Skip to content
Passion fruit cream biscuits
Featured recipe

Passion fruit cream biscuits

Crisp, lemony biscuits flecked with passion fruit seeds and glacé ginger, sandwiched with a passion fruit butter cream and dusted with icing sugar. A tangy, tropical treat for tea parties.

Read more 0 views

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Paraguayan

A new country every day, from every cuisine on the site.

Paraguayan

Chipa

Cheese bread rings 50 minMore from Paraguayan (27) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners
537 recipes · a new collection every Monday

Latest recipes

Torta de bolachaNo-bake biscuit and custard cake

Gaúcho birthday tables almost always carry a torta de bolacha, the fridge cake that grandmothers in Porto Alegre and the Serra Gaúcha towns put together the night before. Plain Maria biscuits are dipped in sweet milk and stacked with two stovetop creams, one pale vanilla custard and one chocolate, until the biscuits soften into something close to sponge. It is cool, soft and very sweet, and slices best after a night in the fridge; serve it with coffee or as the birthday cake itself, with candles on top. It contains egg yolks and wheat biscuits. Most failures come from soaking the biscuits too long: they should be dipped for a second, not left to swim, or the layers collapse into mush. Chef's tip: let both creams cool until just warm before layering, so they stay thick enough to hold the next row of biscuits.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torta de palmitoHeart of palm pie

Paulistano families bring this pie to Sunday lunch, to Easter and to every bring-a-plate party, and padarias sell it by the slice next to the coxinhas. A crumbly, buttery crust encloses a creamy filling of heart of palm with tomato, peas, green olives and parsley, set with a little cornflour so it slices cleanly but stays moist. It is good warm or cold, with a green salad or just on its own. Look for palm hearts from cultivated pupunha palms. The commonest problem is a soggy base from a filling that is too wet or too warm; cook it until thick and let it cool before it goes in. Chef's tip: bake the pie on a preheated tray on the bottom shelf, so the base gets a blast of heat and crisps before the filling can soak in.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torta del Casar al hornoBaked sheep's cheese with garlic

Torta del Casar is made in Casar de Cáceres and the surrounding plains from raw merino sheep's milk, curdled not with animal rennet but with the dried flower of a wild thistle, so it suits many vegetarians. When ripe, the rind holds a centre so soft it is eaten with a spoon, and in Cáceres bars a whole torta comes warm from the oven with its lid cut off, surrounded by bread for dipping. It is a cheese for sharing at the start of a long dinner. Because it is made from unpasteurised milk, it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system unless heated until steaming hot all through. Chef's tip: take the cheese out of the fridge an hour ahead so it warms evenly.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torta galesaDark fruit and walnut cake

Welsh settlers arrived in the Chubut valley in 1865 and their descendants still serve afternoon tea in Gaiman and Trelew, where the casas de té bring out pots of tea, scones, cream cakes and, always, a slice of torta galesa. It is a dense, almost black fruit cake made with brown sugar and black treacle, studded with raisins, candied peel and walnuts, and it was built to last through long Patagonian winters and journeys across the steppe. The crumb is moist and sticky, rich with spice and caramel. An oven that is too hot is the classic error: the outside chars before the middle is set, so it bakes low and slow under a sheet of paper. There's no alcohol in this version; many cooks brush it with rum after baking, so leave that out or use strong tea. Chef's tip: wrap the cooled cake tightly and wait two or three days before cutting; it turns moister and the flavours deepen.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torta holandesaChilled biscuit and ganache tart

Despite the name, the 'Dutch tart' is a Brazilian invention, created in a confeitaria in Campinas, São Paulo state, in the 1990s and now sold in bakeries and churrascarias all over the country. A crunchy biscuit base holds a tall layer of light vanilla buttercream, sealed with dark chocolate ganache, and the sides are fenced with chocolate-dipped biscuits stood on their edges. Served cold, it is rich, creamy and crunchy at once, cut in thin slices with coffee. Some versions set the cream with gelatin; this one gets its body from butter and whipped cream only. Warm ganache poured straight on is the commonest mistake, since it melts the cream underneath into streaks. Chef's tip: let the ganache cool until it is just pourable and barely warm to a fingertip, about 30 °C, before pouring it over the chilled tart.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Torta rogelLayered pastry dulce de leche cake

