Featured recipe

Chambo with nsima

Fried fish with maize porridge

Chambo is a tilapia from Lake Malawi, and fried chambo with nsima (stiff maize porridge) is what visitors to Mangochi, Cape Maclear and Nkhata Bay are served at lakeside lunches. The fish is fried or grilled whole, then topped with a fresh tomato and onion relish; the nsima is pinched off and used to scoop up the fish and juice. The mistake is skipping the relish, which keeps the meal fresh; make it while the fish fries. Chef's tip: any whole tilapia or sea bream works if you can't find chambo.

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30 min

Lebanese Snacks & Starters

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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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Sharbat-e albalooSour cherry syrup drink

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

45 min

Persian Drinks

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Sharbat-e beh limooQuince and lime syrup drink

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

55 min

Persian Drinks

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Sharbat-e khakshirIced rosewater drink with seeds

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

10 min

Persian Drinks

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Pain d'épices de DijonHoney spice loaf

Dijon has been baking pain d'épices since the Middle Ages, and the shops near the old ducal palace still sell it by the slice, plain or glazed with orange. It is a dense, fragrant honey loaf, sold all year but eaten most in December, when Burgundian families toast slices for breakfast, spread them with butter, or serve them with cheese and pears. The Dijon style uses wheat flour and a whole egg, which makes it softer than the rye-flour loaves of Reims. Chef's tip: wrap it and wait a day before cutting; the crumb turns moist and the spices settle and deepen.

75 min

French Baking

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Piquillos rellenos de setasPeppers stuffed with mushrooms

Lodosa, on the Ebro in southern Navarre, roasts its little pointed piquillo peppers over wood, peels them by hand and jars them under its own protected name. When the autumn rains bring mushrooms up in the Navarrese hills, the peppers get stuffed with a thick mushroom béchamel, coated and fried, and served as a starter at family lunches or as a pintxo in the old town of Pamplona. A smooth sauce made from a few extra peppers goes underneath. Chef's tip: chill the filling until it is firm enough to scoop, which makes filling the soft peppers far easier.

75 min

Spanish Vegetarian

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Ghalieh meygooSpicy prawn and tamarind stew

In Bushehr, where the fishing boats bring in Gulf prawns every morning, ghalieh meygoo is the dish cooks make when they want something quicker and a little more festive than the fish version. The same base of slow-fried coriander, fenugreek and garlic is soured with tamarind and fired up with chilli, then the prawns go in for just a few minutes so they stay sweet and juicy. It is eaten with plain chelow rice and a raw onion on the side. A common mistake is simmering the prawns with the sauce from the start, which leaves them rubbery and small. Chef's tip: simmer the prawn shells in the water for 10 minutes first and use that stock; it gives the sauce a real taste of the sea.

65 min

Persian Fish

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Tiella bareseBaked rice, potatoes and mussels

Every family in Bari has its own tiella, also called riso, patate e cozze, and it turns up at Sunday lunches and summer gatherings along the Puglian coast. Layers of thinly sliced potato, raw rice, mussels opened on the half shell, onion, tomato, parsley and pecorino are packed into a deep baking dish, then baked with water until the rice has drunk up the sea-salty juices and the top is crisp. It's served warm, as a one-dish meal, followed by a salad. Chef's tip: open the mussels raw with a knife over a bowl and keep every drop of their liquid; it seasons the rice better than any stock.

105 min

Italian Rice & Grains

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Tattie sconesPotato griddle scones

Tattie scones are thin triangles of mashed potato and flour cooked on a dry girdle, part of a full Scottish breakfast and sold in packs in every Glasgow bakery. They are soft, slightly chewy and speckled brown, and are best fried in butter and eaten with eggs or rolled round a filling. Chef's tip: use the potato while warm; cold mash needs more flour and makes them heavy.

35 min

British Breakfast & Brunch

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Ensalada de chontaPalm heart salad

Iquitos restaurants and the riverside cafés of the Peruvian Amazon serve ensalada de chonta as a cool counterpoint to grilled fish and juanes: long, pale ribbons of fresh palm heart, crisp and faintly sweet, tossed with tomato, avocado, red onion and lots of lime. At Belén market you can watch sellers shave the chonta into curls with a big knife. Outside the Amazon, fresh palm heart is hard to find, but good jarred hearts of palm cut into thin strips work well, and the salad becomes a ten-minute job. It's crunchy, juicy and sharp, perfect with rice and beans or any fried snack. Where most people go wrong is adding the avocado and salt early, so the salad turns soupy and grey; dress it at the last moment. Chef's tip: slice the palm hearts lengthwise on a mandoline or with a peeler for thin, curling ribbons that look like the Iquitos original.

