Featured recipe

Kos ata curry

Jackfruit seed curry

During the jackfruit season, roughly April to July, Sri Lankan households save every seed, and kos ata curry is how they become a hearty weekday dish served with rice and greens. The seeds are boiled tender, peeled of their papery skin, then simmered in a dark roasted curry powder and coconut milk gravy until they taste like chestnuts in a spicy sauce. Serve with red rice and a sambol. The usual mistake is undercooking the seeds; they must be boiled until a fork goes in easily, or they stay hard and are hard to digest. A pressure cooker saves time: boil the seeds for 10 minutes on high. Chef's tip: crack each seed lightly with the flat of a knife before simmering so it soaks up the gravy.

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EnsaïmadaSpiral sweet breakfast pastry

This contains pork: the name comes from saïm, the pork lard brushed over the dough before it is coiled, and it is what gives an ensaïmada its shattering, flaky layers. Mallorcans eat them for breakfast with hot chocolate or coffee, and at Palma airport you will see travellers carrying flat hexagonal boxes of large ones home as gifts. The dough is enriched with egg and sugar, stretched until thin enough to see through, rolled into a rope and wound into a loose spiral, then proved overnight. Chef's tip: oil your hands and the worktop generously before stretching, so the dough slides rather than sticks and tears.

78 min

Spanish Baking

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ObatzdaBeer-garden cheese spread

Obatzda is what a Munich beer garden puts beside a giant soft pretzel: overripe Camembert mashed with soft butter, sweet paprika, caraway and raw onion until it turns a creamy, rusty orange. It is a thrifty spread that grew up in Bavarian taverns as a way to use cheese that had gone a little too far, and it is still eaten in the afternoon sun with radishes and dark bread. Camembert is usually made with animal rennet, so pick one labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. A common mistake is blitzing it in a processor, which makes it gluey; mash with a fork so a few soft lumps stay. Chef's tip: make it an hour ahead and chill it, then let it stand 15 minutes before serving, so the paprika flavour blooms and it spreads easily.

15 min

German Chutneys & Dips

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OcopaPeanut, huacatay and cheese sauce

Arequipa's picanterías put ocopa on the table as a starter, a pale olive sauce spooned thickly over sliced boiled potatoes, and the smell of toasted chillies and huacatay (black mint) is what sets it apart from Lima's huancaína. The chillies are dried ají mirasol, charred in a dry pan, which gives a smoky, raisin-like warmth rather than sharp heat, and toasted peanuts make the sauce nutty and almost velvety. Many cooks thicken it with crackers; this version uses only peanuts and cheese, so it stays gluten free. Serve it at room temperature with yellow potatoes, a black olive and a few lettuce leaves, plus a halved boiled egg for anyone who eats eggs. The mistake people make is toasting the onion and chillies black, which turns the sauce bitter; they should be blistered in spots only. Queso fresco is often made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian fresh cheese. Chef's tip: huacatay paste comes in jars from Latin shops; without it, use a small handful of mint plus a few tarragon leaves.

30 min

Peruvian Chutneys & Dips

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ZarangolloCourgette and onion with egg

Ask for a tapa in almost any bar in Murcia city and zarangollo will be on the counter in a clay dish, scooped onto bread or eaten with a fork. It comes from the huerta, the irrigated market gardens around the city, where courgettes pile up all summer: they are sliced thin with onion, stewed gently in olive oil until sweet and almost jammy, and then bound with beaten egg. Some families add a little potato, but courgette and onion are the heart of it. Chef's tip: slice the courgettes into thin half-moons so they melt quickly and evenly.

30 min

Spanish Vegetarian

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Oeufs en meurettePoached eggs in red wine sauce

In Burgundy, between Dijon and Beaune, a meurette is any dish cooked in red wine sauce, and oeufs en meurette is the one served as a starter in village restaurants and at weekend lunches. Eggs are poached in a reduced, glossy sauce of red wine, shallots and stock, then served with crisp smoked pork lardons, button mushrooms and garlic-rubbed croutons to dip into the yolks. The sauce is deep, winey and savoury; the eggs make it rich. The dish uses red wine, and an alcohol-free version is in the notes. The yolks stay runny, so use pasteurised eggs for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system, or poach the eggs until the yolks are set. Chef's tip: poach the eggs in water with a dash of vinegar rather than in the wine itself, so the whites stay white.

55 min

French Snacks & Starters

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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.

40 min

Turkish Meat

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OfenschlupferBaked bread pudding with apples

Ofenschlupfer, literally 'oven-crawler', is how Swabian farmhouse kitchens used up stale rolls on a Friday: slices of bread layered with apples, raisins and a little cinnamon in a deep dish, soaked in vanilla egg milk and baked until puffed and golden. Some families pour in a splash of rum; this version doesn't. It was once eaten as a sweet main course after a bowl of soup and is still served warm with vanilla sauce in Stuttgart cafés. A common mistake is baking it straight after pouring in the custard, which leaves dry patches on top; let it soak for 20 minutes. Chef's tip: dot the top with butter and a spoon of sugar for a crackly, caramelised crust.

65 min

German Desserts

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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 min

Turkish Fish

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ZarbPit-roasted lamb, chicken and vegetables

Visitors to the desert camps of Wadi Rum often watch the zarb come up from the sand at sunset: tiered racks of spiced lamb, chicken, potatoes and onions that have steamed for hours in a pit of embers, then lifted out smoky and falling apart. At home you get close with a deep roasting tin sealed tightly with foil, a long, low oven and a short blast of heat at the end. Serve it on a big platter over rice or with shrak, with yoghurt and a tomato salad. The mistake most people make is leaving gaps in the foil, so the steam escapes and the meat dries. Chef's tip: marinate overnight in the fridge and add a little smoked paprika to the spice mix; it brings back the taste of the pit.