Birthdays in Buenos Aires are where the rogel shows off: eight or more wafer-thin, crackling discs of egg-yolk pastry, each spread with thick dulce de leche, stacked high and finished with a cloud of glossy Italian meringue browned with a blowtorch. Confiterías sell it by the slice, and it is a cake of contrasts, crisp and chewy, very sweet against the faintly salty pastry. It is laborious rather than difficult, and it slices best after a few hours' rest, when the dulce de leche has softened the layers just slightly. Use thick dulce de leche repostero (bakers' style); the runny kind for spreading on toast makes the tower slide. Rolling the discs too thick is the classic mistake: they should be so thin you can almost see the worktop through them, or the cake becomes heavy and hard to cut. Chef's tip: prick every disc all over with a fork before baking, or it puffs into a dome and won't stack flat.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortas ahogadasPork rolls in tomato sauce

Guadalajara's great hangover cure, the torta ahogada is sold from street stands and small fondas all over the city from mid-morning. A crusty roll is split, packed with pork carnitas, then 'drowned' in a thin, mild tomato sauce and splashed with a ferociously hot chile de árbol salsa; you can order it half-drowned or fully submerged, and eat it with a plastic bag over your hand or with a knife and fork. The local birote salado, a sourdough roll with a hard crust, rarely exists outside Jalisco, so use the crustiest small baguettes or sourdough rolls you can find. Pickled red onions and a few radishes are the classic side. Chef's tip: let the rolls go a day stale and toast the cut sides; a firm, dry crumb soaks up sauce without turning to mush.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortas de aceite sevillanasCrisp olive-oil flatbreads with anise

Castilleja de la Cuesta, just west of Seville, has made these hand-pressed tortas for well over a century, and across Andalusia they are dunked into morning coffee or eaten as an afternoon snack. The dough is little more than flour, olive oil infused with anise and sesame, and a pinch of yeast, rolled until you can almost see through it and baked with a crust of sugar. Chef's tip: roll each torta directly on the baking paper you will bake it on; the dough is too thin to lift without tearing.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortas de almaPumpkin and almond pastries

In the province of Teruel, especially around Calamocha and the Jiloca valley, tortas de alma are made at the end of autumn when the pumpkins come in: crisp, flaky olive-oil pastry folded over "alma", a sweet filling of pumpkin cooked down with sugar, almond and cinnamon. They are eaten with coffee at the village festivals and given away by the dozen at All Saints and Christmas. Recipes vary from house to house; this one keeps to the simple, widely made version. A common mistake is a runny filling, which leaks and burns on the tray; cook it until it is thick enough to hold a clean line. Chef's tip: make the filling a day ahead and chill it; cold alma is far easier to spoon onto the pastry.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortas de VianaSponge roll with egg-yolk cream

In the pastry shops along Viana do Castelo's old streets, tortas are sold rolled and sliced, a feather-light sponge wrapped around a glossy egg-yolk cream. They turn up on festival weekends in August, when the town fills for the Romaria d'Agonia, and as an afternoon treat with coffee the rest of the year. The sponge contains only eggs, sugar and a little flour, so it bends without cracking if you roll it warm. Chef's tip: roll the sponge in sugared paper straight from the oven and let it cool in that shape, then unroll and fill.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortilla al rescoldoAsh-baked flatbread

Puesteros in the hills of Salta and the Calchaquí valleys bake this bread the oldest way there is: a thick disc of plain dough laid straight onto the hot ash at the edge of the fire, covered with more embers and dug out 20 minutes later with a crust that is blistered and smoky and a crumb that is dense and soft. You brush off the ash, break it with your hands and eat it with goat's cheese, a mate or a bowl of locro. The traditional fat is lard (grasa); this version uses butter or vegetable shortening so it stays vegetarian. Laying the dough on flaming wood instead of a bed of settled grey embers is the mistake that burns the outside black before the middle cooks, so wait until the fire has died back. No fire? A dry cast-iron pan and a hot oven give you a close result. Chef's tip: knock the bread on its base when you lift it out; a hollow sound means it is cooked through.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortillas de harina sobaquerasGiant flour tortillas

