Featured recipe

Chipa

Cheese bread rings

In Paraguay you hear 'chipa, chipa!' called by vendors with big baskets on buses and street corners, and every family bakes it for Holy Week, when chipa is the food of Good Friday. Cassava starch, a little cornmeal, butter, eggs and a lot of hard cheese are kneaded into a dough scented with aniseed, shaped into rings or small rolls and baked in a hot oven, traditionally a domed clay tatakua. It's chewy, crisp outside and best warm with cocido (toasted yerba tea). Chef's tip: the dough should feel soft and slightly greasy; add milk a spoon at a time, as too much makes the chipa spread flat.

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Mecklenburger RippenbratenApple and prune stuffed pork belly

Mecklenburger Rippenbraten is the Christmas and Sunday roast of Mecklenburg on the Baltic coast, a flat piece of pork belly spread with apple and prunes, rolled, tied and roasted until the skin crackles. The fruit melts into the meat and turns the pan juices into a sweet, dark gravy, served with red cabbage and boiled potatoes. The prunes are sometimes soaked in rum; here they are soaked in apple juice, so the dish is alcohol-free. Chef's tip: dry the scored skin uncovered in the fridge overnight; dry skin is what puffs into crackling.

180 min

German Meat

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MatafanThick potato pancake

The name is said to come from 'mate faim', 'kills hunger', and that is what this thick pancake did for farmers in the Savoie and Bauges mountains, who ate it for breakfast before a day in the fields or the high pastures. Every valley makes it differently; this version is a golden cake of grated potato, egg and a little milk, cooked slowly in butter and finished with Beaufort, served cut into wedges with a green salad or a fried egg. Beaufort is made with animal rennet; a vegetarian mountain-style cheese works too, or leave it out and serve the matafan with jam for a sweet version. Chef's tip: squeeze the grated potato really hard in a tea towel; the drier it is, the crisper the crust.

40 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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Matambre a la pizzaFlank steak with tomato and mozzarella

Weekend asados around Buenos Aires usually end with a show-off dish from the grill, and matambre a la pizza is the one that makes children cheer: a whole sheet of matambre (the thin flank cut that sits under the skin) cooked slowly until tender, flipped, then spread with tomato sauce, oregano and mozzarella and left on the grill until the cheese bubbles. Parrillas in the suburbs sell it cut into squares. Many cooks first simmer the meat in milk, which keeps the lean cut juicy and soft; that is the method here, finished under a hot grill or in the oven if you have no barbecue. Matambre is eaten well done and tender rather than pink. The usual mistake is grilling it straight away like a steak, which leaves it leathery: slow cooking first is what makes it tender. Chef's tip: score the membrane on the fatty side in a criss-cross before cooking, so the sheet stays flat instead of curling up when it hits the heat.

120 min

Argentinian Meat

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Matambre arrolladoRolled stuffed flank steak

Christmas and New Year in Argentina fall in high summer, so the festive table is crowded with cold dishes, and matambre arrollado is the one that draws a crowd: a thin sheet of beef from between the ribs and skin (matambre, the rose or flank cut), spread with garlic and parsley, layered with hard-boiled egg, carrot and red pepper, rolled into a fat sausage, poached and pressed. Rotiserías in the Buenos Aires suburbs sell it by the slice, and each round shows a mosaic of colours. Served cold with Russian salad and a sharp chimichurri, it is tender and savoury. Because the outside of the meat ends up rolled inside, cook it to a core temperature of 71 °C, as for minced meat. The usual mistake is slicing it warm: it falls apart, so press it under a weight in the fridge overnight. If you can't find matambre, ask the butcher for a thin flank steak butterflied to 1 cm. Chef's tip: lay the meat with the grain running along the roll, so each slice cuts across the fibres and stays tender.

180 min

Argentinian Meat

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Pochas a la navarraFresh white beans with vegetables

Pochas are white beans picked in late summer before they dry, when the pods have gone soft and yellowish, and in Navarre September means bowls of them in every village from Sangüesa to the Ribera. Because they are fresh they need no soaking and cook in about 40 minutes into something creamy, sweet and gentle. Many homes add chorizo or quail; this version keeps to the vegetables and is vegan. Pickled guindilla chillies on the side are the usual partner. Chef's tip: if you can't find fresh pochas, frozen ones are sold in Spanish shops and are very good.

60 min

Spanish Vegetarian

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Heiße MaronenRoasted chestnuts

From late October the Maronibrater set up their black drum ovens on street corners in Vienna, Salzburg and every German Christmas market, and the smoky smell of roasting chestnuts means winter has properly begun. Hot chestnuts in a paper cone warm your hands first and your stomach second. At home a hot oven and a bowl of water give the same soft, sweet, slightly charred result. The commonest mistake is not scoring the shells deeply enough: steam builds up inside and the chestnuts can burst in the oven. Chef's tip: wrap the roasted chestnuts in a tea towel for 5 minutes before peeling; the steam loosens the bitter inner skin so it comes away with the shell.

40 min

German Snacks & Starters

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Pastéis de bacalhauSalt cod and potato croquettes

These torpedo-shaped croquettes of salt cod, potato, egg and parsley are everywhere in Lisbon: piled on café counters, packed for picnics, and served at weddings and christenings in their dozens. Every family argues over the cod-to-potato ratio; about equal parts gives a fluffy inside that still tastes properly of fish. Salt cod needs 24–48 hours of soaking in the fridge, so start two days ahead. A common mistake is a wet mixture from boiled potatoes, which makes the croquettes burst in the oil; bake or steam the potatoes instead, or dry them well. Chef's tip: shape each one between two wet tablespoons, passing the mixture back and forth until it has three smooth sides.

80 min

Portuguese Fish

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Pasta 'ncasciataBaked pasta with aubergine and ragù

In Messina and around Catania, pasta 'ncasciata is the dish for Ferragosto, Sunday lunch and any big family table, and it travels well to the beach. Short pasta is tossed with a beef and pork ragù, then layered in a deep tin with slices of fried aubergine, cubes of salami and cooked ham (both pork), hard-boiled egg and caciocavallo cheese, and baked until the top is crisp. It cuts into dense, generous wedges that are just as good warm as at room temperature. Chef's tip: salt the aubergine slices and leave them to drain before frying, so they soak up less oil and turn creamy rather than greasy.

180 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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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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Pasta frolaQuince tart

Pasta frola came to the River Plate with Italian immigrants (it is a cousin of the crostata), and it is now the tart every Argentine kitchen keeps on the counter for afternoon mate. The crust is short and cakey rather than crisp, scented with lemon zest and vanilla, and the filling is dulce de membrillo melted down into a spreadable jam; dulce de batata is the other classic. Bakeries in Buenos Aires sell it by the square and it keeps for days in a tin, getting better on the second day. The lattice strips should be thin and slightly wider apart than you think, so the dark filling shows through. A common slip is to spread the quince paste straight from the block: it will not spread, it tears the base and it turns leathery in the oven, so loosen it first with a little hot water. Chef's tip: chill the lined tin and the cut strips for 15 minutes before baking, so the lattice keeps its shape instead of slumping into the filling.

