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Marquesitas
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Marquesitas

Cheese and cajeta crepes

Evening in Mérida's Plaza Grande means the smell of marquesitas: thin batter pressed in hot hinged irons until crisp, then rolled like a cigar around grated Edam cheese and a sweet filling such as cajeta, chocolate-hazelnut spread or jam. Edam came to the Yucatán through the port trade with the Netherlands and became part of the local cooking, and the salty-sweet combination is the whole point. At home you can cook them in a thin, wide frying pan. Edam is usually made with animal rennet, so check the label or use a vegetarian Gouda-style cheese. Chef's tip: roll while the crêpe is still in the pan and hot; within seconds it hardens and will crack.

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Ayvalık tostuSausage, cheese and pickle toastie

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Azevias de grãoSweet chickpea fried pastries

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Bacalhau à minhotaFried salt cod with onions

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BaeckeoffeThree-meat and potato bake

Baeckeoffe means "baker's oven" in Alsatian, and in villages around Strasbourg and Colmar the dish was once carried to the baker's dying oven on a Monday to cook slowly while the week's washing was done. Pork shoulder, lamb and beef are marinated overnight in dry Alsace white wine with onion, garlic and herbs, then layered with potatoes in a lidded earthenware dish whose rim is sealed with a strip of flour-and-water dough. After three hours the potatoes have drunk up the wine and meat juices and the three meats fall apart under a spoon. The dish uses wine, but an alcohol-free version with stock is given in the ingredient notes; serve it straight from the pot with a green salad. Chef's tip: break the dough seal at the table, because the burst of steam and the smell of wine and thyme are half the pleasure.

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Baghala ghatoghDill and broad bean stew

In Rasht and the villages of Gilan, baghala ghatogh is cooked in late spring when the slender local broad beans called pach baghala are in the markets, and later in the year with frozen ones. The beans are simmered in their thin skins with a great deal of garlic and dill, then eggs are cracked on top and left to set softly, and the whole pan is eaten with plain kateh rice and a few pickled garlic cloves. It is humble, green and fragrant. A common mistake is stirring the eggs right in, which turns the stew grey; leave them whole so the yolks stay just runny. Chef's tip: cook the dill in butter or oil before the water goes in; it blooms and tastes far deeper than dill added at the end.

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Baghali pokhteBoiled broad beans with vinegar

When autumn rain sets in over Rasht, and through the winter on Tehran street corners, sellers ladle steaming broad beans in their skins from giant pots into paper cones. The beans are soaked overnight and boiled slowly until creamy, then each bowlful is sprinkled with sharp golpar (ground Persian hogweed seed), salt and a splash of vinegar. You pinch the beans out of their skins as you eat. A common mistake is salting the cooking water early, which keeps the skins tough. Chef's tip: golpar is strong and smells a little like celery and citrus; start with a light dusting and add more at the table.

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Bakaliaros skordaliaBattered salt cod with garlic dip

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BalalCharcoal-grilled corn

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Ballycastle yellowmanHoneycomb toffee

Yellowman is the bright yellow, brittle honeycomb toffee hacked from great slabs at the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, County Antrim, at the end of every August, often eaten with dulse. Golden syrup, sugar and butter are boiled to the hard-crack stage and then foamed with bicarbonate of soda into a crunchy, airy toffee. Chef's tip: have the tin and the soda ready before you start; once it reaches temperature you have seconds.

20 minBritishDessertsGluten free
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BarazekSesame and pistachio cookies

Barazek are the cookies Damascene families bring out for Eid and to go with an afternoon glass of tea: thin, crisp and buttery, with a glassy crust of sesame seeds held on with honey on top and a scattering of chopped pistachios pressed into the bottom. They are made by the tin-load in Damascus sweet shops and keep for weeks. Common mistake: using untoasted sesame — they should be lightly toasted before going on, or the cookies taste raw. Chef's tip: dip the sesame side into the honey syrup and then the seeds, not the other way round; you get an even, shiny layer that bakes to amber.

50 minSyrianBaking
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BarbajuansFried chard and ricotta pastries

Barbajuans are Monaco's national snack, little fried pastry pockets of chard, leek and ricotta that come out at every apéritif, and by the hundred on 19 November, the principality's National Day. The name is said to mean 'Uncle John' in the Monegasque dialect, after the cook who first made them. You will also find them in bakeries in Menton and along the Riviera towards Nice. Parmesan usually contains animal rennet; a vegetarian hard cheese works just as well. Chef's tip: roll the dough so thin you can almost see the worktop through it; thick pastry turns chewy instead of crisp.

75 minFrenchSnacks & Starters
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Barbounia tiganitaFried red mullet

In summer, harbour tavernas from Naxos to Paros fry small red mullet whole, dusted in flour and crackling in olive oil, and bring them to the table with lemon, a horiatiki salad and bread. The skin turns crisp and rosy-gold while the flesh stays sweet and delicate, and islanders eat the little ones bones and all. Common mistake: crowding the pan, which drops the oil temperature so the fish soaks up oil and goes soggy. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger to scale and gut the mullet but leave the heads on; they hold the fish together and are the tastiest part for many Greeks.

25 minGreekFish
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