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Taralli
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Taralli

Fennel and olive oil rings

Taralli are the crunchy rings found on every table in Puglia: with a glass of wine before dinner, in bags on the beach, or dunked in coffee. They are made with olive oil and dry white wine, no yeast or butter, and boiled briefly before baking, which gives them their shiny skin and fine, crumbly bite. Fennel seed is the classic flavour; black pepper or chilli are common too. They keep for weeks in a tin. Chef's tip: lift them out of the water the moment they float; longer boiling makes them hard and glassy instead of crumbly.

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

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SchweinebratenRoast pork with crackling

Schweinebraten is the Sunday roast of Bavaria, the dish a Munich family sits down to after church and the one every village inn chalks up on its board. This is pork shoulder with its rind still on, roasted on a bed of onion, carrot and celeriac while the rind blisters into crackling, and the gravy is built from the roasting juices and a bottle of dark beer. The beer contains alcohol; most cooks off but not all, so use alcohol-free dark beer, or the same amount of beef stock with 1 tsp dark molasses, for a gravy without it. Serve with bread or potato dumplings and warm cabbage salad. Chef's tip: score the rind through to the fat but not into the meat, or juices leak up and the crackling turns leathery.

190 minGermanMeat
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SchweinshaxeRoast pork knuckle

In Munich beer halls and Upper Bavarian village inns, a Schweinshaxe arrives as a whole roast pork knuckle, crackling glassy on the outside and the meat falling off the bone, usually with a potato dumpling and a spoon of sauerkraut. At home it is a weekend dish for cold months: the fresh (not cured) pork hocks are simmered first, then roasted hard so the skin puffs. Ask the butcher for hind knuckles, which carry more meat than front ones. Chef's tip: dry the simmered skin with kitchen paper and leave it uncovered for 20 minutes before roasting; dry skin is the secret to crackling that shatters.

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Scottish tabletButter fudge

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TxuletaGrilled aged rib steak

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Seco de cabritoBraised kid goat with coriander

Ask anyone in Chiclayo or Lambayeque for the north's great Sunday dish and seco de cabrito comes up first: young goat, marinated in garlic and vinegar, then braised slowly in a deep green sauce of blended coriander, ají amarillo and chicha de jora, with grated loche, the local aromatic squash. The meat turns tender and the sauce is herby, sour and warm. It comes to the table with white rice and frejoles (stewed canary beans) and a sharp salsa criolla. Chicha de jora is a fermented maize beer and contains alcohol; the alcohol-free swap in the ingredients keeps the tang. Lamb shoulder stands in well for kid. People often blend the coriander with the stems discarded, but the stems carry the most flavour, so use the whole bunch. Chef's tip: add half the coriander at the start and half 10 minutes before the end, so the sauce stays bright green.

120 minPeruvianCurriesGluten free
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Seco de chabeloPlantain mash with dried beef

Piura's picanterías, near the dry northern border, serve this rough, savoury mash at lunch: green plantains, roasted or boiled and pounded, mixed with fried strips of carne seca (salted dried beef) and a quick sofrito of onion, tomato and ají amarillo. It is dense, salty and smoky, with the plantain's starchy sweetness, and is eaten with salsa criolla and fried ripe plantain or chifles (plantain crisps). The legend says it was invented for a soldier called Chabelo in the War of the Pacific. Use carne seca or cecina from Latin shops, or unseasoned beef jerky. Pounding the plantains smooth is the classic mistake: chabelo should be lumpy and rustic. Chef's tip: soak the dried beef in warm water for 30 minutes and taste a piece; if it's still very salty, change the water and soak again.

60 minPeruvianMeatGluten free
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Riz a djejChicken and spiced rice with nuts

Riz a djej is the centrepiece of Lebanese celebrations and Eid lunches, carried to the table on a huge platter: rice cooked in chicken broth with a little spiced minced beef, crowned with pulled poached chicken and a heavy scattering of fried almonds, pine nuts and cashews. The flavours are gentle and warm — cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg — so it is a favourite with children too. Plain yoghurt and a crisp salad go alongside. Common mistake: skipping the rinse; unrinsed rice turns sticky in the rich broth. Chef's tip: poach the chicken the day before and chill the broth so you can lift off the fat; you get a cleaner, more savoury rice.