240 min

Jordanian Meat

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EnfrijoladasTortillas in black bean sauce

Think of enfrijoladas as enchiladas that swap chilli sauce for beans: warm tortillas dipped in a silky black-bean purée, folded into quarters and scattered with fresh cheese and raw onion. In Oaxaca they are a breakfast and supper dish, made from yesterday's pot of beans, and the purée is perfumed with toasted avocado leaves, which taste faintly of anise. Serve two or three per person with a fried egg or a spoonful of salsa. Queso fresco is often made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian feta or paneer-style fresh cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: keep the bean sauce loose, like double cream; it thickens on the plate and a stiff sauce tears the tortillas.

30 min

Mexican Vegetarian

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EncharcadaEgg-yolk threads in syrup

Alentejo convents, Évora's among them, used the yolks left over from egg whites used to starch linen and clarify wine, and encharcada, 'drenched', is one of their richest creations. Egg yolks are poured into boiling syrup, where they set into soft, golden threads and curds, then everything is dusted with cinnamon and browned under a hot grill. It is very sweet, so serve small portions in little dishes, at Christmas or a family celebration. A common mistake is stirring the yolks as they hit the syrup, which turns them into scrambled bits; let them set for a few seconds first, then lift them gently. Chef's tip: strain the yolks first, so no stringy white clings to them.

35 min

Portuguese Desserts

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Empire biscuitsJam-filled iced shortbreads

Empire biscuits sit in the window of every Scottish high-street bakery: two rounds of crisp shortcake stuck together with raspberry jam, topped with white icing and a jelly sweet or half a glacé cherry. They were called Linzer or German biscuits until the First World War. Chef's tip: let the biscuits cool completely before sandwiching, or the jam soaks in and they go soft.

42 min

British Baking

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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.

175 min

Brazilian Meat

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Olho de sograCoconut-stuffed prunes

The 'mother-in-law's eye' is a slightly teasing party sweet from the docinhos tradition of weddings and birthdays: a prune slit open and filled with a pale coconut fudge, so it looks like a dark eyelid around a white eye. It shows up on Brazilian sweet tables from Rio to Porto Alegre, often finished with a single clove for the pupil and rolled in crystal sugar. Chewy, sticky prune against creamy, coconutty filling makes it less cloying than many docinhos. Older recipes add egg yolks to the filling; this one is egg free. Stuffing them while the filling is still warm is a frequent mistake; it smears and the shape is lost. Chef's tip: choose large, soft pitted prunes and open them like a book with a small knife, without cutting all the way through.

42 min

Brazilian Desserts

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OliaiguaOnion, pepper and tomato soup

The name is simply oli i aigua, oil and water, and that is how Menorcan farm workers started it: a pan of olive oil, a little water and whatever the vegetable patch offered, poured over slices of hard bread. Today oliaigua amb tomàtigues is a July and August supper all over the island, from Ciutadella to Maó, slow-cooked onion, green pepper and ripe tomato in a light broth. Menorcans eat it with fresh figs or grapes on the side, which sounds odd and works beautifully. Chef's tip: the bread must be stale and sliced paper-thin, so it softens in the broth without dissolving into paste.

60 min

Spanish Soups

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Olive all'ascolanaStuffed fried olives

Olive all'ascolana are the pride of Ascoli Piceno in the Marche, sold in paper cones at street fairs and piled on platters of fritto misto at every celebration in the region. Large, mild green olives are cut from their stones in a spiral, wrapped around a filling of pork, beef and chicken cooked with soffritto and a splash of white wine, then breaded and fried until crunchy. The real Ascolana tenera olive is hard to find outside Italy, so any large, mild green olive in brine is a practical substitute. The filling uses white wine, and the note gives an alcohol-free option. Serve hot, with lemon wedges and other fried titbits or a glass of something cold. Chef's tip: rinse and soak the olives before stuffing them; if they are too salty they overwhelm the delicate meat filling.

100 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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Olla gitanaChickpea, pumpkin and green bean stew

The name means gypsy pot, and in Murcia and the neighbouring Vega del Segura it is the stew of autumn and Lent: chickpeas cooked with pumpkin, green beans and potato, perfumed with saffron and mint, and finished with a crushed paste of fried almonds, garlic and bread. What makes the Murcian version stand out is the pear, added near the end so its sweetness comes through the broth. It has no meat at all and is vegan as written. Chef's tip: choose firm pears, such as Conference, that keep their shape in the pot.

145 min

Spanish Vegetarian

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Zorza con patatasMarinated pork with chips and eggs

Zorza is the seasoned pork mixture for chorizo before it goes into casings, and in Galicia it was eaten fresh in the days after the winter pig slaughter, fried in a pan with potatoes. This contains pork. Today taverns in Lugo and Ourense serve it with chips and fried eggs, and it is easy to make at home with pork shoulder and lots of paprika. The meat marinates in the fridge, covered, for at least 12 hours. A common mistake is frying it over a fierce heat, which burns the paprika; keep it moderate and stir. Chef's tip: chop the pork by hand into small pieces rather than mincing it finely, for a juicier, more rustic texture.

55 min

Spanish Meat

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Farçon savoyardBaked potato pudding with prunes

In the Savoyard valleys, especially around Albertville and the Val d'Arly, farçon was the Sunday dish left to cook slowly while the family was at Mass: grated potatoes mixed with eggs, cream, prunes and raisins, set in a tall mould and cooked for hours in a water bath. The result is a sliceable, sweet-and-savoury cake, soft and golden, served with a green salad or as a side at a winter feast. Traditionally the mould is lined with bacon; this version uses a buttered mould instead, so it is vegetarian. Chef's tip: let it rest for 15 minutes in the mould before turning it out; it firms up and slices cleanly.

