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Lahanodolmades avgolemono
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Lahanodolmades avgolemono

Stuffed cabbage in egg-lemon sauce

When the first frosts hit Macedonia and the cabbages in the market grow huge and sweet, families in Thessaloniki and Serres spend a Saturday rolling lahanodolmades for the week ahead. Blanched leaves wrap a filling of minced pork and beef with rice, onion and dill; they simmer slowly in a covered pot and the broth is thickened with egg and lemon into a pale, silky sauce. Eat them hot with bread and a dollop of yoghurt. Common mistake: boiling the sauce after adding the eggs, which scrambles it — keep it below a simmer. Chef's tip: line the pot with torn outer leaves so the rolls never stick or scorch.

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In New Mexico sopaipillas arrive in a basket with every plate of enchiladas or carne adovada, from Albuquerque diners to Santa Fe cafés, along with a squeeze bottle of honey. Small squares of dough puff up into hollow pillows in hot oil; you tear off a corner and drizzle honey inside to cool the heat of the red or green chile. They are a different thing from Chile's pumpkin sopaipillas. Chef's tip: roll the dough evenly to 3 mm and spoon hot oil over the tops as they fry; that is what makes them balloon.

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Southern fried okra

In Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia, fried okra is served in bowls on every meat-and-three counter and eaten like popcorn in summer, when okra pods are young and tender. Sliced into coins, dipped in buttermilk and tossed in seasoned cornmeal, they fry crisp and nutty with none of the slipperiness okra is known for. Chef's tip: choose pods no longer than your finger; big ones are woody.

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Choco fritoFried cuttlefish with chips

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Moroccan spiced coffee

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Chocolate santafereñoHot chocolate with cheese

Old Bogotá, once Santafé, built an afternoon ritual around hot chocolate. In the café-restaurants of La Candelaria it comes in a big cup, frothed with a wooden molinillo, with a plate of white cheese, almojábanas and buttered bread on the side. The surprise for visitors is the cheese: cubes go straight into the hot chocolate, softening into stretchy strings that are fished out with a spoon, a salty contrast to the sweet, spiced drink. Colombian table chocolate comes in bars already sweetened and often flavoured with cinnamon and clove; dark chocolate plus sugar and spice is a fair swap. The usual cheese, queso campesino or doble crema, is normally set with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian (microbial-rennet) mozzarella-style cheese. Boiling the chocolate hard is the misstep that makes it grainy and scorched; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: no molinillo? Whisk briskly with a balloon whisk or a milk frother until there's a thick foam.

15 minColombianDrinksGluten free
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ChocotortaNo-bake chocolate biscuit cake

Born in 1980s Buenos Aires as an advertising idea and adopted by the whole country, chocotorta is the cake children ask for at every birthday and the easiest dessert in the Argentine repertoire. Chocolate biscuits are dipped briefly in milk (adults often use coffee), layered with a cream of dulce de leche beaten with cream cheese, and left overnight until the biscuits turn soft and cake-like. It is rich, sweet and a little tangy, and slices cleanly straight from the fridge. Any plain crisp chocolate biscuit works; rectangular ones make the neatest layers. The mistake to avoid is soaking the biscuits too long: a one-second dip is plenty, or they collapse into mush before you can lay them down. Chef's tip: assemble it a day ahead in a loaf tin lined with cling film; overnight chilling is what turns it from biscuits and cream into cake.

20 minArgentinianDesserts
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Cağ kebabıSpit-grilled marinated lamb

In Erzurum and nearby Oltu, cağ kebabı is cooked on a huge horizontal spit turning beside a wood fire; the cook slices off the charred outer layer onto long flat skewers, and you eat it straight off the metal wrapped in lavaş. At home, thin slices of lamb marinated overnight with grated onion and black pepper, threaded tightly and seared on a very hot grill or griddle pan, capture much of the flavour. Serve with lavaş, sliced onion with sumac and grilled peppers. Common mistake: slicing the meat too thick, so it's tough and chewy; aim for 5 mm. Cook lamb to at least 63 °C with a little pink, or longer if you prefer. Chef's tip: squeeze the grated onion through a sieve and use only the juice; it tenderises without leaving bits that burn.

