, which makes them stew grey in their own water instead of browning. Chef's tip: salt the mushrooms only once they have coloured; salt added early draws out the liquid and stops the browning.

20 min

German Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kalter Hund

Kalter Hund, the 'cold dog', is the no-bake party cake of West German childhoods, set in a loaf tin in the fridge and sliced into stripes of crisp biscuit and dark chocolate at every 1970s birthday. Recipes from Hamburg to Bavaria differ only in the details; old ones used coconut fat and raw egg, while this version uses dark chocolate, cream and a little coconut oil, so there is nothing raw in it. A common mistake is pouring the chocolate too hot, which softens the biscuits into mush; it should be just warm. Chef's tip: line the tin with cling film overhanging the sides, then you can lift the whole loaf out and slice it with a hot knife.

35 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Marmorkuchen

Marmorkuchen is the cake German children grow up with: a tall, buttery ring of vanilla sponge swirled with chocolate, baked for birthdays and kindergarten parties and kept under a glass dome for afternoon coffee all week. It needs nothing but a dusting of icing sugar, though many families pour over a thin chocolate glaze. A common mistake is over-stirring the two batters together, which turns the cake a muddy brown instead of showing clear marbling. Chef's tip: layer the batters in the tin, then pull a fork through just once in a spiral; less is more.

75 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Versunkener Apfelkuchen

Versunkener Apfelkuchen, the sunken apple cake, is the quickest cake in the German home repertoire, made on autumn weekends when the first Boskoop and Elstar apples come in from the orchards of the Altes Land near Hamburg and Lake Constance. Peeled apple halves are scored like a fan and pressed into a rich lemon sponge, which rises up around them as it bakes until they seem to sink in. Children love it still warm with whipped cream. A common mistake is cutting the scores too deep, so the apples fall apart; cut about two-thirds of the way through. Chef's tip: brush the apples with apricot jam the moment the cake comes out of the oven; it gives a shiny bakery glaze and keeps them from drying.

70 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rhabarberkuchen mit Baiser

From late April until the traditional end of the season on St John's Day in June, German bakeries and garden tables everywhere have rhubarb cake, and the most loved version is crowned with meringue. A buttery sponge is covered with sour pink rhubarb, baked, then piled with a cloud of sweet meringue and returned to the oven until golden and crisp outside, marshmallow-soft within. The sweet topping balances the sharp fruit perfectly. A common mistake is not draining the rhubarb, so its juice pools under the sponge and the base stays wet. Chef's tip: toss the cut rhubarb with a little sugar an hour ahead, then drain it well; it softens slightly and stops weeping into the cake.

120 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Friesentorte

On the coasts of East and North Frisia, from Norden to the island of Föhr, Friesentorte is what the tea room serves after a windy walk on the dykes, usually with a pot of strong black tea taken with rock sugar and cream. Three crisp rounds of puff pastry are layered with dark plum butter (Pflaumenmus) and a thick band of whipped cream; the top layer is cut into wedges before baking and glazed with sugar, so every slice gets its own shiny lid. Some versions add rum to the plums; this one is alcohol-free. A common mistake is assembling it hours ahead, which turns the pastry soft. Chef's tip: assemble no more than an hour before serving and keep it cold; the contrast of crackly pastry and cream is the whole point.

70 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Prinzregententorte

Prinzregententorte was created in Munich for Prince Regent Luitpold, who ruled Bavaria from 1886, and it is still the cake Munich cafés and families bring out for name days and big birthdays. Seven very thin sponge layers, one for each of the old Bavarian districts, are stacked with chocolate buttercream, brushed with apricot jam and sealed under a shiny dark chocolate glaze. The slices show neat stripes and taste rich but not heavy. A common mistake is baking the sponge as one thick cake and slicing it; it is far easier and neater to spread each layer thinly on a tin base and bake it for a few minutes. Chef's tip: trace a 26 cm circle on seven sheets of baking paper before you start, then bake two layers at once on separate trays.

150 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Donauwelle

Donauwelle, the 'Danube wave', is a German home-baker's favourite from the 1970s onwards, made on a tray for school fairs, birthdays and the Sunday coffee table. Cut a slice and you see the river: vanilla and chocolate sponge swirled into waves by sour cherries pushed into the batter, then a thick layer of vanilla buttercream and a dark chocolate top combed into ripples. A common mistake is pouring on the chocolate while the buttercream is soft, which melts the layers together; chill the cake well first. Chef's tip: warm a serrated knife in hot water and wipe it between every cut so the chocolate cracks cleanly instead of shattering.

