What to eat today?

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Shrimp rémoulade

New Orleans rémoulade is not the pale French sauce but a brick-red, punchy mix of Creole mustard, paprika, horseradish and the trinity, and in the grand old Creole restaurants it is served as a cold starter over boiled Gulf prawns and shredded lettuce, especially in the summer heat. Chef's tip: make the sauce the day before so the flavours marry; it tastes raw and harsh straight after mixing.

25 min

Moroccan Breads & Parathas

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Krachel (aniseed and sesame brioche buns)

Moroccan bakeries pile their windows with krachel, round, glossy buns of enriched dough perfumed with aniseed, toasted sesame and orange-flower water, and families bake them at home for breakfast, for guests and for feast days. They are soft and pillowy, lightly sweet, with a distinctive liquorice-like scent from the anise and a nutty crunch of sesame on top. Eat them warm with butter and jam, dipped into milky coffee, or with mint tea in the afternoon. The dough needs two rises, about 1 1/2 hours in all. Don't rush the rise: under-proved krachel bake dense and tight instead of soft and fluffy. Chef's tip: lightly toast the aniseed and sesame in a dry pan before adding them to the dough; it doubles their fragrance.

138 min

Moroccan Baking

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Moroccan barley bread (khobz chair)

Before white flour became cheap, barley bread was everyday food in much of rural Morocco, from the Rif to the Atlas, and khobz chair is still baked at home and sold in markets by people who love its dense, slightly sweet, nutty crumb. Barley has very little gluten, so the loaves are flat-domed rather than tall, with a crust dusted in barley grits or semolina. Tear it while warm and dip it in olive oil, eat it with bissara, lentils or olives, or spread it with honey and butter at breakfast. A little white flour helps it rise; allow about 1 1/2 hours for rising. Chef's tip: do not keep adding flour to make it less sticky; barley dough is meant to feel tacky, and extra flour, the common mistake, makes a dry, crumbly loaf.

120 min

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Seafood gumbo

Seafood gumbo is the New Orleans Creole style, made in coastal kitchens from the French Quarter to the bayou towns of Plaquemines Parish, with a medium-brown roux, tomato and sliced okra to thicken it, and as much Gulf prawn, crab and oyster as the market offers. It is a Friday, Lent and Christmas Eve dish. Serve over rice with a dash of hot sauce. Chef's tip: make a quick stock from the prawn shells; it carries the sea flavour through the whole pot.

130 min

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Chicken and andouille gumbo

In the prairie towns of Acadiana around Lafayette and Eunice, a pot of chicken and andouille gumbo goes on the stove for Sunday dinners, Mardi Gras runs and cold winter evenings. It starts with a roux of flour and oil stirred until the colour of dark chocolate, then the holy trinity of onion, celery and pepper, chicken thighs and andouille, a spicy smoked pork sausage. Serve in bowls over rice with potato salad on the side, as many Cajun families do. Chef's tip: never stop stirring the roux and keep the heat medium; a single black fleck means it has burnt and must be thrown out.

150 min

American Snacks & Starters

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West Virginia pepperoni rolls

Pepperoni rolls were first baked for Italian immigrant coal miners in Fairmont, West Virginia, in the 1920s as a lunch that needed no refrigeration down the mine, and they are now sold in every petrol station and school canteen in the state. Soft, slightly sweet bread is rolled around sticks of cured pork-and-beef pepperoni, whose spicy oil seeps into the dough as it bakes. Chef's tip: use sticks of pepperoni rather than slices, which is the original Fairmont way and keeps the bread from going greasy.

50 min

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Maakouda (potato fritters)

Few street snacks are as loved in Morocco as maakouda, golden patties of mashed potato seasoned with garlic, cumin, turmeric and plenty of parsley and coriander, dipped in beaten egg and fried until crisp outside and fluffy inside. At sandwich stalls in Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier they are split into half a baguette or a round of khobz with harissa, chopped tomato and onion, and in Ramadan they appear on the iftar table beside harira. At home they make a great lunch with a salad. Chef's tip: cook the potatoes in their skins, then peel and mash them while hot and leave the mash to steam dry for 10 minutes; dry mash holds together, while wet mash, the classic mistake, falls apart in the pan.

