What to eat today?

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Bigoli in salsaWholewheat pasta with onion and anchovy

Bigoli in salsa is the dish of Venice's lean days, once eaten on Fridays, Christmas Eve and Ash Wednesday, and still served in the city's bacari and osterie today. Thick, rough wholewheat strands are tossed in a sauce of onions cooked slowly in olive oil until sweet and almost creamy, with salted anchovies melted through. It is salty, sweet and deeply savoury, with no cheese. If you can't find bigoli, thick wholewheat spaghetti or bucatini work well. Serve with a bitter leaf salad such as radicchio. Chef's tip: add the anchovies off the heat and let them dissolve in the warm oil; fried hard, they turn bitter.

50 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Bifteki gemistoFeta-stuffed beef patties

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

35 min

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Mirabelle plum tart

Lorraine grows most of the world's mirabelles, small golden plums with a blush of red that ripen for only a few weeks from mid-August, when Metz holds its Mirabelle festival and every pâtisserie in Nancy fills its window with this tart. The plums are halved and packed tightly into a crisp shortcrust, sometimes over a thin layer of almond or semolina to soak up the juice, and they bake into a jammy, honey-sweet layer. Families eat it warm or cold for Sunday dessert or at four-o'clock goûter. Out of season, use small yellow plums or halved apricots. Chef's tip: stand the halves upright and overlapping, cut side up; they shrink as they bake, and a tight layer stops the tart looking bare.

75 min

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Bife a caballoSteak with fried eggs

On the chalkboard of any neighbourhood bodegón in Buenos Aires you will find bife a caballo, steak "on horseback": a thick bife de chorizo (sirloin) or rump seared hard in a hot pan, crowned with two fried eggs whose yolks run into the meat juices, and served with a pile of chips. It is the plate for hungry taxi drivers at lunch and for anyone recovering from a long night. Cook the steak to your taste; Argentines usually ask for it jugoso (medium rare, about 55 °C in the centre) or a punto (medium, about 60 °C). Use eggs fried until the whites are fully set, and cook the yolks firm for anyone vulnerable. Crowding a pan that isn't hot enough is the classic mistake, which stews the steak grey, so let the pan smoke first. Chef's tip: rest the steak while you fry the eggs in the same pan; the beef juices in the fat give the whites crisp, savoury edges.

25 min

Argentinian Meat

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GamopilafoRice cooked in lamb broth

No Cretan wedding is complete without gamopilafo, stirred by the men of the village in huge cauldrons over wood fires from early morning. The meat is simmered for hours to make a deep, golden broth, the rice is cooked in it until creamy and almost soupy, and the whole pot is finished with butter and lemon; the boiled meat is served on the side. At home it makes a generous Sunday lunch for a crowd. Common mistake: cooking the rice to a dry, fluffy pilaf; it should be loose and spoonable, like a thick risotto. Chef's tip: skim the broth carefully in the first 20 minutes and never let it boil hard, so it stays clear and sweet instead of cloudy.

170 min

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Bienmesabe canarioAlmond and egg-yolk cream

High in the mountains of Gran Canaria, the village of Tejeda is ringed by almond trees, and its pastry shops are famous for bienmesabe, 'it tastes good to me'. Finely ground almonds are cooked in a sugar syrup with lemon zest and cinnamon, then enriched with egg yolks into a thick, golden cream. Islanders eat it by the spoonful, over vanilla ice cream or layered on sponge; it is the dessert brought out in late January and February, when the Almond Blossom Festival fills the village. Chef's tip: temper the yolks with a little hot syrup before adding them, so they thicken the cream smoothly instead of scrambling.

40 min

Spanish Desserts

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GourounopoulaSlow-roast pork shoulder with orange

At the summer festivals of Messinia, whole young pigs are roasted overnight in bakers' wood ovens, then sold by the kilo at stalls with bread and pickled peppers. This home version uses a bone-in pork shoulder, rubbed with garlic, orange zest, oregano and chilli, left in the fridge overnight, and roasted low and slow until the meat pulls apart and the crackling shatters. Serve with lemon potatoes and a cabbage salad. Common mistake: wet skin — dry it well and salt it the night before, or it never crackles. Chef's tip: start covered at a low heat and finish uncovered at a high heat; that's how the meat stays juicy and the skin turns glassy.

290 min

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Spätzle à l'alsacienne with browned butter and onionsEgg noodles with browned onions

In Alsace, spätzle (also called knepfle or spaetzle) are the side every winstub, the cosy wine taverns of Strasbourg and the wine route, puts next to a stew, and at home they make a quick supper in their own right. The batter is barely more than flour, eggs and milk, pushed through a spätzle press or a colander with big holes straight into boiling water, so the noodles come out short, soft and irregular. This version skips the cheese of the German käsespätzle: the noodles are tossed in nutty browned butter and topped with a heap of slowly crisped onions, with a green salad alongside. Chef's tip: beat the batter until it forms bubbles and slaps off the spoon in thick ribbons; that elasticity is what gives spätzle their bounce.

40 min

French Pasta & Noodles

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Gallina pintaBeef, pinto bean and hominy stew

Despite the name, there is no hen in gallina pinta: the 'speckled hen' of Sonora is a hearty soup of beef, pinto beans and hominy, the speckles being the beans among the white corn. It is cold-weather food across the state, ladled out at family gatherings and in Hermosillo diners, and every cook uses bony cuts such as oxtail or beef shank so the broth turns rich and silky. The beans need soaking overnight, so start the day before. Serve it in deep bowls with chopped onion, oregano, lime and a dried red chilli crumbled over, plus warm flour tortillas. Chef's tip: add the hominy only in the last half hour, so the kernels stay plump and chewy rather than splitting.