70 min

Argentinian Baking

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HuatiaEarth-baked potatoes

After the potato harvest in May and June, families in Puno, Cusco and across the highlands build a huatia in the field: a little dome of dry earth clods heated with dried brush until the clods glow, then knocked down over freshly dug potatoes and oca so they bake slowly underground. Opened an hour later, the potatoes are smoky, floury and so soft their skins split, and the oca turns sweet and tangy. Everyone eats them with their hands, with salt, chilli sauce and fresh cheese. This recipe gives an oven method for home cooks: a lidded pot bedded with coarse salt and herbs, which traps heat and steam much like the earth. If you do try a real huatia outdoors, use a clear patch of ground away from anything that can catch fire and keep water nearby. Don't uncover the pot early to check: the steam escapes and the potatoes turn leathery. Fresh oca is sold in some markets as New Zealand yam; small sweet potatoes will do. Chef's tip: choose potatoes of a similar size so they all finish together, and serve with uchucuta.

80 min

Peruvian Sides

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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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Morgh-e torshChicken with walnuts and sour plums

Morgh-e torsh is everyday Sunday cooking in Rasht and the villages of Gilan, where gardens overflow with herbs and the cooking leans sour rather than sweet. Chicken pieces are browned, then braised with a mountain of chopped coriander, parsley, mint and garlic chives, ground walnuts and sour plums, finished with verjuice or lemon until the sauce turns a deep olive green. It is eaten with kateh, the simple Caspian rice. A common mistake is adding the herbs raw to the pot; fry them first until dark and fragrant, or the sauce tastes grassy. Chef's tip: a beaten egg stirred in at the very end is how many Gilani grandmothers thicken and enrich the sauce.

80 min

Persian Chicken

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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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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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Polenta fritaFried polenta sticks

Italian immigrants brought polenta to São Paulo, and the city's bars and cantinas turned the leftovers into one of its best snacks: thick sticks of set polenta, deep-fried until the outside is crunchy and bubbled and the inside stays soft and creamy. They arrive in paper-lined baskets in Bixiga cantinas and corner botecos alike, sprinkled with salt, to be eaten with a cold drink; some places dust them with grated cheese, which makes them no longer vegan. Kids love them as a side with tomato sauce. They fall apart in the oil when the polenta is too soft, so cook it until very thick and let it set completely in the fridge. Chef's tip: dry the cut sticks on kitchen paper and fry in small batches, so the oil temperature stays high and the crust forms at once.

45 min

Brazilian Snacks & Starters

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Mojica de pintadoCatfish and cassava stew

Thick, golden and soothing, mojica is the stew Cuiabá cooks with pintado, the big spotted catfish of the Pantanal rivers. Cassava simmers in a tomato and onion broth until it starts to break and thicken it, then cubes of firm fish poach gently on top, and the whole pot is finished with cheiro-verde and a squeeze of lime. It is eaten at family lunches and riverside restaurants in Mato Grosso, with white rice and a hot pepper sauce, and is known as a cure for a tired body. Outside Brazil, use catfish, monkfish or thick cod loin. People often stir the fish into the pot like a curry, which breaks it into shreds; lay it on top and let it steam. Cassava must always be cooked right through. Chef's tip: mash a few pieces of the cooked cassava against the side of the pot before adding the fish; it thickens the broth without any flour.

65 min

Brazilian Fish

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Maduro con quesoBaked plantain with cheese

Cali cooks treat a black-skinned plantain as a treat rather than a fruit past its best, and maduro con queso shows why. The plantain bakes in its own skin until the flesh turns sticky and caramel-sweet, then it is split lengthways and packed with soft white cheese that melts into the hot fruit. In the Valle del Cauca it turns up at home lunches beside rice, beans and a sudado, and at weekend corrientazo counters as the sweet note on a savoury plate. The cheese of choice is a mild, stretchy quesillo or queso campesino, both normally set with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian mozzarella-style cheese if that matters to you. Where it goes wrong is the plantain: a yellow one with a few spots stays starchy and dry, so wait until the skin is almost completely black and the fruit gives when pressed. Chef's tip: bake the plantains on a tray lined with baking paper, because the sugars leak out of the skins and burn onto bare metal.

40 min

Colombian Sides

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Machaca de pescadoShredded fish with tomato and pepper

On the waterfront in La Paz, Baja California Sur, machaca de pescado is the sea's answer to beef machaca: firm fish is poached, shredded and fried with onion, pepper, tomato and chilli until almost dry and full of flavour. Fishermen's families once made it with shark or smoked marlin, and today it fills breakfast burritos, tacos and tostadas in cafés along the malecón. Any firm white fish such as cod, hake or mahi-mahi works well. It is savoury, lightly spicy and tender. Serve it with corn tortillas, rice or refried beans. Chef's tip: squeeze the shredded fish in your hands to get rid of excess water before it hits the pan, so it fries rather than stews.

40 min

Mexican Fish

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Kibbeh bil saniehBaked tray kibbeh

When a Lebanese family is expecting a crowd for Sunday lunch, out comes the round tray of kibbeh bil sanieh, cut into diamonds before baking so everyone can lift a neat piece. Two layers of lamb and fine bulgur kneaded with onion and spices sandwich a filling of minced lamb fried with onions and toasted pine nuts; the top bakes crisp and brown while the inside stays moist. Serve it warm or at room temperature with yoghurt, cucumber salad or fattoush. Common mistake: using coarse bulgur, which won't bind; you need fine bulgur (number 1). Chef's tip: dip your hands in iced water while you press the top layer — it smooths the surface and stops the mixture sticking.

90 min

Lebanese Meat

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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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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

Persian Breads & Parathas

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IntxaursaltsaWalnut cream with milk and cinnamon

On Christmas Eve in Gipuzkoa farmhouses, after the sea bream and before midnight, a pot of intxaursaltsa appears: walnuts slowly simmered in milk with sugar and cinnamon until thick and creamy. It was the sweet of the caseríos, made with walnuts from the farm's own trees, and it is eaten warm or cold from small bowls. A common mistake is letting it boil hard, which makes the milk catch and taste scorched; it should only murmur. Chef's tip: grind the walnuts in short pulses so they stay like coarse sand and don't turn into an oily paste.