45 minTurkishMeat
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Cajeta de CelayaGoat milk caramel

Celaya, in the Bajío of Guanajuato, has made cajeta for centuries, once packing it into little wooden boxes (cajetes) that gave it its name. It is caramel cooked from goat's milk, so it is looser and has a gentle tang compared with the cow's-milk dulce de leche of Argentina. Mexicans spread it on crêpes and churros, pour it over ice cream, sandwich it between obleas (wafers) and turn it into glorias. A splash of rum-flavoured 'envinada' cajeta exists, but this one is plain and alcohol-free. Chef's tip: use a pan at least three times the volume of the milk; it foams high when the bicarbonate goes in.

95 minMexicanBasicsGluten free
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Caldeirada galegaWhite fish and potato stew

In fishing towns like Ribeira, Bueu and Muxía, caldeirada was the fishermen's way of cooking whatever the boat brought in, and it is still served at seaside restaurants and at the July fiestas of the Virgen del Carmen, patron of sailors. Unlike merluza á galega, it uses several kinds of fish, such as monkfish, ray, conger or hake, layered with potatoes and onion and cooked in very little water, then finished with plenty of ajada. A common mistake is stirring the pot, which breaks the fish into flakes; shake it gently instead. Chef's tip: put the firmest fish at the bottom and the most delicate on top, so everything finishes cooking together.

60 minSpanishFishGluten free
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CajuínaClarified cashew apple juice

Teresina, the capital of Piauí, treats cajuína as a matter of local pride, and the drink's traditional craft is officially recognised as part of Brazilian cultural heritage. It is cashew-apple juice that has been clarified until crystal clear, bottled and cooked in a water bath until the natural fruit sugars caramelise and turn it amber-gold. No sugar is added. Served ice-cold, it tastes of baked apple and honey with a hint of cashew, smooth and non-alcoholic. Small producers clarify the juice with gelatin or cashew-tree resin; this vegan home version clears it by settling and filtering instead, which takes patience. Real cajuína is shelf-stable thanks to commercial sterilising; this home batch must be kept in the fridge and drunk within a week. Skipping the slow filtering is the usual error, and cloudy juice turns murky brown instead of gold. Chef's tip: let the juice settle in the fridge overnight before filtering and pour off the clear top, leaving the sediment behind.

150 minBrazilianDrinksVeganGluten free
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ChontaduroBoiled peach-palm fruit

Street vendors in Cali, Buenaventura and Tumaco push carts piled with bright orange and red chontaduro, peeled to order and sprinkled with salt, then drizzled with honey. The fruit of the peach palm, it has a dense, floury flesh somewhere between roasted chestnut, squash and boiled egg yolk, and a savoury-sweet flavour that people from the Pacific coast swear by as an energy food. At home, the fruit must be cooked, as raw peach palm is unpleasant and irritating to the throat. Fresh fruit appears in Latin American shops in season; frozen or jarred cooked chontaduro is easier to find and only needs warming. Undercooking is the common slip: the flesh stays fibrous and scratchy, so keep boiling until it crumbles easily. This is vegetarian but not vegan because of the honey; panela syrup is a vegan swap. Chef's tip: cut the fruit in half and remove the stone before salting, so the seasoning reaches the warm flesh.

65 minColombianSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Sweet potato pie

Sweet potato pie is the Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert of African American kitchens across the South, from Mississippi Delta church suppers to Sunday dinners in Atlanta. Roasted orange sweet potatoes are mashed with butter, evaporated milk, eggs and warm spices into a filling lighter and silkier than pumpkin pie. Chef's tip: roast the sweet potatoes whole rather than boiling them; you get a deeper, sweeter, less watery filling.

90 minAmericanDesserts
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Choquinhos com tintaBaby cuttlefish in ink

Setúbal claims fried cuttlefish, but the Algarve has its own treasure: choquinhos, cuttlefish no bigger than a thumb, sautéed whole in garlicky olive oil until their ink turns the pan glossy black. Seafood bars in Olhão and Faro serve them in small clay dishes, to be eaten with toothpicks and bread for mopping. The recipe uses a splash of white wine; use water with a squeeze of lemon instead for an alcohol-free version. Chef's tip: cook in a very hot pan in two batches, so the cuttlefish sizzle rather than stew.

