Featured recipe

Mpotompoto

Yam and cocoyam porridge

Mpotompoto, also called yam pottage, is the dish Ghanaian mothers make on a rainy evening or for someone who needs comfort: chunks of yam and cocoyam simmered in a red, peppery broth of palm oil, tomato and onion until some pieces collapse and thicken the pot while others stay whole. It is soft, savoury and warming, eaten with a spoon from a bowl. Fante cooks on the coast often add smoked fish; this one is meat-free, with a handful of greens at the end. Chef's tip: stir gently and only a couple of times; the mistake is mashing it, which turns the whole pot into glue instead of a chunky porridge.

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Xis gaúchoLoaded pressed burger

Porto Alegre's lancherias and late-night food trucks press the xis (the Portuguese name for the letter X, which sounds like 'cheese', as in X-burger) on a hot griddle with a heavy lid until a giant round bun is flat, crisp and holding everything together: a beef patty, a fried egg, ham, melted cheese, sweetcorn, peas, lettuce, tomato and lots of mayonnaise. It is huge, messy and much loved after a night out or a football match, usually cut in half and shared. Its pork element is the ham. The common mistake is stacking it too high before pressing, so the fillings slide out; spread them in flat even layers right to the edges. Minced beef must be cooked through to 71 °C with no pink in the middle. Chef's tip: press the assembled sandwich under a heavy pan with a weight on top if you have no sandwich press, and turn it once.

35 min

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Yakhnet bazellaLamb and pea stew with rice

Yakhnet bazella is weekday food in almost every Lebanese household: cubes of lamb (or beef) simmered until tender with peas, carrots and tomato, with a last-minute hit of garlic and coriander, ladled over buttery vermicelli rice. Mothers in Beirut make it with frozen peas in winter and fresh ones in spring; children love its sweetness. Common mistake: adding the peas with the meat — they turn grey and mushy; put them in for the last 10 minutes. Chef's tip: brown the meat in small batches so it really sears; that browned base is where the stew's flavour comes from.

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55 min

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Yayla çorbasıYoghurt, rice and mint soup

Named for the high summer pastures of Anatolia, yayla çorbası is the soup that tradesmen's restaurants in Ankara and Kayseri ladle out from morning onwards: soft rice in a silky, gently sour yoghurt broth, finished with a slick of mint butter. It is light enough for breakfast yet filling with bread, and many families make it when someone is unwell. Common mistake: pouring cold yoghurt straight into the boiling pot, which splits it into grainy curds; temper it first with hot liquid and keep the soup below a boil afterwards. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoon of flour into the yoghurt; they stabilise it and give a velvety body.

40 min

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Yemas de ÁvilaSugared egg-yolk sweets

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40 min

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Yorkshire parkinOatmeal and treacle ginger cake

Parkin is the dark ginger cake that West Yorkshire bakes for the 5th of November, cut into squares and handed round at Bonfire Night fires in Leeds, Halifax and Bradford. It is made with oatmeal, black treacle and golden syrup, so it is dense, chewy and gingery rather than light. It gets better with time, turning stickier after a few days in a tin. Chef's tip: wrap it and keep it for three days before cutting; fresh parkin is dry and crumbly by comparison.

65 min

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YouvarlakiaRice meatballs in egg-lemon broth

Youvarlakia is the soup Greek mothers, from Tripoli in the Arcadian hills to the Athens suburbs, make for a cold night or anyone feeling under the weather. Little meatballs of beef, rice, onion and herbs poach in a light broth until tender, and the broth is thickened at the end with whisked egg and lemon into a pale, silky avgolemono. It's a meal in a bowl, with bread and feta. Common mistake: boiling the soup after the egg goes in, which curdles it — take the pot off the heat first. Chef's tip: roll the meatballs with wet hands and drop them into simmering, not boiling, broth so they hold together.

70 min

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YuvalamaRice dumplings in yoghurt soup

Families in Gaziantep spend the day before Kurban Bayramı rolling thousands of chickpea-sized dumplings for yuvalama, the festive yoghurt soup served on the first morning of the holiday. Little balls of rice dough and tiny lamb meatballs simmer with chickpeas and chunks of lamb in a tangy yoghurt broth, finished with mint butter. It is rich, soothing and very much a feast dish, so make it with friends. The most common mistake is adding the yoghurt straight to a boiling pot: it curdles. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoon of flour into the yoghurt and stir it constantly as it comes up to a simmer.