70 min

Spanish Desserts

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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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Mojarra fritaFried whole tilapia

On the beaches of Bocagrande and in the open-air kitchens of La Boquilla outside Cartagena, the lunch plate is a whole mojarra (tilapia) fried until its fins crackle, served with coconut rice, smashed green plantain patacones and a tomato and onion salad with lime. The skin goes shatteringly crisp, the flesh stays sweet and moist, and you eat it with your fingers, pulling meat off the bone. Scoring the sides lets the heat and seasoning reach the thick part near the spine. The mistake to avoid is putting a wet fish into the oil, which spits dangerously and leaves the skin soggy: pat it very dry and dust it lightly. Chef's tip: fry one fish at a time in plenty of oil and don't move it for the first 4 minutes, so the skin sets before you turn it. Serve with arroz con coco for the full Caribbean plate.

50 min

Colombian Fish

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PorchettaHerb-stuffed roast pork belly

Porchetta is the street food of central Italy: in Ariccia, in the hills south of Rome, and across Umbria, vans at markets and village festivals carve thick slices of this slow-roasted pork, stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel and pepper, straight into crusty rolls. Whole pigs are used there; at home, a piece of pork belly rolled around the loin gives the same juicy meat, herby centre and shatteringly crisp crackling. Serve it in rolls, or hot in slices with roast potatoes and greens, and the leftovers are just as good cold. Chef's tip: leave the tied roll uncovered in the fridge overnight; a dry skin is what turns into blistered crackling.

280 min

Italian Meat

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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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Kefalonian kreatopitaLamb, rice and potato pie

On Kefalonia, kreatopita is baked for Carnival Sunday, just before Lent, and for big family days: a deep pie of lamb and pork pieces (not mince) mixed with rice, potatoes, tomato, garlic, mint and grated cheese, enclosed in a thick homemade-style crust or filo. It's hearty, fragrant and meant to feed a crowd, warm or at room temperature. This version uses lamb shoulder and pork shoulder. Many island cooks splash in wine; here the moisture comes from stock and tomato, so it's alcohol-free. Common mistake: dicing the meat too large, so it isn't tender when the pastry is done — keep it to 2 cm. Chef's tip: let the filling sit in the fridge overnight so the rice soaks up the juices and the flavours meld.

145 min

Greek Meat

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Kadayıf dolmasıWalnut pancakes in syrup

In Erzurum, kadayıf means not shredded pastry but small, spongy pancakes cooked on one side only. For kadayıf dolması they're filled with walnuts, folded into half-moons, fried golden and plunged into syrup, and they are the city's pride on festival days and at weddings. The outside is crisp and syrupy, the inside soft and nutty. Common mistake: cooking the pancakes on both sides; the uncooked, bubbly top is what sticks the edges together. Chef's tip: the syrup must be cold and the dolma hot straight from the oil, so they absorb syrup without going soggy.

80 min

Turkish Desserts

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Pasta con 'ndujaPasta with spicy 'nduja sausage

Spilinga, a small hill town above the Calabrian coast, celebrates 'nduja with its own summer festival. This soft, spreadable salumi of pork fat and meat with huge amounts of Calabrian chilli melts straight into a pan, turning a simple tomato sauce brick-red, rich and properly hot. It's a quick weeknight pasta in Calabria, often made with fileja or short pasta, and finished with a little pecorino or a dollop of ricotta to soften the heat. Chef's tip: add the 'nduja off the heat at first and let it melt gently, then simmer; frying it hard burns the chilli and makes it bitter.

25 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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PashmakSesame candy floss

Pashmak, 'little wool', is the fine, silky candy floss of Yazd, sold in boxes beside the city's qottab and baklava and piled on top of ice cream or cakes at weddings. Unlike fairground floss it is made by hand: a hot sugar ring is pulled again and again through toasted flour cooked in butter and sesame oil until it splits into thousands of threads. It is a project for two pairs of hands. A common mistake is letting the sugar get too cool before pulling; it should be warm and pliable, like soft plasticine, or it snaps instead of stretching. Chef's tip: wear clean cotton gloves under food-safe gloves, because the sugar is hot at first.

90 min

Persian Desserts

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Kadınbudu köfteFried rice and mince patties

The name means 'lady's thigh', a playful Ottoman-era compliment to their plump, tender shape, and these köfte still appear in Istanbul home kitchens and old lokantas for Friday lunch. Half the meat is cooked with onion first, then mixed with raw mince, rice and herbs, so the köfte are unusually soft and moist. They are dipped in egg and fried golden, and served with a simple tomato salad and pilaf or mashed potato. Chef's tip: the rice must be fully cooked and cooled before mixing, or the köfte crack and fall apart in the pan.

65 min

Turkish Meat

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Partan breeCrab and rice soup

Partan bree comes from the fishing villages of the north-east of Scotland, where partan is the Scots word for the brown crab and bree means broth. Rice is simmered in milk and fish stock until soft, blended with the crab's brown meat, and finished with sweet white claw meat and a little cream. It is the coast's answer to a bisque, simpler and milder. Buy ready-cooked crab meat and keep it chilled. Chef's tip: add the white meat right at the end and only warm it through, so it stays in flakes.

40 min

British Soups

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Paris-BrestChoux ring with praline cream

A Maisons-Laffitte pâtissier created this ring of choux pastry in 1910 to honour the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race, shaping it like a wheel, and it has been a fixture of Paris pâtisseries ever since. The ring is baked crisp, scattered with flaked almonds, split and piped full of a rich hazelnut-praline buttercream, then dusted with icing sugar. It is a celebration cake for birthdays and Sunday lunches, best eaten the day it is filled. Smooth hazelnut praline paste is sold in baking shops; or blend toasted hazelnuts with caramel. Chef's tip: let the baked ring dry in the switched-off oven with the door ajar; a dry shell stays crisp under the cream instead of going soft.

120 min

French Baking

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Pappardelle al ragù di cinghialePappardelle with wild boar ragù

Wild boar roam the Maremma, the wooded south-west corner of Tuscany, and in autumn, when the hunting season opens, every country trattoria serves pappardelle with a dark, gamey boar ragù. The meat is marinated overnight in red wine with juniper and herbs, then simmered slowly with tomato until it falls into shreds and coats the wide egg ribbons. Wild boar is hard to find outside game butchers, so pork shoulder is a good substitute, giving a milder but still rich ragù; either way the sauce also uses pancetta, making it a pork dish. It uses red wine, and the note gives an alcohol-free option. Chef's tip: shred the meat with two forks rather than mincing it; the uneven strands cling to the pappardelle far better.

210 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Pane frattauFlatbread with tomato and egg

Pane frattau turns dry pane carasau into a hearty plate in twenty minutes: sheets of the crisp bread are dipped in hot broth until just supple, layered with tomato sauce and grated pecorino, and topped with a poached egg whose yolk runs into everything. It is said to have been first served in Orgosolo or Nuoro for a royal visit, and it is now a staple of Barbagia agriturismi and family suppers. Traditionally the broth is made from mutton or meat; this version uses vegetable stock, which works beautifully. Chef's tip: dip each sheet for no more than 2–3 seconds; it keeps softening on the plate.