55 min

Moroccan Snacks & Starters

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Hoppin' John

Hoppin' John is eaten on New Year's Day across the South for luck, with collard greens for money and cornbread for gold, and its roots run back to the rice plantations of the South Carolina Lowcountry and the West African cooks who worked them. Black-eyed peas are simmered with smoked pork (here a ham hock and bacon), then cooked with rice so every grain takes on the smoky broth. Chef's tip: cook the rice in the bean liquor, not water; that is where all the flavour is.

85 min

American Rice & Grains

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Brunswick stew

Virginia and Georgia both claim Brunswick stew, and it is still cooked in huge iron kettles for fire-station fundraisers and served beside barbecue all over the two states. It is a thick, tangy tomato stew of shredded pork and chicken with lima beans and sweetcorn, sharpened with vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Leftover smoked pork shoulder makes it even better. Chef's tip: simmer it long enough that the meat and vegetables break down a little and the stew turns thick enough to stand a spoon in.

100 min

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Shoyu chicken

Shoyu chicken is the home-cooked comfort of Hawaii's plantation families, a Japanese-influenced braise of chicken thighs in soy sauce (shoyu), sugar, ginger and garlic, and a staple of the plate lunch: two scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and chicken with plenty of sauce. Chef's tip: simmer uncovered at the end and spoon the sauce over until it turns glossy and coats the chicken.

55 minPacific Islander Chicken

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Ahi poke

Poke, from the Hawaiian word for cut into pieces, began as fishermen's snack of raw reef fish with sea salt, seaweed and roasted kukui nut, and is now sold by the pound from the deli counters of every Hawaiian supermarket, eaten over rice as a quick lunch or with drinks after work. This shoyu ahi style dresses cubes of yellowfin tuna in soy sauce, sesame oil, sweet onion and chilli. Traditional poke is raw fish, which is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system, so this version quickly sears the cubes until cooked through. Chef's tip: dress the tuna just before eating; the soy sauce draws out moisture and turns it soft if it sits for hours.

20 minPacific Islander Fish

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New Orleans muffuletta

The muffuletta was first made by Sicilian grocers on Decatur Street in New Orleans in the early 1900s for dock workers' lunches, and it is still sold whole or in quarters to take to the levee or a Saints game. A big round sesame loaf is filled with layers of ham, salami, mortadella (all pork) and provolone and soaked with a chunky olive salad. Provolone is traditionally made with animal rennet. Chef's tip: press the sandwich under a weight for an hour so the oil soaks into the bread.

30 min

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Oysters Rockefeller

Oysters Rockefeller were created at Antoine's in the French Quarter in 1889 and named after the richest man in America because the sauce was so rich; the restaurant has never shared its exact recipe. Live Gulf oysters on the half shell are covered with a bright green butter of herbs and greens and baked until bubbling, a classic starter at New Orleans celebration dinners. This version uses a dash of anise-flavoured liqueur, which is traditional; it can be replaced with a pinch of ground fennel seed for an alcohol-free version. Chef's tip: bed the shells on coarse salt so they sit level and the juices don't spill.

50 min

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Redfish courtbouillon

In Cajun country, courtbouillon (say 'coo-boo-yon') is not the French poaching broth but a thick, spicy red stew of firm fish, made in the fishing communities of Vermilion Bay and the Atchafalaya Basin after a good day's catch of redfish or catfish. It is built on a roux and tomatoes and finished with lemon and spring onions, then served over rice. Chef's tip: lay the fish on top of the sauce and spoon it over rather than stirring, so the pieces stay whole.

80 min

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Grillades and grits

Grillades and grits is the long-standing New Orleans brunch for Sunday mornings, Mardi Gras day and Jazz Fest weekends: thin medallions of beef pounded, browned and braised in a rich brown Creole gravy with tomato and the trinity, then spooned over buttery grits. Chef's tip: pound the meat thin and braise it low and slow until a fork slides in easily; rushing it leaves the beef chewy.