165 min

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In Palestinian homes za'atar is both a herb and the blend made from it, kept in a jar beside a bowl of olive oil so torn bread can be dipped in one and then the other at breakfast; children grow up on it, and it goes to school in sandwiches. The blend is mostly dried wild za'atar (or thyme and oregano), tangy with sumac, nutty with toasted sesame and seasoned with salt. Common mistake: grinding it to dust; it should be coarse and slightly flaky. Chef's tip: rub the dried leaves with a few drops of olive oil before mixing; it wakes their aroma and helps the sumac cling.

15 min

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Zapallitos rellenosStuffed round squash

Round green zapallitos, the size of a tennis ball, pile up at every verdulería in Buenos Aires from December to March, and stuffing them is how home cooks turn a cheap summer vegetable into a main course. The shells are blanched, hollowed and refilled with their own flesh fried with onion and red pepper, bound with egg and melting cheese, and topped with breadcrumbs that bake to a crunchy lid. Expect a soft, savoury, slightly creamy filling under a golden crust; serve two per person with a tomato and onion salad or white rice. Overcooking the shells in the first boil is the trap: they collapse in the oven and leak water, so they only get 4 minutes. Round courgettes, eight-ball squash or short fat courgettes all work. The cheeses are usually made with animal rennet; swap in vegetarian versions if needed. Chef's tip: squeeze the chopped flesh in a clean cloth before frying it; drier filling means a firmer, tastier stuffing.

60 min

Argentinian Vegetarian

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Zapallo en almíbarCandied squash

Across the Argentine countryside, when the autumn squash harvest piles up, cooks turn some of it into zapallo en almíbar: cubes of firm orange squash soaked briefly in slaked lime (cal) and then simmered in syrup until they are crisp-skinned outside and tender, almost translucent inside. Farm stalls in Córdoba and Santiago del Estero sell it in jars, and it is eaten as dessert with a slice of cheese, the same idea as postre vigilante. This home version skips the lime and uses a short sugar cure instead, which still keeps the pieces whole. It is vegan as written; serve it with vegan cheese or toasted walnuts to keep it that way. The mistake to avoid is stirring: the squash breaks into purée, so shake the pan instead. Chef's tip: use a dense, dry squash such as Crown Prince or butternut neck, and cook the syrup slowly; if it boils hard the outside candies before the centre softens.

90 min

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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

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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

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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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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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Zeytinyağlı kerevizCeleriac braised in olive oil

When celeriac fills the Kadıköy market stalls in winter, Istanbul home cooks braise thick slices of it in olive oil with orange juice, carrots and baby onions, then serve it cold the next day as a starter. The root turns silky and sweet, the orange gives it a bright, almost marmalade edge, and a little dill keeps it fresh. It sits happily on a meze table or alongside a bowl of lentil soup. Chef's tip: drop the cut celeriac straight into lemon water, otherwise it greys within minutes and never looks as good on the plate.

55 min

Turkish Vegetarian

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Zeytinyağlı taze baklaBroad beans in olive oil

In April, when the first tender broad beans arrive in İzmir's markets, Aegean cooks braise them whole, pods and all, with onion, dill and olive oil, and serve them cold under a blanket of garlic yoghurt. The pods turn silky and slightly sweet, nothing like the tough shells of older beans. It is one of the true markers of spring on the coast. Chef's tip: rub the pods with lemon and a little flour before cooking; it keeps them green and stops them blackening as they braise.

65 min

Turkish Vegetarian

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Zeytoon parvardehOlives with walnuts and pomegranate

Rudbar, in the olive valleys of southern Gilan, is famous for zeytoon parvardeh, 'nurtured olives': plump green olives tossed in a thick paste of ground walnuts, sour pomegranate molasses, garlic, fresh mint and golpar, then left to mellow for a day or two. Gilanis serve them as a starter or a side with rice and fish, and every visitor to the north brings jars home. The common mistake is using pitted olives in brine straight from the jar without rinsing, which makes the dressing salty and harsh. Chef's tip: rinse the olives and leave them to soak in fresh water for 30 minutes first; they drink up the marinade much better.

20 min

Persian Snacks & Starters

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Zibdiyit gambariBaked prawns with tomato and garlic

In Gaza's seafront restaurants zibdiyit gambari arrives bubbling in the same clay bowl (zibdiya) in which the sauce was pounded: prawns baked in a fierce tomato sauce full of garlic, green chilli and dill seed, with olive oil pooling at the edges for dipping bread. Families make it at home for special Friday lunches when the catch is good. Common mistake: cooking the prawns as long as the sauce, which makes them tough; they need only a few minutes at the end. Chef's tip: pound the garlic, chilli and dill seed by hand; the rough paste fries into the oil and gives the sauce its punch.