100 minLebaneseChicken
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Secretos de porco pretoGrilled black pork

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20 minPortugueseMeatGluten free
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Torta de palmitoHeart of palm pie

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

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When the pumpkin fields of Styria turn orange in October, every inn from Graz to the Slovenian border puts this soup on the board. It is velvety and gently sweet, with a little nutmeg and a dash of vinegar for lift, and comes to the table with a swirl of almost black pumpkin seed oil and a scattering of toasted seeds. Serve it as a starter before a Sunday roast or with crusty bread for supper. A common mistake is boiling the soup hard after the cream goes in, which can split it and dull the colour. Check the stock if you need it gluten free. Chef's tip: toast the seeds dry in a pan until they puff and pop; it takes 3 minutes and doubles the nutty flavour.

40 minAustrianSoupsGluten free
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ŞekerpareSemolina almond cookies in syrup

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Queso heladoCinnamon coconut milk ice

Despite the name, there's no cheese in it: queso helado is Arequipa's old-fashioned frozen milk dessert, cut into thick rounds that look like a slice of fresh cheese and dusted with ground cinnamon. Vendors in white aprons sell it around the Plaza de Armas and at the Yanahuara viewpoint, traditionally churned in a metal pail spun over ice and salt, and every Arequipeño has a favourite stall. It is creamy, mildly milky and fragrant with cinnamon, clove and grated coconut, less rich than ice cream and slightly icy in a pleasant way. Many recipes thicken it with egg yolks; this one uses evaporated and condensed milk with a little cornflour so it stays egg free. The common error is freezing it untouched, which gives one hard block of ice: stir it every 45 minutes for the first few hours. Allow at least 4 hours of freezing on top of the cooking time, or make it a day ahead. Chef's tip: freeze it in a loaf tin lined with cling film, then lift it out and slice it into rounds for that true street look.

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Steirischer KäferbohnensalatRunner bean pumpkin oil salad

In the hills of south-east Styria, fat purple-speckled runner beans called Käferbohnen, 'beetle beans', are dried every autumn and turned into this simple salad. It is a fixture of the Buschenschank, the farm wine taverns where you sit outdoors with a board of bread, cheese and spreads. The beans are soft and creamy, the red onion and cider vinegar sharp, and the dark green pumpkin seed oil gives a deep, toasty, nutty flavour. A common mistake is dressing cold beans straight from the fridge; dress them lukewarm so they soak up the vinegar. Chef's tip: add the pumpkin seed oil last and do not heat it; it turns bitter when warm.

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Steirisches WurzelfleischPork simmered with root vegetables

Wurzelfleisch, 'root meat', is a winter dish from the farms of Styria in south-east Austria, cooked in November and December when pigs were killed and the cellar was full of carrots, celeriac and parsley root. Pork shoulder is simmered in a lightly sour broth, then served in deep plates with thin strips of root vegetables, boiled potatoes and a snowfall of freshly grated horseradish. It is a gentle, clean-tasting dish, quite unlike a roast. Chef's tip: grate the horseradish at the table; it loses its bite within minutes.

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TumbetLayered potato, aubergine and pepper bake

Come August, every Mallorcan village kitchen has a clay greixonera of tumbet cooling on the counter, made with the aubergines and peppers that pile up at the Saturday markets in Sineu and Santanyí. Potato, aubergine and red pepper are each fried on their own, stacked in layers and blanketed with a thick, garlicky tomato sauce, then baked until it all settles together. Islanders eat it warm or at room temperature, as a meal with bread or beside grilled fish or lamb. It tastes even better the next day. Chef's tip: fry each vegetable in its own batch and drain it on paper, because every layer needs its own browned edges and nothing should arrive in the dish swimming in oil.