90 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Frankfurter Kranz

Frankfurter Kranz is the crown of Frankfurt's coffee tables, shaped like the crowns of the emperors once crowned in the city's cathedral and still made for birthdays and Sunday visits all over Hesse. A buttery ring cake is cut into three layers, filled with redcurrant jam and vanilla buttercream, then coated all over with golden almond brittle, the jewels being little rosettes topped with red cherries. Older recipes splash the layers with kirsch; this one is made without alcohol. A common mistake is spreading the buttercream when the custard and butter are at different temperatures, which makes it curdle; both must be at room temperature. Chef's tip: bake the cake a day ahead and chill it; cold layers cut cleanly and don't crumble into the cream.

150 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torta de palmito

Paulistano families bring this pie to Sunday lunch, to Easter and to every bring-a-plate party, and padarias sell it by the slice next to the coxinhas. A crumbly, buttery crust encloses a creamy filling of heart of palm with tomato, peas, green olives and parsley, set with a little cornflour so it slices cleanly but stays moist. It is good warm or cold, with a green salad or just on its own. Look for palm hearts from cultivated pupunha palms. The commonest problem is a soggy base from a filling that is too wet or too warm; cook it until thick and let it cool before it goes in. Chef's tip: bake the pie on a preheated tray on the bottom shelf, so the base gets a blast of heat and crisps before the filling can soak in.

85 min

Brazilian Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Butterkuchen

Butterkuchen is the cake of northern German celebrations: in Lower Saxony, Bremen and Holstein it is baked on huge trays for funerals, weddings and christenings, which is why it is also called Freudenkuchen, joy cake. A thin, soft yeast base is dimpled all over with your fingertips, the holes filled with butter, then the whole thing showered with sugar and flaked almonds. In the oven the butter and sugar melt into little caramel pools. A common mistake is making the dimples too shallow, so the butter just runs off; press right down to the tray. Chef's tip: as soon as the cake comes out, spoon a few tablespoons of cream over it; it soaks in and keeps the base tender for two days.

110 min

Brazilian Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Empadinha de palmito

Rio's padarias and lanchonetes stack trays of empadinhas on their counters, and the heart-of-palm one is the meat-free favourite: a short, buttery crust that melts in the mouth around a creamy, savoury filling of palmito, tomato and olives. They are snack food eaten standing at the counter with a guaraná, party food passed round at birthdays, and something to pack for the beach. The pastry is very rich and almost crumbles at a touch, so press it into tins rather than rolling it. Buy palm hearts from cultivated pupunha or açaí palms rather than wild juçara. Many bakers make the filling too runny, and it boils over and soaks the crust; it should be thick enough to hold a spoon upright. Chef's tip: chill the lined tins for 15 minutes before filling, so the pastry keeps its shape and bakes crisp.

75 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chuchu refogado

Chayote is so cheap and common in Minas Gerais that Brazilians joke it tastes of nothing; this everyday refogado proves the point wrong. Peeled and diced, it is softened in garlic, onion and a little tomato with its own juices until it turns tender, pale green and silky, picking up all the flavour of the base. It is the side you find at every self-service lunch in Belo Horizonte, alongside rice, beans and couve, and works with grilled tofu, eggs or a bean stew. Adding water is the most common error: chuchu releases plenty of liquid, and extra water makes it bland and soupy. Chef's tip: rub a little oil on your hands, or wear gloves, before peeling; the cut fruit releases a sticky sap that leaves your skin tight and dry.

25 min

Brazilian Sides

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goiabada cascão

Ponte Nova and other towns in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais are famous for this rough, dark guava paste, stirred for hours in big copper pans over wood fires until it is almost brick red and firm enough to cut with a knife. 'Cascão' means it keeps chunks of the skin, so each slice is chewy and fruity rather than smooth. It is the guava in Romeu e Julieta, the filling for countless cakes, and a sweet in its own right after lunch. A heavy stainless-steel pan works at home. The big mistake is cooking over high heat to save time; the sugar catches and turns bitter long before the paste is set, so keep the heat moderate and stir constantly near the end. The paste spits fiercely, so use a long spoon and cover your arm. Chef's tip: test it by dropping a spoonful into a glass of cold water; when it stays in one firm piece, it is ready to pour.

150 min

Brazilian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ambrosia

Found in glass jars at farm-shop counters in Minas Gerais and on the dessert tables of gaúcho family lunches, ambrosia is an old Portuguese-rooted sweet that turns milk, eggs and sugar into soft, golden curds bathed in a caramel-coloured syrup. The eggs are poured into the sweet milk and then left to set and simmer for an hour with clove and cinnamon, so the curds form large and tender rather than scrambled. Cold from the fridge it is creamy, eggy and fragrant, rather like a rustic crème caramel broken into pieces. Serve small bowls with a slice of fresh cheese or nothing at all. Where most people go wrong is stirring as soon as the eggs go in; that breaks the curd into grainy crumbs, so wait until it has set before moving it gently. Chef's tip: a squeeze of lemon juice into the milk before the eggs helps the curds form quickly and keeps them in large, tender clouds.

