Featured recipe

Smažený sýr

Breaded fried cheese

Smažený sýr, a thick slab of breaded Edam fried until molten, is the dish every Czech student orders at a Prague hospoda and the one vegetarian main that turns up on nearly every menu from Brno to the Šumava mountain huts. It comes with tatarská omáčka (tartare sauce) and either boiled potatoes or chips, and a cold pivo on the side. The joy is the crunch giving way to stretchy, salty cheese. Chef's tip: chill the breaded slices for 20 minutes and double-coat them, otherwise the cheese bursts out into the oil before the crumb is golden.

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Tulumba tatlısıFried dough fingers in syrup

Tulumba is the sweet you buy by the box from Turkish dessert shops for a quick treat or an unannounced visit: ridged fingers of choux-style dough, fried until crunchy, then dropped into cold syrup so they stay crisp outside and soak through within. Street vendors in Istanbul sell them warm in paper cones. A piping bag with a large star nozzle gives the ridges. Common mistake: frying in oil that is too hot; the outside browns before the inside puffs, leaving them raw and gummy. Chef's tip: start the dough in warm, not hot, oil and raise the heat slowly, so they swell and crisp evenly.

65 min

Turkish Desserts

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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 min

Spanish Vegetarian

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LadeniaTomato and onion olive-oil flatbread

On tiny Kimolos, a short boat ride from Milos, ladenia was the bread women baked in the village oven on bread-making day, pressing dough into a tray, covering it with tomato and onion and soaking it in olive oil. It is soft and airy inside with a crisp, oily base, a little like a focaccia, and is eaten warm or cold, cut into squares, with olives and cheese. Common mistake: piling on wet tomato, which sinks the dough; slice it thin and salt it first. Chef's tip: use your fingertips to press deep dimples into the risen dough so the oil and tomato juices pool and soak in.

55 min

Greek Breads & Parathas

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Pellkartoffeln mit Quark und LeinölJacket potatoes with herb quark

Ask anyone from the Spreewald, the river-and-forest country south-east of Berlin, for the taste of home and many will name this: small potatoes boiled in their skins, a bowl of cold herb quark and a thread of golden, nutty linseed oil poured over the top. It is a weekday supper in Brandenburg and Berlin, cheap, quick and surprisingly filling, often with a Spreewald gherkin on the side. Fresh linseed oil tastes of hay and walnuts; old oil turns bitter and fishy, so buy a small bottle and keep it in the fridge. A common mistake is peeling the potatoes before boiling; cooking them in their skins keeps them firm and flavourful. Chef's tip: beat a splash of milk or sparkling water into the quark, which makes it light and creamy instead of stodgy.

30 min

German Vegetarian

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Lulas recheadasSquid stuffed with chouriço and rice

Fishermen's wives in Portimão stretched a modest catch of squid by filling the bodies with chopped tentacles, rice and a little chouriço, then simmering them slowly in tomato sauce until meltingly tender. It is a Sunday dish in the western Algarve, served sliced into rounds with boiled potatoes or more rice. This contains pork (chouriço), and the sauce uses white wine; replace it with the same amount of fish or vegetable stock for an alcohol-free version. Chef's tip: fill the squid only two-thirds full, because the rice swells and can split them.

90 min

Portuguese Fish

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Garides saganakiPrawns with tomato and feta

Order garides saganaki at a seaside taverna on Mykonos or Syros and it arrives bubbling in the small two-handled pan it is named after: whole prawns in a quick sauce of tomato, garlic, chilli and oregano, scattered with feta that softens into the sauce. You eat it with bread for mopping, as a shared starter or a main with rice. Many tavernas add a splash of ouzo; this version leaves it out, so it is alcohol-free. Common mistake: cooking the prawns in the sauce for too long, which makes them tough; they need only a few minutes. Chef's tip: simmer the prawn heads and shells in a little water for 10 minutes and use that stock in the sauce for a deeper sea flavour.

30 min

Greek Fish

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Yorkshire parkinOatmeal and treacle ginger cake

Parkin is the dark ginger cake that West Yorkshire bakes for the 5th of November, cut into squares and handed round at Bonfire Night fires in Leeds, Halifax and Bradford. It is made with oatmeal, black treacle and golden syrup, so it is dense, chewy and gingery rather than light. It gets better with time, turning stickier after a few days in a tin. Chef's tip: wrap it and keep it for three days before cutting; fresh parkin is dry and crumbly by comparison.

65 min

British Baking

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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 min

Mexican Fast Food

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Laz böreğiCustard-filled filo pie in syrup

Ask for something sweet in a Rize pastry shop and you are likely to be handed a square of Laz böreği, a crisp filo pie layered with butter and filled with a thick, vanilla-scented milk custard, then drenched in cool syrup as it leaves the oven. It is a wedding and holiday dessert in Laz villages, and an everyday treat with tea in town. The top shatters, the middle is soft and creamy, and the syrup keeps it fresh for a couple of days. Common mistake: pouring hot syrup on a hot pie, which makes the pastry soggy; one of the two must be cool. Chef's tip: cook the custard until it holds a trail for a few seconds, then cover the surface with cling film so no skin forms before you layer it.

90 min

Turkish Desserts

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Mate com limãoIced mate with lime

On Copacabana and Ipanema, vendors in orange uniforms trudge across the hot sand carrying two metal barrels, one of iced mate tea and one of limonada, shouting 'mate, limão!' and mixing the two in a plastic cup for each customer. The tea is chá mate tostado, roasted yerba mate leaves brewed like ordinary tea, with a smoky, toasty taste; with sweet lime lemonade it becomes the definitive carioca beach drink, cold, tangy and gently caffeinated. Toasted mate is sold loose or in tea bags in Brazilian shops; green yerba mate gives a grassier result. Squeezing the limes too hard, or blending them whole, is the usual pitfall, because the white pith turns the lemonade bitter. Chef's tip: brew the tea strong and chill it completely before mixing, so the ice does not dilute it.

15 min

Brazilian Drinks

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Pepas de membrilloQuince jam cookies

Pepas are the little round cookies with a jewel of quince jam in the middle that Argentine kiosks sell by the bag and grandmothers keep in a tin for the mate round. They are tender and crumbly, not crisp, with just enough sugar that the tart, dark membrillo stands out. Children love pressing the thumbprint and filling it, which makes them a good first baking job, and they keep for a week in an airtight jar. Kiosk versions are often made with margarine; butter tastes far better. Overbaking is the usual problem: take them out while the tops are still pale and only the bottoms are golden, because they firm up as they cool. Chef's tip: use quince paste softened with a spoonful of hot water and pipe it from a small bag; a spoon leaves smears on the dough that burn.