230 min

Mexican Soups

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GalinhadaChicken and turmeric rice

Sunday lunches, church festas and roadside restaurants in Goiás all revolve around a big pot of galinhada: chicken browned with garlic and onion, then cooked with rice in its own stock until each grain is golden from açafrão-da-terra. In Brazil that word means turmeric, not true saffron, and it is turmeric that gives the dish its colour. Goianos add pequi, the cerrado fruit with a heady, cheesy-tropical scent; you can buy it in jars in Brazilian shops, but warn your guests: the stone is covered in fine spines under the flesh, so nibble gently and never bite into it. It comes out moist, fragrant and comforting, finished with plenty of cheiro-verde. The common mistake is adding too much water, which makes it mushy; the rice should be loose, like a paella that has just settled. Chef's tip: brown the chicken until it leaves a dark crust in the pot, then let the rice dissolve it.

70 min

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Galinha ao molho pardoChicken in dark blood sauce

Country cooking from the state of Rio and southern Minas Gerais, galinha ao molho pardo (also called galinha de cabidela) is cooked at weekend gatherings with a free-range hen, and served with angu, white rice and okra. The chicken is braised with onion, garlic, tomato and herbs, then the sauce is finished with the bird's blood mixed with vinegar, which turns it dark brown, velvety and savoury, with a gentle sourness. It tastes richer and deeper than an ordinary stew. Buy fresh chicken blood from a licensed poultry butcher or halal butcher, ask for it mixed with vinegar so it does not clot, keep it in the fridge and use it within 24 hours. The usual mistake is boiling the sauce hard after the blood goes in, which makes it grainy; stir it at a gentle simmer instead. The blood must be cooked right through. Chef's tip: temper the blood with a ladle of hot sauce before adding it to the pot.

90 min

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Galeto al primo cantoRoast spring chicken

Caxias do Sul's galeterias serve galeto as an all-you-can-eat feast: young chicken, so small it is called al primo canto, at its first crow, marinated overnight in white wine, garlic, sage and rosemary, then roasted over embers and brought to the table with crisp fried polenta, pasta and salad. The habit came with the Italian immigrants of the Serra Gaúcha, and the meat is tender, juicy and fragrant with herbs. The marinade uses dry white wine; part of the alcohol cooks off during roasting but not all, so for an alcohol-free galeto use the same amount of chicken stock with 2 tbsp white wine vinegar. Marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. Many cooks baste with the raw marinade right to the end; stop 10 minutes before the chicken is done so no raw juices reach the plate. Chef's tip: set the polenta the day before so it slices cleanly and fries crisp.

100 min

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Galayet bandoraStewed tomatoes with garlic and chilli

Ask anyone in Amman what they cook when the fridge is nearly empty and the answer is often galayet bandora: ripe tomatoes collapsed in a shallow pan with olive oil, garlic and hot green chilli until they turn jammy and sweet. It turns up at breakfast, as a quick supper, and over a camp fire on desert trips to Wadi Rum, always eaten straight from the pan with torn khubz or shrak. Some families add cubes of lamb; this meatless version is the one most homes make every week. The usual mistake is stirring too much and adding water, which gives you a thin sauce instead of glossy, slightly caramelised tomatoes. Chef's tip: let the tomatoes sit untouched for the first few minutes so their undersides catch and colour; that touch of browning is where the flavour comes from.

30 min

Jordanian Vegetarian

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GalatopitaMilk and semolina custard pie

Galatopita is the pie that Epirus shepherds' wives baked when the ewes were in full milk in spring, and you still find it in bakeries in Ioannina and Metsovo, cut into wobbly golden squares. Milk, eggs and semolina are cooked to a thick cream, poured into a buttered tin and baked until the top browns and puffs like a soufflé, then settles into a soft, set custard. Eat it warm or chilled with a dusting of cinnamon. Common mistake: baking at too high a heat, which cracks and weeps the custard — keep it moderate. Chef's tip: a single sheet of filo in the base makes it easier to lift out, but the old village version needs none.

70 min

Greek Desserts

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Gâteau de SavoieAiry sponge cake

Legend says a cook at the court of the Counts of Savoy, in Chambéry, invented this sponge in the fourteenth century to impress a visiting emperor, and Savoyard families still bake it in a tall fluted mould for birthdays and Sunday tea. It has no butter and very little flour, using potato starch for a crumb so light it almost dissolves, and it is eaten plain with a dusting of icing sugar, or with jam, fruit compote or a cup of hot chocolate. Chef's tip: fold the whites in three goes with a large metal spoon, cutting down through the middle; you are keeping in the air that makes it rise.

60 min

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GougèresCheese choux puffs

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

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Coda alla vaccinaraBraised oxtail

Testaccio was home to Rome's slaughterhouse, and the vaccinari who skinned the cattle were partly paid in offcuts, among them the tail. The trattorie of the quarter still serve coda alla vaccinara as their signature dish: oxtail braised for hours in tomato with a mountain of celery until the meat slides off the bone, the sauce finished with a hint of bitter cocoa, pine nuts and raisins for a sweet-sour depth. A splash of red wine goes in early, with an alcohol-free option in the ingredients. Eat the meat with bread, and toss any leftover sauce with rigatoni the next day. Chef's tip: braise it a day ahead, chill it and lift off the hard layer of fat before reheating; the sauce will be cleaner and the flavour deeper.

