What to eat today?

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Cuscuz de tapiocaTapioca and coconut cake

Breakfast stalls in Salvador and the street markets of Recife and Fortaleza sell cuscuz de tapioca by the slice from a big round tray, often with a drizzle of condensed milk on top. It needs no cooking at all: granulated tapioca (tapioca granulada) soaks up hot sweetened milk and coconut milk and swells into a firm, white, bouncy cake with a chewy, pearly texture and a gentle coconut taste. It is eaten cold, at breakfast or as an afternoon sweet with coffee. Granulated tapioca is a Brazilian product made of small irregular crumbs, not pearls; Brazilian shops sell it in bags. Cutting it too early is the usual mistake, and the slices crumble because the granules are still dry at the centre. Chef's tip: pour the liquid in while it is steaming hot and cover the dish straight away; the trapped steam swells the granules evenly.

20 min

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Cuscuz paulistaCornmeal with palm heart and sardines

Nothing like North African couscous, cuscuz paulista is a moulded cake of corn flakes cooked in a rich tomato sauce, packed into a ring mould decorated with sardines, sliced egg, tomato, palm hearts and peas, then turned out so the pattern shows. São Paulo bakeries and family lunches serve it cold or at room temperature, in slices, for birthdays, Easter and Sunday tables. It is moist, savoury and tangy, with bursts of olive and fish. It needs at least an hour to set in the fridge, so it is perfect to make the day before. The thing that most often goes wrong is a mixture that is too dry, which crumbles when turned out; it should look like soft, wet polenta before it goes into the mould. For a vegetarian version, skip the sardines and add extra palm hearts. Chef's tip: oil the mould generously and press the decoration against the sides firmly, so it sticks to the cuscuz and not the tin.

55 min

Brazilian Rice & Grains

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DaggaPounded tomato, dill and chilli salad

Dagga, sometimes called salata ghazawiyya, is the salad that sits on every table in Gaza, pounded in a clay bowl (zibdiya) with a wooden pestle until the tomatoes collapse into a juicy, chunky relish. Fresh dill, green chilli, garlic and lemon make it sharper and hotter than any salad in the north, and it is spooned over fish, rice and grilled meat or scooped up with bread. Common mistake: using a blender, which turns it into a smooth sauce; you want broken pieces in their own juice. Chef's tip: pound the garlic, chilli and salt to a paste first, then add the dill, so its oils bloom before the tomatoes go in.

15 min

Palestinian Salads

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DampfnudelnSteamed yeast dumplings with vanilla sauce

Dampfnudeln are a Friday supper in Bavaria and the Palatinate, from the days when meatless Fridays meant a sweet main course. Soft yeast buns are packed into a heavy pan with milk, butter and a little sugar, the lid goes on, and they steam until fluffy on top while the liquid boils away and leaves a salty-sweet caramel crust underneath. They come to the table with warm vanilla sauce. The famous mistake is lifting the lid too early: the steam escapes and the buns collapse. Chef's tip: listen to the pan instead of looking; when the bubbling turns to a crackle, the crust is forming and you have about 3 minutes left.

55 min

German Desserts

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Daube provençaleRed wine beef stew with olives

In Provence the daube is the Sunday and winter-feast dish, traditionally simmered all morning in a pot-bellied clay daubière at the edge of the fire. Chunks of beef are marinated overnight in the fridge with red wine, garlic, herbs and a strip of orange peel, then braised slowly with black olives until the sauce turns dark, glossy and fragrant with citrus. It uses red wine, and the ingredient note gives an alcohol-free version; the optional smoked lardons make it a pork dish too. In Avignon and Nice the leftover sauce dresses macaroni (the macaronade), but polenta or plain boiled potatoes are just as good. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; it tastes even better reheated, and the fat is easy to lift off once cold.

250 min

French Meat

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Dawood bashaMeatballs in tomato sauce

Named, so the story goes, after an Ottoman governor who loved it, dawood basha is a homely Damascus and Beirut supper of small spiced meatballs simmered with baby onions in tomato sauce, finished with pine nuts. Families serve it ladled over vermicelli rice, and it is one of the first dishes Syrian children learn to love. The sauce is lightly tangy from pomegranate molasses and fragrant with allspice and cinnamon. Common mistake: crowding the meatballs when browning — they steam instead of colouring; fry in batches. Chef's tip: grate a little onion into the meat and squeeze out the juice first; the meatballs stay tender without falling apart.

65 min

Syrian Meat

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Deniz börülcesi salatasıSamphire salad with garlic and lemon

Along the Aegean coast from Ayvalık down to Bodrum, every meze tray in early summer carries a tangle of deniz börülcesi, the salty, crunchy samphire gathered from the marshes. It is blanched, pulled off its woody cores, then dressed with plenty of garlic, lemon and olive oil and served cold beside grilled fish. It tastes of the sea in the best way. Chef's tip: don't salt the cooking water or the dressing; samphire carries all the salt it needs.