125 min

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Southern collard greens with smoked ham hock

Collard greens simmered low and slow with smoked pork are at the heart of African American soul food and of Southern Sunday dinners and New Year's tables from Alabama to Virginia. The tough leaves melt into silky, savoury greens, and the cooking liquid, the 'pot likker', is so good it is sopped up with cornbread. Chef's tip: strip out the thick stems and wash the leaves in three changes of water; grit is the commonest complaint.

140 min

American Sides

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Southern chicken and dumplings

Chicken and dumplings is the Sunday dinner and sick-day comfort of Mississippi, Tennessee and the Carolinas: a whole bird simmered into broth, shredded, and cooked with thin, rolled strips of dough that thicken the pot as they simmer, so it ends up halfway between soup and stew. Chef's tip: roll the dumplings thin, about 3 mm; thick ones stay doughy in the middle.

115 min

British Breads & Parathas

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Charleston she-crab soup

She-crab soup was first made in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1900s and is still ordered at the city's oldest dining rooms: a velvety cream soup full of sweet blue crabmeat, coloured orange with crab roe from the female crabs. A splash of dry sherry is stirred into each bowl at the table; the alcohol doesn't cook off, so leave it out for children or anyone avoiding alcohol and add a few drops of lemon juice instead. Chef's tip: never let the soup boil once the cream is in, or the crab turns stringy.

55 min

American Soups

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Lincolnshire plum bread

Plum bread is the dark, spiced fruit loaf of Lincolnshire bakeries, sold year round but especially at Christmas, sliced and spread with butter or eaten with a wedge of Lincolnshire Poacher cheese. There are no plums in it: 'plums' was the old word for dried fruit. The dough is enriched with butter, egg and mixed spice and packed with prunes, raisins and currants. Chef's tip: soak the fruit in hot tea for an hour so it stays juicy and doesn't steal moisture from the bread.

75 min

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Texas chili pie

Chili pie is Friday-night-lights food across Texas, sold at high-school football concession stands, rodeos and the State Fair in Dallas: a heap of crunchy corn chips smothered in hot beef chili, grated cheese and raw onion, sometimes served right in the split chip packet. Making the chili from scratch turns it into a proper meal. Chef's tip: add the chili just before eating, because the chips should still crunch under the sauce.

65 min

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Millionaire's shortbread

Millionaire's shortbread, called caramel shortcake in much of Scotland and caramel squares across the water in Belfast, is the traybake of school bake sales, cafés and church teas. A crisp shortbread base is covered with thick condensed-milk caramel and a layer of chocolate, rich enough to justify the name. Chef's tip: keep stirring the caramel the whole time it bubbles; it catches on the bottom in seconds.

60 min

British Baking

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Navajo mutton stew

Mutton stew is the everyday and ceremonial dish of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, where sheep have been raised on the high desert since the 1600s; it simmers on wood stoves in hogans and is served at the Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock with fry bread or blue corn bread. It is a plain, honest stew of bone-in mutton, potatoes, corn, onion and a little green chile. Lamb shoulder can be used, and cooks a little faster. Chef's tip: keep it at a lazy simmer and skim the fat as it rises; mutton fat is strong-tasting.

170 min

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Chicken-fried steak

Chicken-fried steak is Texas's unofficial state dish, served in truck stops, small-town cafés and Sunday after-church lunches across the Hill Country: a tenderised beef steak breaded and fried like fried chicken, smothered in white cream gravy with lots of black pepper, next to mashed potatoes. It came from German and Austrian settlers' schnitzel. Chef's tip: double-dip in seasoned flour, buttermilk and flour again for the craggy, crunchy crust.

40 min

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Tex-Mex beef fajitas

Fajitas started with the vaqueros of the Rio Grande Valley, who were paid partly in the tough skirt steak, and they became a Tex-Mex restaurant hit in Houston and Austin in the 1970s, carried to the table on a hissing iron platter. The steak is marinated in lime, garlic and cumin, seared very hot and sliced thinly against the grain, then wrapped in flour tortillas with charred peppers and onions. Chef's tip: slice across the grain; with skirt steak that one detail decides whether it is tender or chewy.