30 min

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Znoud el sitCream-filled filo fingers

Lebanese sweet shops in Tripoli and Saida fry trays of znoud el sit every evening during Ramadan, and families queue for them after iftar. Filo is rolled around a thick, set milk cream (a home version of ashta), baked or fried until shatteringly crisp, then dipped in cold syrup and dusted with ground pistachios. The contrast of crackling pastry and cool, fragrant cream is the whole point, so eat them within an hour or two of filling. Common mistake: filling with warm cream; it leaks and makes the pastry soggy, so chill it until firm. Chef's tip: brush with clarified butter rather than whole butter — it browns evenly without burning and keeps the rolls crisp longer.

70 min

Lebanese Desserts

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ZorongolloRoast pepper and tomato salad

Zorongollo is the summer salad of the Extremaduran countryside around Cáceres and the Vegas del Guadiana, made when red peppers are sweet and cheap. The peppers and tomatoes are roasted until blackened, peeled, torn by hand into strips and soaked in olive oil, garlic and a little vinegar, and it is served on its own with bread or beside grilled meat at summer lunches. It keeps for days in the fridge and improves overnight. Chef's tip: tear the peppers along their natural ridges rather than slicing them, so the strips stay soft and catch more dressing.

60 min

Spanish Salads

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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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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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ZwiebelkuchenOnion tart

When the grape harvest starts in Baden and the Württemberg vineyards in September, bakeries pull out trays of Zwiebelkuchen: a thin yeast base piled with slowly softened onions under a sour-cream and egg custard, sprinkled with caraway. It is traditionally eaten warm with Neuer Wein or Federweißer, the young, still-fermenting wine; that is alcoholic, so pour cloudy fresh grape juice or apple juice instead, which tastes just as right. Many bakers add bacon; this version is vegetarian. A common mistake is rushing the onions on a high heat: they need 25 minutes on low until soft and sweet but still pale. Chef's tip: cool the onions before adding the custard, or the eggs start setting in the bowl.

70 min

German Baking

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Puchero santafereñoBoiled chicken, beef and pork dinner

Old Santa Fe de Bogotá kept puchero for big family lunches and holidays: a broad pot of beef, pork and chicken boiled with cassava, corn, potatoes, cabbage and, unusually, ripe plantain cooked in its skin, which turns soft and sweet against the savoury meat. It comes to the table in two acts. First the clear, golden broth in cups or small bowls; then a platter of the meats and vegetables, with a pan of warm hogao (tomato and spring onion sauce) spooned over everything, plus rice and avocado on the side. People confuse it with cocido or sancocho, but the plantain and the hogao make it its own thing. Most disappointing pucheros come from boiling hard: the broth goes cloudy and the cassava breaks up, so keep it at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in order of how long they take, and lift each batch out onto a warm tray as it becomes tender, so nothing turns to mush while the beef finishes.

165 min

Colombian Soups

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LechonaRoast pork with rice and peas

Christmas, birthdays and town fiestas across Tolima and Bogotá call for lechona: a whole pig, boned, stuffed with its own meat, yellow peas and, in the Bogotá style, rice, then roasted for hours in a wood or brick oven until the skin turns to a glassy crackling. Purists in Ibagué leave the rice out. Few home kitchens fit a pig, so this oven version builds the same thing in a deep roasting tin: cubes of pork shoulder seasoned with spring onion, garlic and cumin, mixed with peas and part-cooked rice, under a blanket of skin-on pork belly. The filling soaks up the dripping pork fat; the top crackles. Serve with insulsos (plain sweet corn tamales) or arepas and lime. Start a day ahead to marinate the meat and dry the skin, plus overnight soaking for the peas. Most failed crackling comes from wet skin, so dry it uncovered in the fridge and salt it well. Chef's tip: score the belly skin closely with a very sharp blade but don't cut into the meat, or the juices bubble up and soften the crust.

330 min

Colombian Meat

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Tamal tolimenseBanana-leaf pork and chicken tamal

Ibagué and the towns of Tolima make the most generous tamal in Colombia, and on Sunday mornings it is unwrapped at the table with hot chocolate, a slab of bread or arepa and a cup of black coffee. Inside the double banana-leaf wrapping sits a soft, achiote-tinted corn dough layered with rice, yellow peas, carrot, potato, a hard-boiled egg and chunks of pork rib, pork belly and chicken that cook through during the long steam. Expect a savoury, moist parcel that smells of the leaves; plus overnight soaking for the dried peas and marinating the meat. It is weekend project food, best made with friends on a production line. A frequent failure is a loose wrap: water gets in and the dough turns soggy, so fold tightly and tie firmly in a cross. Chef's tip: steam a test tamal first or check one after 3 hours; the meat inside must be cooked through, and if the dough still sticks to the leaf, give the batch 20 minutes more.