20 min

Turkish Salads

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Diots au vin blancSausages braised in white wine

Diots are the small pork sausages of Savoie, sold in every butcher's from Chambéry to Annecy and eaten at ski-resort tables and village fêtes all winter. They are browned, then braised slowly with plenty of onions in dry Savoie white wine with a bay leaf, until the onions melt into a sweet, winey sauce around the plump sausages. The traditional partner is crozets, tiny square buckwheat or wheat pasta, or a soft polenta. The braise uses white wine; an alcohol-free version is in the notes. If you can't find diots, use any coarse, garlicky pork sausage. Chef's tip: brown the sausages slowly over a medium heat rather than fiercely, so the skins colour without bursting.

70 min

French Meat

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DiplesFried pastry rolls in honey

In the tower villages of the Mani, no wedding, christening or New Year passes without trays of diples: paper-thin egg dough fried in a rolling twist, so each strip curls into a crisp, bubbled scroll, then drenched in warm thyme honey and showered with walnuts and cinnamon. They shatter when you bite and stay crunchy for days in a tin. Common mistake: rolling the dough too thick, which gives chewy, oily diples — you should almost see your hand through it. Chef's tip: hold the end of each strip in the oil with two forks and roll it as it puffs; the first few are practice, so don't worry about shape.

80 min

Greek Desserts

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Discada norteñaMixed-meat skillet with peppers and onions

In Chihuahua and across the northern ranchlands, discada is party food: a worn-out plough disc is set over a wood fire and filled, one by one, with bacon, pork chorizo, beef, ham and sausages, then peppers, onions and tomatoes, while everyone stands around with tortillas. It is a big, smoky, pork-heavy dish, made with pork bacon, pork chorizo and ham, and many cooks splash in beer near the end, for which stock is a fine alcohol-free swap. At home, a large wok or your widest heavy skillet does the job. Serve it straight from the pan with corn tortillas, salsa and lime. Chef's tip: add the meats in order, fattiest first, so each one browns in the fat of the last.

70 min

Mexican Meat

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Djaj mahshiRoast chicken stuffed with spiced rice

For Eid, Christmas or a wedding lunch in Palestine, a whole chicken stuffed with spiced rice is the centrepiece: the rice cooked with a little minced lamb, seven-spice and cardamom, packed into the bird and roasted until the skin is lacquered brown, then piled on a platter under handfuls of fried almonds and pine nuts. Serve with yoghurt and a chopped salad. Common mistake: packing the cavity tightly with raw rice, which leaves the centre undercooked; part-cook the rice first and stuff loosely. Chef's tip: simmer the chicken briefly in spiced water before roasting, as many Palestinian cooks do; it seasons the meat and keeps it moist.

160 min

Palestinian Chicken

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Doce de abóbora com cocoPumpkin and coconut sweet

Mineiro farm kitchens and the June festivals of the interior both lean on doce de abóbora, a deep orange spoon sweet of pumpkin cooked with sugar and cloves until thick, here finished with fresh grated coconut. It is eaten cold, by the spoonful from little bowls, or with a slice of fresh white cheese, the Brazilian way of pairing sweet and salty (pick a microbial-rennet cheese if you are vegetarian). The flavour is caramel-sweet and spiced, with the soft chew of coconut. Use a dry, dense pumpkin such as kabocha or butternut; watery pumpkins take forever to reduce. Adding the sugar before the pumpkin softens is a common misstep; the sugar firms the pieces and they never break down. Chef's tip: stop cooking when you see the base of the pan for a second as you drag the spoon through, as the sweet thickens further as it cools.

65 min

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Doce de abóbora com nozesPumpkin and walnut jam

When the big squashes are harvested in late autumn in Trás-os-Montes, every pantry gets a row of these jars. The pumpkin cooks down with sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon to a thick amber jam, and toasted walnuts are stirred in at the end. Locals spoon it over fresh requeijão or a slice of sheep's cheese after dinner, or onto toast at breakfast. Chef's tip: salt the cut pumpkin with the sugar overnight; it releases its water so the jam cooks faster and keeps its colour.

80 min

Portuguese Basics

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Doce de cajuCashew apples in clove syrup

Ceará grows more cashews than anywhere in Brazil, and in the season from September to December the soft, fragrant cashew apples are everywhere: pressed for juice, sold at roadside stalls and preserved whole in syrup like this. The fruit is pricked, squeezed of its astringent juice, blanched and then cooked slowly with sugar and cloves until it turns amber, glossy and tender with a chewy bite. Fortaleza families keep jars for Christmas and serve the fruit with a slice of white cheese or simply on a saucer with its syrup. Outside Brazil look for whole frozen cajus in Brazilian shops. Twist off and discard the grey nut before cooking: its raw shell holds a caustic oil and should not be cut, burnt or eaten at home. Skipping the squeezing and blanching is where it goes wrong; the sweet ends up rough and furry in the mouth. Chef's tip: let the fruit rest overnight in the syrup halfway through; it plumps up and soaks in the sugar evenly.