20 min

Italian Vegetarian

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IjjehHerb omelette cakes

Ijjeh is the quick supper of Palestinian and Levantine homes: eggs beaten with so much parsley, mint and spring onion that they turn green, spiced with a little cinnamon and allspice, then fried as thick little patties. They are tucked into warm bread with tomatoes and pickles for school lunches, or served on a breakfast spread with olives and labneh. Common mistake: frying in too little oil over a high heat, so the outsides burn before the herbs inside cook. Chef's tip: a spoonful of flour and a pinch of baking powder make them puff and stay soft when eaten cold the next day.

22 min

Palestinian Breakfast & Brunch

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Papas chorreadasPotatoes in tomato cheese sauce

Chorreadas means drenched, and that is the idea: in farmhouse kitchens of Boyacá and Cundinamarca, whole boiled potatoes get a hot, loose sauce of tomato and long spring onion poured over them, enriched with milk and stretchy fresh cheese. It is comfort food from the cold highlands, served beside grilled meat on Sundays or on its own with an arepa and a mug of aguapanela on a weeknight. Colombians use queso campesino or doble crema, both usually made with animal rennet; a vegetarian mozzarella or other microbial-rennet melting cheese works perfectly. The mistake to avoid is adding the cheese to a boiling sauce, which makes it split and turn stringy; keep the heat low. Chef's tip: let the tomato and onion cook until really soft and jammy before the milk goes in, so the sauce tastes sweet and deep rather than raw.

40 min

Colombian Sides

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Papas arrugadas con mojo picónWrinkled potatoes with red pepper sauce

No meal in the Canary Islands seems complete without a bowl of papas arrugadas, small potatoes boiled in water as salty as the Atlantic until their skins wrinkle and frost over with white salt. In every guachinche, the pop-up wine-farm eateries in the hills of northern Tenerife, they arrive with a pot of mojo picón, a thick, garlicky sauce of dried red peppers, cumin, paprika and vinegar. Eat them skin and all, dragged through the mojo. Chef's tip: once drained, put the pot back on a low heat and shake it for a minute or two, as that drying is what forms the wrinkles and the salt crust.

45 min

Spanish Sides

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Papas aliñásPotato salad with sherry vinegar

Every tapas bar around the Plaza de Abastos in Cádiz keeps a tray of papas aliñás on the counter, and gaditanos eat them as a cold tapa on summer evenings with a glass of something cold. The potatoes are dressed while still warm, so they drink up the sherry vinegar and oil, then rest until they taste sharp, green and soft. Bars usually lay tuna and boiled egg on top; this version is fully plant-based and keeps all the flavour in the dressing. Chef's tip: choose waxy potatoes and cut them only after cooking, so they keep their shape when you toss them.

40 min

Spanish Salads

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Papas a la provenzalFries with garlic and parsley

Bodegones, the old-school Buenos Aires canteens with jamón hanging from the ceiling and waiters in white jackets, serve mountains of papas fritas, and the upgrade everyone orders is "a la provenzal": crisp chips tossed while still sizzling in a mix of finely chopped raw garlic and parsley. The heat of the potatoes takes the edge off the garlic, so it turns fragrant rather than fiery, and the parsley stays bright green. They go with milanesas, grilled steak or a plate of fried eggs. Adding the garlic to the frying oil is the error many make: it burns in seconds and turns bitter; it goes on only after frying. This method fries the chips twice for a crunch that lasts; for an oven version, toss the chips with 3 tbsp oil and roast at 220 °C for 35 minutes, turning once, then dress them the same way. Chef's tip: rinse and dry the cut potatoes very well; surface starch and water are what make chips limp.

45 min

Argentinian Sides

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Pollo chi jau kayFried chicken in oyster sauce

Any chifa in Lima, from the old dining rooms of Barrio Chino on Calle Capón to the corner chifa in every district, will have chi jau kay on the menu: boneless chicken marinated in soy and ginger, fried in a crisp coating and served under a dark, glossy oyster sauce, scattered with sesame seeds and spring onion. The crust stays crunchy where the sauce hasn't reached and goes sticky where it has. It is shared with arroz chaufa or plain rice and a Chinese soup. The usual misstep is tossing the chicken in the sauce in the pan, which makes it soggy; Lima chifas pour the sauce over at the table. Chef's tip: fry the chicken twice, once to cook and once very hot for a minute to crisp, and it will stay crunchy under the sauce.

45 min

Peruvian Chicken

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PaparajotesLemon leaf fritters with cinnamon sugar

Paparajotes are the sweet of the Murcian huerta's spring festivals, above all the Bando de la Huerta, when the city fills with people in traditional dress and stalls fry them by the hundred. A lemon tree leaf is dipped in a light batter, fried and dusted with cinnamon sugar; you hold it by the stalk, pull off the crisp coating with your teeth and leave the leaf, which flavours the batter but is not food. Newcomers who try to eat the whole thing are a long-standing local joke. Chef's tip: use only leaves from an unsprayed lemon tree, washed and dried.

30 min

Spanish Desserts

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Papa rellenaStuffed potato croquettes

Torpedo-shaped and golden, papas rellenas sit stacked in the glass cases of Lima's sangucherías and market stalls, and they are just as often made at home on a weekday to use up a pot of mash. The shell is plain yellow potato with a crisp, thin crust; inside is a picadillo of minced beef with onion, ají panca, cumin, sliced egg, black olives and a few raisins for sweetness. They are eaten warm with a heap of salsa criolla and a spoon of ají sauce. The usual mistake is working the potato while it is still hot and wet: it turns gluey and splits in the oil, so let it steam dry and cool before shaping. Chef's tip: dust your hands and the croquettes with rice flour rather than wheat flour; it gives a thinner, crisper shell and keeps them gluten free. For a meat-free version, swap the beef for chopped mushrooms fried hard until dry.

75 min

Peruvian Snacks & Starters

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Pão na chapaGriddled buttered roll

Stand at the counter of any São Paulo padaria at seven in the morning and you will hear the order a hundred times: 'um pão na chapa e um pingado'. A pão francês, the city's crusty little roll, is split, spread generously with salted butter and pressed cut-side down on the griddle until the crumb turns golden, crisp at the edges and soaked with butter, while the crust stays crackly. It comes with a café com leite and nothing else. At home a heavy frying pan and a second pan to press it do the job. The trap is a pan that is too hot, so the butter burns before the bread toasts; use a medium heat. Chef's tip: butter right to the edges and press the roll down firmly with a spatula or small pan, so the whole surface touches the metal and browns evenly.