105 minSpanishVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Torta del Casar al hornoBaked sheep's cheese with garlic

Torta del Casar is made in Casar de Cáceres and the surrounding plains from raw merino sheep's milk, curdled not with animal rennet but with the dried flower of a wild thistle, so it suits many vegetarians. When ripe, the rind holds a centre so soft it is eaten with a spoon, and in Cáceres bars a whole torta comes warm from the oven with its lid cut off, surrounded by bread for dipping. It is a cheese for sharing at the start of a long dinner. Because it is made from unpasteurised milk, it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system unless heated until steaming hot all through. Chef's tip: take the cheese out of the fridge an hour ahead so it warms evenly.

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UchucutaRocoto and peanut chilli sauce

Ground on a batán, the flat grinding stone found in Andean kitchens, uchucuta is the table sauce of Ayacucho and Cusco: rocoto or yellow chilli crushed with huacatay, toasted peanuts and a little fresh cheese into a thick, speckled green-red paste. It goes on boiled potatoes, choclo, broad beans and huatia, and on festival days it sits next to every plate. The flavour is hot, herby and nutty, with a salty creaminess from the cheese. The name comes from the Quechua uchu, chilli, and it is meant to be spicy, but people often add all the rocoto at once and end up with something inedible; blend in half, taste and build up. A food processor or blender will do the work of the stone, though pulse it so the sauce keeps some texture. Queso fresco is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian fresh cheese if you prefer. Chef's tip: toast the peanuts yourself until just golden; their warmth softens the raw sharpness of the chilli.

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People from Porto are still nicknamed tripeiros, tripe-eaters, after the city's story of giving its best meat to the fleet that sailed for Ceuta in 1415 and keeping only the offal. Tripas is the dish of that legend and is served in the city's tascas, especially on Thursdays and during the São João festival. This contains pork (bacon, chouriço and optional pig's trotter). Tripe, chicken and cured meats simmer slowly with white beans, carrot and cumin into a sticky, rich stew poured over white rice. Chef's tip: buy cleaned, part-cooked honeycomb tripe and still simmer it until it is completely soft.

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SembusekSpiced mince flatbread pies

Mardin's stone bakeries fill their ovens with sembusek on weekend mornings: thin rounds of dough folded over a filling of minced meat, onion, parsley and pepper paste, sealed into half-moons and baked until crisp and freckled. Families make big batches for picnics and Ramadan, and eat them warm with ayran or a glass of tea. The meat goes in raw and cooks inside the pastry, so roll the dough thin enough to cook through. Common mistake: a wet filling that makes the base soggy; squeeze the grated onion hard. Chef's tip: brush the tops with a little water and butter as they come out of the oven so they soften just enough to fold over a bite of salad.

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Tallarines verdesSpaghetti with basil and spinach sauce

Peru's answer to pesto came from Italian-Ligurian families who settled in Lima and Callao, and it was quickly rebuilt with what Peruvian kitchens had: spinach to stretch the basil, queso fresco instead of hard cheese, and a can of evaporated milk to make it creamy. Menú restaurants in Lima serve it on weekdays, often with a breaded steak or a fried egg beside it, and the sauce turns out milder, softer and greener than the Genoese original. This version stays vegetarian: serve it with a tomato and onion salad, or crown each plate with a fried egg if you eat them. The classic mistake is boiling the leaves too long, which turns the sauce khaki and dull; they need only 20 seconds in hot water. Note that queso fresco is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian (microbial-rennet) fresh cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: blend the sauce with the evaporated milk while the leaves are still cold from their ice bath and it will stay bright for the whole meal.

30 minPeruvianPasta & Noodles
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TaloGriddled corn flatbread

At Bilbao's and San Sebastián's Santo Tomás fair each 21 December, queues form at stalls where cooks pat out talos and slap them onto hot iron plates. The dough is nothing more than finely ground maize flour, warm water and salt, and the flatbreads were once the everyday bread of Basque farms. This vegetarian version is folded around melting cheese; Idiazabal, the classic choice, is made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian sheep's cheese if you need to. A common mistake is a dough that is too dry, which cracks at the edges when you press it out. Chef's tip: keep your hands wet while shaping, and the discs will come out smooth and round.