145 min

French Sides

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Omelette au brocciu et à la mentheFresh cheese and mint omelette

Inland Corsica, around Corte and the mountain villages, serves this omelette from late autumn to early summer, the months when shepherds make fresh brocciu. The cheese goes in at the last moment so it stays creamy, and wild mint picked from the maquis cuts through its richness; it is a light lunch or supper with a green salad and bread. Brocciu is made from the whey of rennet cheeses, so vegetarians often use ricotta labelled vegetarian instead. Chef's tip: season the cheese and mint, not just the eggs, because fresh whey cheese is very mild.

13 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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Empanadas de pipiánFried corn potato-peanut empanadas

Popayán, the white colonial city of the Cauca, is proud of its tiny empanadas de pipián, fried by the dozen at market stalls and around the Holy Week processions. The filling, pipián, is a stew of small potatoes coloured with achiote and enriched with ground roasted peanuts, so each bite is crisp corn shell, then soft, nutty, savoury potato. They always come with ají de maní, a loose peanut and chilli sauce spooned into the open end. Many households add chopped hard-boiled egg to the pipián; this version leaves it out and is fully vegan. A wet filling is the classic error, as it steams inside and bursts the dough in the oil, so cook the pipián until thick and let it cool before filling. Chef's tip: shape the empanadas on a sheet of plastic cut from a freezer bag; the thin corn dough lifts off cleanly and seals without cracking.

90 min

Colombian Snacks & Starters

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Empanadas de calabazaSweet pumpkin turnovers

When the cold fronts reach Monterrey in November, panaderías start stacking trays of empanadas de calabaza next to the conchas, and families bake them at home for Day of the Dead and Christmas. A tender, lightly sweet pastry is folded around a thick purée of pumpkin cooked with piloncillo, cinnamon and anise, so each half-moon tastes like a spiced pumpkin pie you can hold. They are eaten with café de olla or a glass of milk. Chef's tip: cook the filling until a spoon leaves a trail across the pan; watery pumpkin turns the pastry soggy.

100 min

Mexican Baking

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Empanadas de añejoFried corn potato and cheese empanadas

Pasto cafés and street stalls fry empanadas de añejo all morning, and the name gives away the secret: añejo means aged, and the corn dough is left to sour slightly before shaping. That gentle fermentation gives a light, crackly shell with a faint tang that sets them apart from the empanadas of the rest of Colombia. The filling here is the meat-free version Nariño cooks also make, potato stewed with spring onion and achiote and mixed with fresh cheese, and they go to the table with a peanut ají and a coffee. Plan for 24 hours of fermenting. Queso fresco is usually set with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian (microbial-rennet) cheese if needed. Thick dough is the misstep that makes them heavy and greasy; press it thin enough to see light through. Chef's tip: ferment in a cool spot (no warmer than 22 °C), covered, for no more than 24 hours, then chill the dough until you shape it.

110 min

Colombian Snacks & Starters

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Orellas de EntroidoCrisp sugared carnival pastries

Orellas, 'ears' in Galician, are fried for Entroido in villages across Ourense and Lugo, from Laza to Xinzo de Limia, and handed round in big baskets during the carnival days. The thin dough blisters and turns crisp in hot oil, and the pastries are finished with sugar or honey. This version uses a little aniseed spirit (aguardiente), as is traditional, so it contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version use orange juice with a pinch of ground anise. Old recipes use pork fat; this one uses butter, so it is vegetarian. A common mistake is rolling the dough too thick, which gives chewy, greasy pastries instead of crisp ones. Chef's tip: roll until you can almost see the worktop through the dough.

70 min

Spanish Desserts

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Chorizo a la sidraChorizo in cider

No sidrería in Oviedo's Calle Gascona is without a clay dish of chorizo bubbling in cider, served with bread to mop up the paprika-red juices. It takes minutes, is cheap, and is the first thing ordered while the waiter pours cider from shoulder height. This contains pork (chorizo) and uses dry Asturian cider, which is alcoholic; for an alcohol-free version use cloudy apple juice with a splash of cider vinegar, as noted below. Chef's tip: prick the chorizo all over first so it releases fat into the cider and drinks the cider back in.

25 min

Spanish Snacks & Starters

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Orkney clapshotSwede and potato mash

Clapshot is the Orkney way with neeps and tatties: equal amounts of swede and potato mashed together with butter, chives and plenty of pepper, rather than served side by side. Islanders eat it with oatcakes and cheese, with mince, or alongside haggis on Burns Night. It is sweet, earthy and soft-orange. Chef's tip: dry the boiled vegetables in the hot pan before mashing, or the swede makes it watery.

40 min

British Sides

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Empadinha de palmitoHeart of palm pies

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

75 min

Brazilian Snacks & Starters

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Empadão goianoChicken, pork and cheese pie

In Goiás, the empadão goiano is the pride of padarias and lanchonetes, and families bake it for festas and Sundays in individual clay dishes or one deep tin. Under a short, crumbly lard pastry sits a juicy filling of shredded chicken, cubes of pork loin and pork sausage in a tomato sauce, with slices of fresh cheese, boiled egg and guariroba, a bitter palm heart from the cerrado. It is savoury, rich and slightly bitter, best eaten warm with a tomato salad. Guariroba is sold in jars in Brazilian shops; ordinary palm hearts work but are milder. The pitfall is a filling that is too wet, which makes a soggy base; it should be thick and juicy, not soupy. The chicken must reach 74 °C and the pork 71 °C before it goes into the pie. Chef's tip: chill the pastry-lined dish for 15 minutes before filling so the lard firms up and the pastry stays short.