In Sonora, wheat is the grain, and the pride of Hermosillo kitchens is the sobaquera: a flour tortilla stretched over the backs of the hands and arms until it is almost see-through and as wide as a serving tray (the name comes from sobaco, armpit, because it reaches that far). It cooks in seconds on a big comal and is folded around beans, cheese or machaca, or torn and eaten with caldo de queso. Sonoran cooks use lard; vegetable shortening works the same. A 30–35 cm tortilla is a realistic home size. Chef's tip: the long rest is what makes the dough stretch; do not cut it short.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortillitas de camaronesShrimp and chickpea-flour fritters

Around the Bay of Cádiz, especially in San Fernando and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, tortillitas de camarones are fried to order in bars and eaten with fingers: thin, lacy fritters of chickpea flour, spring onion and parsley studded with tiny whole shrimp. The local camarones are eaten shell and all; outside the bay, small raw peeled prawns, roughly chopped, work well. The batter must be as thin as single cream, so it spreads into a crisp lace in the oil. Chef's tip: keep the batter in the fridge until the last moment; cold batter hitting hot oil gives the most delicate lace.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortitas de Santa ClaraShortbread with pumpkin seed cream

The nuns of the Santa Clara convent in Puebla are credited with this biscuit, and the city's Calle de los Dulces still sells it in boxes stacked beside camotes and jamoncillos. It is a crumbly, lightly sweet shortbread round, covered with a thick, pale cream made from ground pumpkin seeds, sugar and milk, which sets to a soft fudge-like layer. They are eaten with coffee in the afternoon and taken home as a gift from Puebla. Chef's tip: grind the peeled pumpkin seeds as fine as you can before cooking; any coarse bits make the topping gritty.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortitas mendocinasFlaky round breakfast breads

Every panadería in Mendoza fills a tray with tortitas in the early morning, and they go out in paper bags to be eaten warm with mate, split and spread with butter, quince paste or a slice of cheese. They are flat, round, slightly salty breads, soft and layered in the middle and crisp at the edges, with the fork marks that give them away. The traditional fat is beef lard (grasa), which makes them very short; here butter or vegetable shortening takes its place to keep them vegetarian, and both give a good flaky result. The mistake to avoid is rolling them thin like crackers: they should be a generous centimetre thick, or they bake hard and dry. Chef's tip: fold the dough in three twice before the final roll, like a quick puff pastry; those folds give tortitas their layers.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortitas negrasBrown sugar-topped buns

Black cakes, the name means, though only their tops are dark: tortitas negras are flat, round, flaky buns covered with a thick crust of dark brown sugar that melts in the oven and sets crunchy and toffee-like. They are among the cheapest and most popular facturas in Buenos Aires bakeries, eaten from a paper bag at breakfast or as a merienda with mate, and everyone fights over the sugary edges. The dough is a lightly laminated yeast dough, between bread and puff pastry. Bakeries often use lard or margarine; this version uses butter and stays vegetarian. Being stingy with the sugar is the classic misstep: a thin layer just melts into the dough and disappears, so pile it on thickly and press it down. Chef's tip: brush the rounds with water, not egg, before adding the sugar; the water melts the sugar into a crisp, crackling shell.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tortos de maízCorn cakes with fried eggs

In the cider houses of Asturias, tortos arrive as a starter: small discs of corn dough fried until crisp outside and soft within, usually piled with something rich on top. Inland farms once ate them in place of bread, since maize grew far better than wheat in the damp valleys. This meat-free version tops each torto with a fried egg and blistered green peppers, with a little crumbled cabrales for those who want it; cabrales is usually made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian blue cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: knead the dough with hot water and let it rest; cold water gives a crumbly dough that cracks in the pan.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tostadas de mariscosPrawn and octopus tostadas

Walk past the fish market in Ensenada and the seafood carts are already busy by mid-morning, piling crisp corn tostadas high with a lime-bright mix of prawns, octopus, tomato, onion and coriander. They are eaten standing up with a squeeze of lime and a few drops of hot sauce, often as the first stop of a weekend in Baja. This version uses only cooked seafood: prawns poached until pink and opaque, and octopus bought ready-cooked from a fishmonger or deli counter. The mix is cold, juicy and crunchy, with creamy avocado on top. Chef's tip: assemble each tostada right before it is eaten, as even five minutes of waiting softens the shell.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tourte de blettesSweet Swiss chard pie

Visitors to Vieux-Nice are often surprised to find a pie of green chard leaves sold as a dessert, by the slice, in the old-town bakeries. The sweet tourte de blettes mixes chard with raisins, pine nuts, apple and a little cheese inside a sugared pastry, and Niçois families set it out on Christmas Eve as one of the thirteen desserts. The raisins are traditionally plumped in rum or marc; warm orange juice is used here, so it is alcohol-free. Parmesan is made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian hard cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: use only the green leaves; the white ribs make the filling watery, but keep them for a gratin.