130 min

Spanish Breakfast & Brunch

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Doces finos do AlgarveMarzipan fruits with egg-yolk cream

Tiny pears, oranges, strawberries and even fish, all made of almond paste and painted by hand: these are the sweets Algarve families order for Christmas, Easter and weddings, and that every January market in Loulé shows off. Inside each one sits a spoonful of doce de ovos, the sunny yolk cream found all over Portuguese convent baking. The almond paste here is cooked in syrup, which makes it smooth and easy to model. Chef's tip: dust your hands and the work surface with icing sugar, never flour, or the shapes go chalky.

115 min

Portuguese Desserts

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DöppekuchenGrated potato bake with bacon

Döppekuchen (also Dippekuchen or Knüles) is the Rhineland and Westerwald answer to a cold November evening, traditionally baked on St Martin's Day and at village fairs. Raw grated potatoes, onion, egg and smoked bacon are baked slowly in a cast-iron pot, the Döppe, until the outside is a thick dark-brown crust and the inside is soft and steamy. It is eaten with apple sauce and a green salad. For a meat-free pot, bake it with extra onions and two sliced leeks instead of the bacon. Chef's tip: squeeze the grated potato really dry; the less water, the crisper the crust.

180 min

German Meat

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Dolmeh-ye behStuffed quinces in sweet-sour syrup

Dolmeh-ye beh is autumn food in Tabriz and across Iranian Azerbaijan, made in October and November when golden quinces pile up on market stalls. The quinces are hollowed and filled with lamb or beef mince, rice, yellow split peas and cinnamon, then baked in a syrup of sugar, vinegar and saffron until the fruit is soft enough to cut with a spoon and its flesh turns pink. Each person gets a whole quince with bread and yogurt on the side. A common mistake is cooking the shells for too long before stuffing; they should only soften slightly or they collapse in the oven. Chef's tip: rub the cut quinces with lemon at once, as they brown within minutes.

120 min

Persian Meat

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Dublin gur cakeSpiced fruit and pastry slice

Gur cake was the cheapest treat in Dublin bakeries, made from the day's leftover bread and cake soaked with tea, dried fruit and spice and baked between two sheets of pastry. It gave its name to the 'gurriers', the kids who mitched school and bought slices for a ha'penny, and you still find it in the bakeries of the inner city, where it is also called Chester cake. It is dense, sticky and spiced. Chef's tip: let the filling soak for a good half hour so the bread breaks down completely into a smooth paste.

90 min

Irish Baking

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Dom RodrigosEgg-thread and almond sweets

Walk past any pastelaria in Lagos or Portimão and you will see little twists of bright foil piled in the window: each one hides a nest of golden egg threads bound with an almond and yolk cream, scented with cinnamon. They are eaten after Sunday lunch with a bica, bought by the half dozen to take home, and set out at Algarve weddings and christenings. The work is in the egg threads, drizzled into boiling syrup, but once you have the rhythm it goes quickly. Chef's tip: sieve the yolks twice, because any trace of white or the chalaza blocks the funnel and makes the threads break.

90 min

Portuguese Desserts

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DominosteineGingerbread, jelly and marzipan cubes

Dominosteine were invented in Dresden in the 1930s as an affordable Christmas treat and are still bought by the box across Germany through December: a cube of soft gingerbread, a layer of tart fruit jelly and a layer of marzipan, all coated in dark chocolate. Homemade ones are fresher and less sweet than the boxed kind and make a beautiful gift. The jelly is set with pectin, not gelatine, so they suit vegetarians. The mistake people often make is cutting the slab while the jelly is still soft, which smears the layers; leave it overnight. Chef's tip: trim the edges of the slab before cutting so every cube has three clean, sharp stripes.

75 min

German Desserts

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DonauwelleMarbled cherry sheet cake

Donauwelle, the 'Danube wave', is a German home-baker's favourite from the 1970s onwards, made on a tray for school fairs, birthdays and the Sunday coffee table. Cut a slice and you see the river: vanilla and chocolate sponge swirled into waves by sour cherries pushed into the batter, then a thick layer of vanilla buttercream and a dark chocolate top combed into ripples. A common mistake is pouring on the chocolate while the buttercream is soft, which melts the layers together; chill the cake well first. Chef's tip: warm a serrated knife in hot water and wipe it between every cut so the chocolate cracks cleanly instead of shattering.