135 min

Brazilian Baking

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EmolienteBarley and flaxseed herbal drink

Before dawn, all over Peru, emolienteros set up their carts with a row of steaming kettles and jars of herbs, and commuters stop for a glass of emoliente on the way to work. It's a hot infusion of toasted barley, flaxseed and herbs, with lime juice and sugar added to order, and it is drunk for comfort and digestion, especially in Lima's damp winter. The flaxseed gives it a slippery, soothing body; the barley a toasty, almost coffee-like note. Street versions use horsetail, alfalfa, boldo and other herbs; this home version keeps it simple, with horsetail as an option (leave it out if you are pregnant or have kidney problems). The usual error is boiling the flax too long, which makes the drink gloopy; add it for the last 10 minutes only. Serve very hot in glasses, with pan con queso or a sandwich. Barley contains gluten. Chef's tip: toast the barley yourself until it is deep brown; it's what gives emoliente its colour and its roasted flavour.

40 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Cabrito assado à minhotaRoast kid with potatoes

Easter Sunday in the Minho means cabrito: young goat rubbed with garlic, paprika and lard, soaked overnight in white wine and roasted until the meat falls from the bone. Families in Arcos de Valdevez and Monção serve it with roast potatoes and a tray of rice baked in the meat juices. This contains pork (lard and smoked bacon) and uses wine; an alcohol-free option is in the ingredient note. Chef's tip: baste every 20 minutes, as kid is lean and dries out quickly without it.

180 min

Portuguese Meat

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PaidakiaGrilled lamb chops

In the mountain villages around Athens and in Roumeli, families drive out on Sunday to psistaries where paidakia are sold by the kilo: thin lamb rib chops grilled over charcoal until the fat crackles, then showered with lemon, salt and oregano and eaten with your fingers. Chips, a horiatiki salad and tzatziki complete the meal. Common mistake: marinating them for hours in lemon, which makes the meat mushy; season simply and add lemon after grilling. Chef's tip: leave a thin rim of fat on each chop and grill fat-side first for a minute; it renders and bastes the meat.

20 min

Greek Meat

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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.

42 min

Austrian Baking

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OuziSpiced rice and lamb filo parcels

Ouzi is the showpiece of Jordanian and Damascene wedding buffets and Eid lunches: golden filo bundles that break open to spiced rice, minced lamb, peas and toasted nuts. The name comes from the whole roast lamb once served on a mountain of rice; the parcels are the neat, home-sized version, made ahead and baked as guests arrive. Serve with plain yoghurt or a cucumber-yoghurt salad. The common mistake is filling the filo with wet rice, which turns the bottoms soggy, so cook the rice until just tender and spread it out to steam dry. Chef's tip: lay a few nuts and peas in the bowl first, then the filo, then the filling, so each parcel comes out with a pretty top.

100 min

Jordanian Meat

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Ovos moles de AveiroEgg-yolk and sugar cream

Nuns in Aveiro's convents used leftover yolks, after the whites had starched their habits, to make this soft, intensely sweet cream, and the town's shops now sell it in painted wooden barrels or wrapped in thin wafer shaped like shells and fish. Visitors buy boxes at the railway station and along the canals where the moliceiro boats run. Only yolks, sugar and water go in, cooked slowly until thick and shiny. Chef's tip: cool the syrup slightly before adding the yolks and cook over the lowest heat, as a common mistake is hurrying it and ending up with sweet scrambled egg.

45 min

Portuguese Desserts

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Pa amb oli mallorquíTomato olive oil bread

In Mallorca pa amb oli is supper on a hot evening, the snack in every village bar and the picnic on a boat. Slices of dense, unsalted brown country bread are rubbed with the island's tomàtigues de ramellet, small tomatoes kept hanging in bunches through winter, then soaked with olive oil and salted. On the side go green olives, capers, pickled sea fennel and slices of Mahón cheese; this vegetarian plate leaves out the usual cured ham. Mahón is normally made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian semi-cured cow's milk cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: toast the bread only lightly, or not at all, so it stays soft enough to drink up the tomato.

15 min

Spanish Snacks & Starters

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EliopsomoOlive bread

Around Kalamata, where the almond-shaped black olives ripen in groves running down to the Messinian gulf, bakers make eliopsomo for the long fasting weeks of Lent, when bread, olives and oil are lunch. The dough is rich with olive oil and folded with a generous handful of chopped Kalamata olives, soft-fried onion and dried oregano, then baked into a crusty round with a soft, purple-flecked crumb. Slice it with tomatoes and cucumber or dip into soups. Common mistake: adding wet, brined olives straight from the jar — drain and pat them dry, or the dough turns sticky and grey. Chef's tip: fold the olives in after the first rise so they don't break up while kneading.

70 min

Greek Breads & Parathas

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Eingelegte Rote BetePickled beetroot

In Hamburg, Bremen and across Schleswig-Holstein a jar of pickled beetroot sits on the table whenever there is Labskaus, herring or a cold meat platter, and many households still make their own each autumn when the beets come in from the fields. Earthy cooked beetroot is sliced and steeped in sweet-sour vinegar with onion, cloves and a little horseradish, turning gently spiced and jewel red. The mistake people often make is peeling or trimming beets before boiling, which lets the colour and flavour bleed into the water. Chef's tip: wear gloves and use a plastic board when slicing, and slice evenly at about 5 mm so every piece pickles at the same rate.