100 minFrenchBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Travesseiros de SintraAlmond cream puff pastries

Travesseiro means pillow, and these long, sugar-dusted pastries from Sintra look just like one, plump with a soft almond cream. They were first sold at a café in the town in the mid-twentieth century and are now the second pastry, after queijadas, that every visitor carries home. Eat them warm, when the pastry shatters and the filling is still loose. Using shop-bought all-butter puff pastry makes them a fair home project. Chef's tip: cook the almond cream until it is thick enough to hold a trail from the spoon, then chill it; warm filling melts the butter in the pastry and stops it puffing.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Trenza de AlmudévarNut and raisin braided bread

Almudévar, a small town between Zaragoza and Huesca, gave its name to a braid that is now sold all over Aragon and given as a present at Christmas: a golden plaited loaf, layered with chopped nuts and liqueur-soaked raisins and brushed with syrup until it shines. The town's bakeries use a laminated, puff-like dough that takes a day; this home version uses a buttery brioche rolled around the filling and cut and braided so the layers show. The raisins are traditionally soaked in rum or brandy; use warm orange juice for an alcohol-free loaf. A common mistake is braiding too tightly, which squeezes out the filling and stops the dough rising. Chef's tip: chill the filled roll for 15 minutes before cutting it lengthways; the butter firms and the cut is much cleaner.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Trigona PanoramatosCustard-filled filo cones in syrup

Up in Panorama, the hillside suburb above Thessaloniki, pastry shops fill crisp filo triangles to order, and people carry boxes of them down to the city for Sunday visits and name days. Each cone is baked until it shatters, dunked for a second in lemony syrup, then piped full of a cold, light custard cream. The contrast is the point: brittle, buttery shell against soft, barely sweet filling, best within a couple of hours. Common mistake: filling the cones while the syrup is still warm, which melts the cream and turns the pastry limp. Chef's tip: roll each cone around a cone-shaped metal mould or a twist of foil so it keeps a wide, open mouth for piping.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tripas à moda do PortoTripe and butter bean stew

People from Porto are still nicknamed tripeiros, tripe-eaters, after the city's story of giving its best meat to the fleet that sailed for Ceuta in 1415 and keeping only the offal. Tripas is the dish of that legend and is served in the city's tascas, especially on Thursdays and during the São João festival. This contains pork (bacon, chouriço and optional pig's trotter). Tripe, chicken and cured meats simmer slowly with white beans, carrot and cumin into a sticky, rich stew poured over white rice. Chef's tip: buy cleaned, part-cooked honeycomb tripe and still simmer it until it is completely soft.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Trucha a la navarraTrout with cured ham

The trout streams of the Navarrese Pyrenees, the Irati above Burguete and the Bidasoa among them, gave this dish to the whole of Spain, and it is still the summer lunch in the mountain inns where anglers stay. The fish is opened, a slice of cured ham laid inside, then floured and fried in olive oil so the ham's salt seasons the flesh. This contains pork (serrano ham). Serve it with boiled potatoes or a green salad. Chef's tip: cook in two pans or two batches rather than crowding one, so the skin crisps instead of steaming.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Trucha fritaFried trout with potatoes and rice

Rainbow trout farmed in the cold, clear water of Lake Titicaca is what you eat in Puno, at lakeside restaurants and on the floating islands: a whole fish, dusted in flour and fried until the skin crackles, with boiled Andean potatoes, rice, a simple salad and lime. The flesh is pink-white, sweet and moist; nothing else is needed. Ask your fishmonger to gut and scale the trout. The most common mistake is moving the fish too early, which tears the skin; leave it until it releases from the pan by itself. Chef's tip: slash the thick part of each side twice before flouring, so the fish cooks evenly and the skin crisps right up to the head.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Truchas de batataSweet potato and almond pastries