90 min

German Baking

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Dorada a la salSalt-baked sea bream

Around the salt flats of San Pedro del Pinatar, at the northern tip of the Mar Menor, baking fish under a crust of coarse salt is the obvious way to cook a fresh bream, and lagoon-side restaurants crack the crust open at the table for long summer lunches. The salt hardens into a shell that steams the fish in its own juices, so the flesh is moist and lightly seasoned rather than salty. Serve it with a drizzle of good olive oil, boiled potatoes or allioli. Chef's tip: leave the scales on; they stop the salt from reaching the flesh and make the skin peel away cleanly.

45 min

Spanish Fish

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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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Duelos y quebrantosScrambled eggs with chorizo and bacon

Cervantes names this dish in the first lines of Don Quixote as the knight's Saturday supper, and in La Mancha it is still a quick, filling plate of soft eggs scrambled into fried chorizo and streaky bacon. It turns up for a late breakfast in roadside inns near Campo de Criptana, or for supper on a busy weeknight with bread and a salad. This contains pork (chorizo and bacon). Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly wet; they finish cooking on the plate.

17 min

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Dulce de alcayotaFig-leaf gourd preserve

Late autumn in San Juan and Mendoza, the huge striped alcayotas (fig-leaf gourds, Cucurbita ficifolia) are left to cure in the sun, then split open for this preserve: the white flesh separates into long strands like angel hair, which cook in syrup until golden, glossy and translucent, with walnuts and a hint of cinnamon and clove. It is spooned onto bread, eaten with fresh cheese, and used to fill empanadas and pastries. Look for alcayota at Latin American grocers (sometimes sold as chilacayote or cidra); spaghetti squash makes a respectable stand-in. Cooking the syrup too hard is the trap: it caramelises and turns the preserve dark and bitter, so keep it at a gentle bubble. For safe storage, jars must be sterilised and sealed hot. Chef's tip: rinse the cooked strands in cold water before they go into the syrup; it washes off the starch and keeps the threads separate and clear.

180 min

Argentinian Chutneys & Dips

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Dulce de batataSweet potato paste

Deep orange and firm enough to slice, dulce de batata is the sweet potato paste Argentines eat with cheese, bake into pastelitos and pasta frola, and pack into school lunch boxes; the classic commercial block often hides a ribbon of chocolate in the centre. Making it at home takes patience at the stove, but the result tastes of real roasted sweet potato and vanilla. Traditional recipes simply cook the purée down for a long time; some factory versions set it with gelatin. This one uses a little agar, a seaweed-based setting agent, so it is reliably firm and stays vegan. Choose pale-fleshed sweet potato (batata) if you can, which gives the classic colour and dense texture; orange-fleshed ones work but set softer. The usual problem is too little cooking, which gives a paste that weeps; it is ready when a spoon drawn through it leaves a clean line. Chef's tip: cover your hand with a tea towel while you stir, because the thick paste spits like lava.

120 min

Argentinian Desserts

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Dulce de calafateCalafate berry jam

Legend says whoever eats calafate will come back to Patagonia, and in El Calafate, the town on Lake Argentino named after the thorny bush, the small blue-black berries turn up in ice cream, sauces, and above all this jam. The fruit ripens in midsummer across Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego; it is tart and seedy, somewhere between a blueberry and a blackcurrant, and the jam is dark purple, glossy and gently spiced by the fruit itself. It goes on bread at breakfast, with a slab of cheese after dinner, or with pancakes. Outside Patagonia, frozen calafate is hard to find; blueberries with a handful of blackcurrants or barberries give a similar balance of sweet and sharp. Overcooking is the slip that turns it into a stiff, dull paste, because the berries are naturally high in pectin, so test early. Chef's tip: crush a third of the berries before cooking; you get a jam with body and some whole fruit to bite on.

55 min

Argentinian Chutneys & Dips

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Dulce de rosa mosquetaRosehip jam

Every autumn, from March to May, families along the lakes around Bariloche and El Bolsón and up into Neuquén go out with buckets to strip the wild rose bushes that cover the hillsides, and the shops of the Andean towns fill with jars of this jam. Rosa mosqueta (rosehip) makes a smooth, coral-red preserve with a sharp, fruity, slightly floral flavour and a lot of vitamin C. It is spread on toast with butter, served with fresh cheese, or spooned into yoghurt. Rosehips are full of seeds wrapped in tiny irritating hairs, and not sieving them out properly is the error you will feel in your throat: pass the pulp through a fine sieve or food mill, and then once more. Buy rosehips from a foraging supplier or pick them away from roads, and only if you are sure of the plant. Chef's tip: pick after the first frosts, or freeze the hips overnight; the cold softens them and makes the pulp much easier to sieve.