40 min

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Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Creole is the tomato-red weeknight dish of New Orleans homes and old Creole lunch counters, quite different from the brown, roux-based Cajun stews of the countryside. Gulf prawns simmer briefly in a sauce of tomato, the trinity, garlic, bay and hot sauce, and the dish is spooned over fluffy rice. Chef's tip: simmer the sauce until it is thick before the prawns go in, because they release water as they cook.

50 min

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Crawfish étouffée

Étouffée means 'smothered', and in Breaux Bridge, which calls itself the crawfish capital of the world, this is what happens to the spring crawfish catch from February to May. Peeled tails are simmered in a butter-based light roux with the trinity, garlic and cayenne until the sauce is glossy and orange with crawfish fat. Serve over white rice. Peeled frozen crawfish tails or raw prawns work well outside Louisiana. Chef's tip: keep any yellow crawfish fat in the pack; it gives the sauce its richness and colour.

50 min

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Beef on weck

Ask in a Buffalo tavern and many people will say this, not the wing, is the city's real sandwich: thin slices of rare roast beef dipped in its juices, piled on a kummelweck roll crusted with coarse salt and caraway seeds, with sharp horseradish on the side. German bakers in western New York brought the roll in the nineteenth century. Chef's tip: dip the top of the roll in the beef juices just before serving, so it softens but the salt crust stays crunchy.

120 min

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Buffalo chicken wings

Buffalo wings were first tossed in hot sauce and butter at a bar in Buffalo, New York, in 1964 and are now the snack of every American football Sunday. The wings are cooked until the skin is crisp, then coated in a glossy, vinegary chilli-butter sauce and served with celery sticks and a cooling blue cheese dip. This oven version skips the deep fryer. Chef's tip: dry the wings well and toss them with baking powder; it draws out moisture and blisters the skin almost like frying.

65 min

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Philadelphia roast pork sandwich

Many Philadelphians quietly prefer this to the cheesesteak: thinly sliced roast pork shoulder soaked in its garlic and herb juices, with bitter sautéed broccoli rabe and sharp provolone in a seeded Italian roll. It comes from the Italian markets of South Philly and the stalls of the Reading Terminal Market, where it is lunch for market workers. Chef's tip: slice the pork very thin and dunk it back in the hot juices; that soaking is what makes the sandwich.

230 min

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Kentucky hot brown

The hot brown was invented in 1926 at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, as a late-night dish for dancers, and it is still ordered there and all over the city on Derby weekend. Thick slices of roast turkey on toast are covered in a rich Mornay sauce and grilled until bubbling, then topped with tomato and crisp smoked bacon (pork). Eat it with a knife and fork. Chef's tip: use leftover roast turkey breast carved thickly; thin deli slices dry out under the grill.

35 min

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Country captain

Country captain is the curried chicken of Savannah and coastal Georgia, said to have arrived with sea captains in the spice trade from India, and it is still served at Georgia Junior League luncheons and holiday buffets. Browned chicken is braised in a mild curry and tomato sauce with peppers, then finished with currants and toasted almonds, and served over white rice. Chef's tip: toast the curry powder in the fat for a full minute; raw curry powder tastes dusty.

75 min

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Pennsylvania Dutch chicken pot pie

In Lancaster County a pot pie is not a pie at all: bott boi is a thick chicken stew with potatoes, celery and saffron in which big squares of rolled egg dough are boiled like noodles, served at firehouse suppers and Amish and Mennonite family dinners. It is soft, comforting and golden. Chef's tip: drop the dough squares in one at a time into a rolling boil so they don't stick together in a lump.

130 min

American Breakfast & Brunch

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Scrapple

Scrapple is the thrifty breakfast meat of Pennsylvania Dutch farm country and the Delaware Valley, made at pig-killing time from pork trimmings simmered and set with cornmeal and buckwheat into a loaf. Slices are fried until crisp and brown outside and soft within, and eaten with eggs, apple butter or maple syrup at Lancaster County diners. This home version uses pork shoulder and a little liver. Chef's tip: slice it 1 cm thick and leave it alone in the pan until a dark crust forms; it sticks if you move it early.