8 min

Brazilian Breakfast & Brunch

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MazamorraHominy milk pudding

Long before cake, there was mazamorra: dried white maize, soaked and simmered with water until the kernels burst, then finished with milk, sugar and cinnamon. In colonial Buenos Aires mazamorreras sold it from clay pots on the street, and it still turns up at school and town-hall celebrations every 25 May and on cold evenings in the interior, eaten warm or cold from a bowl. The kernels stay pleasantly chewy in a creamy, gently sweet milk, a bit like rice pudding with more bite. Look for maíz blanco pisado (cracked white hominy) in Latin American shops; dried white pozole corn is the closest substitute. Plan ahead: the corn needs soaking overnight. Adding the milk too early is the main mistake, because the corn will not soften in milk and the pot catches on the bottom, so cook it in water first. Chef's tip: stir in a little of the hot liquid with the sugar before you add the rest of the milk, and serve it with a dusting of cinnamon or a spoonful of honey.

160 min

Argentinian Desserts

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LaulauSteamed pork and fish bundles

Laulau is one of the oldest dishes of Native Hawaiian cooking: fatty pork and salted butterfish are wrapped in young taro (lūʻau) leaves, tied in a ti-leaf parcel and steamed for hours until the leaves turn soft as cooked spinach and the pork is meltingly tender. It is the centrepiece of a plate with poi, lomi lomi salmon and haupia at lūʻau and family celebrations. Taro leaves must be cooked a long time, as they irritate the throat when undercooked; if you can't find them, use large spinach leaves and wrap in banana leaves or foil. Chef's tip: steam the bundles for the full four hours; shortcutting leaves the taro leaves scratchy.

280 minPacific Islander Meat

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Mazorca desgranadaSweetcorn with chicken and cheese

Food trucks and street corners in Bogotá and Medellín sell mazorca desgranada in plastic tubs, late into the evening: sweet corn kernels cut off the cob, fried in butter and layered with shredded chicken, melted cheese, crunchy potato sticks, pineapple sauce and salsa rosada. Some stands add bacon, beef or quail eggs; this version keeps to chicken. It is sweet, salty and gooey, and a hit with teenagers. Using tinned corn without draining it well is a common error: the water dilutes the sauces and the tub gets soggy. Chef's tip: fry the corn until a few kernels brown and pop; that caramelised edge stands up to all the sweet sauces. For a vegetarian tub, skip the chicken and use a cheese made with microbial rennet.

35 min

Colombian Fast Food

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PotjevleeschJellied chicken, rabbit, pork and veal

Potjevleesch, Flemish for "little pot of meat", comes from French Flanders around Dunkirk, Bergues and Hazebrouck, where it fills the cold cabinets of every friterie and estaminet. Chunks of chicken, rabbit, pork and veal are layered with onion, garlic and herbs, covered with white wine and a little vinegar and baked slowly in a covered terrine; the juices are then set with gelatine so the meat is held in a clear, tangy jelly. It is eaten cold, sliced, with hot chips and a green salad, a contrast that the Nord loves. It contains pork and uses white wine; the notes give an alcohol-free option. If rabbit is hard to find, use more chicken thighs. Chef's tip: slice it straight from the fridge with a hot knife, so the jelly cuts cleanly.

930 min

French Meat

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Pão de DeusCoconut-topped sweet buns

Lisbon bakeries pile these 'God's bread' buns in their windows every morning, and regulars split them and spread them with butter, or tuck in a slice of cheese, for breakfast with a galão. The dough is soft and milky like brioche, and the top is a sweet blanket of grated coconut, egg and sugar that bakes crisp and golden. A common mistake is spreading the coconut too thin: pile it on thickly so it stays moist underneath and toasty on top. Chef's tip: let the shaped buns rise fully before topping them, or the heavy coconut layer squashes them flat.

60 min

Portuguese Breads & Parathas

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Hongos de pino en escabechePickled pine mushrooms

After the autumn rains in the pine plantations of Neuquén and Río Negro, slippery jacks (Suillus luteus) pop up by the thousand, and around San Martín de los Andes and Villa La Angostura they are sold fresh by the roadside, dried in bags, or bottled like this. The mushrooms are blanched in vinegar, then kept in oil with garlic, bay and peppercorns, ending up tender, tangy and slightly silky, a classic part of a picada with cheese and bread or beside grilled vegetables. Wild mushrooms must only be eaten if identified by an expert or bought from a trusted seller; if in doubt, use cultivated mushrooms such as chestnut or king oyster. The common mistake is skipping the peeling: the slimy skin on the cap turns the pickle gluey, so pull it off first. Garlic in oil can carry botulism, so the jar must live in the fridge and be eaten within two weeks. Chef's tip: let the jar rest for two days before opening; the vinegar mellows and the flavours come together.

40 min

Argentinian Chutneys & Dips

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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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Kärntner KasnudelnCurd cheese filled pasta half-moons

Kasnudeln are the pride of Carinthia in Austria's south, where every village claims the best filling and where they are eaten on Fridays and at church fairs. Big half-moons of thin noodle dough are stuffed with crumbly curd cheese, floury potato, onion and fresh mint, then sealed with a braided edge called 'krendeln' that keeps the filling in as they simmer. They are served with a generous pour of brown butter and chives, often with a green salad. A common mistake is rolling the dough too thick: it should be thin enough to see your hand through, or the folded edges turn stodgy. Carinthian Topfen is usually made without animal rennet, but check the label and pick a vegetarian quark. Chef's tip: if crimping feels tricky, press the edges with a fork first, then practise the braid on the last few.

90 min

Austrian Pasta & Noodles

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SeadasFried cheese pastries with honey

Seadas (or sebadas) are Sardinia's festive dessert: large discs of thin pastry wrapped around fresh, tangy cheese and lemon zest, fried until blistered and golden, then drizzled with warm honey, ideally the bitter strawberry-tree honey of the island's hills. The cheese melts into soft, stretchy strings, so they are a sweet-salty, crisp-gooey surprise. Shepherd families once made them at the end of a festa or for Carnival; today every Sardinian restaurant offers them. The pastry is traditionally made with lard, and here it is butter. Chef's tip: melt the cheese into discs first, so it sets flat and is easy to seal inside the pastry.

60 min

Italian Desserts

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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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Pão de centeio transmontanoDark rye loaf

On the cold uplands of Trás-os-Montes, where wheat struggled, rye was the bread grain, and village bakeries around Montalegre and Miranda do Douro still bake big rounds with a dark, floury crust. The crumb is dense, tangy and moist, made to keep for a week and to sit beside cured meats, cheese and soups. This home loaf mixes rye with some wheat so it rises reliably. A common mistake is kneading rye dough like wheat dough; it never turns elastic, so mix it to a sticky paste and stop. Chef's tip: rye dough is sticky by nature, so shape it with wet hands rather than adding flour.