Despite the name, there is no trout in these: truchas are crisp half-moon pastries that Tenerife and Gran Canaria fry by the hundred in the week before Christmas, and they are what neighbours bring each other on Christmas Eve. The filling is mashed sweet potato with ground almonds, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and anise, wrapped in a thin olive-oil dough. Some families add a spoon of anise liqueur or sweet wine to the dough; this version uses neither and is vegan. Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely and keep it thick, or the steam softens the dough and it bursts in the oil.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TruffadeFried potatoes with Cantal cheese

Truffade is cattle-herders' food from the volcanic mountains of the Cantal, cooked in a big pan over the fire in the stone burons where Salers cows spend the summer. Potato slices are fried until tender and lightly golden, then folded with thin slices of young tomme fraîche du Cantal until the cheese melts into strings, and the whole thing is eaten with a green salad, nothing else. Herders used lard; this version uses butter and oil, so it is vegetarian. Tomme du Cantal is made with animal rennet; a young vegetarian cheese that melts well, such as a mild Lancashire-style or vegetarian mozzarella, also works. Chef's tip: slice the potatoes as thin as a coin so they cook through before they burn.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tsai tou vounouMountain tea with honey and lemon

Bunches of dried sideritis, the woolly-leaved herb Greeks call mountain tea, hang in village kitchens from Mount Olympus to Taygetos, and a pot is brewed at the first sniffle of winter or after a long walk. The tea is pale gold with a gentle lemony, earthy, slightly floral taste, and it is drunk with honey, a slice of lemon and sometimes a cinnamon stick. Common mistake: brewing it like black tea with boiling water for a minute; it needs a gentle simmer to draw out flavour. Chef's tip: break the dried stems into the pot along with the flowers; the flower heads hold most of the aroma, the stems add body.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ulster potato farlsGriddled potato bread

Potato bread, often just called fadge or tattie bread, is the soft, flat quarter-round that sits beside soda bread in every Ulster fry from Belfast to Derry. Warm mashed potato is worked with a little flour and butter, rolled into a round, cut into four farls and cooked on a dry griddle. It is thinner than a Scottish tattie scone and is always fried golden before serving. Chef's tip: use only enough flour to stop it sticking; the more potato, the better the farl.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TsigareliGreens braised with tomato and paprika

Corfiots gather wild chicory, sow-thistle, fennel tops and young chard from the olive groves in winter and spring and stew them into tsigareli, a peppery, oily braise that sits on the table with bread, feta and a fried egg or two. The Venetian-era love of hot red pepper shows: it should warm the back of your throat. Common mistake: drowning the greens in water — they make their own juice, so add only a splash. Chef's tip: shop-bought mixes of spinach, chard, rocket and dill work well; add the tender leaves last so they keep some colour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TsigariastoFried and braised lamb

Tsigariasto comes from the verb 'to sizzle', and in the mountain villages of Crete it is the everyday way to cook lamb or kid: the pieces are browned hard in good olive oil, then left to stew slowly, covered, in nothing more than their own juices with salt and pepper. The result is meltingly tender meat in a small amount of rich, golden sauce, served with chips fried in olive oil, a horiatiki salad and bread. Common mistake: adding too much water, which turns it into a boiled stew; add only a splash at a time when the pan looks dry. Chef's tip: keep the lid on tight and the flame very low; the meat should murmur, not bubble.

135 minGreekMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

TsourekiBraided Easter brioche

On Holy Thursday Greek homes braid tsoureki, the shining Easter loaf that is broken on Sunday after the midnight service and eaten for breakfast all week with coffee. It pulls apart in long, feathery strands and smells of mahlab (cherry-stone spice), mastic resin and orange. Common mistake: adding extra flour to a sticky dough; it is meant to be soft, and the long knead and cold rest make it manageable. Chef's tip: grind mastic with a pinch of sugar in a cold mortar; on its own it gums up into sticky lumps.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tulumba tatlısıFried dough fingers in syrup

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

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TumbetLayered potato, aubergine and pepper bake