15 min

Peruvian Salads

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Pirarucu de casacaLayered dried fish, farofa and plantain

A party dish from Manaus and the Amazonas interior, pirarucu de casaca (pirarucu in a coat) is built in a big dish for birthdays and Christmas: a bed of buttery-looking farofa, a layer of shredded salt pirarucu cooked with tomato and coconut milk, golden slices of fried plantain, more farofa, and a scattering of raisins, olives, egg and herbs. Each spoonful is salty, sweet and crunchy at once. Pirarucu, the giant Amazon fish, is sold salted and dried like cod; salt cod is the easy substitute. Allow 24 hours to soak the fish in the fridge. A common slip-up is under-soaking, which makes the dish too salty to eat; taste a flake before you cook. Chef's tip: use very ripe, black-skinned plantain, fried slowly, so it caramelises and balances the salt of the fish.

85 min

Brazilian Fish

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SumaghiyyehSumac, chard and lamb stew

Sumaghiyyeh is Gaza's festive dish, cooked in big pots for Eid al-Fitr and eaten cold the next days with bread: chunks of lamb and chickpeas in a thick, purple-brown sauce of sumac, chard, tahini, garlic, dill and chilli. It tastes sour, nutty and herby all at once and is served at room temperature, sealed under a film of olive oil. Common mistake: using ground sumac straight into the pot, which leaves it gritty; soak the sumac and use the strained liquid. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; the sauce sets and the flavours deepen, just as Gazan families serve it.

130 min

Palestinian Meat

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Green Bay chicken booyahChicken and vegetable stew

Booyah is the great community stew of north-east Wisconsin, brought by Belgian and French-Canadian settlers around Green Bay; church picnics and fire stations cook it in huge kettles over wood fires all day and sell it by the quart at fall festivals and Packers tailgates. It is a thick, peppery stew of chicken, a little beef and lots of vegetables, cooked until the chicken falls apart. Chef's tip: cook it long and slow and stir it often; a good booyah is thick enough that the spoon nearly stands up.

210 min

American Soups

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FideuàSeafood noodle paella

Gandia, on the coast south of Valencia, claims fideuà as its own and holds a contest for it every summer: a paella pan of short, thin noodles toasted in oil and cooked in a deep seafood stock with monkfish, squid and prawns until the liquid has gone and the tips of the noodles curl upwards. It is served straight from the pan with a bowl of allioli to stir in. A common mistake is stirring once the stock is in; the noodles release starch and turn sticky instead of separate and slightly crisp. Use a well-flavoured fish stock, as it is the backbone of the dish. Chef's tip: finish the pan for a few minutes under a hot grill, the trick that makes the noodles stand up like little hooks.

55 min

Spanish Fish

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Pirpirim çorbasıPurslane, bean and bulgur soup

Purslane grows wild between the tea rows and maize fields of Giresun and Ordu, and in high summer it ends up in pirpirim çorbası, a lemony, slightly tangy soup thickened with cracked wheat and soft white beans. Families make it in big pots on hot days because it is just as good served lukewarm as piping hot. The fleshy leaves turn silky, the bulgur gives a gentle chew and a spoon of yoghurt on top makes it a full lunch. Common mistake: adding the purslane too early so it turns slimy and grey; it needs only 10 minutes. Chef's tip: keep a few raw sprigs back and stir them in at the end for crunch and a fresh green colour.

50 min

Turkish Soups

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HaneenehWarm dates with breadcrumbs and ghee

Haneeneh is desert comfort food from the Bedouin tents of the Jordanian Badia: soft dates mashed into hot samneh with crumbs of yesterday's flatbread, scented with cardamom and pressed into a rich, fudgy sweet. It is made for guests, for new mothers and for cold mornings before herding, eaten by hand with black tea or Arabic coffee. It takes ten minutes and uses only store-cupboard things. The mistake to avoid is cooking the dates too long once they meet the ghee; they turn stiff and chewy instead of jammy. Chef's tip: toast the crumbs in the ghee first until nutty, then add the dates off the heat so the mixture stays soft.