35 min

Argentinian Baking

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Peperoni cruschiCrisp fried dried peppers

In late summer the villages around Senise, in southern Basilicata, hang long garlands of thin red peppers from balconies to dry in the sun. Once dried, a few seconds in hot oil turns them into peperoni cruschi: glassy, brittle and sweet with a faint smoky note, eaten like crisps or crumbled over pasta, beans, fried eggs and mashed potatoes. Lucanians call them their red gold and keep a jar of them on the table all winter. Chef's tip: get the oil hot but not smoking and count to five; the colour should stay bright red.

10 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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Mousse de maracujáPassion fruit mousse

Three ingredients, a blender and a fridge: Brazilian home cooks from Recife to Curitiba lean on mousse de maracujá for Sunday lunch dessert because it takes ten minutes and nobody ever refuses it. The acid in passion-fruit juice thickens condensed milk and cream almost instantly, so it sets into a light, tangy, pale yellow mousse without gelatin, topped with the glossy black seeds and pulp. Sharp and sweet at once, it is perfect after a feijoada or a barbecue. Buy wrinkly, heavy passion fruit, which are the ripest and juiciest; frozen unsweetened pulp works too. The trap is diluting the juice: any added water stops the mousse setting, so use pure strained juice. Chef's tip: keep back the pulp of one fruit, warm it for a minute with a spoonful of sugar, and pour it over the mousse just before serving for shine.

17 min

Brazilian Desserts

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PepitoriaRice with goat offal

Santander's famous plate of cabrito (roast kid goat), sold in Bucaramanga, Barichara and the canyon towns, always comes with pepitoria next to it: rice cooked with the kid's chopped heart, liver and kidneys, a refrito of onion and tomato, and blood, which turns it a deep reddish-brown and gives it a rich, mineral flavour, a little like a soft black pudding. It's a dish that uses the whole animal, and it is worth trying if you like morcilla. Ask a halal, Caribbean or specialist butcher for very fresh goat offal and fresh blood (pig blood works if goat isn't available); keep both cold and cook them the same day. Offal must be cooked right through, and the blood until it has set and darkened with no liquid red left. The usual misstep is adding the blood too early, so that it scorches on the bottom; it goes in when the rice is nearly done. Chef's tip: if blood is impossible to find, double the offal and add 1 tsp extra achiote; you'll get a lighter but still very good rice.

110 min

Colombian Rice & Grains

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Feijão tropeiroBeans with cassava flour and bacon

Mule drivers, the tropeiros, crossed Minas Gerais with sacks of beans, cassava flour and pork, and their trail food has become the state's pride: you will find feijão tropeiro at every comida mineira restaurant, at football grounds in Belo Horizonte and on Sunday tables, with rice, couve, torresmo and a grilled pork chop. The beans are cooked just tender, drained, and tossed in bacon and sausage fat with onions, scrambled egg, cassava flour and shredded collards, so the dish is moist but loose, smoky and very savoury. This is a pork dish: smoked bacon and pork sausage give it its flavour. If you start from dried beans, soak them overnight. The usual mistake is overcooking the beans; mushy beans turn the farofa into paste. For a vegetarian version, skip the meats and use butter and an extra egg. Chef's tip: add the farinha off the heat a handful at a time and stop when it looks moist and fluffy, not dry.

50 min

Brazilian Rice & Grains

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GarbureCabbage and bean duck soup

Shepherds in the Béarn valleys and farmers across Gascony have eaten garbure through the cold months for centuries, and it is still the centrepiece of village rugby-club suppers and winter fêtes. It is a soup so thick that, as people in Pau like to say, the ladle should almost stand up in it: white beans, cabbage, potatoes, leeks and turnips cooked down slowly, finished with pieces of duck confit warmed through in the pot. A ham hock is often added too; that version is a pork dish as well as a duck one, so leave it out if you need to. Serve it in deep bowls with thick slices of country bread. Chef's tip: hold back the salt until the very end, because confit duck and ham hock both season the soup as they warm.

180 min

French Soups

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Layali LubnanSemolina pudding with cream and pistachios

Layali Lubnan — 'Lebanese nights' — is the cool, wobbly pudding Beirut families make for Ramadan evenings and summer gatherings, because it is quick and feeds a crowd from one dish. A base of milk thickened with fine semolina and scented with orange blossom is topped with a thick layer of cream, then finished with pistachios, rose petals and a trickle of sugar syrup at the table. It is gentle and milky rather than very sweet; the syrup lets everyone choose. Common mistake: pouring the cream on while the semolina is still hot; it melts in and the layers blur. Chef's tip: whisk the semolina in slowly and keep whisking for the first minute — that is what keeps it perfectly smooth.

30 min

Lebanese Desserts

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Perde pilavıChicken pilaf in pastry dome

At weddings in Siirt, perde pilavı is carried out whole and cut open at the table: a dome of buttery pastry 'curtain' (perde) hiding rice cooked with shredded chicken, toasted almonds, currants and black pepper. Each part carries a wish for the couple: the rice for plenty, the almonds for children, the pastry for a home that holds together. It makes a spectacular centrepiece for any celebration. Common mistake: a wet filling; the base of the pastry turns soggy, so cook the rice until just dry. Chef's tip: scatter almonds over the buttered tin before the pastry goes in; they become a jewelled top when you turn it out.

135 min

Turkish Chicken

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Perdiz al modo de AlcántaraStuffed partridge braised in port

This is the famous dish of the monastery of San Benito at Alcántara, near the Portuguese border. The story goes that French troops looted the library in 1807, and its recipe for partridges stuffed with liver and truffle, marinated for days in port, ended up in French cookbooks, which is why Escoffier listed it. Today it is a dish for autumn hunting-season dinners in Extremadura. Our home version uses chicken livers, mushrooms and an overnight marinade. The dish uses port; for an alcohol-free version, use red grape juice with 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar. Chef's tip: a few slices of black truffle in the stuffing make it truly special, but well-browned mushrooms are a fine everyday substitute.

110 min

Spanish Meat

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Perdiz de escabechePickled partridge

Partridge shooting season fills the cork-oak plains of the Alentejo with hunters in autumn and winter, and escabeche was how their families kept the birds: browned in olive oil, then cooked slowly in vinegar with onion, garlic, bay and peppercorns, and left in the cool larder for days. Today it is made in the fridge and served cold or at room temperature as a starter, with bread and a green salad. A common mistake is serving it straight away; it needs at least a day for the sour, garlicky flavour to soak in. Chef's tip: use good olive oil, since it sets around the birds and is served as part of the dish.