25 minPortugueseFishGluten free
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CajuzinhoPeanut and cocoa sweets

Next to brigadeiros on any children's birthday table in Brazil sit the cajuzinhos, small sweets moulded into the shape of a cashew fruit (caju) and crowned with a single peanut that stands in for the nut. The dough is condensed milk cooked with ground roasted peanuts and a little cocoa until it pulls into a fudge, then rolled in sugar. Each one is chewy, peanutty and gently chocolatey, a bite-size sweet that sits in its own paper case. They are a good make-ahead: shaped cajuzinhos keep for 3 days in a cool place. Undercooking the mixture is the usual problem: soft dough will not hold the cashew shape and slumps in the cases. Chef's tip: oil your hands lightly before shaping and roll each ball into a fat sausage first, then pinch one end narrower to get the cashew outline.

45 minBrazilianDessertsGluten free
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Arroz con pitu de caleyaSoupy rice with chicken

A pitu de caleya is a cockerel raised free in the lanes, or caleyas, of rural Asturias; its firm, flavourful meat needs long stewing, and families around Villaviciosa and Grado still cook it for feast days. The stew is often finished as a soupy rice, so the deep chicken juices go into every grain. Use the best free-range chicken you can find. The braise includes dry white wine; replace it with extra stock and a squeeze of lemon if you want it alcohol-free. Chef's tip: brown the chicken slowly and deeply; that colour is where the flavour of the whole pot comes from.

125 minSpanishChicken
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Scottish shortbread

Shortbread is Scotland's most famous bake, handed round at Hogmanay with a dram and packed in tins as a gift all year. The classic recipe is one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour, with a little rice flour for the sandy snap; it is shaped into a round and cut into petticoat tails, a shape linked with Mary, Queen of Scots. Chef's tip: bake low and slow so it stays pale gold; brown shortbread tastes bitter rather than buttery.

50 minBritishBaking
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Sorghum molasses cookies

Every autumn, small farms across Kentucky and Tennessee still press sorghum cane and boil the juice into a thin, tangy syrup, and these soft spice cookies are how many mountain families use it at Christmas. Rolled in sugar, they bake with crackled tops and chewy middles, tasting of ginger and that distinctive earthy sweetness. Molasses works if you can't find sorghum. Chef's tip: chill the dough so the balls hold their shape and crack rather than spreading flat.

32 minAmericanBaking
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Detroit-style pizza

Detroit-style pizza started in an east-side bar in 1946, baked in the blue steel trays used in the city's car factories. The airy focaccia-like crust is topped edge to edge with cubed cheese, which melts down the sides into a crunchy, lacy, caramelised frame, and the tomato sauce goes on last in two stripes. The local brick cheese is hard to find, so use half mild cheddar, half mozzarella, both with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: push the cheese right into the corners and against the tin; that is where the famous burnt-cheese crust comes from.

50 minAmericanPizza
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Choros a la chalacaCold mussels with corn salsa

Named for the people of Callao, Lima's port, choros a la chalaca are what you order with friends at a seafront cevichería on a hot afternoon: steamed mussels, chilled, each on its half shell under a bright, wet salsa of red onion, tomato, Andean corn, rocoto and lime. Cool, sweet, briny and sharp, they are eaten with your fingers in two bites, often before a ceviche or a jalea. Here the mussels are fully steamed open first, so nothing is served raw. People often overcook them while waiting for the last stubborn shells, which leaves the rest rubbery; lift them out as soon as each one opens. Chef's tip: dress the salsa no more than 15 minutes ahead, and spoon a little of the juice onto every mussel; that juice is the whole point of the dish.

30 minPeruvianFishGluten free
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Choucroute garnieSauerkraut with smoked pork and sausages

From the winstubs of Strasbourg to the brasseries near Paris's Gare de l'Est, choucroute garnie is the dish that announces autumn, when the new season's sauerkraut arrives. It is a pork feast: smoked pork belly and smoked pork loin braised on a bed of sauerkraut softened with white wine, juniper and onion, then crowned with Strasbourg and smoked sausages and boiled potatoes. The cabbage turns mellow and silky rather than sharp, and soaks up the smoky fat. The braise uses dry white wine; the ingredient notes give an alcohol-free swap. Serve it with strong Dijon mustard and a little horseradish on the side. Chef's tip: rinse the sauerkraut only once and squeeze it well, so it keeps a little tang but doesn't make the whole dish sour.

