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Bananas Foster

Bananas Foster was invented in the 1950s at a family restaurant in the French Quarter, when New Orleans was the main port for bananas from Central America, and it is still flamed at the table there for birthday dinners. Bananas are cooked in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, then flambéed with dark rum and banana liqueur and spooned over vanilla ice cream. It contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version replace the rum and liqueur with 4 tbsp orange juice and a few drops of rum flavouring and skip the flaming. Chef's tip: use bananas that are ripe but still firm, or they turn to mush.

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Shirini-ye zabanCaramelised puff pastry tongues

Shirini-ye zaban, tongue pastries, are the long, glossy puff-pastry ovals in every Iranian confectioner's window, from Tabriz to Kerman, and a fixture on the tray of sweets served to Nowruz visitors. The pastry is rolled out on sugar so it caramelises into a crisp, shiny, flaky finger. This version uses good bought all-butter puff pastry, as many home bakers do; check the label for butter rather than lard to keep it vegetarian. Chef's tip: chill the shaped tongues for 15 minutes before baking so the layers rise high instead of melting flat.

50 min

Persian Baking

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Shish barakLamb dumplings in garlic yoghurt

Shish barak is a labour of love that Lebanese grandmothers turn into a family afternoon: everyone sits round the table pinching hundreds of tiny dumplings filled with spiced lamb and onion. The dumplings are baked until lightly golden, then dropped into hot yoghurt sauce, and the bowl is finished with garlic and coriander fried in butter. It is rich, tangy and deeply comforting, served on its own or with plain rice. Common mistake: rolling the dough thick — it should be thin enough to see the board through, or the dumplings turn stodgy. Chef's tip: baking the dumplings before they go into the sauce sets their shape and adds a toasty flavour; you can freeze them at this stage.

115 min

Lebanese Meat

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Sholeh MashhadiWheat, bean and lamb porridge

Sholeh Mashhadi is cooked in huge pots in Mashhad, the shrine city of Khorasan, and handed out to pilgrims and neighbours as nazri (a votive offering), especially during the month of Muharram. Wheat, rice, lentils, mung beans, chickpeas and lamb are cooked for hours with onion and spices, then beaten with a wooden paddle until everything melts into one thick, stretchy porridge, topped with fried onion, mint oil and a dusting of cinnamon. A home pot is smaller but follows the same rhythm. A common mistake is leaving it unstirred towards the end; the grains catch and burn, so stir and scrape the base every 10 minutes once it thickens. Chef's tip: cook the lamb on the bone first and shred it; the broth from the bones gives the porridge its body.

300 min

Persian Curries

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Shorbat freekehSmoked green wheat soup

When the sunset call to prayer ends the Ramadan fast in Amman, the first spoonfuls are very often shorbat freekeh, a nourishing broth thickened with cracked green wheat that was roasted in the field while still young. The smoke from that roasting gives the soup its distinctive, almost barbecue-like depth, while chicken, cinnamon and cardamom keep it gentle on an empty stomach. It is followed by dates, salad and the main dish. The usual mistake is not picking over and rinsing the freekeh, which can hold tiny stones and chaff. Chef's tip: toast the rinsed freekeh in butter for a couple of minutes before adding the broth; it brings out the smokiness.

85 min

Jordanian Soups

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ShrakPaper-thin saj flatbread

In Bedouin camps around Wadi Rum and Ma'an, shrak is baked fresh for every meal: dough stretched thinner than a handkerchief, flung over a domed iron saj above the fire and lifted off seconds later, soft and blistered. It is the bread that lines the mansaf platter and wraps grilled meat, and it is torn for galayet and labneh at breakfast. At home an upturned wok over a gas flame stands in for the saj. The common mistake is rolling the dough on a dry surface; it tears, so oil your hands and worktop instead and stretch the dough over the backs of your hands like a pizza maker. Chef's tip: rest the dough balls a full 30 minutes, well oiled and covered; relaxed gluten stretches to near see-through without fighting back.

65 min

Jordanian Breads & Parathas

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ShulbatoBulgur with aubergine and courgette

Shulbato is a summer pot from the villages of the West Bank and Galilee, made when the garden overflows: coarse bulgur cooked with aubergine, courgette, peppers, tomato and plenty of onion until the wheat is fluffy and stained red. It is eaten warm or cool on hot days with a bowl of yoghurt or a cucumber salad, and it is also a fasting dish for Christian families. Common mistake: using fine bulgur, which turns mushy; it needs the coarse grade. Chef's tip: let the vegetables catch and brown a little before adding the wheat; that slight char is the flavour of the dish.

60 min

Palestinian Rice & Grains

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BüryanSlow-roasted lamb

In Siirt, büryan is eaten for breakfast: whole sides of young lamb hang for hours in a deep clay pit oven sealed with mud, and by early morning the meat is falling apart with crackling skin, served on thin bread with nothing but salt. This home version uses a bone-in shoulder roasted low and slow, sealed under foil to trap the steam as the pit does, then blasted at the end for the crisp outside. It needs no marinade beyond salt; the flavour is all lamb. Common mistake: lifting the foil to check; every peek lets the steam out and dries the meat. Chef's tip: pull it apart with two forks at the table and pile it straight onto warm lavaş to catch the juices.

280 min

Turkish Meat

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SıkmaCheese and herb rolled flatbread

At village markets in the hills behind the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, women sit at a convex sac griddle rolling out paper-thin dough, cooking it in seconds and 'squeezing' (sıkmak) it around a filling of white cheese and herbs. You eat it rolled up and still hot, with ayran. It is the simplest snack there is and easily done in a large frying pan. Beyaz peynir is often made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: roll the dough as thin as you can and cook it fast on a very hot, dry pan; slow cooking makes it brittle instead of soft and foldable.

45 min

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Silesian StreuselkuchenCrumble-topped yeast cake

Streuselkuchen came west with families from Silesia, where a tray of it was baked for every wedding and church fair, and it is now sold in every German bakery. The point is the crumble: big, buttery, vanilla-scented lumps sitting almost as thick as the soft yeast base underneath. It is served plain with coffee in the afternoon, often a day old, when the streusel has gone crisp and the base slightly chewy. A common mistake is rubbing the streusel to fine sand; it should be squeezed into clumps the size of hazelnuts. Chef's tip: use cold, cubed butter and chill the finished streusel for 20 minutes before scattering it, so the lumps keep their shape in the oven.

120 min

German Baking

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