90 min

Portuguese Meat

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ZwiebelkuchenOnion tart

When the grape harvest starts in Baden and the Württemberg vineyards in September, bakeries pull out trays of Zwiebelkuchen: a thin yeast base piled with slowly softened onions under a sour-cream and egg custard, sprinkled with caraway. It is traditionally eaten warm with Neuer Wein or Federweißer, the young, still-fermenting wine; that is alcoholic, so pour cloudy fresh grape juice or apple juice instead, which tastes just as right. Many bakers add bacon; this version is vegetarian. A common mistake is rushing the onions on a high heat: they need 25 minutes on low until soft and sweet but still pale. Chef's tip: cool the onions before adding the custard, or the eggs start setting in the bowl.

70 min

German Baking

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Znoud el sitCream-filled filo fingers

Lebanese sweet shops in Tripoli and Saida fry trays of znoud el sit every evening during Ramadan, and families queue for them after iftar. Filo is rolled around a thick, set milk cream (a home version of ashta), baked or fried until shatteringly crisp, then dipped in cold syrup and dusted with ground pistachios. The contrast of crackling pastry and cool, fragrant cream is the whole point, so eat them within an hour or two of filling. Common mistake: filling with warm cream; it leaks and makes the pastry soggy, so chill it until firm. Chef's tip: brush with clarified butter rather than whole butter — it browns evenly without burning and keeps the rolls crisp longer.

70 min

Lebanese Desserts

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MsabbahaWhole chickpeas in tahini sauce

Hummus shops in Jerusalem's Old City and in Nablus open before dawn, and alongside the smooth hummus they ladle out msabbaha: whole, just-cooked chickpeas bathed in a loose, garlicky tahini and lemon sauce, still warm. It is a working breakfast, eaten with raw onion wedges, green chilli and plenty of bread, and it is just as popular in south Lebanon. The texture is the point, soft chickpeas in a creamy pool rather than a purée. The common mistake is making the tahini sauce too thick; it should pour like double cream so it seeps around every chickpea. Chef's tip: crush a handful of the hot chickpeas into the sauce before you spoon it over; it makes the msabbaha richer and creamier.

90 min

Palestinian Chutneys & Dips

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PerrunillasCinnamon and lemon lard cookies

Perrunillas are the cookies of Extremaduran grandmothers, baked in village ovens for Christmas, weddings and the days after the matanza, when fresh lard was plentiful. They are thick, pale and so short they crumble the moment you bite, with a crackly sugar top, and they are eaten with coffee or a glass of milk in the afternoon. This contains pork (pork lard), so they are not vegetarian. Chef's tip: beat the lard and sugar for a good few minutes until very pale and fluffy; that air is what makes them light.

38 min

Spanish Baking

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Hamsi tavaFried anchovies

When the first winter storms push shoals of anchovy along the coast, fish markets from Samsun to Hopa are heaped with silver hamsi and the whole region seems to smell of frying. Hamsi tava is the simplest way to eat them: heads off, butterflied, dusted in cornmeal and laid in a hot pan in a neat circle, then flipped like a cake. They come out crisp outside and soft and sweet within, with red onion, rocket, lemon and cornbread alongside. Common mistake: crowding the pan, which steams the fish and leaves the coating soggy. Cook until the flesh is opaque and flakes from the backbone. Chef's tip: shake off every bit of loose cornmeal; a thin coat is what stays crunchy.

30 min

Turkish Fish

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LokumTurkish delight

Istanbul's confectioners have been cooking lokum since the 18th century, and boxes of it still go to every host, office and family on holiday visits. Real lokum is nothing more than sugar syrup, lemon and cornflour, stirred for an hour until it turns translucent, firm and springy, then scented with rosewater and studded with pistachios. It is a test of patience, not skill. Common mistake: stopping too soon; undercooked lokum is sticky and never sets cleanly. Chef's tip: it is ready when a little dropped into cold water forms a soft, pliable ball and the mixture is the colour of pale honey.

90 min

Turkish Desserts

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Favas guisadas com chouriçoBroad beans with chouriço

When broad beans come in across the Alentejo in April and May, this is the dish that announces them: young beans stewed with chouriço and a little cured pork belly, garlic, onion and a big handful of coriander, until the beans are soft and the sauce is red with paprika fat. It is a weekday lunch with bread, or with a poached egg on top. This contains pork (chouriço and bacon). Frozen broad beans work well out of season. A common mistake is boiling the beans until they turn grey and mealy; stop when they are tender and still green. Chef's tip: a spoonful of vinegar at the end brightens the rich, fatty sauce.

50 min

Portuguese Meat

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TungosBanana leaf steamed rice

At fairs and family gatherings in Villavicencio and across the Meta, tungos sit in a big pile next to the slow-roasted meat: soft white rice pressed into banana-leaf parcels and steamed until it holds together in a firm, faintly smoky log. The leaf gives the rice a tea-like aroma and keeps it warm for hours, which is why they travel to river trips and roadside parrillas so well. Unwrap one and eat it with roast meat, beans, a sweet plantain or a bowl of vegetable stew; the tungo itself is vegan. Fluffy, separate grains are the wrong goal here: rice cooked dry and loose falls apart in the leaf, so cook it with extra water until soft and sticky. Frozen banana leaves are sold in Asian and Latin shops. Chef's tip: pass each leaf quickly over a gas flame or through hot water first; it turns glossy and supple and will not split as you fold.

60 min

Colombian Rice & Grains

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Empadinha de palmitoHeart of palm pies

Rio's padarias and lanchonetes stack trays of empadinhas on their counters, and the heart-of-palm one is the meat-free favourite: a short, buttery crust that melts in the mouth around a creamy, savoury filling of palmito, tomato and olives. They are snack food eaten standing at the counter with a guaraná, party food passed round at birthdays, and something to pack for the beach. The pastry is very rich and almost crumbles at a touch, so press it into tins rather than rolling it. Buy palm hearts from cultivated pupunha or açaí palms rather than wild juçara. Many bakers make the filling too runny, and it boils over and soaks the crust; it should be thick enough to hold a spoon upright. Chef's tip: chill the lined tins for 15 minutes before filling, so the pastry keeps its shape and bakes crisp.