20 min

Jordanian Desserts

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MixiotesChilli lamb steamed in parchment

Mixiotes belong to the high plains of Hidalgo and Tlaxcala, where they are a Sunday and fiesta dish sold from steaming pots at weekly markets. Chunks of lamb (or chicken) are soaked in a dark, aromatic paste of guajillo and ancho chillies with garlic, cumin and cloves, wrapped in parcels and steamed until the meat collapses into its own rich red juices. The traditional wrapper is mixiote, the thin skin peeled from maguey leaves, which is now protected and hard to buy, so this recipe uses baking parchment tied with string. The lamb marinates in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Open the parcels at the table and serve with corn tortillas, salsa verde and avocado. Chef's tip: twist and tie the parcels tightly so no steam gets in; a sealed parcel keeps the sauce thick and concentrated.

420 min

Mexican Meat

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Mona de PascuaEaster brioche with egg

On Easter Monday, families across the Valencian Community head out to the countryside or the beach to "menjar-se la mona": they eat an orange-scented sweet brioche, often with a whole egg baked on top, and children crack the egg on a friend's forehead. The bun is soft and fluffy, glazed and sprinkled with sugar or coloured aniseed sprinkles. Here the eggs are hard-boiled first, so they are cooked through whatever the size of your bun. A common mistake is adding all the flour at once to a sticky dough; it softens as you knead, so hold back the last 50 g until you've kneaded for a few minutes. Chef's tip: make the starter the evening before and the dough on the day; the slow start gives a lighter crumb that stays soft for two days.

70 min

Spanish Baking

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Fiambre de San MiguelCold pickled meat and fruit salad

In San Miguel de Allende, families make fiambre for All Saints' and the Day of the Dead at the start of November, setting it on the table and the home altar alongside bread of the dead. It is a cold, colourful platter of vinegar-dressed vegetables, beetroot, jícama, orange, apple and banana, with cooked chicken and pork, sharp, sweet and crunchy at once. Pickled pig's trotters are the traditional meat; this version makes them optional and uses cooked pork tongue or good ham with poached chicken, so it is still a pork dish. Serve well chilled with bread or tostadas. Chef's tip: dress the sturdy vegetables and meats hours ahead, but add the lettuce, banana and avocado just before serving so they stay fresh.

90 min

Mexican Salads

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FiadoneLemon cheesecake

Fiadone is the cake of Corsican Easter and village feast days: fresh brocciu, the island's soft ewe's- or goat's-milk whey cheese, beaten with eggs, sugar and lemon zest and baked until the top is freckled brown. There is no base, so it is naturally gluten free, and it tastes lighter and less sweet than most cheesecakes. Brocciu is made from whey left after rennet cheesemaking, so it is not strictly vegetarian; well-drained ricotta labelled vegetarian is the usual stand-in outside Corsica. Some families add a spoon of local eau-de-vie; it is left out here. Chef's tip: drain the cheese well; a dry cheese gives the light, almost soufflé-like texture.

80 min

French Baking

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Ghalieh mahiFish stew with coriander and tamarind

Ghalieh mahi is the signature stew of the Persian Gulf ports of Bushehr and Abadan, cooked for Friday lunches and big family gatherings. It starts with a mountain of coriander and a little fenugreek fried slowly in oil with garlic until almost black-green, then sharpened with tamarind and warmed with chilli and turmeric before chunks of firm fish are poached in it. The result is dark, sour, fragrant and properly hot, eaten over plain white rice. A common mistake is rushing the herbs: they need a full 20 minutes of frying or the stew tastes grassy instead of deep. Chef's tip: brown the fish pieces quickly before they go into the sauce; they hold together better and add a little roasted flavour.

75 min

Persian Fish

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Testi kebabıLamb and vegetable clay-jug stew

In the cave restaurants of Göreme and Avanos, testi kebabı arrives as a sealed clay jug, glowing from the oven, which the waiter cracks open at the table with a sharp tap of a knife. Inside is beef or lamb stewed with tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onion until tender in its own rich juices. A lidded casserole works perfectly at home, and you can still seal the lid with dough for the drama. Serve with plain rice pilaf. Common mistake: adding a lot of water; the vegetables give off plenty and the sealed pot should braise, not boil. Chef's tip: brown the meat in two batches first for a deeper, savoury sauce.

175 min

Turkish Meat

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PişiFried dough puffs

When a Turkish family has time for a long Sunday breakfast, someone stands at the stove frying pişi while the rest of the table fills with white cheese, olives, tomatoes, honey and endless tea. The yeasted dough is stretched thin with oiled fingers and fried until it balloons, golden and crisp outside and chewy inside. In villages across Anatolia it is also the treat made on bread-baking day from the last of the dough. Common mistake: oil that isn't hot enough; the pişi soaks it up and turns greasy. Chef's tip: poke a hole in the middle of each round before frying so it puffs evenly and cooks through.

35 min

Turkish Breakfast & Brunch

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