Come August, every Mallorcan village kitchen has a clay greixonera of tumbet cooling on the counter, made with the aubergines and peppers that pile up at the Saturday markets in Sineu and Santanyí. Potato, aubergine and red pepper are each fried on their own, stacked in layers and blanketed with a thick, garlicky tomato sauce, then baked until it all settles together. Islanders eat it warm or at room temperature, as a meal with bread or beside grilled fish or lamb. It tastes even better the next day. Chef's tip: fry each vegetable in its own batch and drain it on paper, because every layer needs its own browned edges and nothing should arrive in the dish swimming in oil.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TungosBanana leaf steamed rice

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

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Türk kahvesiTurkish coffee

A cup of Türk kahvesi is how Turks welcome guests, end a long meal and, in the old custom, test a suitor: the prospective bride makes his cup and may slip salt into it. Powder-fine coffee is brewed slowly with cold water and sugar to taste in a small long-handled pot (cezve), until a thick foam rises, then poured unfiltered so the grounds settle in the cup. Serve with a glass of water first and a piece of lokum. Order it sade (plain), orta (medium) or şekerli (sweet) and add the sugar before brewing, never after. The usual mistake is letting it boil, which collapses the foam and makes it bitter. Chef's tip: use cold water and a low heat; the slower it rises, the thicker the foam.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TurmusBrined lupini beans

Strolling the Beirut Corniche or a Sunday market in Amman, you will pass carts selling turmus: plump golden lupini beans kept in salted water, scooped into paper cones and eaten by nicking the skin with your teeth and popping out the bean. They are also a fixture on mezze tables and a fasting snack for Lent. Dried lupins are naturally very bitter and must be soaked for days to wash those compounds out; never eat them while they still taste bitter, and if you are allergic to peanuts, check with a doctor first as lupin allergy is linked. A jar of ready-debittered lupini, drained and seasoned, is a quick shortcut. The common mistake is salting the beans before they are fully sweet, which seals the bitterness in. Chef's tip: finish with lemon, cumin and a little chilli just before serving; the salty brine keeps them, the dressing makes them moreish.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Turrón de Doña PepaAnise biscuit sticks in spiced syrup

Every October, the month of the Señor de los Milagros processions in Lima, bakeries and street sellers pile their trays with turrón de Doña Pepa: layers of crumbly anise-flavoured sticks drenched in a dark syrup of chancaca cooked with fruit and spices, topped with a storm of coloured sprinkles. Popular lore credits it to Josefa Marmanillo, a woman from the Cañete valley who is said to have made it in thanks after the procession. It is sticky, crunchy and soft at once, with orange and clove in the syrup. Its downfall is usually runny syrup that soaks the sticks into mush; it needs to reach a thick, threading stage before it goes on. Chancaca is sold as cones or blocks in Latin shops; panela or dark muscovado also work. Some coloured sprinkles contain gelatin, so check the label. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; the syrup sets and the sticks soften just enough to slice neatly.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Turrón de JijonaSoft almond and honey nougat

The hill town of Jijona (Xixona) in Alicante has been grinding almonds and honey into turrón for centuries, and its soft, beige, slightly oily bars are on almost every Spanish table between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night. Unlike hard Alicante turrón, Jijona turrón is a smooth almond paste that crumbles and melts in the mouth, deeply nutty with a floral sweetness from the honey. A common mistake is under-toasting the almonds; pale almonds give a bland, grey paste, so take them to a light, even gold. This version uses honey and egg white, so it is vegetarian but not vegan. Chef's tip: press the warm paste into its mould under a weight and leave it a full two days before slicing; it firms up and the oil settles evenly through it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Waterford blaaSoft white bread rolls

The blaa is the soft white roll of Waterford city, said to have been brought by French Huguenot bakers in the 1700s, and it carries protected status in Europe. The rolls are proofed close together and dusted thickly in flour, so they have pale, tender sides and a fine, white floury crust. Waterford people eat them for breakfast with butter, or split and filled with crisps or a 'rasher blaa'. Chef's tip: bake them touching each other in a hot oven for only a short time; they should stay pale and soft, never crusty.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Txangurro a la donostiarraBaked spider crab