30 minSpanishBreads & ParathasGluten free
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Trigona PanoramatosCustard-filled filo cones in syrup

Up in Panorama, the hillside suburb above Thessaloniki, pastry shops fill crisp filo triangles to order, and people carry boxes of them down to the city for Sunday visits and name days. Each cone is baked until it shatters, dunked for a second in lemony syrup, then piped full of a cold, light custard cream. The contrast is the point: brittle, buttery shell against soft, barely sweet filling, best within a couple of hours. Common mistake: filling the cones while the syrup is still warm, which melts the cream and turns the pastry limp. Chef's tip: roll each cone around a cone-shaped metal mould or a twist of foil so it keeps a wide, open mouth for piping.

90 minGreekDesserts
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Sharbat-e khakshirIced rosewater drink with seeds

Khakshir are the tiny reddish seeds of flixweed, and in Yazd, Kashan and across the hot centre of Iran a glass of khakshir sharbat is what people drink on scorching summer afternoons and to break the fast on long Ramadan days. The seeds swell slightly and float through sweet iced water perfumed with rosewater, giving a gentle crunch; some add a squeeze of lime or a little sour cherry syrup. Find khakshir at Iranian grocers. Chef's tip: rinse the seeds in several changes of water and pour off anything that floats; dust and grit come away with it.

10 minPersianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Torta galesaDark fruit and walnut cake

Welsh settlers arrived in the Chubut valley in 1865 and their descendants still serve afternoon tea in Gaiman and Trelew, where the casas de té bring out pots of tea, scones, cream cakes and, always, a slice of torta galesa. It is a dense, almost black fruit cake made with brown sugar and black treacle, studded with raisins, candied peel and walnuts, and it was built to last through long Patagonian winters and journeys across the steppe. The crumb is moist and sticky, rich with spice and caramel. An oven that is too hot is the classic error: the outside chars before the middle is set, so it bakes low and slow under a sheet of paper. There's no alcohol in this version; many cooks brush it with rum after baking, so leave that out or use strong tea. Chef's tip: wrap the cooled cake tightly and wait two or three days before cutting; it turns moister and the flavours deepen.

140 minArgentinianBaking
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Torta holandesaChilled biscuit and ganache tart

Despite the name, the 'Dutch tart' is a Brazilian invention, created in a confeitaria in Campinas, São Paulo state, in the 1990s and now sold in bakeries and churrascarias all over the country. A crunchy biscuit base holds a tall layer of light vanilla buttercream, sealed with dark chocolate ganache, and the sides are fenced with chocolate-dipped biscuits stood on their edges. Served cold, it is rich, creamy and crunchy at once, cut in thin slices with coffee. Some versions set the cream with gelatin; this one gets its body from butter and whipped cream only. Warm ganache poured straight on is the commonest mistake, since it melts the cream underneath into streaks. Chef's tip: let the ganache cool until it is just pourable and barely warm to a fingertip, about 30 °C, before pouring it over the chilled tart.

50 minBrazilianDesserts
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Tamales de chipilínChipilín leaf tamales

Chipilín is a small-leaved wild legume that grows along the fields of Chiapas and Tabasco, and its grassy, faintly bitter leaves turn up in soups, rice and, most of all, these tamales. In Tuxtla Gutiérrez and San Cristóbal they are sold from steaming pots in the early evening and taken home for supper with hot chocolate or atole: soft, pale green-speckled masa wrapped around a cube of fresh cheese, often with a spoon of tomato salsa. Cooks there beat the masa with lard; vegetable shortening gives the same light texture. Frozen chipilín is sold at Central American grocers; spinach with a few watercress leaves is a fair stand-in. Chef's tip: strip the leaves from the stems by pinching and pulling down; stems make the masa stringy.

125 minMexicanSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Sharbat-e beh limooQuince and lime syrup drink

Quince and lime syrup is an old-fashioned Persian cooler, the drink grandmothers in Isfahan and Tehran bring out on hot afternoons, said to settle the stomach and cool the body. Grated quince simmered in syrup turns from cream to a soft rosy amber and gives a floral, almost honeyed scent; fresh lime juice cuts through the sweetness. Diluted with iced water, it is lovely after a heavy meal of rice and stew. Chef's tip: cook the grated quince gently for the full time; the colour only turns pink after long, slow simmering.