90 min

Argentinian Chutneys & Dips

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Dulce de tamarindoTamarind sugar sweets

Tamarind trees shade the coast of Guerrero, and around Acapulco and the Costa Chica the sticky pulp is cooked down with sugar into tangy little balls sold in paper twists at beaches, bus stations and corner shops. Children love the sharp sweet-sour pucker; adults buy the ones rolled in chilli and salt. They are naturally vegan and keep for weeks. Chef's tip: use blocks of seedy tamarind pulp from an Asian or Mexican grocer, not the thin concentrate in jars, which will not set.

45 min

Mexican Desserts

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MurtuğaButter-toasted flour with egg

A Van breakfast is famously huge, with herb cheese, honey, kaymak and olives, and in winter it often includes a pan of murtuğa: flour slowly toasted in plenty of butter until golden, then scrambled together with eggs into rich, crumbly nuggets. It's a dish from cold mountain homes where a filling breakfast had to last until evening, eaten hot with bread or on its own with tea. Common mistake: rushing the flour on a high heat so it scorches before it cooks through; keep it low and keep stirring. Chef's tip: beat the eggs with a splash of water before adding them; they spread through the flour more evenly and stay softer.

20 min

Turkish Breakfast & Brunch

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MushabbakFried batter spirals in syrup

Glass counters in the souks of Nablus and Damascus are stacked with mushabbak, crisp latticed spirals of fried batter dunked in syrup until they glisten. They are bought by the bag for Christian and Muslim feast days, for Ramadan evenings and for no reason at all, and are best eaten within hours while the shells still crack. A lightly fermented batter piped into hot oil gives the hollow, crunchy rings. The mistake to avoid is oil that is not hot enough: the batter soaks up fat and the spirals turn heavy and limp. Chef's tip: the syrup must be cold and the mushabbak hot; dip, count to three and lift, and they stay crisp for hours.

105 min

Palestinian Desserts

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Mute santandereanoHominy and tripe soup

Bucaramanga's Mercado Central and the Sunday family tables of Santander serve mute, a big, thick soup that takes most of a day: hominy corn, honeycomb beef tripe and pork ribs, plus red beans, potatoes, pumpkin, cabbage and a handful of short pasta, all simmered until thick, rich and savoury. It is filling enough to be lunch on its own, eaten with avocado, ají and a piece of arepa. The tripe must be bought cleaned and bleached from the butcher and then simmered for two hours until tender; undercooked tripe is the most common complaint, as it stays chewy and tastes strong. This version uses cooked or tinned hominy and beans to save the overnight soaking. Chef's tip: rub the tripe with lime and salt and rinse it twice before cooking; it removes any farmyard smell and keeps the broth clean-tasting.

240 min

Colombian Soups

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MutzbratenMarjoram roast pork shoulder

Mutzbraten is the fairground roast of eastern Thuringia, from Schmölln and the Altenburg area, where big chunks of pork shoulder are rubbed with salt, pepper and lots of marjoram, threaded on skewers and hung in an iron cage over a birch-wood fire. It is sold sliced with sauerkraut and a slice of rye bread at markets and village festivals. At home a lidded kettle barbecue with birch or other mild wood chips gives a close result; an oven version is in the steps. Chef's tip: marinate overnight, as the marjoram needs time to work its way into the meat.

170 min

German Meat

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NabatSaffron rock sugar crystals

Golden saffron nabat on a stick is the souvenir pilgrims bring back from Mashhad, and across Iran a stick of it is stirred into hot tea for an upset stomach, after a fright or simply instead of a sugar cube. The crystals grow slowly on cotton strings in a saturated syrup over two or three days, and making it at home is a pleasant, slow kitchen project. A common mistake is moving or knocking the jar: every jolt sets off fine sugar grit instead of big crystals. Chef's tip: roll the wet strings in a little sugar and let them dry before hanging them; the seed crystals give the new ones something to grow on.

40 min

Persian Basics

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Nan-e barbariThick grooved flatbread

Barbari is Tehran and Tabriz's breakfast bread: a long, thick oval with deep lengthwise grooves, its top glazed golden-brown and scattered with sesame and nigella. Bakeries sell it hot from early morning, and it goes home to be torn and eaten with feta, walnuts, herbs, butter and jam or a glass of sweet tea. Its secret is the roomal, a quick paste of flour, baking soda and water brushed on before baking, which gives the shiny, crackly crust. The usual mistake is pressing the grooves too shallow, so they puff out in the oven and the bread loses its shape. Chef's tip: press your fingertips right down to the work surface when making the grooves, and don't worry if it looks too flat; it rises in the oven.