75 min

German Sides

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EierscheckeThree-layer quark custard cake

Eierschecke is Dresden's café cake, cut in squares from a big tray in every Saxon bakery: a thin yeasted base, a thick layer of vanilla quark, and on top the 'Schecke', a wobbly, golden egg-and-butter custard that bakes into a soft, almost soufflé-like crust. It is eaten on Sunday afternoons with strong filter coffee, and Saxons argue about whether raisins belong in the quark. A common mistake is pouring the custard on too thickly or baking too hot, so it puffs and cracks; bake it low and slow. Chef's tip: the cake cuts neatly only when completely cold, so make it the day before.

105 min

German Baking

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PaçocaPeanut and cassava flour sweet

Kids across Brazil grow up on paçoca, the pale peanut sweet that melts into sandy crumbs the moment it is bitten, and no festa junina bag of treats is complete without a few. It started in the countryside of São Paulo and Minas as a way to use the peanut harvest, pounded in a wooden pestle with sugar and cassava flour, and today it is mostly pressed into little discs called rolhas. The flavour is pure toasted peanut, salty-sweet, with a texture between shortbread and fudge. Fine cassava flour (farinha de mandioca fina) is sold in Brazilian shops; you can leave it out for a richer, softer paçoca. Under-roasting the peanuts is the usual pitfall: pale peanuts give a raw, beany taste. Chef's tip: grind the mixture only until it just starts to clump; if it turns to butter, it will not hold a crumbly shape.

20 min

Brazilian Desserts

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EiernockerlSoft dumplings with scrambled eggs

Eiernockerl is what Viennese grandmothers cook when the larder is nearly bare: a loose flour batter is scraped in little nubs into boiling water, then tossed in foaming butter and set with beaten eggs. In Vienna it turns up on weekday lunch tables and in old-fashioned Beisln, usually with a green salad in a sharp vinegar dressing on the side. The nockerl should be soft and slightly chewy, the egg just set and glossy, with lots of chives. A common mistake is cooking the eggs until dry and grainy; take the pan off the heat while they still look a little wet. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes before you cut it into the water, so the flour swells and the nockerl hold their shape.

25 min

Austrian Vegetarian

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Paçoca de carne de solPounded dried beef with cassava flour

Not the peanut sweet of the same name: in Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão, paçoca is a savoury, fluffy tangle of fried carne de sol pounded with toasted cassava flour and onion in a big wooden pilão. Cowboys of the sertão carried it on long rides because it keeps for days, and today it is served at roadside restaurants and at home with baião de dois, boiled macaxeira, ripe banana and a cold glass of cajá juice. It should be dry, crumbly and full of crisp beef threads, salty and deeply savoury. The thing that goes wrong most often is adding the cassava flour to a wet pan, which turns it into paste; the beef must be fried really dry first. Without a pilão, a large mortar or short pulses in a food processor do the job. Chef's tip: let the pounded paçoca rest for ten minutes before serving; the farinha soaks up the beef fat and the texture turns soft and fluffy.

65 min

Brazilian Meat

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Pacu assadoRoast whole river fish

Cuiabá's fish restaurants and weekend riverside lunches in the Pantanal put a whole pacu on the table, stuffed with farofa and roasted until the skin is golden and crisp. Pacu is a round, fat-rich river fish with sweet, juicy flesh; ask your fishmonger for whole sea bream, pompano or a large tilapia if pacu is not available. The stuffing is cassava flour toasted with onion, garlic, pepper, tomato and herbs, and it soaks up the fish juices as it cooks. Serve with white rice, a tomato vinagrete and lime. The mistake to watch for is over-roasting until the flesh dries out; check at the backbone and stop when it is just opaque. Pacu has fine Y-shaped bones in the belly, so eat carefully. Chef's tip: cut deep slashes on both sides and push a little lime-garlic paste into them; it seasons the thick flesh and helps it cook evenly.

80 min

Brazilian Fish

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Paiche a la parrillaGrilled paiche steaks

Paiche (arapaima), one of the largest freshwater fish on earth, has thick, white, almost boneless flesh, and in Iquitos it is farmed and cut into meaty steaks that sizzle on the grills of riverside restaurants. Marinated briefly in garlic, lime, cumin and achiote, it chars on the outside and stays juicy and mild inside, a little like cod but firmer. Serve it with a tomato and onion salad, rice, or tacacho (mashed fried plantain balls). Frozen farmed paiche is sold in some fishmongers; thick cod, halibut or hake loin are good stand-ins. Leaving it in lime too long is the big mistake: the acid starts to 'cook' the surface and it sticks and tears on the grill, so 15 minutes is plenty. Chef's tip: oil the fish, not the grill, and don't move it for the first 3 minutes so it forms a crust and releases cleanly.

25 min

Peruvian Fish

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Pain d'épices de DijonHoney spice loaf

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

75 min

French Baking

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ZwetschgendatschiPlum yeast sheet cake

When the late-summer Zwetschgen (small, oval damson-type plums) arrive at the markets of Augsburg and Munich, every Bavarian and Swabian kitchen bakes a Datschi on the biggest tray it owns. A thin, soft yeast dough is covered edge to edge with plum halves stood upright in tight, overlapping rows, so the juices run and caramelise as it bakes. It is eaten in the afternoon, cut in squares, with a big spoon of whipped cream. A common mistake is using large round plums, which flood the dough with juice and leave it soggy; the firm, oval Zwetschgen hold their shape. Chef's tip: scatter a thin layer of fine breadcrumbs or ground almonds over the dough before the plums go on to catch the juice.