75 min

Brazilian Snacks & Starters

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Matjes HausfrauenartHerring in apple cream sauce

Matjes nach Hausfrauenart, 'housewife's matjes', is the early-summer plate of northern Germany, eaten when the new season's young herring arrives in June, from Glückstadt on the Elbe to the cafés of Emden. Mild, buttery matjes fillets are covered in a cool sauce of sour cream and yoghurt with crisp apple, onion and gherkin, and served with hot boiled new potatoes in their skins and sometimes green beans. Matjes is cured raw herring, so buy commercially prepared, previously frozen fillets from the chilled counter and keep them cold; it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: make the sauce first and let it chill for 20 minutes so the apple and onion flavour it before the fish goes in.

30 min

German Fish

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Mtabbal shamandarBeetroot and tahini dip

Beirut's modern mezze bars made mtabbal shamandar a fixture next to hummus and moutabal: roasted beetroot blended with tahini, garlic, lemon and a little yoghurt into a magenta dip that is earthy, nutty and bright. It is quick to make and keeps well, so it is good for a weekend spread with warm flatbread, crisp cucumbers and radishes. Common mistake: boiling the beetroot, which waters it down; roasting in foil concentrates the sweetness. Chef's tip: add the lemon a little at a time and taste — beetroot varies a lot in sweetness, and the dip should taste lively, not sugary. Use plant yoghurt to make it vegan.

70 min

Lebanese Chutneys & Dips

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MajariscoPlantain mash with seafood

Its name blends 'majado' (mashed plantain) and 'marisco' (seafood), and along the coast of Piura and Tumbes, near the Ecuadorian border, it's what cevicherías and beach restaurants serve when you want something hot and filling. Mashed green plantain is folded into a sauce of garlic, onion, ají and seafood juices, with prawns, squid and mussels running through it, so every forkful is creamy, garlicky and briny. Serve it with lime and salsa criolla. Mussels must be alive: tap any open ones and discard those that don't close, and discard any that stay shut after cooking. Overcooking the seafood is the most frequent mistake; it goes in at the end, just until pink and opaque. Chef's tip: keep the mussel cooking liquid and use it to loosen the mash; it's pure seafood flavour.

55 min

Peruvian Fish

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Pescaíto fritoMixed fried fish

On the beaches of Pedregalejo and El Palo in Málaga, chiringuito cooks shake small fish in flour and fry them by the basketful: whole fresh anchovies (boquerones), rings of squid, strips of dogfish and little red mullet, served piled on paper with lemon. The secret is a coarse frying flour, partly durum semolina, and very clean, hot oil, so each piece comes out crisp and dry. Eat it at once, at the table, with a cold drink and a salad. Chef's tip: shake off every bit of loose flour in a sieve before frying; excess flour burns and makes the oil dark and bitter.

50 min

Spanish Fish

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Pesque de quinuaCreamy quinoa with cheese

Up on the Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, where quinoa grows at almost 4,000 metres, pesque is everyday food: quinoa cooked until it collapses, then beaten with milk, a knob of butter and crumbled fresh cheese until it looks like a loose, savoury risotto. Puno families eat it for a warming lunch or supper, often with a glass of milk poured over or a fried egg on top, and in the cold dry air it is exactly what the body wants. It is soft, nutty and mildly salty. The step people skip is rinsing the quinoa, and the natural saponins then leave a soapy, bitter edge; rub it under running water until the foam stops. Serve with a tomato salad or a spoon of uchucuta for some heat. Andean fresh cheese is usually set with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian fresh cheese if needed. Chef's tip: cook the quinoa in a little more water than usual and leave it a few minutes longer than for a salad, so it turns creamy and the grains burst.

35 min

Peruvian Vegetarian

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PestiñosAnise fritters in honey

When Holy Week and Christmas come round, convent turnstiles and village kitchens from Cádiz to Granada fill trays with pestiños: little folded parcels of dough flavoured with sesame, anise and orange, fried until crisp and blistered and then dipped in honey. The dough traditionally takes a splash of white wine, which makes it bubble and crunch; orange juice works too, and is the alcohol-free option in the list. A common mistake is frying them in oil that is too hot, which browns the outside before the folds of dough cook through and crisp. Chef's tip: roll the dough really thin; thick pestiños stay doughy in the middle and soak up oil.

70 min

Spanish Desserts

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LavashakSour plum fruit leather

Lavashak is the sour fruit leather Iranian children buy rolled up in plastic from corner shops, and every family has a version dried at home in late summer, when tart plums and apricots are plentiful in Tehran's bazaars. Fruit is cooked down, sieved smooth, spread thin and dried until it peels off as a flexible, glossy sheet, sour enough to make you wince and very moreish. Torn into strips, it is a snack on its own or wrapped around a crisp of rice. Chef's tip: spread the purée evenly thin, about 3 mm; thick patches stay sticky while the edges go brittle.

440 min

Persian Snacks & Starters

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Petits farcis niçoisStuffed vegetables with rice and herbs

From June to September the traiteurs around the cours Saleya market in Nice sell trays of petits farcis: round courgettes, tomatoes and onions hollowed out, refilled and baked until wrinkled and caramelised at the edges. Niçois families often use up leftover daube in the stuffing; this meatless version, common on Fridays and at summer picnics, uses rice, herbs, the vegetables' own flesh and Parmesan. Parmesan is made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese if that matters to you. They are as good at room temperature the next day as hot from the oven. Chef's tip: choose vegetables of a similar size, so they all finish cooking at the same moment.

90 min

French Vegetarian

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Petits pâtés de PézenasSweet spiced lamb pies

Pézenas, the old Languedoc town of Molière, is famous for these little pies shaped like cotton reels, sold warm from its bakeries all winter and especially around Christmas. Local legend links them to the Indian cooks of Lord Clive, who stayed nearby in 1768, which would explain the unexpected sweet-savoury filling of minced lamb, brown sugar and lemon zest. They have a crisp, sturdy hot-water crust and a juicy, gently sweet centre with a hint of spice. Eat them warm as a starter, with a green salad, or as a mid-morning snack the way Piscénois do. Chef's tip: shape the pastry while it is still warm and supple; once it cools it cracks instead of folding.

90 min

French Snacks & Starters

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Thüringer RostbratwurstGrilled bratwurst in a roll

In Thuringia the long, thin Rostbratwurst is grilled over charcoal at every market, football ground and village fête, and has been since at least the 15th century. It is a raw, finely seasoned pork sausage with marjoram, caraway and garlic, bought from a Thuringian butcher, and the local rules are strict: grilled slowly over glowing coals, served in a roll that is too short for it, with a sharp, coarse mustard and never with ketchup. Here you grill good fresh bratwurst and make a medium-hot mustard to go with it. Vegetarians can grill vegetarian bratwurst the same way. Chef's tip: grill over glowing coals with no flames, rubbing the sausages with a bacon rind or a little oil so they colour evenly and the skin crackles.