175 min

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Nan-e berenjiRice-flour cookies

Kermanshah in western Iran is famous for its nan-e berenji, and in the weeks before Nowruz bakeries there pack them by the boxful for guests who come visiting through the holiday. Made with rice flour, they are pale, crumbly and melt on the tongue, scented with cardamom and rosewater and sprinkled with a few poppy seeds. Many families make the dough a day ahead. The common mistake is letting them colour in the oven; they should come out white with only the faintest gold underneath. Chef's tip: rest the dough in the fridge for at least an hour so the rice flour hydrates; otherwise the cookies crack and spread.

120 min

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Nan-e gerdooyiWalnut cookies

In the run-up to Nowruz, when Tabriz, Tehran and Qazvin families are spring-cleaning and baking for the round of holiday visits, nan-e gerdooyi are among the first cookies to go into the tin. They are made with chopped walnuts held together by egg yolks and sugar, no flour at all, so they bake crisp at the edge and soft and chewy in the middle. A common mistake is grinding the walnuts to a paste; they should be chopped into small pieces so the cookies have texture and don't turn oily. Chef's tip: leave a good gap between them on the tray; they spread to about twice their size.

30 min

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Nan-e komajSweet date-filled bread

In Khorasan and Kerman, nan-e komaj is the bread of guests and holidays: thick, soft, golden with turmeric, scented with cumin and layered with a ribbon of date paste and cinnamon. In villages around Mashhad it is baked in big rounds for Nowruz and religious feasts and cut into wedges with tea. It is sweet but not cake-like, sitting somewhere between bread and pastry. A common mistake is spreading the date paste right to the edge, which lets it leak and burn on the tray. Chef's tip: soften the dates with a spoon of hot water and a little butter before spreading; stiff date paste tears the dough.

195 min

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Nan-e nokhodchiChickpea flour cookies

No Nowruz tea tray in Tehran or Qazvin looks complete without a pile of tiny four-leafed nan-e nokhodchi, each topped with a sliver of pistachio. They are made from flour of roasted chickpeas, so they taste nutty and slightly savoury under the sugar, and they dissolve almost instantly on the tongue. Bakers make them by the thousand in March, but they are simple at home with a small clover cutter. The common mistake is using raw gram flour, which tastes beany and bitter; the flour must be from roasted chickpeas, or toasted first. Chef's tip: knead the dough longer than you think, 8–10 minutes, until it turns smooth and pale; that is what gives the melting texture.

118 min

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Nan-e panjerehFried rosette pastries

Nan-e panjereh, 'window bread', is the most delicate pastry on a Nowruz table, and in Tehran and Isfahan it is usually made at home with a flower-shaped iron passed down through the family. A thin batter of egg, milk and flour flavoured with rosewater clings to the hot iron, then drops off into the oil as a crisp, lacy rosette that shatters at the first bite. The usual mistake is dipping the iron too deep; the batter must come only to the top edge, or the rosette won't release. Chef's tip: dip the iron back into the hot oil for 30 seconds before every rosette so the batter sets the moment it touches the metal.

70 min

Persian Desserts

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Nan-e sangakPebble-baked whole-wheat flatbread

Sangak means 'little stone': at bakeries in Tehran the dough is stretched onto a sloping bed of hot river pebbles inside a domed oven, and customers queue at dawn to carry home metre-long sheets folded over their arms, picking off the stones still stuck to the bread. It is a dimpled, chewy whole-wheat flatbread with a slight sourness and a toasted, blistered crust, eaten with cheese and herbs for breakfast or alongside kebabs. At home a tray of clean pebbles or a baking steel does the job. The common mistake is a stiff dough; sangak dough is very soft, almost a thick batter, which is what gives it its holes. Chef's tip: wet your hands well when stretching the dough onto the stones so it slides into a thin sheet without tearing.

195 min

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Nan-e taftoonThin tandoor flatbread

Taftoon is the everyday bread of many Iranian towns, from Qazvin to Kerman: thin, soft and slightly bubbly, slapped onto the hot clay wall of a tanoor and peeled off a minute later, then piled on the sofreh at lunch to wrap herbs and cheese or to scoop up stews. It is softer and thinner than barbari but less papery than lavash. A heavy pan or upturned wok on the hob gives very good results at home. The common mistake is rolling it unevenly; thin patches burn while thick ones stay doughy. Chef's tip: stack the breads in a tea towel as they come off the heat; the trapped steam keeps them soft and foldable.

125 min

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Nan-e tiriPaper-thin rolled bread

In the Zagros mountains of Lorestan and among the Bakhtiari nomads, women roll out nan-e tiri with a long, thin rod (the tir) until the dough is almost see-through, then flip it onto a domed iron saj over a wood fire. It cooks in seconds and is stacked high, and because it dries so thin it keeps for weeks and is softened with a sprinkle of water before eating. It needs only flour, water and salt. The usual mistake is resting the dough too little; it fights back and shrinks when rolled. Chef's tip: wind the dough around a long thin rolling pin as you roll and unroll it, as the Lori bakers do; it stretches the dough evenly without tearing.