115 min

German Baking

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Pan de CalatravaCaramel bread pudding

Pan de Calatrava is Murcia's thrifty Sunday dessert, a flan thickened with yesterday's bread or leftover sponge and baked over a layer of dark caramel. Murcian grandmothers made it to use up the end of a loaf, and it is still on the menu at family-run restaurants across the region, cut into slices and served cold with the caramel running down. The milk is infused first with lemon peel and cinnamon. Chef's tip: let it chill overnight before turning it out, so it slices cleanly and the caramel turns to syrup.

80 min

Spanish Desserts

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PambazoDipped roll with potato and chorizo

Pambazos are a Mexico City street classic, sold at night from griddles outside metro stations and at the fondas that open for Lent and village fiestas. A soft, light roll is split, filled with potato fried with pork chorizo, then dipped in a garlicky red guajillo sauce and crisped on the griddle, so the outside turns deep red, slightly crunchy and a little messy. Inside go shredded lettuce, cream and crumbled cheese, with salsa verde for heat. Eat it straight off the griddle with plenty of napkins. Chef's tip: use day-old rolls; fresh, soft bread soaks up too much sauce and falls apart on the griddle.

55 min

Mexican Fast Food

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PamonhaSteamed fresh corn parcels

Corn season in Goiás and across the Northeast means pamonharias, roadside shops where pamonha comes out of huge steaming pots all afternoon, and in June it is one of the anchors of the festa junina table. Freshly grated green corn is mixed with milk and sugar, wrapped in its own husks, tied and boiled until it sets into a soft, sweet, slightly chewy parcel that smells of fresh corn. The Goiás way is also savoury, with salt instead of most of the sugar and cubes of cheese inside; that option is in the last step. Traditional queijo minas or curd cheese is often made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian cheese made with microbial rennet. Serve hot, with coffee, or with butter melting on top. The usual mistake is using mature, starchy supermarket corn or tinned kernels: the mixture will not set properly and the flavour is flat. Chef's tip: use corn so young that a fingernail pressed into a kernel squirts milky juice, and save every intact husk for wrapping.

90 min

Brazilian Snacks & Starters

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Pan bagnatPressed tuna and anchovy sandwich

Pan bagnat, 'bathed bread' in Niçois, is the beach and market lunch of Nice, sold wrapped in paper from kiosks around the Cours Saleya and packed for picnics on the pebbles of the Promenade. A round crusty roll is soaked with fruity olive oil and filled with everything that goes into a salade niçoise: tuna, anchovies, hard-boiled egg, tomato, sweet green pepper, spring onion and black olives. Pressed for an hour, it turns juicy, compact and easy to eat in big, messy bites. Serve it on its own or with a few radishes and a glass of something cold. Chef's tip: rub the cut bread with garlic before the oil goes on; it perfumes every bite without overpowering the fish.

40 min

French Fast Food

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Ege ot böreğiWild greens hand pies

In spring, Aegean women around Urla and Ayvalık forage for wild greens (radika, mallow, wild fennel, chard and sorrel) and fold them into little half-moon pies, fried or baked, for the Hıdırellez spring festival and village picnics. Spinach and chard with lots of dill and mint make a good shop-bought substitute. They are herby, a little sour, and lovely warm or cold with yoghurt. Chef's tip: wilt and squeeze the greens thoroughly; any water left in the filling turns the pastry soggy and makes it burst.

75 min

Turkish Snacks & Starters

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Pan con chicharrónCrisp pork sandwich

Sunday mornings in Lima mean a queue at the neighbourhood sanguchería or a stop at Barranco's old cafés for this: a crusty pan francés roll stuffed with chicharrón, pork that has been simmered in salted water until the water evaporates and then fried in its own fat, layered with slices of fried sweet potato and a crown of salsa criolla. The pork is crisp at the edges, juicy inside, the sweet potato sweet and soft, the onion sharp and cold. It comes with coffee or a hot drink. The usual mistake is frying the pork in extra oil from the start; the water has to boil off first so the meat renders and fries in its own fat, otherwise it stays pale and tough. Chef's tip: use pork belly mixed with shoulder for the right balance of crackle and meat.

120 min

Peruvian Breakfast & Brunch

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Biscuits and sausage gravy

Biscuits and gravy is the working breakfast of the rural South and Appalachia, served at truck stops in Tennessee and diners in the Virginia mountains: fresh biscuits split open and smothered in a thick white 'sawmill' gravy made from crumbled pork sausage, its fat, flour, milk and plenty of black pepper. Chef's tip: don't drain the sausage fat; it is what thickens and flavours the gravy.

25 min

American Breakfast & Brunch

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Pan de arrozRice flour cheese rings

Coffee in Arauca or Casanare rarely comes alone: there is usually a basket of pan de arroz, small golden rings made from rice flour and grated salty cheese, sold at roadside stalls, bakeries and village fiestas across the plains. They bake crisp on the outside and soft, slightly chewy and cheesy within, a cousin of pandebono but lighter and more crumbly. Eat them warm with a cup of tinto or hot chocolate in the afternoon. The cheese on the plains is queso llanero, a firm, salty farm cheese; mix feta-style cheese with a little mozzarella if you cannot find it, and as both are usually made with animal rennet, choose vegetarian (microbial-rennet) ones. The mistake that causes trouble is coarse, lumpy cheese, which makes the dough crack as you shape it; crumble or grate it very finely. Chef's tip: rest the dough for 10 minutes before shaping so the rice flour hydrates and the rings close without splitting.

50 min

Colombian Baking

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Pan de milloGalician cornbread

In the inland villages of Lugo and Ourense, and in the Deza area of Pontevedra, pan de millo, also called broa, was the everyday bread before wheat became common, baked in wood ovens and sometimes on a cabbage leaf. It is heavy, moist and slightly sweet inside, with a thick, cracked crust, and it is eaten with caldo, cheese or simply olive oil. Maize flour has no gluten of its own, so this version mixes in some wheat flour to help it rise; it is vegan. A common mistake is expecting a light loaf: it should feel heavy and close-textured. Chef's tip: scald the maize flour with boiling water first, which makes the crumb tender and stops it crumbling.