265 min

Italian Meat

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AnguSoft cornmeal mush

Angu is to a mineiro kitchen what bread is elsewhere: a pot of fine yellow fubá cooked with water into a smooth, soft mush, traditionally without salt, to sit under saucy dishes. In Minas Gerais and Rio it is spooned beside frango com quiabo, braised greens, mushroom ragouts and anything with a gravy, and the old roadside restaurants bring it in clay bowls. Plain angu tastes clean and gently sweet of corn, which is why it suits strongly seasoned food. The classic mistake is pouring dry cornmeal into boiling water, which creates lumps that never cook out; start it in cold water instead. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and give it the full 20 minutes even when it looks thick already; raw cornmeal tastes gritty and bitter, while cooked angu is silky and comes away from the sides of the pan.

30 min

Brazilian Sides

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Gaisburger MarschBeef stew with potatoes and spätzle

Gaisburger Marsch is named after Gaisburg, a district of Stuttgart, and the story goes that officer cadets marched there from barracks for it. It is a hearty Swabian one-pot of beef broth, cubes of boiled beef, potatoes and spätzle, crowned with onions fried in butter until sweet and brown, and it is still a weekday lunch in Stuttgart pubs and canteens. Chef's tip: cook the potatoes in the strained broth rather than in water, so they soak up the beef flavour.

180 min

German Soups

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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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Codornices en hoja de parraQuail in vine leaves

When the grapes are picked in the vineyards of Olite and the Ribera in September, quail are fat from the stubble fields and the vines still have their leaves, so Navarrese cooks bring the two together. Each bird is wrapped in a vine leaf and a strip of bacon and roasted fast; the leaf keeps the lean meat moist and adds a gentle, lemony tang. This contains pork (streaky bacon). Serve with fried potatoes or bread and, in season, a bunch of grapes. Chef's tip: taste before salting, because brined vine leaves and bacon already bring plenty.

45 min

American Breakfast & Brunch

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Bicho-de-péStrawberry brigadeiro balls

Pink balls of fudge in a paper cup, sitting in a row between the chocolate brigadeiros: that is bicho-de-pé, a fixture of children's parties in São Paulo and Rio. The odd name comes from a tiny burrowing flea, which the speckled pink sweet supposedly resembles, but it tastes nothing but fruity and creamy. Brazilian cooks usually flavour it with strawberry gelatin powder, which is not vegetarian; this version uses freeze-dried strawberry powder, which gives a brighter, real-fruit flavour and a natural pink. Find freeze-dried strawberries in supermarket baking aisles and crush them yourself. Over-thickening is the commonest mistake: cooked too long, the brigadeiro turns hard and sugary once cold. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat as soon as the mixture slides away from the base as one piece; it firms more as it cools.

40 min

Brazilian Desserts

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Biber salçasıRed pepper paste

Late every summer, rooftops in Gaziantep, Kilis and Hatay turn red with trays of puréed peppers drying in the sun, and families fill jars that will season soups, köfte, bulgur and lahmacun through the winter. This oven method makes a smaller batch with the same deep, sweet and slightly smoky flavour; use some hot peppers if you like it acı (spicy). Store it under a film of oil in the fridge. The common mistake is a too-hot oven: the edges scorch and turn bitter before the middle thickens. Chef's tip: stir every 20 minutes and scrape the dried rim back in; the paste is ready when a spoon drawn through it leaves a clean trench.

240 min

Turkish Basics

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Ankara tavasıBraised lamb on orzo pilaf

Ankara's signature dish is a tava, a baking pan, in which tender braised lamb is laid over a pilaf of rice and orzo and finished in the oven so the top grains go crisp and the meat juices soak right through. Old Ankara families serve it for guests and at festival lunches, with a bowl of cacık and pickles. Common mistake: using fully cooked pilaf, which dries out and turns hard in the oven; cook the rice only halfway. Chef's tip: save every spoon of the lamb's braising liquid; it's what flavours and finishes cooking the rice underneath.

150 min

Turkish Meat

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FurrunduGreen papaya and cane sugar sweet

Cuiabá's grandmothers have a sweet for every fruit, and furrundu is the one that turns an unripe papaya into something special. The green fruit is grated, squeezed and cooked slowly with rapadura (dark unrefined cane sugar), fresh ginger, cloves and cinnamon until it is dark brown, sticky and chewy, with a warm spice that lingers. It is sold in small pots at Cuiabá's Mercado do Porto and at festas de santo in Mato Grosso, eaten by the spoonful with a slice of fresh cheese or on its own. The mistake to avoid is skipping the rinse: green papaya oozes a milky latex that tastes bitter and can irritate the skin, so wear gloves and wash the grated fruit well. Chef's tip: stop cooking when you can drag a spoon across the bottom of the pan and see the base for a second; it firms up a lot as it cools.

90 min

Brazilian Desserts

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Cogollos de Tudela con ajosLettuce hearts with garlic oil

The lettuce hearts grown around Tudela in the Ribera of Navarre are small, tight and sweet, and they carry their own protected name. In the bars of Tudela and Pamplona they come to the table split lengthwise, still cold, with olive oil poured over them straight from the pan where garlic has just turned golden. Many places lay an anchovy on each quarter; this version leaves the fish out and is vegan. Chef's tip: dry the lettuce really well, because water left between the leaves makes the hot oil spit and leaves the dressing watery.