130 minFrenchMeat
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Chicago deep-dish pizza

Deep-dish pizza was born in Chicago's River North in the 1940s and is still the dish visitors queue for downtown: a tall, flaky, buttery crust baked in a steel pan, filled with a thick layer of mozzarella and vegetables, and finished with chunky crushed tomato on top so the cheese doesn't burn during the long bake. You eat it with a knife and fork. Mozzarella is often made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian one. Chef's tip: laminate the dough with soft butter and roll it up like a cinnamon roll; that is what gives the crust its flaky, biscuit-like layers.

80 minAmericanPizza
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EliopsomoOlive bread

Around Kalamata, where the almond-shaped black olives ripen in groves running down to the Messinian gulf, bakers make eliopsomo for the long fasting weeks of Lent, when bread, olives and oil are lunch. The dough is rich with olive oil and folded with a generous handful of chopped Kalamata olives, soft-fried onion and dried oregano, then baked into a crusty round with a soft, purple-flecked crumb. Slice it with tomatoes and cucumber or dip into soups. Common mistake: adding wet, brined olives straight from the jar — drain and pat them dry, or the dough turns sticky and grey. Chef's tip: fold the olives in after the first rise so they don't break up while kneading.

70 minGreekBreads & ParathasVegan
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Scottish oatcakes

Oatcakes have been baked on girdles across Scotland since oats were the country's main grain, and they are still eaten with cheese, smoked fish or marmalade, and alongside soup on cold days. Medium oatmeal is bound with a little melted butter and hot water, rolled thin and baked until crisp and nutty. Chef's tip: work quickly while the dough is warm; as it cools it cracks and won't roll.

40 minBritishBaking
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Dundee cake

Dundee cake is the light, buttery fruit cake from the city of marmalade and jute, said to have been created by the Keiller family to use up their orange peel. Instead of marzipan and icing it is topped with concentric circles of whole blanched almonds, and it is eaten at Christmas and with afternoon tea. Chef's tip: lay the almonds on gently without pressing; if they sink they burn and the pattern is lost.

145 minBritishBaking
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Bobó de camarãoPrawns in cassava and coconut purée

Velvety, coral-coloured and rich with coconut, bobó de camarão is what Bahian families put on the table when there is something to celebrate, and beach restaurants from Praia do Forte to Itacaré serve it in clay pots with white rice and farofa. Cassava is boiled until it falls apart, blended with coconut milk into a smooth cream, then folded into prawns cooked with onion, tomato, peppers and a slick of dendê oil. The result is somewhere between a stew and a thick sauce, sweet from the prawns and gently earthy from the cassava. A frequent mistake is boiling the prawns in the purée for too long, which leaves them tough and curled; they go in at the very end. Cassava must always be cooked right through, never eaten raw: cut out the woody core and boil it until a knife meets no resistance. Chef's tip: blend the cassava while it is still hot, with some of its cooking water; cold cassava turns gluey in the blender.

65 minBrazilianCurriesGluten free
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Chuchu refogadoSautéed chayote

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 minBrazilianSidesVeganGluten free
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Wisconsin fried cheese curds

Fried cheese curds are what Wisconsin eats at supper clubs, ballparks and the State Fair in West Allis every August: fresh, squeaky cheddar curds dipped in a light batter and fried until the cheese just starts to melt and stretch. Many bars use a beer batter; this one uses sparkling water for the same lightness without alcohol. Serve with ranch dressing or marinara. Fresh curds are traditionally made with animal rennet, so look for curds or a young cheddar labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: fry straight from the fridge; cold curds stay intact while the batter crisps.

30 minAmericanSnacks & Starters
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New Mexico red chile sauce

Ask for 'red or green?' in any New Mexico café and red means this sauce, made from the sun-dried chile pods that hang in long ristras outside adobe houses in Chimayó and Hatch every autumn. The pods are toasted, soaked and blended into a smooth, brick-red sauce that is earthy and gently sweet rather than smoky, poured over enchiladas, eggs, beans and burritos. Chef's tip: toast the pods for only a few seconds a side; burnt chile makes the sauce bitter.

45 minAmericanBasicsVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Chuño phutiFreeze-dried potatoes with egg and cheese

Chuño are potatoes freeze-dried the ancient way on the Altiplano: left out on frosty nights, trampled to squeeze out the water and dried in the high sun, so they keep for years. In Puno and across the border in Bolivia, they are soaked, crumbled and fried with onion, then scrambled with egg and fresh cheese to make phuti, a hearty breakfast or supper eaten with a hot tea. The texture is dense and slightly chewy, and the flavour earthy and a little tangy. Chuño is sold dried in Andean shops; it must soak overnight (ideally 24 hours, with the water changed) and then be peeled, which adds time before you start. The mistake is not soaking or rinsing enough: under-soaked chuño smells strong and stays hard in the middle. Serve with a fresh tomato salsa or uchucuta. Fresh cheese is usually made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked chuño hard between your palms before crumbling; the drier it is, the better it fries.