90 min

Brazilian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Schwäbische Seelen

Seelen, meaning 'souls', are the long, pale spelt rolls of Upper Swabia, around Biberach and Ravensburg, said to have first been baked for All Souls' Day. Today they are an everyday bakery item, eaten split with butter or alongside a bowl of soup, and they turn up at every Swabian beer garden. The dough is very wet, so the rolls are pulled into shape rather than rolled, giving an open, chewy crumb under a thin crust crusted with salt and caraway. A common mistake is adding extra flour to make the dough easier to handle, which turns them into ordinary bread rolls. Chef's tip: keep a bowl of cold water beside you and wet your hands before every piece; the dough won't stick and you can stretch each soul straight onto the tray.

180 min

Austrian Breads & Parathas

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Viennese Kaisersemmel

No Viennese breakfast is complete without a Kaisersemmel: a light, hollow-crusted white roll with a pinwheel of five curved segments on top, split and spread with butter and apricot jam or filled with Leberkäse at a market stand. The crust should shatter and the inside be soft and airy. The star is traditionally knotted by hand, though a stamp works too. A common mistake is skipping the overnight cold dough, which leaves the rolls bland and pale. Chef's tip: prove the shaped rolls upside down, star side down, on a floured cloth, then flip them just before baking; the pattern stays sharp instead of puffing shut.

170 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kartoffelbrot

Kartoffelbrot was born of thrift in the potato regions of the Palatinate, Thuringia and Brandenburg, when bakers stretched scarce flour with boiled potatoes. The happy result is a loaf with a thin, crackly crust and a soft, moist, slightly sweet crumb that stays fresh for four or five days. It is a favourite for Sunday breakfast, for toast, and for sandwiches with butter and chives. A common mistake is using warm, wet mash, which makes the dough sloppy; the potatoes should be floury, mashed dry and completely cool. Chef's tip: save 100 ml of the potato cooking water and use it in the dough instead of plain water, for an even softer crumb.

185 min

Austrian Breads & Parathas

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Styrian Kürbiskernbrot

In Styria, the south-eastern corner of Austria where the hulless Styrian pumpkin is grown for its dark green seeds and oil, every bakery sells a loaf crowded with those seeds. Kürbiskernbrot is a light rye-wheat bread, nutty and slightly sweet, with toasted seeds through the crumb and pressed all over the crust. Locals eat it at a Buschenschank, the farmhouse wine tavern, with Liptauer, cured meats or a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil. A common mistake is adding the seeds raw: toasting them first gives the bread its deep, roasted flavour. Chef's tip: soak half the toasted seeds in hot water while you make the dough, so they stay tender inside the bread and don't pull moisture from the crumb.

230 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vollkornbrot

Vollkornbrot is the dense, seedy tin loaf of northern Germany, from Hamburg to Bremen, sliced thin and eaten for breakfast or packed for work in a lunchbox with cheese, cucumber or a smear of quark. It is almost all whole rye: cracked grains, rye meal and a mix of sunflower seeds, linseed and sesame, all soaked overnight so the bread stays moist for a week. There is no shaping and no kneading, which makes it easier than it looks. A common mistake is cutting it warm, which leaves the knife and the slices gummy. Chef's tip: let the loaf cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out and wrap it in a tea towel overnight; the crust softens slightly and the crumb sets evenly.

680 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bauernbrot

Bauernbrot, the farmer's loaf, is the everyday bread of village bakeries from the Black Forest to Lower Saxony, carried home in a paper bag every Saturday and eaten all week for Abendbrot, the cold evening meal of bread, cheese and pickles. It mixes rye and wheat roughly half and half, so the crumb is moist and tangy but still springy, under a thick, crackled crust dusted with flour. The flavour deepens over two or three days. A common mistake is baking at too low a heat, which gives a pale, soft crust; the oven should be properly hot at the start. Chef's tip: prove the loaf upside down in a floured basket or bowl lined with a floured cloth, so the top cracks into the classic crazy-paving pattern when you tip it out.

265 min

British Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bubble and squeak

Bubble and squeak is what English households, especially in London, make on Boxing Day and Monday mornings from the Sunday roast's leftover potatoes and greens. It's named for the noise it makes in the pan. The mash and cabbage or sprouts are fried until a deep brown crust forms, then turned and crisped again. Serve with a fried egg and brown sauce. Chef's tip: press it flat and leave it alone in the pan; the crust only forms if you don't keep stirring.