In San Sebastián the spider crab (txangurro) is a winter treat, at its best from November to April, and the old bars of the Parte Vieja serve it bubbling hot in the shell. The picked crab meat is mixed with a slow sofrito of onion, leek, carrot and tomato, often splashed with brandy, then topped with breadcrumbs and butter and browned. This recipe uses brandy; leave it out or use the same amount of crab cooking water for an alcohol-free version. A common mistake is a wet filling that boils under the crumbs; cook the sofrito down until thick. Chef's tip: use a cooked crab from the fishmonger on the day you buy it, and scrub the shell well if you plan to serve in it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Txipirones en su tintaBaby squid in ink sauce

Along the Basque coast from Getaria to Hondarribia, little squid caught on hand lines in late summer are stuffed with their own tentacles and stewed in a sauce made inky black with their ink. In bars and homes it is served with plain white rice or fried bread to soak up the sauce. Cleaning the squid takes a little patience, but the stew itself is simple. A common mistake is browning the onions: they should stay soft and sweet, or the sauce tastes harsh. Chef's tip: buy extra ink sachets from the fishmonger, as the ink in small squid is rarely enough for a deep colour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Txistorra con huevos fritos y patatasSausage with chips and fried eggs

Txistorra is a long, thin, bright red fresh sausage from Navarre and the Basque Country, made from pork seasoned with garlic and sweet paprika. During San Fermín in July, Pamplona eats it at all hours: after the morning bull run it turns up on a plate with fried eggs and chips, a breakfast that could feed a farmhand. This contains pork (txistorra). Chef's tip: fry the txistorra without extra oil, since it gives up its own orange fat, and use that fat to baste the eggs.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TxuletaGrilled aged rib steak

In the cider houses of Astigarraga and Hernani, the January-to-April season ends every meal with a txuleta: a huge bone-in rib steak from an older cow, aged for weeks, seared over oak coals and sliced at the table. It is eaten very pink inside with plenty of coarse salt and a plate of fried green peppers. A rare whole steak is generally safe when the outside is well seared, because bacteria sit on the surface, but for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system, cook it to at least 63 °C in the centre. A common mistake is cooking a fridge-cold steak, which burns outside before the middle warms. Chef's tip: salt only once the first side is seared, so the surface stays dry and crusts well.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

UchucutaRocoto and peanut chilli sauce

Ground on a batán, the flat grinding stone found in Andean kitchens, uchucuta is the table sauce of Ayacucho and Cusco: rocoto or yellow chilli crushed with huacatay, toasted peanuts and a little fresh cheese into a thick, speckled green-red paste. It goes on boiled potatoes, choclo, broad beans and huatia, and on festival days it sits next to every plate. The flavour is hot, herby and nutty, with a salty creaminess from the cheese. The name comes from the Quechua uchu, chilli, and it is meant to be spicy, but people often add all the rocoto at once and end up with something inedible; blend in half, taste and build up. A food processor or blender will do the work of the stone, though pulse it so the sauce keeps some texture. Queso fresco is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian fresh cheese if you prefer. Chef's tip: toast the peanuts yourself until just golden; their warmth softens the raw sharpness of the chilli.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Urfa kebabıMinced lamb kebab

Where Adana's kebab is hot, Şanlıurfa's is gentle: lamb and tail fat chopped by hand with a curved zırh blade, seasoned with salt and a little isot and pressed onto wide skewers. Grill houses around Balıklıgöl serve it on thin lavaş with charred tomatoes, peppers, sumac onions and a bostana salad, and the sweet smoke of the meat is the whole point. Without tail fat, ask your butcher for fatty lamb shoulder mince, around 25% fat, or the kebab will be dry and fall off the skewer. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water while shaping; the fat stays firm and the meat clings to the skewer.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Uskumru dolmasıStuffed mackerel

Uskumru dolması is a showpiece of Istanbul's old Armenian and Greek meyhane kitchens, made in autumn when Bosphorus mackerel are fat: the skin is eased off whole, the flesh mixed with spiced rice, walnuts, currants and herbs, then stuffed back in so the fish looks untouched. It is dipped in egg and flour, fried and served at room temperature in slices as a cold meze. It takes time but impresses every guest. Chef's tip: roll and massage the fish firmly before you start; the spine snaps at the head and the skin loosens so you can push the flesh out without tearing it.