75 min

Portuguese Breads & Parathas

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Pão alentejanoSourdough country loaf

Almost every Alentejo meal leans on this bread: it is crumbled into açorda, laid under soups and stews, fried into migas and, fresh, eaten with olives and sheep's cheese. Village bakers make it with a sourdough starter, white wheat flour, water and salt, and give each round loaf a little knob of dough on top, called the cuco. The crumb should be dense, moist and chewy and the crust thick and crackling, so it lasts a week. You need an active starter that doubles within 6 hours of feeding. A common mistake is baking too pale; let the crust go a deep brown for flavour and keeping. Chef's tip: use a wetter dough than you think; it gives the open, moist crumb that keeps the bread soft for days.

90 min

Portuguese Breads & Parathas

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PanuchosBean-stuffed tortillas with chicken

Mérida's loncherías and the evening stands around its parks sell panuchos by the plateful: small corn tortillas puffed on the griddle, slit open, stuffed with black bean paste and fried until the edges crisp. They are topped with shredded chicken marinated in achiote and bitter orange, sharp pink pickled onion, tomato and avocado, with fiery habanero salsa on the side for those who want it. Bitter (Seville) orange is the traditional sour; a mix of orange and lime juice works well. Two or three make a supper with a cold drink. Chef's tip: let the tortilla balloon on the hot comal before you slit it; if it doesn't puff, there is no pocket for the beans.

150 min

Mexican Snacks & Starters

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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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MeghliSpiced rice pudding

When a baby is born in Lebanon, the family cooks a big pot of meghli and hands out bowls to every visitor who comes to congratulate them; it also appears at Christmas in Christian homes. Ground rice is simmered with sugar and warm spices — caraway, cinnamon and anise — until it sets into a smooth, cocoa-brown pudding with no milk or eggs at all. Each bowl is topped with desiccated coconut and a generous pile of soaked walnuts, almonds, pistachios and pine nuts. Common mistake: walking away from the pot; ground rice catches and lumps fast, so it needs steady stirring. Chef's tip: soak the nuts in cold water overnight and peel the almonds; they turn plump and crisp, which is the hallmark of a good meghli.

50 min

Lebanese Desserts

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Kağıt kebabıLamb and vegetables baked in parchment

Malatya cooks wrap cubes of lamb with tomatoes, peppers, shallots and garlic in greaseproof paper and bake them slowly, so the meat steams in its own juices and the parcel puffs up like a pillow. At the table each person tears open their own package to a cloud of fragrant steam. It's a festive dish for guests, served with bulgur pilaf and a yoghurt salad. Common mistake: wrapping loosely so the juices leak and the meat dries; fold and crimp the edges tightly. Chef's tip: brown the lamb quickly before wrapping; it gives a deeper flavour than raw meat steamed alone.

120 min

Turkish Meat

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Mejillones a la provenzalMussels with garlic and parsley

On the Atlantic coast around Puerto Madryn and the Golfo Nuevo, mussels from cold Patagonian waters are farmed and gathered in quantity, and seafood places along the rambla steam them a la provenzal, which in Argentina means lots of garlic and parsley. A splash of dry white wine goes into the pot; the alcohol mostly cooks off, but you can swap it for fish stock with a little lemon for an alcohol-free pot that tastes just as good. Serve with bread or chips to mop up the briny juices. Cooking mussels too long is the usual slip: they shrink and turn rubbery, so lift the lid as soon as most have opened. Before cooking, throw away any mussel with a broken shell or one that stays open when tapped; after cooking, discard any that stay shut. Chef's tip: keep the garlic in gently warm oil until it just smells sweet; brown garlic turns bitter and dominates the mussels.

25 min

Argentinian Fish

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Mexillóns en escabechePickled mussels

Galicia's estuaries are lined with the wooden rafts (bateas) where mussels grow on ropes, and the region's canneries have long sold them in escabeche: steamed, shelled and kept in a warm-spiced marinade of oil, vinegar and paprika. Made at home, they're a tapa for an aperitif with crisps and cold drinks, and they keep for several days. Throw away any mussels with cracked shells, and any open ones that don't close when tapped, before cooking. A common mistake is pouring the marinade over cold mussels straight from the fridge: mix while both are warm so the flavours soak in, then chill. Chef's tip: they taste best after a full day in the fridge.

40 min

Spanish Fish

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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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KatmerClotted cream and pistachio pastry

In Gaziantep the morning starts at a katmer counter: a baker slaps a ball of dough into a sheet so thin you can read through it, scatters it with pistachios, sugar and kaymak, folds it into a parcel and bakes it on a hot iron plate. Eaten straight away, it shatters at the edges and stays creamy in the middle, and locals drink strong tea with it. At home a heavy frying pan stands in for the iron plate. The usual mistake is stretching the dough before it has rested; it tears instead of going translucent, so give it the full hour under oiled cling film. Chef's tip: grind the pistachios only to coarse sand, not powder, so they stay bright green and give each bite some crunch.

45 min

Turkish Desserts

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Mel i matóCurd cheese with honey and walnuts

On the road up to Montserrat, farm women once sat at stalls selling fresh mató, a soft, mild, unsalted curd cheese, and the dessert of mató drizzled with honey became a fixture of Catalan restaurants. It is as simple as dessert gets, and best with the freshest cheese. Shop-bought mató and some ricottas are set with animal rennet; this home version is set with lemon juice instead, so it is vegetarian. If you buy cheese, check the label for a vegetarian or microbial rennet. Chef's tip: heat the milk gently and stop at 90 °C; boiling makes the curds tough and grainy.

30 min

Spanish Desserts

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Mulinciani chiniStuffed aubergines

Mulinciani chini, 'full aubergines' in Calabrian dialect, are what summer gardens across Calabria turn into in August: halved aubergines hollowed out, their pulp fried and mixed with soaked bread, pecorino, egg, garlic and basil, then piled back into the shells and baked in a light tomato sauce. They are made in big trays for family lunches and taken cold to the beach the next day. The filling turns soft and savoury, the shells silky. Chef's tip: they taste best after resting for an hour, so they are perfect to make ahead.

70 min

Italian Vegetarian

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PantxinetaCustard and almond puff pastry tart

Pantxineta was first baked in a pastry shop in San Sebastián's old town in the early twentieth century, and Donostiarras still buy it on Sunday mornings to take to family lunch. Two layers of buttery puff pastry enclose vanilla pastry cream, and the top is covered with flaked almonds and icing sugar. It is best eaten warm on the day it is made, while the pastry shatters. A common mistake is filling the pastry with warm custard, which melts the butter layers and stops them rising. Chef's tip: chill the assembled tart for 20 minutes before baking so the pastry keeps sharp edges.