55 minPersianDrinksVeganGluten free
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SenfeierEggs in mustard sauce

Senfeier is a dish many people who grew up in Berlin, Saxony or anywhere in the old East remember from school canteens and Friday suppers: halved hard-boiled eggs in a smooth, pale mustard sauce, with boiled or mashed potatoes to soak it up. It is cheap, fast and comforting, and the sauce is a simple butter-and-flour roux loosened with stock and milk, then sharpened with two kinds of mustard. A common mistake is boiling the sauce hard after the mustard goes in, which makes it taste flat and grainy; add it off the heat. Chef's tip: a spoon of the gherkin pickling liquid at the end lifts the whole sauce.

30 minGermanVegetarianGluten free
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SenfgurkenMustard pickled cucumber

Senfgurken are the big, pale golden chunks of peeled cucumber that German families put up in late summer, when the fat yellow-skinned 'Schmorgurken' are cheap at markets from Brandenburg to the Rhineland. Pickled in sweet vinegar with mustard seeds, dill and onion, they are served through the winter with cold cuts, cheese boards, potato salad or a plate of fried eggs and potatoes. Unlike gherkins they are soft-crunchy and mellow. The mistake is skipping the overnight salting, which leaves the cucumbers watery so they dilute the vinegar and spoil sooner. Chef's tip: scrape out every bit of the seedy core with a teaspoon; it is what turns soft and slimy in the jar.

40 minGermanSidesVeganGluten free
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Sancocho canarioSalt fish with potatoes and mojo

Sancocho is the Canary Islands' Good Friday dish and a Sunday favourite in Gran Canaria, where whole families sit down to a platter of desalted cherne (wreckfish), boiled potatoes and sweet potatoes, red mojo poured over the top and a ball of pella de gofio on the side. Salted cherne is soaked for a day or two in the fridge to draw out the salt, then poached gently. If you cannot find cherne, salt cod or fresh hake works well. Chef's tip: before cooking, poach a small flake in boiling water for a minute and taste it; it should be pleasantly seasoned, like well-salted fresh fish, and if it is still briny, soak a few hours more.

60 minSpanishFishGluten free
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Sharbat-e albalooSour cherry syrup drink

In early summer, when sour cherries arrive from the orchards around Karaj and Mashhad, families make a big batch of sharbat-e albaloo, the deep ruby syrup that is mixed with iced water for guests through the hot months. It is sweet, sharp and very refreshing, and the cooked cherries left over are not wasted: they go into albaloo polo, the cherry rice. A splash of the syrup also goes over shaved ice or yogurt. Chef's tip: stop cooking as soon as the syrup coats a spoon thinly; overcooked syrup loses its fresh cherry flavour and tastes of jam.

45 minPersianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Tamales norteñosBeef corn tamales

Families in Salta and Jujuy make tamales by the hundred, usually for the national holidays or for the winter fiestas in the Quebrada, with everyone at the table spreading dough onto husks, spooning in filling and tying parcels. The northern Argentine tamal is different from the Mexican one: the dough is made from finely ground white or yellow maize cooked with squash and beef fat, and the filling is a red, peppery mix of beef (traditionally from the head or charqui, dried beef) with onion, ají molido and cumin. Each parcel is folded and tied with a strip of husk into a little bundle, then boiled. Expect a long, hard afternoon, but they freeze well. Look for dried corn husks and fine maize flour in Latin American shops; masa harina also works. The filling must reach 71 °C, as for any mince, before it goes into the husks. Dough that is too dry is the usual mistake and cracks as it cooks; it should feel like soft polenta. Chef's tip: soak the husks in hot water for 30 minutes so they fold without splitting.