40 minPeruvianVegetarianGluten free
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Chupe de camaronesPrawn chowder

Arequipa's picanterías serve one chupe on each day of the week, and the prawn one, made with crayfish-like camarones from the Majes and Ocoña rivers, is the grandest, especially on Fridays in Lent. It is a big orange chowder: a broth made from the prawn shells and heads, coloured with ají panca, filled with potatoes, corn, broad beans and a little rice, then softened with evaporated milk and fresh cheese, with an egg poached in each bowl. Rich, sweet and gently spicy, it needs nothing but bread. Large shell-on prawns stand in well for river prawns. Many cooks boil the prawns from the start and they turn to rubber; add them at the end and cook only until pink and opaque. Chef's tip: fry the heads and shells in the oil first and press them hard; the orange fat that comes out is what gives chupe its colour and depth.

75 minPeruvianSoupsGluten free
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Texas fruit kolaches

Kolaches came to central Texas with Czech settlers in the 1800s, and the bakeries along the highway through West, Caldwell and Hallettsville now sell them by the dozen for breakfast. They are soft, sweet yeast buns with a well pressed into the top, filled with apricot, cherry, prune or sweetened cream cheese and dusted with a crumbly posypka topping. Chef's tip: press the well deep and wide, nearly to the base, or the buns rise and push the filling out.

63 minAmericanBaking
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Midia saganakiMussels with tomato and feta

Thessaloniki is Greece's mussel capital, with farms in the Thermaic Gulf a few kilometres from the seafront ouzeries where this two-handled pan arrives, still bubbling, at the table. Mussels steam open in a quick sauce of peppers, tomato and chilli, and crumbled feta melts into the juices at the end. Bread is essential. The classic version adds a splash of ouzo; this one is alcohol-free, using a pinch of fennel seed for that aniseed note (add 2 tbsp ouzo with the tomatoes if you like). Common mistake: overcooking — take the pan off the heat as soon as the shells open. Chef's tip: buy mussels on the day and keep them in the fridge in a bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water.

30 minGreekFishGluten freeSpicy
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Texas sheet cake

Texas sheet cake is the big, thin chocolate cake that turns up at church potlucks, funerals and family reunions all over Texas, cut into squares straight from the tray. It is made with buttermilk and boiled cocoa butter, so it is moist and light, and the icing is poured over while the cake is still hot so it sets into a fudgy layer studded with pecans. Chef's tip: have the icing ready the moment the cake leaves the oven; warm cake plus warm icing is the whole secret.

42 minAmericanBaking
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New Orleans bread pudding with whiskey sauce

Every Creole restaurant in New Orleans, from neighbourhood po'boy shops to grand old dining rooms in the Garden District, serves bread pudding, because the city's light, crusty French bread goes stale in a day. The bread soaks in a cinnamon custard with raisins and bakes until puffed and golden, then gets a warm whiskey butter sauce. The sauce contains bourbon; for an alcohol-free version use 3 tbsp apple juice and 1 tsp vanilla instead. Chef's tip: let the bread soak for a full 30 minutes so it drinks up the custard; dry patches bake hard.

75 minAmericanDesserts
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Calderete de la RiberaLamb, potato and artichoke stew

In the Ribera of Navarre, calderete is the dish of fiestas and riverside gatherings: groups of friends, the cuadrillas, set an iron cauldron over vine cuttings and spend a long afternoon stewing lamb with peppers, potatoes and whatever the market gardens have that week. Artichokes are a Ribera signature. At home the same dish works on the stove in a heavy casserole and is just as good the next day. Chef's tip: snap the potatoes into chunks with the knife instead of slicing cleanly, so the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.