170 min

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Halal cart chicken over rice

From the silver carts on Midtown corners, often run by Egyptian and Afghan cooks, comes New York's favourite cheap late-night meal: chopped spiced chicken thighs on turmeric rice with shredded lettuce, a tangy white sauce and a fiery red chilli sauce. Office workers and taxi drivers queue for it at 2 a.m. Chef's tip: marinate the chicken in the fridge overnight; the lemon and spices soak right in.

55 min

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Reuben sandwich

The Reuben is a New York deli classic, claimed by both a Manhattan delicatessen and a poker game in Omaha, and now on every Jewish-style deli menu in the city: rye bread layered with thin corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, then fried in butter until the cheese melts. It is a big, salty, tangy lunch. Chef's tip: squeeze the sauerkraut hard in your fist; wet kraut makes soggy toast.

20 min

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Philly cheesesteak

The cheesesteak was born in South Philadelphia in the 1930s, and the rival stands on Passyunk Avenue still keep the city arguing over whether it should come with melted cheese sauce, provolone or American cheese, and 'wit' or 'witout' fried onions. Paper-thin ribeye is chopped on a hot griddle, cheese is melted over it and the lot is scooped into a soft, crusty hoagie roll. Chef's tip: freeze the beef for 40 minutes before slicing; it firms up so you can cut it almost see-through.

35 min

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Maryland crab soup

Maryland crab soup is the red, vegetable-packed soup of Baltimore crab houses and Eastern Shore church fundraisers, simmered in a beef broth with tomatoes, corn, beans and lots of crab seasoning, with blue crab meat stirred in at the end. Locals eat a cup before a tray of steamed crabs. Chef's tip: let the vegetables cook fully before the crab goes in; crab meat only needs warming, and stirring too much shreds it.

70 min

American Soups

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Maryland crab cakes

Around Chesapeake Bay, from Baltimore's crab houses to the docks of the Eastern Shore, a proper crab cake is judged by how little holds it together: sweet lump blue crab, a spoon of mayonnaise and mustard, a little seasoning and just enough crumbs to bind. They are eaten as a platter with coleslaw or in a soft roll with tartare sauce through the summer crab season. Chef's tip: chill the shaped cakes for an hour; it firms them so they don't fall apart in the pan.

35 min

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Manhattan clam chowder

Manhattan clam chowder swaps New England's cream for tomatoes, a style that grew up in the Portuguese and Italian fish restaurants of New York and Coney Island and is still ladled out in Fulton Street lunch counters. It is a brothy red soup with clams, potato, carrot, celery and a little bacon (pork), lighter than the white kind and peppery with thyme. Chef's tip: add the chopped clams only for the last few minutes; long boiling turns them to rubber.

60 min

American Soups

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Chicken sauce piquante

Sauce piquante is the fiery tomato-and-roux braise of the Cajun parishes, cooked in big black pots for family reunions and the Raceland sauce piquante festival, with chicken, rabbit, alligator or turtle. This chicken version simmers until falling off the bone in a sauce sharp with chilli, vinegar and plenty of black pepper. Serve over rice. Chef's tip: let it sit for 20 minutes off the heat before serving; the heat and sharpness mellow and blend.

95 min

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Green chile cheeseburger

The green chile cheeseburger is the pride of New Mexico, with an official trail of roadside diners and bars from San Antonio, New Mexico, to Santa Fe competing for the best one. A juicy beef patty is topped with melted American or cheddar cheese and a heap of roasted, chopped green chile, which adds smoky heat that cuts through the richness. Chef's tip: put the chile on before the cheese and let the cheese melt over it, so it holds the chile in place.

35 min

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New Mexico carne adovada

Carne adovada is the slow-braised red chile pork of northern New Mexico, a speciality of Chimayó and the Española Valley, eaten in burritos, with eggs for breakfast or with sopaipillas on the side. Pork shoulder marinates overnight in a smooth sauce of dried red chile pods, garlic and oregano, then bakes until it falls into soft shreds stained deep red. Chef's tip: marinate it overnight in the fridge; the chile works into the meat and makes it extra tender.