35 min

German Meat

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Lomi lomi salmonSalmon, tomato and onion relish

Lomi means to massage: at Hawaiian lūʻau and graduation parties, salted salmon is squeezed by hand with diced tomatoes, sweet onion and spring onions into a cold, juicy relish that cuts through rich kalua pig and poi. It arrived with salted salmon traded from the Pacific Northwest by nineteenth-century whalers. The traditional version uses raw salt-cured salmon, which is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; this safer version gently poaches the salmon first. Chef's tip: chill everything well and drain the tomatoes, so the relish stays bright rather than watery.

30 minPacific Islander Fish

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Peynir helvasıCheese and semolina halva

Around Çanakkale and the Dardanelles, peynir helvası is a soft, oven-browned halva made with fresh unsalted cheese, semolina, butter and sugar, sold warm in clay dishes at the market cafés. The top caramelises in spots, the inside stays creamy and stretchy, and the flavour sits somewhere between cheesecake and halva. Eat it warm on its own or with a glass of tea after a fish lunch. Chef's tip: use a mild, fresh, unsalted cheese and squeeze it well; salty or wet cheese gives a sour, runny halva.

50 min

Turkish Desserts

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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

Greek Meat

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PfeffernüsseHoney spice biscuits

Pfeffernüsse are small domed biscuits baked in German homes through Advent, especially in the north and in Saxony, and sold in bags at Christmas markets everywhere. They are made with honey and a warm spice mix, and in old recipes the 'pepper' in the name meant exotic spices in general, though a pinch of real black pepper adds a lovely bite. A thin white glaze sets crisp over a chewy centre. The mistake many people make is eating them straight away; they are hard at first and need a few days in a tin with a slice of apple to soften. Chef's tip: warm the honey only until runny, never boiling, or the biscuits turn tough.

35 min

German Baking

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PfefferpotthastPeppery beef and onion stew

Pfefferpotthast is one of the oldest dishes of Westphalia, written about in Dortmund as far back as the 14th century and still cooked in the Münsterland and the Ruhr for big family meals. Beef is stewed with almost as much onion as meat, plenty of black pepper, cloves and bay, then thickened with breadcrumbs and sharpened with lemon and capers. Pickled gherkins and boiled potatoes go alongside. Chef's tip: grind the pepper coarsely and add half at the start and half at the end, so you get both deep warmth and a fresh bite.

130 min

German Curries

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PfitzaufEgg-batter puffs with apple sauce

Pfitzauf is a Swabian Sunday-afternoon treat: a thin egg and milk batter poured into a heavy clay or tin mould with deep cups, which rises in the oven like a soufflé and 'pfitzt auf', pops up, far above the rim. Grandmothers on the Swabian Alb served it hot with apple sauce or vanilla sauce, sometimes with stewed cherries. A muffin tin or popover tin works too. The classic mistake is opening the oven during baking: the puffs collapse and never come back. Chef's tip: get the buttered tin really hot in the oven before pouring in the batter; the shock of heat is what makes them climb.

45 min

German Desserts

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TorresmoPork crackling

Every boteco in Minas Gerais keeps a tray of torresmo by the counter: chunks of pork belly with the skin on, fried so slowly the fat melts out, then blasted in hot fat until the skin bursts into crackling bubbles. Done right, each piece has a shatteringly crisp, blistered top, a layer of soft fat and a strip of juicy meat. Mineiros eat it as a snack with lime and with feijão tropeiro, tutu or couve at lunch. The classic error is frying wet skin in very hot fat at once, which gives hard, glassy skin and dangerous spitting; dry it well and fry it twice. Use a deep, heavy pot, never fill it more than a third with fat, and keep children away from it. Chef's tip: after the first slow fry, let the pieces cool completely, even overnight in the fridge; the drier the skin, the bigger the puff.

110 min

Brazilian Snacks & Starters

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Thüringer RostbrätelMarinated grilled pork neck steaks

In Thuringia, a summer garden party or village fair isn't complete without a Rost, the charcoal grill, loaded with Rostbrätel: pork neck steaks that have spent a night in mustard and plenty of sliced onion. The fat in the neck keeps the meat juicy over the coals, and the onions from the marinade are fried and piled on top, with rye bread on the side. Many Thuringian grillers splash beer over the meat while it cooks; this version needs no alcohol. Chef's tip: scrape most of the onion off before grilling, as it burns on the coals; fry it separately instead.

35 min

German Meat

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Lacón con grelosCured pork shoulder with turnip tops

Lacón con grelos is the great dish of Entroido, the Galician carnival, when restaurants in Lugo and A Coruña serve platters of it to tables of friends. This contains pork (cured pork shoulder and chorizo). The lacón is soaked, then simmered with chorizo, and turnip tops and potatoes are cooked in the same rich broth. It's served with olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika. A common mistake is skipping the soaking, which leaves the meat far too salty to eat. Chef's tip: save the cooking liquid, as it makes the base for a caldo the next day.

170 min

Spanish Meat

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Fasulye turşusu kavurmasıFried pickled green beans

Every autumn, Black Sea households pack crocks with green beans and brine, and through the winter those sour, soft beans are fried with onion and a little butter or oil into one of the region's most loved side dishes. Kavurma means fried, and the beans take on golden edges while keeping their tangy bite; a beaten egg sometimes goes in at the end. Eat it with cornbread, rice pilaf or a bowl of fried anchovies. Common mistake: frying the beans straight from the jar; they spit and taste harshly sour. Chef's tip: soak them in fresh water for half an hour first, tasting as you go, until they are pleasantly sour rather than puckering.

30 min

Turkish Vegetarian

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Muéganos de HuamantlaFried dough in piloncillo syrup

Huamantla, in Tlaxcala, is known for its August fair, when the streets are carpeted with coloured sawdust and flowers, and for muéganos: little cubes of fried dough glued together with dark piloncillo syrup into a sticky cluster, often pressed onto a round wafer. Visitors buy them in stacks from sweet shops around the main square. The dough is crisp and light, the syrup spiced with cinnamon and clove. Chef's tip: cut the dough into small, even cubes so they all fry golden at the same time.