70 min

Spanish Baking

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MelcochasPulled panela taffy

Pulling melcocha is a spectacle at roadside stalls in panela country, around Villeta in Cundinamarca and the Santander highlands. A syrup of panela is boiled until thick, cooled just enough to handle, then stretched, folded and stretched again until it turns from dark brown to a pale, satiny gold and becomes chewy. It is twisted into ropes and cut into pieces that taste of caramel and molasses. Kids and adults both buy it in little bags, and it makes a fun kitchen project for a group. Getting the timing wrong is the usual mistake: too hot and it burns your hands and sticks, too cold and it snaps instead of stretching. Work when it feels like warm putty. The syrup is dangerously hot, so keep children well back until it has cooled. Chef's tip: a sugar thermometer takes the guesswork out; take the syrup off at 125 °C for a chewy result.

45 min

Colombian Desserts

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MelitiniaSweet cheese cups with mastic

Santorini's Easter sweet is melitinia: small, thin pastry cups pinched around a soft filling of fresh cheese, sugar and mastic, baked until the tops crack and turn golden. Islanders bake trays of them on Holy Saturday and offer them on Easter Sunday with coffee, and their resinous, piney mastic perfume sets them apart from cheese pastries elsewhere in Greece. Fresh mizithra is the island cheese; ricotta, usually rennet-free, is a good substitute. Common mistake: grinding mastic on its own, which makes it gum up; always crush it with a spoon of sugar. Chef's tip: roll the pastry very thin, about 2 mm, so it bakes crisp around the creamy filling.

70 min

Greek Baking

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MelitzanosalataSmoky aubergine dip

Every Greek taverna puts melitzanosalata on the meze table, especially in summer when aubergines are charred over the same coals as the souvlaki. Unlike Levantine dips it has no tahini: the smoky flesh is chopped with a knife, not puréed, and sharpened with red wine vinegar, raw garlic, parsley and plenty of fruity olive oil, so it stays rough-textured and bright. Serve with warm pitta, grilled bread or alongside fried fish. Common mistake: leaving the bitter juices in; drain the cooked flesh in a sieve for 10 minutes. Chef's tip: char the aubergines directly on a gas flame or barbecue until they collapse; the oven alone will not give the smoky taste.

40 min

Greek Chutneys & Dips

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MelomakaronaHoney-dipped spice cookies

From early December, bakeries and kitchens all over Greece fill tins with melomakarona, the oval cookies that sit beside kourabiedes on every Christmas table and get handed to visitors with coffee. The dough is made with olive oil and orange juice rather than butter, scented with cinnamon and clove, then baked and plunged into warm honey syrup so the inside turns soft and sticky while the edges stay crisp. Common mistake: dipping hot cookies into hot syrup, which turns them to mush; one of the two must be cool. Chef's tip: mix the dough only until it comes together; overworking it squeezes out the oil and the cookies bake hard and greasy.

70 min

Greek Baking

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MelopitaHoney and fresh cheese pie

On Sifnos, the Easter table always has a melopita, a crustless pie of fresh cheese, eggs and thyme honey baked until just set and dusted heavily with cinnamon. It is lighter than a cheesecake, gently sweet and floral from the honey, and tastes best a day after baking, cut into squares with coffee. The island cheese is fresh mizithra; ricotta works well and is usually made without animal rennet. Common mistake: baking it too hot, which makes it puff up and crack, then sink and weep. Chef's tip: let it cool slowly in the switched-off oven with the door ajar for a smooth, silky set.

60 min

Greek Desserts

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Morrones con huevo a la parrillaGrilled peppers with egg and cheese

While the meat rests on the cooler side of the parrilla, many asadores put halved red peppers cut side up over the coals, let them soften and char, then crack an egg into each one with a piece of cheese and a pinch of oregano. The pepper becomes a little dish: sweet, smoky and juicy, with a just-set egg and molten cheese in the middle. It is one of the classic starters at an Argentine asado, eaten with bread before the steak arrives, and it makes a good vegetarian main for anyone who skips the meat. The mistake is cracking the egg into a raw pepper: the egg overcooks before the pepper softens, so grill the shells first. Cook until the white is completely set. Queso cremoso or mozzarella is usually made with animal rennet; pick a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: cover the peppers with a foil tent or a lid once the egg goes in; the trapped heat sets the top of the egg without burning the base.

30 min

Argentinian Sides

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Potée auvergnatePork, cabbage and sausage pot

High in the Massif Central, potée auvergnate is what farmhouses put on the stove when the first frosts arrive: a pork dish of salt pork belly and smoked pork sausage simmered slowly with savoy cabbage, carrots, turnips and potatoes. The broth comes out clear, smoky and gently salty, and the vegetables soak up all that pork flavour while keeping their shape. In the Cantal it is served in two rounds, the broth poured over slices of toasted country bread first, then the meat and vegetables on a big platter with strong mustard and gherkins. Chef's tip: soak the salt pork first and taste the broth before you add any salt; between the belly and the sausage it rarely needs more.

180 min

French Meat

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Kahu sekanjabinLettuce with mint vinegar syrup

On Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of the new year, Iranian families leave the city for parks and riverbanks around Tehran and Isfahan, and the picnic cloth almost always holds a jar of sekanjabin and a head of crisp romaine. The syrup is an ancient one: sugar and vinegar simmered together and steeped with fresh mint, sweet-sour and cooling. You tear off a lettuce leaf, dip it and crunch. The usual mistake is boiling the syrup too long, which turns it into hard toffee once cold. Chef's tip: keep the lettuce in iced water until the moment you serve; the colder and crisper the leaf, the better the contrast with the syrup.

40 min

Persian Snacks & Starters

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Menestra de TudelaSpring vegetable stew

In Tudela, at the southern tip of Navarre, the market gardens along the Ebro send out artichokes, peas, broad beans and asparagus all at once in April and May, and the town celebrates with its Jornadas de Exaltación de la Verdura. Menestra is how those vegetables reach the table: every one is cooked on its own, the artichokes and chard stalks are dipped in flour and egg and fried, and everything is brought together at the end in a little garlic and onion sauce. Local cooks often add cured ham; this version leaves it out and is fully vegetarian. Chef's tip: save a cupful of the water the vegetables were boiled in, because it gives the final sauce far more flavour than plain water or stock.

95 min

Spanish Vegetarian

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MenestrónBeef, bean and pasta soup

Think of the Italian minestrone after a century of Lima kitchens: menestrón is thicker, heartier and greener, a weekday soup that families and menú restaurants make in huge pots. Beef shin simmers into a rich broth with potatoes, squash, corn, cabbage, green beans and white beans, then short pasta goes in, and finally a purée of basil, spinach, garlic and fresh cheese turns the whole pot pale green and fragrant. It is a meal in a bowl, best with bread and a squeeze of lime or a spoon of ají. People tend to add the basil purée too early; boiled, it loses its colour and its scent, so stir it in off the heat. Chef's tip: for a vegetarian menestrón, skip the beef and use vegetable stock, with a cheese made with microbial (vegetarian) rennet.