200 min

Turkish Breakfast & Brunch

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Hawaiian macaroni salad

Every Hawaiian plate lunch, from drive-ins in Hilo to the lunch wagons of Honolulu, comes with two scoops of rice and one of this soft, creamy macaroni salad. It is simpler than American pasta salads: overcooked elbow macaroni soaked in vinegar while hot, then folded with lots of mayonnaise, a little milk and grated carrot. Chef's tip: cook the pasta past al dente, a few minutes longer than the packet says; plate-lunch mac is meant to be soft so it soaks up the dressing.

30 minPacific Islander Salads

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Hawaiian shave ice

Shave ice came to Hawaii with Japanese plantation workers, and on hot afternoons on Oahu's North Shore families still queue at roadside stands for a towering, soft cone of ice soaked in rainbow syrups. The ice is shaved so fine it is like fresh snow and soaks up the syrup instead of letting it run to the bottom. Without a shaver, freeze ice in a block and scrape it with a fork. Chef's tip: let the ice block sit out for 5 minutes before shaving; slightly tempered ice gives fluffier flakes.

30 minPacific Islander Desserts

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Ab havij bastaniCarrot juice with saffron ice cream

Every juice bar in Tehran, from Tajrish Square to the stalls of Valiasr Street, sells ab havij bastani: a tall glass of fresh, ice-cold carrot juice with a scoop of saffron ice cream floating on top. People eat it with a long spoon in summer, stirring the melting ice cream into the juice until it turns creamy and pale orange. It is sweet, earthy and cooling, and kids treat it as a dessert. Chef's tip: chill the carrots well before juicing; warm juice melts the ice cream at once and loses its fresh taste.

10 min

Persian Drinks

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Hawaiian butter mochi

Butter mochi is the sweet of Hawaii's potlucks, school fundraisers and family parties, a local mix of Japanese mochi and the islands' coconut. Glutinous rice flour is baked with coconut milk, evaporated milk, butter and eggs into a golden, chewy cake with crisp edges and a soft, bouncy middle. Chef's tip: cut it with a plastic knife once fully cooled; a metal knife drags and sticks.

70 minPacific Islander Baking

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Hawaiian malasadas

Malasadas came to Hawaii with Portuguese workers from Madeira and the Azores in the 1870s, and on Malasada Day, the Tuesday before Lent, bakeries in Honolulu have queues round the block. They are eggy, airy yeast doughnuts with no hole, fried golden and rolled in sugar while hot; some are filled with haupia or custard. Chef's tip: the dough is very soft and sticky, so oil your hands rather than adding more flour, or the malasadas turn heavy.

50 minPacific Islander Baking

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Ohio Shaker lemon pie

The Shaker communities of Ohio and Kentucky wasted nothing, so they sliced whole lemons, peel and all, and left them overnight in sugar until the rind turned soft and syrupy. Baked with eggs between two crusts, the filling is like a bright, chunky marmalade custard, sweet, sour and faintly bitter. Shaker villages and Ohio bakeries still make it for spring. Chef's tip: slice the lemons paper-thin, ideally on a mandoline; thick slices stay chewy and bitter.

75 min

American Desserts

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Iowa scalloped corn

In Iowa, scalloped corn is the dish everyone brings to the Thanksgiving table, the church potluck and the Sunday dinner after a funeral. Sweetcorn kernels and creamed corn are baked with milk, eggs and buttery crushed crackers into a soft, spoonable pudding with a golden, crunchy top. Chef's tip: save a third of the crackers for the top and mix them with melted butter so they crisp instead of going soggy.

60 min

American Sides

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KayganaHerb egg pancake

In Trabzon and Rize homes, kaygana is what appears when breakfast needs stretching: eggs beaten with a little flour and milk and a big handful of spring onion, dill and parsley, then poured thin into a buttered pan. It sits halfway between an omelette and a crêpe, soft in the middle with lacy, browned edges. Fold it onto a plate with cheese, olives, tomatoes and tea, or roll it up for a packed lunch. Common mistake: a pan that isn't hot enough, so the batter soaks up butter and turns leathery instead of puffing. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes; the flour hydrates and the kaygana flips without tearing.