80 min

Spanish Breads & Parathas

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Pan dulceChristmas fruit bread

No Argentine Christmas Eve table is complete without a pan dulce, set out at midnight with turrón, nuts and a cold cider for the adults. The bread is the River Plate take on Genoese pandolce and Milanese panettone: a tall, buttery yeast dough scented with orange blossom and lemon, packed with candied fruit, raisins and walnuts. The crumb is closer and moister than panettone, and it keeps for a week wrapped in a cloth. Allow a long day, as the dough has a sponge and two rises. Some bakers soak the fruit in rum or sweet wine; here it is soaked in orange juice, so the bread is alcohol-free. People often add the fruit at the start of kneading, which shreds the gluten and gives a heavy, sunken loaf; work it in only once the dough is silky. Chef's tip: bake it in a tall paper mould or a 16 cm tin lined with a collar of baking paper, and turn it upside down onto a rack for the first 20 minutes of cooling so the top does not sink.

295 min

Argentinian Baking

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PanadesLamb and pea pies

On Easter Saturday, Mallorcan kitchens turn into pie workshops: whole families shape panades, small upright pies with pinched rims and a pastry lid, filled with raw diced lamb, peas and a little pork belly, then bake them to eat on Easter Sunday and the picnics of the days after. This contains pork (lard in the pastry and pork belly in the filling); butter can replace the lard and the belly can be left out. The meat cooks inside the pastry, staying juicy. Chef's tip: cut the lamb small, no bigger than 1.5 cm, so it cooks right through in the time the pastry takes to brown.

120 min

Spanish Meat

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Dulce de tamarindoTamarind sugar sweets

Tamarind trees shade the coast of Guerrero, and around Acapulco and the Costa Chica the sticky pulp is cooked down with sugar into tangy little balls sold in paper twists at beaches, bus stations and corner shops. Children love the sharp sweet-sour pucker; adults buy the ones rolled in chilli and salt. They are naturally vegan and keep for weeks. Chef's tip: use blocks of seedy tamarind pulp from an Asian or Mexican grocer, not the thin concentrate in jars, which will not set.

45 min

Mexican Desserts

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Dulce de rosa mosquetaRosehip jam

Every autumn, from March to May, families along the lakes around Bariloche and El Bolsón and up into Neuquén go out with buckets to strip the wild rose bushes that cover the hillsides, and the shops of the Andean towns fill with jars of this jam. Rosa mosqueta (rosehip) makes a smooth, coral-red preserve with a sharp, fruity, slightly floral flavour and a lot of vitamin C. It is spread on toast with butter, served with fresh cheese, or spooned into yoghurt. Rosehips are full of seeds wrapped in tiny irritating hairs, and not sieving them out properly is the error you will feel in your throat: pass the pulp through a fine sieve or food mill, and then once more. Buy rosehips from a foraging supplier or pick them away from roads, and only if you are sure of the plant. Chef's tip: pick after the first frosts, or freeze the hips overnight; the cold softens them and makes the pulp much easier to sieve.

90 min

Argentinian Chutneys & Dips

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Pan de yucaCassava starch cheese rolls

Cali bakeries sell pandeyucas warm in paper bags from early morning, often in a horseshoe shape, to go with a glass of kumis yoghurt drink or a café con leche. Made only from cassava starch, cheese, egg and a little butter, they are gluten free, puff up in the oven and stay hollow and stretchy inside with a thin crisp skin. Unlike pandebono, there is no corn flour, so they are lighter and chewier. Use tapioca (cassava) starch, sold in Asian and Latin shops; the cheese is typically a salty queso costeño made with animal rennet, so mix a vegetarian feta-style cheese with vegetarian mozzarella. Dough that is too wet makes them spread flat; it should feel like soft play dough. Chef's tip: they are at their best within 30 minutes of baking, so shape them ahead and bake just before eating.

38 min

Colombian Baking

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Pane carasauThin crisp flatbread

Shepherds in Barbagia, the mountainous heart of Sardinia, took stacks of pane carasau with them for weeks on the high pastures, because this dry, glass-thin flatbread never goes stale. Each disc is baked until it balloons, split in two while hot, then baked again until crisp and golden; Italians call it carta da musica, music paper, for how thin and crackly it is. Sardinians eat it with olive oil and salt as a snack, break it into soups and layer it into pane frattau. Making it at home takes patience and a very hot oven. Chef's tip: split each puffed disc the moment it comes out of the oven; once it cools, the two layers fuse together.

180 min

Italian Breads & Parathas

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Pane di MateraDurum wheat sourdough bread

Matera's bread is a big golden loaf of durum-wheat semolina and sourdough, with a thick crackling crust and a crumb the colour of straw that stays moist for a week. It is shaped into a horned cornetto or a high-backed loaf, and until the 1950s families in the Sassi took their dough to the communal oven, each loaf marked with a carved wooden stamp so it came back to the right house. It is still eaten every day in the city, sliced thickly with olive oil and tomato or soaked in soups. Plan over two days, with a cold rise overnight. Chef's tip: feed your starter with semolina the day before, so its flavour matches the dough.

1440 min

Italian Baking

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Pane e panelleChickpea fritters in a bun

Pane e panelle is Palermo's breakfast on the run: wafer-thin squares of chickpea batter fried until puffed and crisp at the edges, stuffed five or six at a time into a soft sesame roll and squeezed with lemon. Friggitorie at the Vucciria and Ballarò markets sell them from early morning, often alongside potato crocchè, and the city eats them standing at the counter. The panelle are creamy inside and nutty with a little parsley. Chef's tip: whisk the chickpea flour into cold water, never hot, and you will have no lumps.