100 min

Peruvian Soups

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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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Karışık turşuMixed vegetable pickle

Every autumn Turkish kitchens line up jars of karışık turşu, and in Istanbul pickle shops (turşucu) sell it by the glass with its sour juice to drink. Crunchy cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers and cauliflower are packed with garlic and chickpeas in a salted, vinegar-spiked brine and left to sour for a couple of weeks. It sits beside bean stews, pilaf and kebab at almost every home meal. Common mistake: iodised table salt, which clouds the brine and softens the vegetables; use rock or pickling salt. Chef's tip: a few dried chickpeas in the jar help the fermentation get going, as Turkish grandmothers swear.

35 min

Turkish Basics

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PanissesFried chickpea fingers

In L'Estaque, the old fishing quarter on the western edge of Marseille, panisses are sold hot in paper cones from seafront kiosks on summer evenings. They start as a thick chickpea-flour porridge, set in a tray, then cut into fingers and fried until the outside is crisp and the middle is soft and creamy, like a chickpea chip. Along the coast in Nice the same flour becomes socca, a thin baked pancake. Serve panisses with a squeeze of lemon and lots of pepper. Chef's tip: make the base the day before; a night in the fridge firms it up, and the fingers keep their shape in the oil.

100 min

French Snacks & Starters

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PanhasBuckwheat and pork loaf

Panhas comes from the slaughter days of Westphalia and the Lower Rhine, when the pork broth left in the kettle was thickened with buckwheat flour and the scraps of meat and sausage so nothing went to waste. It sets into a firm loaf that keeps for days in the fridge; thick slices are fried until crisp and eaten for breakfast or supper with apple sauce, fried potatoes or rye bread. This version uses pork belly and coarse liver sausage. Chef's tip: fry the slices in a hot pan and leave them alone for the first 4 minutes, so a crust forms before you turn them.

90 min

German Meat

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Merluza en salsa verdeHake and clams in parsley sauce

Bilbao families have cooked merluza en salsa verde in a shallow clay cazuela for generations, and it still turns up at Sunday lunch and on Christmas Eve. The sauce is just olive oil, garlic, parsley and the fish's own juices, thickened by gently shaking the dish so the gelatine from the hake binds it, much like a pil-pil. Clams open on top at the end. A common mistake is stirring with a spoon, which breaks the fish; swirl the dish instead. Chef's tip: keep the heat low once the hake goes in, because the sauce only comes together when it barely simmers.

40 min

Spanish Fish

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Kuku sibzaminiPotato and egg patties

Kuku sibzamini is what Tehran schoolchildren unwrap at lunchtime: little golden patties of grated potato, egg and onion, eaten cold or warm, folded into lavash or sangak with herbs, tomato and a few slices of khiar shoor. They also turn up at picnics in the parks on Friday mornings, because they travel well and taste good at any temperature. Grated raw onion and turmeric give the flavour; a spoon of flour holds them together. The common mistake is leaving the grated potato wet, so the patties spit, soak up oil and fall apart. Chef's tip: squeeze the potato and onion hard in a tea towel; the drier the mix, the crisper the edges.

40 min

Persian Snacks & Starters

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Jalea mixtaMixed fried seafood with cassava

Ordered to share at a Lima cevichería on a Sunday, jalea mixta arrives as a tall golden pile: chunks of white fish, squid rings and prawns, all in a light, crackly coat, on top of fried cassava and buried under a fresh tangle of salsa criolla. The contrast is the point, hot and crunchy underneath, cold, sour and sharp on top, with tartar sauce or ají on the side and cold drinks all round. A frequent mistake is crowding the oil, which drops its temperature and gives you a soggy, greasy coat; fry in small batches and let the oil come back up between them. Chef's tip: boil the cassava first and let it steam dry before frying; it turns fluffy inside and shatteringly crisp outside.

45 min

Peruvian Fish

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Pozole verde de GuerreroGreen pumpkin-seed pozole

In Chilpancingo and Chilapa, Thursday is jueves pozolero, and families and office crowds fill the pozolerías for this green version. Unlike our vegetarian pozole verde, this is a pork dish with chicken too: pork shoulder and chicken thighs simmer with hominy, then the broth is thickened with a sauce of toasted pumpkin seeds, tomatillos, chilli and epazote, so it turns creamy, nutty and bright green. Bowls go to the table with avocado, crisp pork chicharrón, onion, oregano, lime and tostadas. Epazote can be hard to find: use fresh oregano plus a few coriander stalks instead. Chef's tip: toast the pumpkin seeds only until they puff and start to pop; darker seeds make the broth brown and bitter.

185 min

Mexican Soups

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Poulet vallée d'AugeChicken in cider and cream sauce

The Pays d'Auge, the green orchard country around Lisieux and Pont-l'Évêque, puts its three great products into one pan here: apples, cider and thick Normandy cream. Chicken pieces are browned in butter, flamed with a splash of Calvados if you like, braised in dry cider with mushrooms and finished with crème fraîche, so the sauce is tangy, gently sweet and pale gold. It is a Sunday lunch dish, served with rice or steamed potatoes and wedges of apple caramelised in butter. The recipe uses cider and optional Calvados; alcohol-free swaps are in the ingredient notes. Chef's tip: choose a dry cider, because a sweet one makes the sauce cloying once it reduces.

70 min

French Chicken

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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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KremidopitaOnion and cheese pie

Mykonian grandmothers made kremidopita long before the island filled with beach clubs: a pie of slowly softened onions, tangy fresh cheese, eggs and dill between sheets of filo, baked for name days and family Sundays. The onions go sweet and jammy, the cheese keeps it creamy and sharp, and it is eaten warm or cold with a tomato salad. Feta is usually made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian feta if you need to. Common mistake: frying the onions hard and fast; they must sweat gently until soft, or the filling turns bitter and crunchy. Chef's tip: cool the onions completely before mixing in the eggs and cheese, so the filling doesn't start to set before baking.

100 min

Greek Snacks & Starters

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KumisFermented milk drink

Kumis in Colombia is a thick, sweetened fermented milk, nothing like the Central Asian mare's-milk drink of the same name. Bakeries and cafeterias sell it chilled in glasses with a slice of plain sponge cake, the classic kumis con ponqué, and many families still make it at home. It is cool, tangy and creamy, somewhere between drinking yogurt and buttermilk. Use only pasteurised milk, heat it first, and work with very clean equipment: wash jars and spoons in hot soapy water and scald them with boiling water. The milk ferments at room temperature (20–28 °C, out of direct sun) for 12–24 hours, then goes into the fridge; never leave it out longer. Discard any batch with mould, pink or orange patches, or a rotten rather than sour smell. Adding the starter to milk that is still too hot is the common slip, as heat kills the cultures and nothing sets. Chef's tip: add the sugar after fermenting, then chill well before serving.

30 min

Colombian Drinks

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