60 min

Mexican Desserts

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Thüringer KlößePotato dumplings

In Thuringia, Sunday lunch without Klöße hardly counts: big, pale, springy dumplings made from two-thirds raw grated potato and one-third hot cooked potato paste, each hiding a few butter-fried croutons in the middle. They come to the table beside roasts with lots of gravy, red cabbage or a mushroom sauce, and the texture is unique, smooth, slightly chewy and very good at soaking up sauce. A common mistake is letting the water boil once the dumplings are in, which makes them fall apart; they should only just tremble. Chef's tip: work fast once the raw potato is pressed, because it greys as it meets the air.

75 min

German Sides

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Grand aïoliSalt cod and vegetables with aioli

Across Provence, a grand aïoli is the lunch for Fridays, the meatless day, and for summer village fêtes, when long tables are laid under the plane trees and the platters go round. Poached salt cod, boiled potatoes, carrots, green beans, beetroot and hard-boiled eggs are piled up around a bowl of aïoli, the pungent, golden garlic mayonnaise that gives the meal its name. It is plain food made thrilling by that sauce, so use your best olive oil. The salt cod needs 24–36 hours soaking in the fridge, so start early. Because the aïoli is made with raw egg yolk, use pasteurised egg yolks if you are serving pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: start the aïoli with a pinch of salt and pounded garlic, and add the oil drop by drop until it thickens.

85 min

French Fish

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MakdousWalnut-stuffed pickled aubergines

Every autumn, Damascus kitchens fill with jars of makdous as families preserve the last of the small aubergines for the winter breakfast table. The aubergines are boiled, salted and pressed for a day, then stuffed with walnuts, red pepper, garlic and chilli and packed under olive oil to cure until tangy and tender. A couple of them, split on a plate with bread, labneh and tea, is the classic Syrian morning. Common mistake: skipping the pressing — any water left in the aubergines can spoil the jar. Chef's tip: keep the jar in the fridge and always lift them out with a clean fork; homemade preserves in oil should be kept chilled and eaten within a month for safety.

55 min

Syrian Basics

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MuhlamaCornmeal, butter and melted cheese

Up in the yayla summer pastures above Trabzon and Rize, breakfast often arrives as one blackened pan set in the middle of the table, with everyone tearing bread and dragging it through. Muhlama is butter, coarse cornmeal and a young stringy cheese stirred together until the cheese melts into long, glossy threads and a pool of golden butter rises to the top. Eat it straight from the pan with cornbread or crusty bread, black tea and a plate of tomatoes and cucumbers. Common mistake: adding the cheese before the cornmeal has toasted in the butter, which leaves a raw, gritty taste and stops the oil separating. The Black Sea cheese (Trabzon or Kolot) and kaşar are usually made with animal rennet; a vegetarian mozzarella-style cheese works well. Chef's tip: don't stir once the cheese has gone in until it has fully melted, then stir in one direction only; that is what gives the long, elastic strands.

20 min

Turkish Vegetarian

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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 min

Argentinian Baking

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Pica-pauBeef in garlic mustard sauce

Pica-pau means woodpecker, and that is how you eat it: a crowd round a shared dish in a Lisbon cervejaria, pecking cubes of beef out of the sauce with toothpicks and dunking bread into the rest. The beef is seared quickly, then bathed in garlic, butter, mustard and a splash of white wine, and finished with tangy pickled vegetables. The wine contains alcohol; use stock with a teaspoon of vinegar instead. A common mistake is putting in all the meat at once: it stews grey instead of browning. Chef's tip: cut the beef into small, even 2 cm cubes so every piece browns fast and stays tender.

25 min

Portuguese Meat

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Picadas veracruzanasMasa cakes with salsa

Breakfast in the port of Veracruz and in Xalapa often starts with picadas at a market fonda or a café by the harbour: palm-sized rounds of fresh masa, cooked on the comal, then pinched all around while hot (picar means to pinch) to make little ridges that catch the salsa. Half are spooned with red salsa and half with green, then scattered with onion and crumbled cheese, and eaten with black coffee. Cooks there drizzle them with hot pork lard; this recipe uses a little oil instead. Chef's tip: wet your fingertips in cold water before pinching, so you can work the hot masa without burning yourself.

35 min

Mexican Breakfast & Brunch

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YuvalamaRice dumplings in yoghurt soup

Families in Gaziantep spend the day before Kurban Bayramı rolling thousands of chickpea-sized dumplings for yuvalama, the festive yoghurt soup served on the first morning of the holiday. Little balls of rice dough and tiny lamb meatballs simmer with chickpeas and chunks of lamb in a tangy yoghurt broth, finished with mint butter. It is rich, soothing and very much a feast dish, so make it with friends. The most common mistake is adding the yoghurt straight to a boiling pot: it curdles. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoon of flour into the yoghurt and stir it constantly as it comes up to a simmer.

165 min

Turkish Meat

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Picadinho cariocaDiced beef stew with rice

Diced small and simmered in a glossy tomato gravy, picadinho is the plate Rio de Janeiro orders at lunch counters and old bars in Centro, and the one cariocas cook at home when they want comfort. The tender cubes of beef come with white rice, a fried egg with a runny yolk, farofa and slices of banana, and every forkful mixes a bit of everything: savoury, sweet, crisp and soft. The everyday mistake is crowding the pan, so the beef boils grey instead of browning; fry it in batches. Cook the eggs until the whites are fully set; if you are serving pregnant women, young children or older people, cook the yolks firm too. Chef's tip: cut the beef into 1.5 cm cubes; any larger and it is a stew, any smaller and it dries out.

65 min

Brazilian Meat

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Hamsili pilavAnchovy-wrapped rice bake

Hamsili pilav is the showpiece of a Trabzon or Rize winter table: a dome of rice cooked with currants, pine nuts, allspice and dill, packed into a tin lined with butterflied anchovies, more fish laid over the top, and baked until the skins turn crisp. Turned out and cut like a cake, it shows silver fish outside and fragrant rice within, and families make it for guests and New Year gatherings. Serve with a sharp salad and lemon. Common mistake: fully cooking the rice before baking, which turns it mushy; it should still have a bite when it goes into the tin. Bake until the fish is opaque and flakes. Chef's tip: lay the anchovies skin side down against the tin, overlapping like roof tiles, so no rice escapes.