90 min

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Nan-e YazdiCardamom and rosewater cupcakes

Nan-e Yazdi, often called Yazdi cakes, are the small domed cupcakes every Iranian bakery sells for breakfast and afternoon tea, first made in Yazd and now loved in Tehran and far beyond. The crumb is soft and a little dense, perfumed with cardamom and rosewater, and the tops are scattered with pistachio or sesame before baking. Children eat them dunked in milk. A common mistake is overbeating after the flour goes in, which makes the cakes tough and peaked; fold just until smooth. Chef's tip: rest the batter in the fridge for an hour before baking for a taller, crackled dome.

37 min

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Navajas á pranchaGriddled razor clams

Razor clams are pulled from the sandy beds of the Galician rías, and in the seafood bars of Vigo and A Coruña they arrive straight from the griddle, opened up and glistening with garlic oil. They take two minutes to cook and are eaten with the fingers. Live razor clams twitch or pull in when touched: throw away any with cracked or broken shells, or that don't react at all. A common mistake is leaving them on the heat after they open, which turns the meat rubbery. Chef's tip: lay them all hinge side down in the same direction so they open evenly and the juices stay in the shells.

20 min

Spanish Fish

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Nebraska runzasBeef and cabbage bread pockets

Runzas came to Nebraska with Volga German settlers, who called them bierocks, and today they are the state's fast food, packed for Cornhusker football games and long drives across the plains. A soft, slightly sweet bread dough is wrapped around a peppery filling of beef mince, onion and cabbage and baked into a rectangular pocket. Chef's tip: let the filling cool and drain it in a sieve before filling; hot, wet filling makes the dough soggy and tear.

70 min

American Meat

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New Mexico biscochitosAnise cinnamon cookies

Biscochitos are New Mexico's official state cookie, baked by the thousand at Christmas, weddings and baptisms in Hispanic homes from Las Cruces to Taos. They are crumbly, short and scented with anise seed, cut into stars or fleurs-de-lis and dipped in cinnamon sugar. Grandmothers use lard, which gives the classic texture; this version uses butter so it stays vegetarian. Traditional recipes add a splash of brandy; here orange juice is used instead. Chef's tip: lightly crush the anise seeds to release the flavour.

37 min

American Baking

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NicuatoleCorn and cinnamon pudding

Nicuatole is a Zapotec sweet sold in little squares from glass cases at Oaxacan markets and at village fiestas, often with a bright pink top coloured with cochineal. It is made from corn masa cooked with water, sugar and cinnamon until it thickens enough to set when cool, a cousin of atole you can cut with a knife. The texture is soft, slightly bouncy and cool, and it is eaten as an afternoon treat. We give a coconut-milk option and use beetroot juice or a natural red food colouring instead of cochineal (which comes from insects) for the red layer. Chef's tip: cook it until the spoon leaves a clear path across the pan base for a full second; undercooked nicuatole never sets.

40 min

Mexican Desserts

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NoghlSugar-coated almond slivers

Noghl, the craggy white sugar-coated slivers of almond, is the confection of celebration in Iran, and the town of Urmia in West Azerbaijan is its home. It is showered over newlyweds at weddings, offered to guests at Nowruz and set beside tea on special days. Professionals build the spiky coat in a rotating copper pan over many hours; this home version does the same job in a wide pan, adding the rosewater syrup a little at a time. The usual mistake is adding too much syrup at once, which glues the almonds into a lump instead of building the knobbly crust. Chef's tip: keep the almonds moving constantly and wait until each coat is completely dry before the next.

120 min

Persian Desserts

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Tavuk pilavChicken and chickpea rice

Glass-fronted carts parked outside Istanbul's ferry piers and office blocks sell tavuk pilav from early morning: rice cooked in rich chicken stock with butter and chickpeas, heaped into a dish and topped with shredded chicken, black pepper and a pickled pepper on the side. Workers eat it standing up with a glass of ayran. At home it is just as easy and makes a whole chicken go a long way. Common mistake: stirring the rice while it steams; it breaks and turns sticky. Chef's tip: wash the rice until the water runs clear and soak it in warm salted water for 30 minutes; every grain stays separate and glossy.

90 min

Turkish Chicken

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Northumberland pan haggertyLayered potato, onion and cheese

Pan haggerty is a frugal supper from Northumberland and the Durham pit villages, made in a single heavy frying pan from thin layers of potato, onion and grated cheese. The bottom turns crisp and brown while the top melts under the grill, and it is eaten straight from the pan with pickles. Cheddar is often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian cheddar. Chef's tip: slice the potatoes paper-thin and dry them in a tea towel; wet slices steam instead of browning.