15 min

Spanish Salads

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Cincinnati goettaPork, beef and oat slices

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

170 min

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FroutaliaOmelette with potatoes and sausage

On Andros and Tinos, froutalia is the thick, golden omelette farm families ate after a morning in the fields: potatoes and local pork sausage fried in a deep pan, then bound with eggs and a little cheese and cooked until set right through. It is cut in wedges like a Spanish tortilla and eaten hot or cold, with bread and a tomato and cucumber salad, at any time of day. On the island it is made with louza or a smoked pork sausage seasoned with fennel; any good coarse pork sausage works. Common mistake: adding the eggs while the potatoes are still hard; they never soften once the eggs set. Chef's tip: flip it onto a plate halfway so both sides brown evenly.

50 min

Greek Breakfast & Brunch

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FrixuelosThin crêpes with sugar or honey

When Antroxu, the Asturian Carnival, comes round in February, kitchens from Avilés to the Oriente villages fill with the smell of butter and batter, and plates of frixuelos stack up for anyone who calls in. They are thinner and lighter than a pancake, flavoured with lemon zest, and are rolled or folded while warm with a dusting of sugar, a drizzle of honey or a spoon of rice-pudding cream. Grandmothers also make them on cold Sunday afternoons, so they are hardly kept for Carnival alone. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 30 minutes so the flour softens and the frixuelos turn out lacy and tender instead of rubbery.

35 min

Spanish Desserts

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Pote asturianoWhite bean and cabbage stew

Before fabada became famous, pote was what simmered on every Asturian hearth: white beans, dark winter cabbage, potatoes and the cured pork mix the locals call compango. It is still the dish for a cold, wet weekday in the mining valleys around Mieres and Langreo, served from the pot with crusty bread. This contains pork (chorizo, morcilla, pork belly and ham hock). Chef's tip: add the morcilla only for the last 20 minutes and never stir hard after that, or it breaks up and clouds the broth.

185 min

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Çökertme kebabıBeef strips with garlic yoghurt

Çökertme is the kebab Bodrum is proud of: a bed of crisp, matchstick-thin fried potatoes, a layer of garlicky yoghurt, then tender strips of sautéed beef on top, finished with tomato sauce and butter. It is restaurant food in the town but easy to make at home for a Saturday lunch, and the contrast of hot, crunchy, cool and creamy is what makes it. Chef's tip: cut the potatoes very thin and fry them in two batches just before serving; made ahead, they go limp under the yoghurt.

60 min

Turkish Meat

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Frite extremeñoFried lamb with garlic and paprika

Frite is the simpler, drier cousin of caldereta and is especially loved around the sheep country of the Sierra de Gata and the Cáceres plains. Small pieces of lamb are fried in olive oil with lots of garlic, then cooked with bay, pimentón and a splash of vinegar until tender and coated in a dark red, clinging sauce. It is the dish people cook outdoors at the spring romerías and eat with bread straight from the pan. Chef's tip: ask the butcher to chop the lamb small, bones and all, so every piece gets crisp edges.

75 min

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Avena colombianaChilled oat drink

Bakeries all over Colombia keep a fridge of avena in plastic cups, ready to pair with a warm pandebono, buñuelo or almojábana. It is a thick, sweet oat drink cooked in milk with cinnamon and cloves, then blended smooth and chilled until it is creamy and spoonable, somewhere between a milkshake and rice pudding. Children drink it after school, and it is a common mid-morning snack with something baked. Home versions are less sweet and more spiced than shop ones. The thing to watch is texture: if you skip blending or straining, you end up with slimy flecks of oats, so blend thoroughly once it is cooked. It thickens a lot as it chills, so loosen it with cold milk before serving. Chef's tip: toast the oats in the dry pan for 2 minutes first; it gives a nutty, biscuity flavour.

25 min

Colombian Drinks

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Cornish stargazy piePilchard pie

Stargazy pie is baked in the Cornish fishing village of Mousehole every 23 December for Tom Bawcock's Eve, celebrating the fisherman who is said to have sailed out in a storm and saved the village from famine. Whole pilchards or sardines are baked under pastry with egg, potato and bacon, their heads poking out so they gaze at the stars and their oil runs back into the filling. The bacon is smoked pork. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger to bone the fish but leave the heads on; it makes the pie much easier to eat.

80 min

British Fish

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Frit mallorquíLamb, liver and potato fry-up

Frit is the hearty dish of Mallorcan country festivals and pig-killing days, and the version made at Easter uses young lamb: diced meat and liver fried with tiny cubes of potato, red pepper, spring onion and wild fennel, all in one big pan. Bars in Inca and Sóller serve it as a tapa on market mornings. This recipe uses lamb shoulder and lamb's liver; the pork version, frit de porc, follows the same method. Chef's tip: fry the potatoes, peppers and meat separately and combine them at the end, or the potatoes stew and lose their crisp edges.

65 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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FriselleTwice-baked bread with tomato

Friselle are rings of bread split in half and baked a second time until rock hard, so they kept for months on fishing boats and in farmhouses across the Salento. To eat them you dip them briefly in cold water, then pile on crushed ripe tomatoes, oregano and plenty of olive oil; the bread softens just enough while keeping a crunch in the middle. On August evenings in Lecce and along the coast they are the easiest supper there is. Every Puglian bakery sells them and Italian delis stock them, so this recipe uses bought friselle, made from wheat or the darker, nuttier barley. Chef's tip: dip, don't soak; a few seconds is enough, and the tomato juice finishes the job.