180 minArgentinianMeatGluten free
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Tamales oaxaqueñosTamales with black mole and chicken

In Oaxaca, tamales are wrapped in banana leaves rather than corn husks, which makes them flat, square and very moist, with a faint grassy scent from the leaf. These are the classic version filled with mole negro and shredded chicken, sold from steaming pots at morning markets and made by the dozen for Christmas, Candlemas on 2 February and the Day of the Dead. The masa is beaten with pork lard, which gives the traditional light, rich texture; vegetable shortening works if you avoid pork. Use leftover mole negro, or a simplified mole made from good ready-made paste thinned with broth. Eat them with hot chocolate or atole. Chef's tip: keep a coin in the bottom of the steamer; when it stops rattling, the water has run low and needs topping up.

135 minMexicanChicken
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Tamalitos verdesGreen fresh corn tamales

Bright green from a whole bunch of coriander, tamalitos verdes are the morning snack of Chiclayo and Trujillo, sold warm at market stalls and bakeries and unwrapped at the table with a heap of salsa criolla on top. Fresh corn is ground with coriander, onion and ají amarillo into a soft dough, wrapped around a strip of fresh cheese in corn husks and steamed. They should be tender, moist and herby, with a slightly sweet corn flavour and a salty melting middle. Traditional ones are made with lard; this version uses vegetable oil to stay vegetarian. The classic problem is a dough that's too wet, which makes the tamales fall apart; the starchy Peruvian choclo is ideal, and if you use sweet corn, add the cornmeal to firm it up. Queso fresco is usually made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian fresh cheese. Chef's tip: keep the steamer water at a steady simmer and top it up with boiling water, never cold, so the steam never stops.

90 minPeruvianSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Tamar hindiTamarind drink

During Ramadan in Damascus, street sellers in bright waistcoats pour tamar hindi from tall brass jugs on their backs, clinking cups to call buyers before iftar. The drink is a deep brown infusion of tamarind, sweetened and sharpened with lemon and a touch of rose or orange blossom, served ice cold to quench a day's thirst. It is fruity, tangy and refreshing, and made in a big batch to keep in the fridge. Common mistake: boiling the tamarind hard — gentle soaking gives a clean taste, while boiling makes it muddy. Chef's tip: strain twice, the second time through a cloth, for a clear, glossy drink.

15 minSyrianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Sequência de camarãoPrawn feast in several styles

Around the Lagoa da Conceição and the old fishing village of Santo Antônio de Lisboa, Florianópolis restaurants serve sequência de camarão, a parade of prawn dishes that keeps arriving until you give up: prawns fried in garlic oil, crisp breaded prawns, a light prawn stew with tomato and coconut milk, and pirão made from the shells, with rice and salad. This home version brings the four together for a long lunch. Prawns must be very fresh and kept cold, and every batch is cooked only until pink and opaque right through. The usual mistake is cooking all the prawns at once and serving them lukewarm; the sequence works because each dish arrives hot. Make the stew and pirão first and keep them warm, then fry at the last minute. Chef's tip: buy shell-on prawns and simmer the heads and shells for the pirão; it gives the whole meal its sea flavour.

120 minBrazilianFish
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RummaniyehLentil and aubergine stew with pomegranate

Rummaniyeh, from rumman (pomegranate), is a Gazan autumn dish made when the pomegranates ripen: brown lentils and cubes of aubergine cooked to a thick, earthy stew, soured with pomegranate juice and molasses, enriched with tahini and finished with a sizzling oil of garlic, dill and chilli. It is eaten warm or at room temperature, scooped up with bread, and keeps well for days. Common mistake: adding the tahini over a high heat, where it seizes and turns grainy; stir it in off the boil. Chef's tip: fry the garlic and dill only until the garlic is pale gold; brown garlic tastes bitter against the sour fruit.

65 minPalestinianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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SericaiaCinnamon baked egg custard

Sericaia is the pride of Elvas, on the Spanish border, and of Alentejo convent baking: a light custard of eggs, milk and sugar lifted with beaten whites, spooned into a clay dish, dusted with cinnamon and baked until it puffs and splits into deep cracks. It is always served with Elvas plums in syrup, whose sharpness cuts the sweetness; any good plums poached in syrup will do. It is a Sunday and festive dessert across the region. A common mistake is spreading the mixture smooth: drop it in large spoonfuls so it bakes into the craggy, cracked top that defines it. Chef's tip: cook the yolk custard until really thick before folding in the whites; a thin custard collapses in the oven.