100 min

Turkish Fish

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TomaticánTomato, corn and egg stew

Mendoza's irrigated orchards and fincas drown in tomatoes in February, and tomaticán is the old Cuyo answer to the glut: a quick pan stew of onion, chopped ripe tomato and fresh sweetcorn, seasoned with oregano and a little ají, with beaten egg stirred through at the end until it sets in soft curds. It is a farmhouse lunch and a cheap supper, eaten with crusty bread to mop the juice, and some cooks add diced potato to stretch it. The flavour is bright and sweet-sour, the texture loose and juicy. People often add the egg to a pan full of liquid and end up with egg soup; cook the tomatoes down until the juices are jammy first. Bread for dipping is traditional, so pick a gluten-free loaf if you need it. Chef's tip: stir the egg in off the heat and let the pan's heat set it; you want soft, creamy ribbons, not a dry scramble.

30 min

Argentinian Vegetarian

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Picante de polloChicken in red chilli sauce

High up in Jujuy, picante de pollo is the dish cooks make for weddings, patronal feast days and Carnival in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, and the small comedores near the markets of San Salvador serve it every Sunday. Chicken pieces are first poached, then finished in a vivid red sauce of ají colorado (ground dried red chilli), lots of onion, tomato and garlic, thickened with the broth; on the plate it goes with white rice, boiled Andean potatoes and often a scattering of crunchy fried potato sticks (papas fritas en bastón) or chopped tomato and onion. It is warming rather than fiery, with a deep earthy chilli flavour. The chicken must reach 74 °C at the bone. Burning the ground chilli is the usual mistake: add it to the pan off the heat or over a gentle flame, or it turns bitter in seconds. Chef's tip: let the stew sit for 15 minutes before serving; the chicken absorbs the red sauce and the colour deepens.

70 min

Argentinian Chicken

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GoxuaLayered cream, sponge and custard dessert

The name means 'sweet' or 'delicious' in Basque, and goxua was created in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the 1970s, where cafés still serve it in small glasses or terracotta pots. From the bottom up you get whipped cream, a disc of sponge soaked in syrup, thick vanilla pastry cream and a crackling layer of burnt sugar. It is a make-ahead dessert for a Sunday lunch, since the layers need to chill. A common mistake is spooning in custard that is still warm, which melts the cream into a puddle. Chef's tip: caramelise the top just before serving, so the sugar crust is still glassy when the spoon goes in.

70 min

Spanish Desserts

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PickertFried yeasted potato loaf with raisins

Pickert is the bread of Lippe and the Teutoburg Forest in eastern Westphalia, made where wheat was scarce and potatoes plentiful: grated raw potato, flour, eggs and yeast baked into a dense, moist loaf, studded with raisins. Locals slice it the next day and fry the slices in butter until crisp, then eat them for breakfast or supper with plum butter, sugar beet syrup, jam or, for meat eaters, liver sausage. This vegetarian version serves it with jam and syrup. A common mistake is not squeezing the potatoes, which leaves the loaf soggy in the middle. Chef's tip: bake it a day ahead; cold Pickert slices cleanly and fries far better than warm.

90 min

German Breads & Parathas

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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

Greek Meat

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Pideli köfteGrilled meatballs on flatbread

Bursa, the city that gave the world İskender, has its own everyday answer for those who don't want doner: pideli köfte, served in workers' lokantas around the Ulu Cami. Small grilled köfte are laid over cubes of soft pide, drenched in a thin tomato sauce, then finished at the table with browned butter poured over so it hisses, with thick yoghurt on the side. It is rich, messy and very satisfying. Chef's tip: warm the pide in the oven before adding the sauce, so it soaks up the juices but keeps some chew.

50 min

Turkish Meat

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LabskausCorned beef, potato and beetroot hash

Labskaus is the pink, rough-textured hash that ships' cooks made from salted beef and potatoes, and it is still on the menu in harbour pubs from Hamburg to Bremen, often as a hearty lunch after a cold walk along the Elbe. Salt beef is fried with onion, then pounded into mashed potato with pickled beetroot and a splash of its juice, so the whole plate turns magenta. A fried egg goes on top, with gherkins and, for those who like it, a rolled pickled herring on the side. Chef's tip: keep back some of the beetroot liquid and add it at the end, a spoon at a time; it is the sharpness that stops the hash tasting heavy.

60 min

German Meat

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FartonsSweet glazed buns for dipping

In Alboraya, just north of Valencia, the horchaterías that serve cold tiger-nut horchata in summer put a plate of fartons beside every glass: long, slim, soft buns with a shiny sugar glaze, designed to be dunked and to soak up the milky drink without falling apart. The dough is enriched with egg, milk and sunflower oil rather than butter, which gives them their light, cottony crumb. They are just as good with coffee or cold milk. A common mistake is rushing the second rise; under-proved fartons stay tight and bready instead of airy. Chef's tip: roll each strip a little thinner than you think, about as thick as your finger, because they almost double in the oven.

45 min

Spanish Baking

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Pimenta da terraFermented red pepper paste

On São Miguel, nearly every kitchen has a jar of pimenta da terra, crushed red peppers salted and left to ferment for a few days until they turn tangy and deep red. It goes into stews, octopus, beans and sausages, onto grilled fish and into sandwiches of bolo lêvedo. It can be mild or fiery depending on the peppers. Make it in late summer when red peppers are cheap. Chef's tip: weigh the salt; too little lets the wrong bacteria take over, while the right amount keeps it safe and lets it ferment slowly.

40 min

Portuguese Chutneys & Dips

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Xerém de conquilhasCornmeal with clams and chouriço

Xerém is coarse-ground maize cooked to a soft, spoonable porridge, an old poor man's food of the eastern Algarve that tasted of whatever the sea or the pig gave that day. Around Tavira and Olhão it is cooked with conquilhas, the little wedge clams raked from the sand bars of the Ria Formosa, so the cornmeal soaks up their salty juices. This contains pork (chouriço and streaky bacon); leave them out for a purely seafood version. Chef's tip: stir the cornmeal into the clam water off the heat, then put it back on, to avoid lumps.

65 min

Portuguese Fish

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KiveveSquash purée with cheese

Kiveve (also written quibebe) is Guaraní food, cooked across Corrientes and Paraguay as a side for grilled meat or a supper on its own: ripe squash is simmered with onion until it falls apart, then thickened with a spoonful of cornmeal and enriched with milk and fresh cheese until it is smooth, orange and as soft as polenta, slightly sweet and slightly salty. Correntinos often serve it with chipá or sopa paraguaya on the side. The cornmeal is easy to get wrong: added all at once to a hot pot, it clumps into dry little lumps, so slake it first in cold milk and pour it in while stirring. Queso fresco or queso criollo is usually made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian fresh cheese if needed. Chef's tip: use the deepest orange squash you can find, ideally a ripe Argentine anco or a kabocha; a pale squash gives a watery, bland kiveve.