125 minSpanishMeatGluten free
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Canelés de BordeauxVanilla custard cakes

Small, fluted and almost black on the outside, canelés are the signature cake of Bordeaux, sold in pâtisseries all over the city and eaten with morning coffee or at teatime. The thick, caramelised crust cracks to reveal a soft, custardy centre scented with vanilla. The batter traditionally includes dark rum; this version gives it as an option and uses extra vanilla and a little orange zest instead, so it can be made alcohol-free. Copper moulds are traditional, but silicone canelé moulds work well at home. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 24 hours in the fridge; fresh batter puffs up like a soufflé and the cakes lose their shape.

1500 minFrenchBaking
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Canelons de Sant EsteveCannelloni with roast meat and béchamel

This contains pork (pork shoulder). On 26 December, Sant Esteve, Catalan families gather again and eat canelons, made from the meats left over from Christmas Day's carn d'olla or the roast. Rolled in pasta sheets, covered in béchamel and grated cheese and baked until bubbling, they are the reason many people say Sant Esteve is the better of the two feasts. This version cooks the meats from scratch, so you can make it any time. Cheeses like parmesan use animal rennet. Chef's tip: mince the meat finely and cook it down until it is moist but not wet, or the canelons go soggy.

150 minSpanishPasta & Noodles
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CanistrelliAnise biscuits

Every Corsican bakery, from Bastia to Bonifacio, stacks bags of canistrelli: thick, square-cut biscuits that are dry and crunchy outside and crumbly inside, made to be dipped in morning coffee. They come in many flavours, such as lemon, chestnut and almond, but anise seed is the classic. Traditionally the dough is mixed with dry white wine; most of the alcohol bakes off, but if you prefer none at all use apple juice with a squeeze of lemon, as the ingredient list says. With olive or sunflower oil instead of butter, they are vegan. Chef's tip: stop mixing as soon as the dough comes together; kneading makes them hard rather than crumbly.

40 minFrenchBakingVegan
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Far bretonPrune custard cake

Far began as a savoury porridge in Breton farmhouses; today it is the sweet custard cake that every boulangerie from Quimper to Saint-Malo sells by the slice, dense and wobbly in the middle and browned on top, with prunes hidden inside. Bretons eat it at room temperature for goûter, at the end of a crêpe meal or packed for a day at the beach. Some cooks soak the prunes in rum; this recipe uses warm tea, which plumps them without alcohol, and a little rum can go in the batter if you want the traditional taste. Chef's tip: make the batter the night before and rest it in the fridge; the flour swells and the far bakes smoother and more custardy.

65 minFrenchDesserts
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AmygdalopitaAlmond syrup cake

Kefalonia is almond country, and amygdalopita is what islanders bake for the feast of Agios Gerasimos in August and for guests all year round: a moist, flourless-leaning cake of ground almonds, eggs and breadcrumbs, soaked in light lemon syrup until it's dense and fragrant. Serve a small square with coffee or a spoon of thick yoghurt. Common mistake: grinding the almonds too long, so they turn oily and the cake heavy — pulse them until just sandy. Chef's tip: toast half the almonds before grinding for a deeper, nuttier flavour.

65 minGreekBaking
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AmygdalotaAlmond sweets

Andros is famous for its almonds, and the island's amygdalota are handed round at weddings, baptisms and Easter: little pear-shaped sweets of ground almond and sugar, baked just long enough to set, then splashed with rosewater and buried in icing sugar. They are soft and chewy inside, perfumed and pure white, and they go with a small cup of Greek coffee. Common mistake: baking them until golden, which turns them dry and hard; they should stay pale. Chef's tip: grind the almonds with some of the sugar so they release less oil and the paste stays light.

45 minGreekDessertsVegan
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Country ham with red-eye gravy

Salt-cured, aged country ham is a pride of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia smokehouses, and on mountain breakfast tables it is pan-fried in thin slices, then the pan is deglazed with black coffee to make red-eye gravy, thin, salty and bitter-sweet, spooned over the ham, grits or biscuits. This is pork, and very salty, so the slices are soaked first. Chef's tip: soak the ham in water or milk for 30 minutes if your country ham is very salty, then pat dry.

20 minAmericanMeatGluten free
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Anar ba golparPomegranate seeds with golpar

On Yalda night, the longest night of the year in late December, a bowl of jewel-red pomegranate seeds sits at the centre of the korsi in homes from Tehran to Shiraz, symbolising the dawn and the return of light. Many families sprinkle the seeds with golpar (ground Persian hogweed) and a little salt, which makes the sweet-sour fruit taste brighter and more savoury, almost like a salad. A common mistake is bashing the fruit too hard to free the seeds, which bursts them and leaves a puddle of juice. Chef's tip: seed the pomegranates under a bowl of water; the seeds sink, the white pith floats and the juice doesn't stain the kitchen.