10 min

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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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Clarinhas de FãoGourd and egg yolk pastries

Clarinhas come from Fão, a small riverside town near Esposende, where they are sold warm and sugary from bakery counters and at summer fairs on the Cávado estuary. Thin pastry is folded around a filling of candied fig-leaf gourd (doce de chila) thickened with egg yolk, fried until blistered, then rolled in sugar. Chila jam is sold in Portuguese shops; a thick pumpkin jam works well in its place. A common mistake is overfilling the pastries, so the jam bursts through the seams while they fry. Chef's tip: cook the filling until it is firm enough to hold its shape on a spoon, or it will leak and spit in the oil.

75 min

Portuguese Desserts

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Gofio escaldadoToasted grain flour paste in broth

Gofio, flour ground from toasted maize or wheat, has fed the Canary Islands since before the Spanish arrived, and a bowl of escaldado is its simplest, most comforting form. Hot broth is beaten into the gofio until it turns into a soft, savoury paste flecked with mint, eaten by scooping it up on chunks of raw red onion. In fishing towns the broth is usually fish stock left from a sancocho; this version uses vegetable broth so it is vegan. Pure maize gofio is gluten free, but most blends contain wheat, so check the bag. Chef's tip: add the broth gradually while you beat, as dumping it in at once makes stubborn lumps.

25 min

Spanish Snacks & Starters

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FriesentortePuff pastry torte with plum butter

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

German Baking

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Chocolate egg cream

The egg cream contains neither egg nor cream: it is the old soda-fountain drink of Brooklyn and the Lower East Side, made of cold milk, chocolate syrup and a hard jet of seltzer that whips up a tall white foam. It was sold for pennies at candy stores and corner luncheonettes, and New Yorkers still argue about the right order to pour. Chef's tip: everything, glass included, must be ice-cold, or the foam collapses.

10 min

American Drinks

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Bici biciRosewater starch jelly with ice

When Adana's July heat pushes past 40 °C, handcarts on every corner serve bici bici: cubes of wobbly starch jelly piled with shaved ice, splashed with rose syrup and dusted with icing sugar. Children eat it in the shade of the clock tower; grown-ups claim it is the only thing that works in that heat. The jelly is just cornflour, water and a little sugar, set and cut into cubes. The usual mistake is undercooking it, which leaves a cloudy, floury jelly that won't hold a cut. Chef's tip: freeze water in a shallow tray and scrape it with a fork for snowy ice if you have no ice shaver.

25 min

Turkish Desserts

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Ulster fry

The Ulster fry is the big weekend breakfast of Northern Ireland, from Belfast cafés to County Down B&Bs, and what sets it apart is the bread: soda farls and potato bread fried golden in the pan juices. Pork sausages, back bacon, black pudding, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms complete the plate. Chef's tip: cook in order of what takes longest and keep things warm in a low oven, so the eggs go in last and are served soft.

35 min

British Breakfast & Brunch

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Axoa de veauMinced veal and pepper stew

Axoa (say 'ash-o-a') comes from Espelette, the Basque village whose house fronts are hung with strings of drying red peppers every autumn, and it is still the dish of the October pepper fair and of market-day lunches in Cambo and Bayonne. Veal shoulder is cut into small dice, then stewed with onions, mild green peppers and a good spoonful of ground Espelette pepper, which brings warmth and a fruity, smoky perfume rather than real fire. The result is soft, juicy and brick-red at the edges, best spooned over boiled potatoes or with crusty bread. Chef's tip: stir most of the Espelette pepper in at the end of cooking; long simmering dulls its fragrance.

70 min

French Meat

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FricandóBraised veal with mushrooms

Fricandó is the dish that Barcelona grandmothers cook for a family Sunday or a saint's day: thin slices of veal, floured and browned, then braised slowly in a dark sofrito with dried moixernons, the spring St George's mushroom, and finished with a picada of almonds and hazelnuts. It is better reheated the next day. Dried porcini or mixed wild mushrooms work if you cannot find moixernons. The recipe uses wine; the alcohol-free option is in the ingredient list. Chef's tip: cook the onions until truly dark, almost jammy; that deep brown sofrito is where the sauce gets its colour and sweetness.

130 min

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AntikristoSlow-roasted lamb

Antikristo means 'facing each other', and in the Psiloritis mountain villages above Anogeia it describes big pieces of lamb on long skewers set upright round a wood fire, turned now and then for four or five hours until the fat has dripped away and the meat is smoky and crisp. At village feasts and saint's-day fairs it is carved straight from the skewer onto paper with nothing more than salt and a squeeze of lemon. This home version roasts salted lamb shoulder and ribs slowly in the oven, then finishes them hot for crackling edges. Common mistake: adding herbs and marinades; the Cretan way is only coarse salt, so the lamb's own flavour comes through. Chef's tip: salt the meat the night before and leave it uncovered in the fridge so the surface dries and crisps.

255 min

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Dublin lawyerLobster in whiskey cream

Dublin lawyer is an old Dublin restaurant dish, said to be named because lawyers were rich and fond of drink: lobster meat is cooked in butter, flamed with Irish whiskey and finished with cream, then served back in the shell. It is a special-occasion dish for anniversaries and birthdays. This recipe contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version replace the whiskey with 2 tablespoons of apple juice and a squeeze of lemon. Chef's tip: buy cooked lobster from a fishmonger if you are unsure about preparing a live one, and add it to the sauce only to heat through.