105 minTurkishFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vaca atoladaBeef ribs with cassava

The name means cow stuck in the mud, and the picture is right: meaty beef ribs sunk in a thick stew of cassava that has half collapsed into the sauce. Vaca atolada comes from the cattle country of Minas Gerais and is a cold-night favourite at fazenda kitchens and comida mineira restaurants, served on its own or with white rice and a sharp pepper sauce. The ribs are browned, then braised slowly with onion, tomato, garlic and bay until the meat slips off the bone, and the cassava goes in for the last hour to thicken everything. People most often go wrong by adding the cassava at the start, so it dissolves completely; it should be soft but still in chunks. Cassava must be cooked right through and never eaten raw. Chef's tip: brown the ribs hard and deglaze the pan well; that dark crust is where most of the flavour comes from.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

VanillekipferlVanilla almond crescents

No Austrian Christmas cookie tin is complete without Vanillekipferl, the pale little crescents that melt on the tongue; Viennese grandmothers bake them by the hundred in early December, and they are just as loved over the border in Bavaria. The dough is short and rich with butter and ground almonds, and the crescents are rolled in vanilla sugar while still warm so it sticks. The common mistake is overbaking: they should stay pale with only the tips turning golden, or they lose their tender, sandy texture. Chef's tip: chill the dough well and shape it with cool hands; warm dough cracks and the crescents spread in the oven.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

VasilopitaNew Year orange cake

Just after midnight on New Year's Eve, or at lunch on 1 January, the head of a Greek household crosses the vasilopita with a knife and cuts slices in strict order: for Christ, for the house, then for each person from oldest to youngest. Whoever finds the foil-wrapped coin has luck for the year. This Athenian-style version is a tall, fluffy orange cake, dusted with icing sugar with the new year's numbers stencilled on top. Common mistake: slicing it warm, which makes the crumb gummy and drags the coin around. Chef's tip: beat the butter and sugar until almost white and fold the whipped whites in by hand; that is where the light, cottony crumb comes from.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Veau aux olivesVeal stew with green olives

In the villages of Corsica's mountainous interior, veau aux olives is the dish of Sunday lunch and of family gatherings on saints' days, made with the island's free-roaming veal. The meat is browned, then stewed slowly with tomato, garlic, rosemary and plenty of green olives, giving a rich, savoury sauce with a pleasant salty-bitter edge from the olives. Corsicans often add a little panzetta (cured pork belly), which is optional here; with it, the dish contains pork. White wine is used too, and the ingredient note gives an alcohol-free version. Serve with soft polenta, ideally the island's chestnut-flour pulenda, or with fresh pasta. Chef's tip: blanch the olives for two minutes before adding them, so their brine doesn't oversalt the sauce.

145 minFrenchMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Verdinas con mariscoGreen beans with prawns and clams

Verdinas are small, pale-green dried beans grown around Llanes in eastern Asturias, prized for their thin skins and buttery texture; seaside restaurants there pair them with whatever shellfish came in that morning. It is a newer dish than fabada, lighter and greener, often eaten in summer on the terraces above the harbour. If you can't find verdinas, French flageolet beans are the nearest match. Chef's tip: make a quick stock from the prawn shells and heads; it gives the beans far more flavour than plain water.

120 minSpanishFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Versunkener ApfelkuchenSunken apple sponge

Versunkener Apfelkuchen, the sunken apple cake, is the quickest cake in the German home repertoire, made on autumn weekends when the first Boskoop and Elstar apples come in from the orchards of the Altes Land near Hamburg and Lake Constance. Peeled apple halves are scored like a fan and pressed into a rich lemon sponge, which rises up around them as it bakes until they seem to sink in. Children love it still warm with whipped cream. A common mistake is cutting the scores too deep, so the apples fall apart; cut about two-thirds of the way through. Chef's tip: brush the apples with apricot jam the moment the cake comes out of the oven; it gives a shiny bakery glaze and keeps them from drying.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vieiras á galegaBaked scallops with onion and crumbs

In the Rías Baixas, scallops come into season in winter, and at Christmas many Galician families start dinner with a tray of them baked in their shells. Each one sits under a sweet onion sofrito with paprika, topped with breadcrumbs and baked until golden. Some cooks add cured ham or white wine; this version keeps it simple. Throw away any scallops with cracked shells, and any open ones that don't close when tapped. A common mistake is baking them too long, which makes them rubbery; they need only 8–10 minutes. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger to open and clean them, and keep the deep half of each shell for baking.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 54 of 7,762 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 557 of 863