15 minPersianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Raised pork pie

This is a raised pork pie in the style of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, the hunting town whose pies were carried in saddle bags; only pies made in the area may use the town's name, so this is our home version. Chopped, uncured pork shoulder and belly, peppered and spiced with mace, is packed into a crisp hot water crust made with lard, baked with bowed sides, then filled with a savoury jelly. Eat it cold with English mustard and pickle at picnics or on Boxing Day. Chef's tip: work the pastry while it is still warm; as it cools it cracks.

180 minBritishMeat
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AnchiCorn semolina pudding with peaches

Sold in plastic cups from coolers at Salta's Mercado San Miguel and on village plazas at the end of a hot afternoon, anchi is a thin, sweet pudding of fine maize semolina cooked with water, sugar and plenty of lemon. It sets only softly, so it is half eaten and half drunk, cold and refreshing, often with slices of poached peach or a few rehydrated orejones (dried peaches) on top, and sometimes a dusting of cinnamon. There's no milk or egg in it, which is what keeps it light. Too much semolina is the easy error: anchi should pour slowly from the spoon when cold, not slice like polenta, so stick to the ratio and remember it thickens as it cools. Fine maize semolina is the Salta choice; fine wheat semolina works too. Chef's tip: add the lemon juice off the heat at the end; boiled lemon loses its fresh sharpness.

25 minArgentinianDessertsVegan
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Ensalada mixtaLettuce, tomato and onion salad

Simplicity is the whole idea of the ensalada mixta, the salad that comes with almost every order at a parrilla and sits beside the meat at every family asado: crisp lettuce, ripe tomato and thinly sliced onion, dressed at the table with oil, vinegar and salt from the cruets. There's no mustard, no sugar, no herbs, so the quality of the tomatoes and the crunch of the lettuce carry it. It is cool, sharp and refreshing, and cuts through grilled meat, provoleta and fries. The usual blunder is dressing it too early: the salt pulls water from the tomato and the lettuce goes limp in minutes, so toss it just before it goes to the table. Round butterhead lettuce (criolla) is the classic, but any crisp lettuce works. Chef's tip: soak the sliced onion in iced water for 10 minutes and drain; it stays crunchy but loses its harsh edge.

10 minArgentinianSaladsVeganGluten free
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Carrageen moss puddingSeaweed milk pudding

Carrageen is a frilly red seaweed picked from the rocks of the west coast, from Donegal down to Clare, and dried on the grass in the sun. Simmered in milk, it releases a natural setting agent, so this old Irish pudding sets like a soft blancmange without gelatine. It tastes of vanilla and lemon with a faint breath of the sea, and is served chilled with stewed rhubarb or soft fruit. Chef's tip: soak the carrageen well and rinse off the sand before you start; any grit ends up in the pudding.

40 minIrishDessertsGluten free
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Bredele: Alsatian cinnamon stars

From the start of Advent, kitchens across Alsace turn out bredele, dozens of kinds of little Christmas biscuits kept in tins and offered to every visitor until New Year, while the markets in Strasbourg and Kaysersberg sell them by the bag. Cinnamon stars are among the most loved: chewy almond and cinnamon biscuits with a crisp white meringue top, and no flour at all. They take patience rather than skill and keep for weeks, so families make them early in December. The same dough also works rolled into small balls. Chef's tip: spread the meringue on the rolled sheet before you cut the stars, rather than icing each biscuit; it is far quicker and gives a clean, sharp edge.

57 minFrenchBakingGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salade lyonnaiseFrisée, bacon and poached egg salad

Every bouchon in Lyon, the small checked-tablecloth restaurants of the old town and the Presqu'île, puts salade lyonnaise on its menu as a starter or light lunch. Bitter, crunchy frisée is tossed with a sharp mustard vinaigrette, then topped with hot smoked pork lardons, garlicky croutons and a poached egg whose yolk spills into the leaves and turns the dressing creamy. It's the meeting of hot and cold, soft and crisp that makes it work. The egg is served runny, so use pasteurised eggs for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system, or cook the egg until set. Chef's tip: deglaze the lardon pan with the vinegar and pour it warm over the leaves so they wilt very slightly.

30 minFrenchSalads
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