27 min

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Kayısı tatlısıCream-filled poached apricots

Malatya grows more apricots than anywhere else on earth, and its sweet shops make the most of the sun-dried fruit with kayısı tatlısı: plump dried apricots soaked, poached in a light syrup until glossy, then split and filled with thick kaymak and topped with bright green pistachio. They're served chilled in small dishes at the end of a meal or with coffee. Common mistake: boiling them hard, which bursts the skins; they need only a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: choose the soft, pale, whole dried apricots rather than the sulphured orange halves; they fill neatly and taste of honey.

40 min

Turkish Desserts

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AdasiBrown lentils with onion and cumin

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

50 min

Persian Breakfast & Brunch

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CocadaChewy coconut sweet

Baianas in long white skirts sell cocada from glass-fronted trays in the Pelourinho and on the beaches of Salvador, alongside acarajé, in shades from snow-white to dark caramel. It is the simplest of sweets: fresh coconut cooked in sugar syrup until it binds into chewy, glossy clusters, crisp on the edges and soft inside. Cocada branca keeps the sugar pale; cocada queimada takes the sugar to caramel first, which gives a deeper, slightly bitter edge (see the last step). Freshly grated coconut makes the best texture; frozen grated coconut from Asian or Latin shops is a good second choice. Dropping the mixture too soon is the usual mistake, because it stays sticky and spreads into a flat puddle. Chef's tip: a spoonful should hold its shape on a cold plate before you start dropping the rest.

45 min

Brazilian Desserts

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EiernockerlSoft dumplings with scrambled eggs

Eiernockerl is what Viennese grandmothers cook when the larder is nearly bare: a loose flour batter is scraped in little nubs into boiling water, then tossed in foaming butter and set with beaten eggs. In Vienna it turns up on weekday lunch tables and in old-fashioned Beisln, usually with a green salad in a sharp vinegar dressing on the side. The nockerl should be soft and slightly chewy, the egg just set and glossy, with lots of chives. A common mistake is cooking the eggs until dry and grainy; take the pan off the heat while they still look a little wet. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes before you cut it into the water, so the flour swells and the nockerl hold their shape.

25 min

Austrian Vegetarian

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Rhubarb custard pie

Farm wives across Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas called rhubarb 'pie plant', because the first stalks in May went straight into this pie after a long winter without fresh fruit. Chopped rhubarb is baked in a sweet egg custard, so each slice is soft, creamy and tart at the same time. It turns up at Memorial Day picnics and church bake sales. Chef's tip: toss the rhubarb with the sugar and flour and let it sit 10 minutes before adding the eggs; it starts drawing out juice and the custard sets more evenly.

80 min

American Desserts

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Coca de trempóPepper, tomato and onion flatbread

Bakeries across Mallorca sell coca de trempó by the slab from June to September, and it travels to every beach and village fiesta wrapped in paper. Trempó is the island's summer salad of green pepper, tomato and sweet onion; here it is chopped, drained and baked over a thin, crisp olive-oil dough until the edges of the vegetables just catch. Some bakers work lard into the dough; this version uses olive oil only, so it is vegan. Cut it into squares and eat it warm or cold. Chef's tip: salt and drain the chopped vegetables for 20 minutes before topping, so the base bakes crisp instead of soggy.

60 min

Spanish Breads & Parathas

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Lowcountry boil

Lowcountry boil, also called Frogmore stew after a village on St Helena Island, South Carolina, is the one-pot party of the Carolina and Georgia coast: new potatoes, corn cobs, smoked pork sausage and fresh shrimp boiled in spiced water, drained and tipped straight onto a newspaper-covered table for everyone to dig in. It is summer food for beach houses, church picnics and Fourth of July. Chef's tip: add everything in stages, timed so the shrimp go in last for only a few minutes.

50 min