60 min

British Vegetarian

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Nürnberger RostbratwürsteSmall marjoram pork sausages

Nuremberg's little pork sausages are barely longer than a finger, grilled over beechwood in the old town's sausage kitchens and sold three at a time in a crusty roll, 'Drei im Weggla', at the Christmas market and all year round. They are delicate, coarse-ground and fragrant with marjoram, mace and lemon zest, and at a sit-down meal six or twelve come on a pewter plate with sauerkraut and horseradish. Making them at home needs a mincer with a sausage nozzle and narrow sheep casings, and is a satisfying weekend project. Vegetarians can buy small vegetarian bratwursts and grill them with the same sides. Chef's tip: keep the meat and mincer ice-cold; warm fat smears and the sausages turn crumbly.

75 min

German Meat

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ObatzdaBeer-garden cheese spread

Obatzda is what a Munich beer garden puts beside a giant soft pretzel: overripe Camembert mashed with soft butter, sweet paprika, caraway and raw onion until it turns a creamy, rusty orange. It is a thrifty spread that grew up in Bavarian taverns as a way to use cheese that had gone a little too far, and it is still eaten in the afternoon sun with radishes and dark bread. Camembert is usually made with animal rennet, so pick one labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. A common mistake is blitzing it in a processor, which makes it gluey; mash with a fork so a few soft lumps stay. Chef's tip: make it an hour ahead and chill it, then let it stand 15 minutes before serving, so the paprika flavour blooms and it spreads easily.

15 min

German Chutneys & Dips

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OcopaPeanut, huacatay and cheese sauce

Arequipa's picanterías put ocopa on the table as a starter, a pale olive sauce spooned thickly over sliced boiled potatoes, and the smell of toasted chillies and huacatay (black mint) is what sets it apart from Lima's huancaína. The chillies are dried ají mirasol, charred in a dry pan, which gives a smoky, raisin-like warmth rather than sharp heat, and toasted peanuts make the sauce nutty and almost velvety. Many cooks thicken it with crackers; this version uses only peanuts and cheese, so it stays gluten free. Serve it at room temperature with yellow potatoes, a black olive and a few lettuce leaves, plus a halved boiled egg for anyone who eats eggs. The mistake people make is toasting the onion and chillies black, which turns the sauce bitter; they should be blistered in spots only. Queso fresco is often made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian fresh cheese. Chef's tip: huacatay paste comes in jars from Latin shops; without it, use a small handful of mint plus a few tarragon leaves.

30 min

Peruvian Chutneys & Dips

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Oeufs en meurettePoached eggs in red wine sauce

In Burgundy, between Dijon and Beaune, a meurette is any dish cooked in red wine sauce, and oeufs en meurette is the one served as a starter in village restaurants and at weekend lunches. Eggs are poached in a reduced, glossy sauce of red wine, shallots and stock, then served with crisp smoked pork lardons, button mushrooms and garlic-rubbed croutons to dip into the yolks. The sauce is deep, winey and savoury; the eggs make it rich. The dish uses red wine, and an alcohol-free version is in the notes. The yolks stay runny, so use pasteurised eggs for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system, or poach the eggs until the yolks are set. Chef's tip: poach the eggs in water with a dash of vinegar rather than in the wine itself, so the whites stay white.

55 min

French Snacks & Starters

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OfenschlupferBaked bread pudding with apples

Ofenschlupfer, literally 'oven-crawler', is how Swabian farmhouse kitchens used up stale rolls on a Friday: slices of bread layered with apples, raisins and a little cinnamon in a deep dish, soaked in vanilla egg milk and baked until puffed and golden. Some families pour in a splash of rum; this version doesn't. It was once eaten as a sweet main course after a bowl of soup and is still served warm with vanilla sauce in Stuttgart cafés. A common mistake is baking it straight after pouring in the custard, which leaves dry patches on top; let it soak for 20 minutes. Chef's tip: dot the top with butter and a spoon of sugar for a crackly, caramelised crust.

65 min

German Desserts

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Olho de sograCoconut-stuffed prunes

The 'mother-in-law's eye' is a slightly teasing party sweet from the docinhos tradition of weddings and birthdays: a prune slit open and filled with a pale coconut fudge, so it looks like a dark eyelid around a white eye. It shows up on Brazilian sweet tables from Rio to Porto Alegre, often finished with a single clove for the pupil and rolled in crystal sugar. Chewy, sticky prune against creamy, coconutty filling makes it less cloying than many docinhos. Older recipes add egg yolks to the filling; this one is egg free. Stuffing them while the filling is still warm is a frequent mistake; it smears and the shape is lost. Chef's tip: choose large, soft pitted prunes and open them like a book with a small knife, without cutting all the way through.

42 min