30 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Westphalian pumpernickel

Real pumpernickel comes from Westphalia, where bakers in towns like Soest once left loaves in the cooling bread oven overnight, and it is still sliced paper-thin for breakfast with butter, quark and radishes or with a sharp cheese. There is no colouring and no molasses here: the near-black colour and the malty sweetness come only from cracked rye cooked for many hours in steam at a low heat. The crumb is moist, dense and slightly sticky, and the loaf keeps for over a week wrapped in cloth. A common mistake is slicing it on the day it comes out of the tin; it needs a full day to settle or it tears into gummy crumbs. Chef's tip: wrap the tin tightly in two layers of foil and stand it in a roasting tray of hot water, because a dry loaf turns hard instead of dark and sweet.

1440 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Plátanos fritos con crema

Tabasco grows more plantain than almost anywhere in Mexico, and in Villahermosa homes fried ripe plantain arrives with breakfast eggs, alongside rice and black beans at lunch, or on its own as a sweet-savoury supper. The local touch is to finish the hot, caramelised slices with a spoon of tangy crema and a snow of crumbled fresh cheese, so you get sweet, salty and sour in one bite. Chef's tip: wait until the skins are almost black; yellow plantains taste starchy and never caramelise.

17 min

Mexican Sides

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mousse de maracujá

Three ingredients, a blender and a fridge: Brazilian home cooks from Recife to Curitiba lean on mousse de maracujá for Sunday lunch dessert because it takes ten minutes and nobody ever refuses it. The acid in passion-fruit juice thickens condensed milk and cream almost instantly, so it sets into a light, tangy, pale yellow mousse without gelatin, topped with the glossy black seeds and pulp. Sharp and sweet at once, it is perfect after a feijoada or a barbecue. Buy wrinkly, heavy passion fruit, which are the ripest and juiciest; frozen unsweetened pulp works too. The trap is diluting the juice: any added water stops the mousse setting, so use pure strained juice. Chef's tip: keep back the pulp of one fruit, warm it for a minute with a spoonful of sugar, and pour it over the mousse just before serving for shine.

17 min

Brazilian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salzburger Nockerl

Salzburger Nockerl is the dessert Salzburg serves to visitors after a concert or a walk through the old town: three golden, sugar-dusted peaks said to stand for the hills around the city. Under the airy egg-white soufflé is a layer of tart lingonberries or redcurrants, warmed with vanilla milk in the baking dish. It is meant to be shared from the dish and eaten the moment it leaves the oven, before it sinks. This version uses cornflour instead of wheat flour, so it is gluten free. A common mistake is over-folding the yolks into the whites; streaks are fine, and too much stirring makes it collapse. Chef's tip: keep the oven door shut until the end; the peaks are ready when they are golden outside but still creamy inside.

28 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mohnnudeln

The Waldviertel, the cool, forested uplands of Lower Austria, is poppy country: in July its fields bloom white, pink and violet, and the grey poppy seed grown there has a protected name. Mohnnudeln are its favourite sweet dish, served as a main meal on meatless days or as dessert. Soft potato dough is rolled into little tapered noodles, boiled, then tossed in foaming butter with a generous amount of freshly ground poppy seed and icing sugar, so they taste nutty, buttery and gently sweet. A common mistake is using whole or stale poppy seeds; whole seeds give no flavour and old ground ones taste bitter. Chef's tip: grind the poppy seed yourself in a spice grinder just before using, in short bursts so it doesn't turn to paste.

60 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Powidltascherl

Powidl, a thick, dark plum butter cooked for hours without added sugar, came to Vienna from Bohemia, and these little pockets are one of its best uses. In Austrian homes they are a sweet lunch in late summer, when the new season's plums arrive, or a pudding after a bowl of soup. A tender potato dough is cut into squares, folded around a spoonful of spiced powidl, simmered, then tossed in golden butter crumbs and dusted with icing sugar. A common mistake is overworking the dough, which makes it tough and sticky; mix the potato and flour only until it comes together. Chef's tip: rice the potatoes while hot and spread them out to steam dry, so you need less flour and the dough stays light.

75 min

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Malakofftorte

Malakofftorte is the cake Viennese families put together for name days and summer parties, because the oven stays off. Sponge fingers are dipped in milk and layered with a rich almond cream made from butter, cooked vanilla custard and whipped cream, then chilled until it slices like a soft mousse cake. In many Austrian homes the soaking milk is laced with rum or almond liqueur; this version is alcohol-free and uses vanilla milk, and you can add 2 tbsp dark rum to the milk if you want the traditional taste. A common mistake is soaking the biscuits too long, so they go soggy and the layers collapse; one quick dip is enough. Chef's tip: make it the day before; it needs at least 6 hours to set and tastes best the next day.

55 min