60 min

Italian Fast Food

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Dulce de calafateCalafate berry jam

Legend says whoever eats calafate will come back to Patagonia, and in El Calafate, the town on Lake Argentino named after the thorny bush, the small blue-black berries turn up in ice cream, sauces, and above all this jam. The fruit ripens in midsummer across Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego; it is tart and seedy, somewhere between a blueberry and a blackcurrant, and the jam is dark purple, glossy and gently spiced by the fruit itself. It goes on bread at breakfast, with a slab of cheese after dinner, or with pancakes. Outside Patagonia, frozen calafate is hard to find; blueberries with a handful of blackcurrants or barberries give a similar balance of sweet and sharp. Overcooking is the slip that turns it into a stiff, dull paste, because the berries are naturally high in pectin, so test early. Chef's tip: crush a third of the berries before cooking; you get a jam with body and some whole fruit to bite on.

55 min

Argentinian Chutneys & Dips

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PanelitasMilk fudge squares

Small paper-wrapped panelitas are sold by the bagful at roadside sweet stalls through Santander, often next to obleas and bocadillo. They are milk boiled with sugar and panela until it becomes a thick caramel, then beaten off the heat until it loses its shine and sets into a soft, crumbly fudge with a warm cinnamon and molasses taste. Kids and grandparents both reach for them after lunch with a coffee. The batch here makes a tray of bite-sized squares that keep for a week. Most failures come from beating too little: the mixture stays glossy and never sets beyond soft arequipe, so keep going until it turns matte and starts to hold its shape. A pinch of bicarbonate of soda stops the milk from curdling as the panela heats. Chef's tip: lightly score the squares while the fudge is still warm, then cut through once cold, for neat edges.

45 min

Colombian Desserts

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PanelletsPine nut marzipan sweets

For the Castanyada on 31 October and All Saints' Day, Catalan families roast chestnuts, eat sweet potatoes and make panellets: little balls of almond marzipan, bound with a spoonful of cooked potato, then rolled in pine nuts, glazed with egg and baked until golden. The pine-nut ones are the classic, and children often help roll them. They are eaten with a glass of sweet wine or a cup of coffee. Chef's tip: wet the marzipan balls lightly with egg white before rolling; it is the glue that holds the pine nuts on.

57 min

Spanish Desserts

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Dulce de batataSweet potato paste

Deep orange and firm enough to slice, dulce de batata is the sweet potato paste Argentines eat with cheese, bake into pastelitos and pasta frola, and pack into school lunch boxes; the classic commercial block often hides a ribbon of chocolate in the centre. Making it at home takes patience at the stove, but the result tastes of real roasted sweet potato and vanilla. Traditional recipes simply cook the purée down for a long time; some factory versions set it with gelatin. This one uses a little agar, a seaweed-based setting agent, so it is reliably firm and stays vegan. Choose pale-fleshed sweet potato (batata) if you can, which gives the classic colour and dense texture; orange-fleshed ones work but set softer. The usual problem is too little cooking, which gives a paste that weeps; it is ready when a spoon drawn through it leaves a clean line. Chef's tip: cover your hand with a tea towel while you stir, because the thick paste spits like lava.

120 min

Argentinian Desserts

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Zereshk polo ba morghBarberry rice with braised chicken

Zereshk polo ba morgh is the rice Iranians cook for guests, weddings and Friday lunches, and its tart red barberries come mostly from the orchards around Birjand in South Khorasan, where the berries are dried on rooftops in autumn. Fluffy steamed basmati is crowned with saffron rice and barberries fried briefly in butter with a little sugar, and served beside chicken braised slowly with onion, tomato and saffron until it is falling off the bone. A common mistake is frying the barberries for more than a minute or two; they burn fast and turn bitter. Chef's tip: sort the barberries on a white plate and remove any tiny stems or grit before soaking.

90 min

Persian Chicken

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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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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.

80 min

Greek Baking

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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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Zeytinyağlı barbunyaBorlotti beans in olive oil

In Istanbul meyhanes and lokanta counters, the zeytinyağlı dishes are the cold olive-oil vegetables served at room temperature, and barbunya is one of the summer favourites when fresh borlotti appear in their speckled pink pods. The beans are braised slowly with onion, carrot, tomato and a little sugar until creamy, then left to cool in their glossy sauce and finished with parsley and lemon. Serve with crusty bread as a meze or a light lunch. Chef's tip: add the salt only once the beans are tender; salting at the start keeps the skins tough.

75 min

Turkish Vegetarian

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Dulce de alcayotaFig-leaf gourd preserve

Late autumn in San Juan and Mendoza, the huge striped alcayotas (fig-leaf gourds, Cucurbita ficifolia) are left to cure in the sun, then split open for this preserve: the white flesh separates into long strands like angel hair, which cook in syrup until golden, glossy and translucent, with walnuts and a hint of cinnamon and clove. It is spooned onto bread, eaten with fresh cheese, and used to fill empanadas and pastries. Look for alcayota at Latin American grocers (sometimes sold as chilacayote or cidra); spaghetti squash makes a respectable stand-in. Cooking the syrup too hard is the trap: it caramelises and turns the preserve dark and bitter, so keep it at a gentle bubble. For safe storage, jars must be sterilised and sealed hot. Chef's tip: rinse the cooked strands in cold water before they go into the syrup; it washes off the starch and keeps the threads separate and clear.

180 min

Argentinian Chutneys & Dips

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