50 min

Irish Fish

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Frejol coladoSweet black bean paste

Chincha, south of Lima, is the heart of Afro-Peruvian culture, and its signature sweet is frejol colado: black beans cooked, pushed through a sieve (colado means strained) and then stirred for a long time with sugar and spices until the paste is dark, glossy and thick enough to stand a spoon in. It is traditionally served in little gourd bowls called potos, sprinkled with toasted sesame, and sold in Chincha's square and at festivals in El Carmen. The taste is deep and molasses-like, with clove and cinnamon, and nobody guesses it's beans. The beans need an overnight soak, which isn't counted in the time. Most people give up stirring too early; under-cooked frejol colado is runny and tastes of beans, so keep going until it pulls away from the pan in one mass. Some cooks add milk; this version is dairy free. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan and a long wooden spoon, and wear an oven glove, because the thick paste spits as it reduces.

150 min

Peruvian Desserts

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Fregola con arselleToasted pasta pearls with clams

Along the Poetto, Cagliari's long city beach, arselle are small clams once raked from the sand, and fregola con arselle is the dish every seaside trattoria in the city serves. Fregola is a Sardinian semolina pasta rolled into rough little beads and toasted, so it has a nutty taste and a slightly chewy bite; here it simmers like risotto in the clams' own juice with tomato, garlic and parsley until loose and soupy. Eat it with a spoon, straight away. Any small clams work if you can't find arselle. Chef's tip: toss the fregola in a dry pan for a couple of minutes before cooking; it deepens the toasted flavour.

45 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Freekeh bil djajChicken with smoked green wheat

Freekeh — young green wheat harvested and roasted over fire in the fields of Hauran and the Syrian countryside — has a smoky, nutty taste that makes this dish special. Chicken is poached with whole spices, and its broth is used to cook the freekeh into a fluffy pilaf, then everything is topped with the browned chicken and toasted almonds. It is a dish for Sunday gatherings and Eid, served with yoghurt and cucumber. Common mistake: not picking over the freekeh; it often has tiny stones and husks, so spread it on a tray and check. Chef's tip: brown the poached chicken in butter or under the grill before serving for colour and crisp skin.

95 min

Syrian Chicken

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Frankfurter WürstchenFrankfurter sausages with potato salad

Real Frankfurter Würstchen are slim, delicately smoked pure-pork sausages from the Frankfurt region, sold in pairs and eaten at Christmas markets, family suppers and Christmas Eve, when many Hessian families have them with potato salad. They come ready-cooked, so the only skill is warming them gently until they are hot without bursting. Here they go with a warm Hessian potato salad dressed with stock, vinegar, onion and chives, plus mustard and rye bread. Vegetarians can warm vegetarian sausages the same way and keep the salad. Chef's tip: dress the potatoes while they are still warm; they drink up the dressing and turn silky instead of sitting in it.

45 min

German Meat

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Frankfurter KranzButtercream ring cake with nut brittle

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

German Baking

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FrangolloCornmeal and milk pudding

Frangollo was once poor people's food on Lanzarote and La Palma, coarse cornmeal (millo) cooked in milk to stretch a meal; now it is the pudding grandmothers make for Carnival and Christmas, sold in slabs at village fiestas. The cornmeal is cooked slowly with milk, sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon, then enriched with butter, egg, raisins and almonds, left to set and cut into squares. It is often finished with a drizzle of palm honey from La Gomera. Chef's tip: stir constantly and use a heavy pan, because thick cornmeal catches on the bottom in seconds.

45 min

Spanish Desserts

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Frango no púcaroClay-pot chicken with port and ham

The monks of the great abbey at Alcobaça, on the edge of the Beira Litoral, are credited with this dish of chicken slow-cooked in a púcaro, a lidded clay pot, with onions, tomatoes, garlic, cured ham and bacon, a splash of port and white wine. Local restaurants still serve it bubbling in the pot with fried or boiled potatoes. This contains pork (presunto and smoked bacon), and it uses port and white wine; an alcohol-free version is given in the ingredient notes. Chef's tip: brown the chicken well before it goes into the pot, as the sealed lid keeps the colour from developing later.

100 min

Portuguese Chicken

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Frango com quiaboChicken with okra

Countryside Minas Gerais, especially around Belo Horizonte and the historic towns, cooks frango com quiabo for Sunday lunch: chicken pieces braised in a garlicky tomato sauce coloured with annatto, with okra fried separately and folded in at the end so it stays green and barely sticky. It is served over angu, a soft, unseasoned cornmeal porridge, with rice and a pot of hot pepper on the side. The sauce is savoury and homely, the okra tender with a little bite. People often add the raw okra straight to the pot, which makes the sauce slimy; frying it first in hot oil seals it. Chef's tip: stir the angu with a whisk as you pour in the cornmeal, then switch to a wooden spoon, and it will never go lumpy.

90 min

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KartoffelkäsePotato and sour cream spread

Despite its name, Franconian Kartoffelkäs contains no cheese at all: it is a soft spread of riced potato, sour cream, onion and caraway that farm families around Bamberg and Nuremberg put on the table for Brotzeit, the cold evening supper. It goes on thick slices of rye bread with chives and sliced radish, and it was a way to turn a few leftover potatoes into something rich enough to stand in for cheese. A common mistake is using waxy potatoes, which go gluey; floury ones make it light. Chef's tip: rice the potatoes while hot, but stir in the sour cream only when they are cool, so the spread stays fresh-tasting rather than heavy.

30 min

German Chutneys & Dips

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Fougasse aux olivesOlive and herb bread

Bakers in Provence once slid a fougasse into the wood oven first, to test the heat before the big loaves went in; the open, leaf-like shape bakes in minutes and is mostly crust. Today every boulangerie from Avignon to Apt sells it, plain or studded with olives, and families tear it apart on picnics and at market lunches. A sweet cousin flavoured with orange blossom is one of the thirteen desserts of a Provençal Christmas. This is the savoury everyday one, with black olives and herbes de Provence. Chef's tip: bake it on the hottest tray you can, near the top of the oven, so the thin bridges of dough blister and crisp before the thick edges dry out.