60 minPortugueseDesserts
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Tsai tou vounouMountain tea with honey and lemon

Bunches of dried sideritis, the woolly-leaved herb Greeks call mountain tea, hang in village kitchens from Mount Olympus to Taygetos, and a pot is brewed at the first sniffle of winter or after a long walk. The tea is pale gold with a gentle lemony, earthy, slightly floral taste, and it is drunk with honey, a slice of lemon and sometimes a cinnamon stick. Common mistake: brewing it like black tea with boiling water for a minute; it needs a gentle simmer to draw out flavour. Chef's tip: break the dried stems into the pot along with the flowers; the flower heads hold most of the aroma, the stems add body.

10 minGreekDrinksGluten free
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Torta rogelLayered pastry dulce de leche cake

Birthdays in Buenos Aires are where the rogel shows off: eight or more wafer-thin, crackling discs of egg-yolk pastry, each spread with thick dulce de leche, stacked high and finished with a cloud of glossy Italian meringue browned with a blowtorch. Confiterías sell it by the slice, and it is a cake of contrasts, crisp and chewy, very sweet against the faintly salty pastry. It is laborious rather than difficult, and it slices best after a few hours' rest, when the dulce de leche has softened the layers just slightly. Use thick dulce de leche repostero (bakers' style); the runny kind for spreading on toast makes the tower slide. Rolling the discs too thick is the classic mistake: they should be so thin you can almost see the worktop through them, or the cake becomes heavy and hard to cut. Chef's tip: prick every disc all over with a fork before baking, or it puffs into a dome and won't stack flat.

150 minArgentinianBaking
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Trenza de AlmudévarNut and raisin braided bread

Almudévar, a small town between Zaragoza and Huesca, gave its name to a braid that is now sold all over Aragon and given as a present at Christmas: a golden plaited loaf, layered with chopped nuts and liqueur-soaked raisins and brushed with syrup until it shines. The town's bakeries use a laminated, puff-like dough that takes a day; this home version uses a buttery brioche rolled around the filling and cut and braided so the layers show. The raisins are traditionally soaked in rum or brandy; use warm orange juice for an alcohol-free loaf. A common mistake is braiding too tightly, which squeezes out the filling and stops the dough rising. Chef's tip: chill the filled roll for 15 minutes before cutting it lengthways; the butter firms and the cut is much cleaner.

85 minSpanishBaking
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Sopa de beldroegasPurslane and potato soup

Purslane grows wild between the rows of Alentejo vegetable gardens in summer, and country cooks pick it for this lemony, slightly peppery soup: potatoes and purslane simmered with garlic and olive oil, then finished with eggs poached in the broth and slices of fresh goat's cheese that soften in the heat. It is served over bread, as so many Alentejo soups are. The fresh cheese is usually made with animal rennet; choose a soft goat's cheese or ricotta made with vegetarian rennet if you need to. If you can't find purslane, watercress or spinach make a fair stand-in. Chef's tip: add the cheese only in the last minute, so it warms and softens but doesn't melt away.

50 minPortugueseSoups
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Tortas ahogadasPork rolls in tomato sauce

Guadalajara's great hangover cure, the torta ahogada is sold from street stands and small fondas all over the city from mid-morning. A crusty roll is split, packed with pork carnitas, then 'drowned' in a thin, mild tomato sauce and splashed with a ferociously hot chile de árbol salsa; you can order it half-drowned or fully submerged, and eat it with a plastic bag over your hand or with a knife and fork. The local birote salado, a sourdough roll with a hard crust, rarely exists outside Jalisco, so use the crustiest small baguettes or sourdough rolls you can find. Pickled red onions and a few radishes are the classic side. Chef's tip: let the rolls go a day stale and toast the cut sides; a firm, dry crumb soaks up sauce without turning to mush.

50 minMexicanFast FoodSpicy
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