40 min

Argentinian Vegetarian

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Thimpu de carachiPoached fish with potatoes

Around the shores of Lake Titicaca, thimpu is weekday food and Lent food alike: carachi, a small native lake fish, laid over potatoes and chuño (freeze-dried Andean potato) and gently poached, then drenched at the table with a hot sauce of onion fried with ají. The fish is soft and delicate, the chuño earthy and pleasantly chewy, and the sauce brings colour and fire. Outside Puno, small whole trout, tilapia or perch, or thick trout fillets, work well. Chuño needs an overnight soak (plan for it) and is sold in Andean and Latin shops; swap in extra waxy potatoes if you can't find it. The trap here is boiling the fish hard so it falls apart; keep the water at a bare shiver. Chef's tip: make the sauce while the fish poaches and spoon it on boiling hot, so it sizzles over the plate.

60 min

Peruvian Fish

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Hornazo de SalamancaPork, chorizo and egg pie

Salamanca's students and families picnic by the river Tormes on Lunes de Aguas, the Monday after Easter Monday, and the hornazo is what they unwrap: a golden pie with a bread-like crust, packed with layers of marinated pork loin, chorizo, cured ham and hard-boiled egg. It is eaten cold, in thick slices, and bakeries sell it all through spring. This contains pork (loin, chorizo and ham). The dough traditionally includes white wine; use water with a little lemon juice to keep it alcohol-free. Chef's tip: fry the loin slices first so they are cooked through before they go into the pie.

100 min

Spanish Meat

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Za'atar spice blendThyme, sumac and sesame blend

In Palestinian homes za'atar is both a herb and the blend made from it, kept in a jar beside a bowl of olive oil so torn bread can be dipped in one and then the other at breakfast; children grow up on it, and it goes to school in sandwiches. The blend is mostly dried wild za'atar (or thyme and oregano), tangy with sumac, nutty with toasted sesame and seasoned with salt. Common mistake: grinding it to dust; it should be coarse and slightly flaky. Chef's tip: rub the dried leaves with a few drops of olive oil before mixing; it wakes their aroma and helps the sumac cling.

15 min

Palestinian Basics

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Tepsi kebabıBaked spiced lamb tray

In Antakya people still carry their tepsi kebabı to the neighbourhood bakery: a round copper tray of spiced lamb mince spread thin, scored into wedges and covered with sliced tomatoes, peppers and onions. The bread oven turns it juicy and crusty, and it comes home with a stack of hot flatbread. It is weekend lunch for the family, eaten with a parsley and onion salad and a bowl of yoghurt. Common mistake: pressing the meat more than 2 cm thick; it stews instead of roasting. Chef's tip: add a ladle of tomato water halfway through baking so the juices around the edges turn into a glossy sauce for dipping bread.

65 min

Turkish Meat

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Pinhão cozidoBoiled pine nuts

When frost settles on the highlands of Paraná and Santa Catarina, every street fair and roadside stall in Curitiba, Lages and São Joaquim sells paper cones of hot pinhão. These are the seeds of the Araucaria pine, big as a thumb, with a leathery brown shell and a starchy, sweet centre that tastes somewhere between chestnut and boiled potato. Families boil a pot after supper and peel them around the wood stove, and the pinhão is also the star of the Festa do Pinhão in Lages each June. The season runs roughly April to July; outside the south, look for vacuum-packed or frozen pinhão in Brazilian shops, and if you cannot find any, fresh chestnuts cooked the same way are the closest stand-in. The common mistake is pulling them out too early: underdone pinhão is waxy, hard to peel and slightly bitter. Chef's tip: snip the pointed tip off each seed before boiling and the shell slips off in one piece once cooked.

60 min

Brazilian Snacks & Starters

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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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Horta vrastaBoiled greens with lemon and oil

In Greek villages women still go out with a knife and a bag after the first autumn rains to gather horta: dandelion, wild chicory, amaranth, mustard greens. Boiled and dressed with the best olive oil and lemon, they are served warm or cool with almost every meal, from fried fish in a seaside taverna to a fasting-day plate of beans. The taste is pleasantly bitter and grassy. Common mistake: boiling them to khaki; cook only until the stems are tender and the leaves still deep green. Chef's tip: salt the cooking water generously like pasta water and dress the greens while warm, so they drink up the oil and lemon.

25 min

Greek Sides

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LemonanaFrozen mint lemonade

From café terraces in Ramallah and Jaffa to juice bars along Hamra Street in Beirut, summer means tall glasses of lemonana: lemons and fistfuls of fresh mint blended with ice into a sharp, sweet, electric-green slush. It is the drink handed to you after a walk through the market at noon, and it cools a mezze lunch like nothing else. Everything goes in a blender, but the mint must be fresh and plentiful. The common mistake is blending the mint for too long, which bruises it and turns the drink murky and grassy. Chef's tip: make a lemon-sugar syrup first and chill it; dissolved sugar sweetens evenly and lets you blend for only a few seconds.

20 min

Palestinian Drinks

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Gosh-e filFried elephant ear pastries

Gosh-e fil, elephant's ear, is the big, bubbly, paper-thin fried pastry sold from bakery windows in Tehran and Shiraz in the days before Nowruz, and made at home for Ramadan evenings. A soft egg and yogurt dough is rolled almost see-through, pinched into a fan shape and fried until it blisters, then showered with icing sugar, cardamom and ground pistachio. They are best the day they are made, with glasses of black tea. Chef's tip: rest the dough properly; relaxed dough rolls thin without shrinking back.

60 min

Persian Desserts

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KispiñoSteamed quinoa cakes

Pressed in a fist so each one carries the marks of the cook's fingers, kispiño are small, dense quinoa cakes from the Puno highlands, steamed and then left to dry so they keep for weeks on journeys, herding trips and pilgrimages. Traditional ones are bound with a little lime water (from cal, the mineral) and fat; this home version uses oil and a pinch of aniseed and sugar, so they're vegan and pleasantly savoury-sweet. They're firm and chewy, a little like a grain cake, and good with hot tea, coca tea or a soup on a cold day. The common mistake is making the dough too wet, so the cakes slump in the steamer; it should feel like damp sand that holds its shape when squeezed. Ground quinoa is quinoa flour; grind your own from rinsed, dried and toasted grain, or buy it ready ground. Chef's tip: toast the ground quinoa in a dry pan first until it smells nutty, which takes away any bitterness.

55 min

Peruvian Baking

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