148 min

American Snacks & Starters

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Besugo a la donostiarraSea bream with garlic vinegar dressing

For many San Sebastián families, Christmas Eve dinner isn't complete without a whole sea bream, roasted or grilled and finished with a refrito: hot olive oil with sliced garlic, dried chilli and a splash of vinegar poured over at the table. The traditional fish is red sea bream (besugo), but gilt-head bream works well. A common mistake is letting the garlic go dark brown, which makes the dressing bitter; take it off when it is pale gold. Chef's tip: cut a few slashes into the thick part of the fish so it cooks evenly and the dressing soaks in.

40 min

Spanish Fish

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Forfar bridiesBeef and onion pastries

The bridie is the pride of Forfar in Angus, a horseshoe-shaped pastry stuffed with chopped beef steak and onion, sold hot from the town's bakers and eaten on market days and at weddings. Unlike a Cornish pasty there is no potato, just peppery beef, onion and beef suet in shortcrust. The holes on top tell you the filling: one hole for plain, two for onion. Chef's tip: chop the steak by hand into small pieces rather than using mince; it keeps the filling juicy.

65 min

British Meat

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Folar de OlhãoCaramelised layered Easter bread

In the fishing town of Olhão, Easter means folar, and it looks nothing like the egg-topped breads of the north: here a soft, cinnamon dough is rolled up in layers of brown sugar and fat, sliced, packed into a tin and baked until the sugar runs into a dark, sticky caramel. Turned out upside down, it pulls apart in sweet, glossy spirals. Families bake it on Holy Thursday so it is ready for the long weekend, and godparents give one to their godchildren. Many bakeries use some lard; this version uses butter only. Chef's tip: roll the dough as thin as you dare, as the more layers you get, the more caramel edges there are.

90 min

Portuguese Baking

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BeryaniSpiced lamb on flatbread with basil

Beryani is Isfahan's signature lunch, eaten in old bazaar eateries near Naqsh-e Jahan Square for more than a century, and nothing like the rice biryanis of South Asia. Lamb shoulder and, traditionally, lamb lung are simmered, minced, seasoned with cinnamon and fried on a small round pan with the fat from the pot, then turned out onto soft sangak or taftoon bread and eaten with fresh basil, raw onion and walnuts. Lung is hard to buy outside Iran, so this home version uses lamb shoulder and a little lamb mince for the same soft texture. A common mistake is draining away the cooking fat; Isfahanis spoon it over the bread for flavour, so keep it. Chef's tip: press the meat into a small frying pan to make a neat round patty, the way the bazaar cooks do.

120 min

Persian Meat

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CrozifletteBuckwheat pasta with reblochon

Ski stations across the Savoie, from Val Thorens to the villages above Chambéry, serve croziflette in the same bubbling dish as tartiflette, but with crozets in place of potatoes: tiny square buckwheat pasta that is a speciality of the region. It is warming après-ski food, nutty and rich, eaten with a sharp green salad. Restaurants add lardons; this one uses browned mushrooms for the same savoury depth. Reblochon is a raw-milk cheese made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian washed-rind or soft rind cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: cook the crozets fully before baking; unlike other pasta, they stay firm and need a good 15–20 minutes.

60 min

French Pasta & Noodles

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Focaccia baresePotato focaccia with tomatoes

Bari's focaccia is made with boiled potato and durum semolina in the dough, which gives it a tender, almost creamy crumb under a base that fries in olive oil until crisp. It is baked in round iron pans, studded with squashed cherry tomatoes and olives, and sold by the slice at every bakery in the city from mid-morning, warm, folded in paper. On the beach in summer it goes round in squares with a cold drink. This is the Bari version, quite different from a plain herb focaccia or the cheese-filled focaccia of Recco. Chef's tip: be generous with oil in the pan; that layer is what turns the underside golden and crunchy.

155 min

Italian Baking

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Escudella i carn d'ollaChristmas soup with giant pasta

This contains pork (pork belly and pork mince). On Christmas Day, Catalan families sit down to escudella i carn d'olla, served in two courses: first the broth with giant snail-shaped galets pasta, then the carn d'olla, a platter of the meats, chickpeas and vegetables that made it, including the pilota, a large herby meatball. The pot simmers for hours, and the leftovers become the next day's canelons. Chef's tip: start the meats in cold water and skim patiently as it comes to the boil; it is the only way to a clear, golden broth.

255 min

Spanish Soups

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Berliner PfannkuchenJam-filled doughnuts

In Berlin a Pfannkuchen is not a pancake but a round, sugar-dusted yeast doughnut with a pale ring around its middle and a squirt of jam inside; most of Germany calls them Berliner. Bakeries pile them up for New Year's Eve and for Carnival in February, and the old joke is to slip one filled with mustard into the batch. Good ones are light and springy, never greasy. A common mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, which browns the outside before the middle cooks; keep it at 170 °C. Chef's tip: let the shaped dough rise uncovered for the last 10 minutes so a thin skin forms; that is what gives the classic white band round the middle.

70 min

German Desserts

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New York potato knishes

Knishes came from Eastern Europe with Jewish immigrants and became Lower East Side street food, sold from carts and the old knishery on Houston Street with a dab of brown mustard. A thin, stretchy oil dough is wrapped around a peppery filling of mashed potato and deeply browned onions, then baked golden. Chef's tip: cook the onions slowly until truly brown and sweet; pale onions make a bland filling.

85 min

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Berliner KartoffelsuppePotato and root vegetable soup

This is the soup of Berlin's cheap lunch counters and winter kitchens: potatoes and the 'Suppengrün' bundle of carrot, celeriac, leek and parsley root, simmered thick and seasoned with plenty of marjoram. In Berlin it usually comes with a sliced Wiener sausage floating on top; this vegetarian version is finished instead with crisp fried onions and croutons, which give the same savoury contrast. A common mistake is using waxy potatoes, which never thicken the soup; you want floury ones that collapse. Chef's tip: rub the dried marjoram between your palms as it goes in, which wakes up its sweet, piney scent.

50 min

German Soups

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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.

950 min

French Meat

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Coca de tomacaRoasted tomato and pepper flatbread

On the night of Sant Joan in late June, Alicante's beaches fill with people eating cocas while the bonfires burn, and coca de tomaca is the plainest and best loved: a thin, olive-oil dough baked under a layer of tomato, red pepper and onion that roasts down to something sweet and jammy. Bakeries in towns like Alcoy and Elche sell it by the slab all year round, and it is just as good cold the next day at a picnic. Many versions add tinned tuna or sardines; this one keeps it vegetable-only, so it is vegan. A common mistake is piling the vegetables on raw and wet, which leaves the base soggy; salt and drain the tomato first. Chef's tip: bake on the lowest shelf so the base crisps before the topping colours.

65 min

Spanish Snacks & Starters

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Arabaşı çorbasıSpicy chicken soup with dough cubes

On winter evenings in Kayseri, Konya and Yozgat, friends gather for arabaşı nights: a big pot of fiery, tomatoey chicken soup and a tray of plain set dough cut into cubes. Each person drops a cube of cold dough into a spoonful of hot soup and swallows it whole, without chewing, and the hot-cold contrast is the whole fun. Common mistake: making the dough too soft; it should set firm enough to slice cleanly once chilled. Cook the chicken until its juices run clear and it reaches 74 °C before shredding. Chef's tip: make the dough the morning before, or even the day before, so it is properly cold and firm.

90 min

Turkish Soups

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FlaóFresh cheese and mint pie

Flaó is what Ibiza and Formentera bake for Easter Sunday: a shallow pie whose filling of fresh sheep's or goat's cheese, eggs and sugar is perfumed with spearmint (hierbabuena), set in a crust flavoured with anise. Families still take theirs to the village baker to be fired, and it appears on café counters in Sant Antoni and Eivissa town through spring. Traditional island fresh cheese is made with animal rennet; look for a vegetarian fresh goat's cheese or use ricotta made with a vegetarian coagulant. Many cooks add a splash of anise liqueur to the dough; this version uses crushed anise seed and water, so it has no alcohol. Chef's tip: tear the mint leaves rather than chop them, and press half into the filling and lay half on top, so every bite gets it.

85 min

Spanish Baking

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FlammlachsPlank-roasted salmon

At German Christmas markets, from Nuremberg to Cologne, whole sides of salmon are nailed to wooden boards and stood around an open beech fire until smoky and just cooked, then served in a roll or on a plate with a mustard-dill sauce. At home you get close with a soaked wooden plank on a covered barbecue, or in a hot oven with a little smoked salt. A short dry brine in the fridge seasons the fish right through. Chef's tip: take the salmon off while the very centre is only just opaque; it carries on cooking on the hot plank.

50 min

German Fish

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Coca de Sant JoanCandied fruit and pine nut brioche

On the night of 23 June, the Revetlla de Sant Joan, Catalonia lights bonfires, sets off firecrackers on every beach and street, and shares a long oval coca: a soft, lemony brioche topped with candied fruit, pine nuts and crunchy sugar. Bakeries sell thousands, but a homemade one, still slightly warm, is something else. Some recipes add a splash of anise liqueur; this one uses aniseed instead. Chef's tip: give the shaped dough a long, slow second rise; a well-proved coca bakes up light, an under-proved one dense.

65 min

Spanish Baking

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Coca de recapteFlatbread with roasted vegetables

In Lleida and the farmland of inland Catalonia, the coca de recapte was once baked in the village oven on bread day, topped with whatever was in the larder; recapte means provisions. Today bakeries sell long trays of it, and families take slices on Sunday outings. The topping is essentially escalivada: aubergine, red pepper and onion, roasted then laid raw-side-up on the dough. Bakeries often add salted sardines or anchovies; this version is vegetarian. Chef's tip: roast the vegetables only until soft, not falling apart; they cook a second time on the coca.

120 min

Spanish Vegetarian

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Idaho fry sauce

In Idaho and neighbouring Utah you don't get your fries without fry sauce, the pale pink dip that drive-ins and burger stands across the potato state put out in paper cups. It is mayonnaise and ketchup at heart, sharpened with a little pickle brine, garlic and smoked paprika, and it goes on chips, burgers and onion rings. Chef's tip: make it an hour ahead and chill it, so the garlic and paprika have time to bloom.

5 min

American Chutneys & Dips

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Flamenquín cordobésCrumbed pork and ham rolls

This contains pork (pork loin and serrano ham). In Córdoba, flamenquín is the bar food of choice: a long roll of thin pork loin wrapped around cured ham, crumbed and fried, then sliced and served with chips and mayonnaise. Locals argue over the name, but agree on the order: plenty of chips and something cold to drink, usually at lunch. Chef's tip: chill the crumbed rolls for 30 minutes before frying; the coating sets and stays on in the oil.

50 min