320 min

Colombian Meat

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Cuchuco de trigoCracked wheat and pork rib soup

Up on the cold Boyacá plateau, around Tunja and Duitama, cuchuco de trigo is the soup that roadside restaurants ladle out at midday to farm workers and truck drivers. It is made with pork ribs (espinazo or costilla de cerdo), simmered until the meat slips off the bone, then thickened with cracked wheat, broad beans, peas, cabbage and two kinds of potato. The result is closer to a porridge-soup than a broth: nutty from the wheat, porky, a little smoky from the cumin and achiote, with the small yellow potatoes melting into the liquid. Serve it in deep bowls with avocado slices, a spoon of ají and a piece of arepa. The usual mistake is adding the wheat too early and walking away: it settles and catches on the bottom of the pot, so it needs stirring from the base every few minutes. Chef's tip: rinse the cracked wheat until the water runs nearly clear; washing off the loose flour keeps the soup creamy rather than gluey. For a meat-free pot, leave out the ribs, use vegetable stock and double the broad beans.

125 min

Colombian Soups

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Cocido boyacenseSteamed meats and tubers feast

Sunday markets in Villa de Leyva, Paipa and Sogamoso still have families sitting down to cocido boyacense, a pot in which chicken, pork ribs and beef steam slowly on a bed of cabbage leaves above the tubers of the high Andes: potatoes, cubios, ibias and chuguas, with cobs of corn and broad beans still in their pods. There is very little water; the meat juices drip down and flavour everything. It is tipped onto one big platter in the middle of the table, and the concentrated broth left in the pot is drunk from cups alongside. Expect clean, earthy flavours rather than spice: cumin, garlic and spring onion, and a bowl of ají or hogao for anyone who wants heat. The classic slip is too much liquid, which turns it into a boiled stew; keep the water to a few centimetres and the lid tight. Chef's tip: if you can't find ibias or cubios, use oca from a Latin or Andean grocer or a mix of small new potatoes and parsnip, which bring a similar sweet, earthy note.

125 min

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FritangaMixed fried pork and sausage platter

Weekend fritanga is Bogotá's answer to a mixed grill, eaten standing at counters in the Siete de Agosto and Restrepo neighbourhoods or brought home on a big tray to share. Everything is pork or fried: chicharrón of pork belly with a blistered, crunchy skin, juicy pork chorizos, slices of rice-filled morcilla (blood sausage), little papa criolla potatoes, sweet plantain and griddled arepas, all eaten with fingers or toothpicks and dipped in sharp, watery ají. A fritanga is about contrast, so don't drown it in sauces: the lime and ají cut the richness. The common error is frying the belly straight from raw; it needs to cook gently in water first, which renders the fat and tenderises the meat before the skin crisps in its own drippings. Chef's tip: buy morcilla and chorizo from a Latin butcher and check the labels if you need the platter gluten free, as some sausages contain wheat.

100 min

Colombian Meat

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Pastiera napoletanaWheat berry and ricotta tart

Every Neapolitan kitchen fills with the scent of orange blossom water in Holy Week, when families bake the pastiera on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday so it can rest until Easter Sunday. Inside a lattice-topped shortcrust case is a creamy, slightly grainy filling of ricotta, cooked wheat berries, eggs, candied citrus and cinnamon, and the flavour improves for two or three days. Traditional pastry is made with lard; this one uses butter. Chef's tip: bake it a day or two ahead and keep it covered at cool room temperature; a freshly baked pastiera tastes flat by comparison.

180 min

Italian Baking

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Gnocchi alla sorrentinaGnocchi baked with tomato and mozzarella

Sorrento families make gnocchi alla sorrentina for Sunday lunch: soft potato gnocchi folded into a basil-scented tomato sauce, layered with cubes of fior di latte mozzarella and baked in individual terracotta dishes until the cheese bubbles and stretches. It is comfort food, pillowy and creamy with a golden, slightly crisp top, and children love pulling the strings of cheese. This recipe takes you from the potatoes to the oven. Chef's tip: bake the potatoes in their skins rather than boiling them; drier potatoes need less flour and make lighter gnocchi.

90 min

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Insalata capreseTomato and mozzarella salad

On the island of Capri this simple plate of red tomatoes, white buffalo mozzarella and green basil is the lunch of hot afternoons, served in beach clubs and piazza cafés. With so few ingredients, everything rests on quality: tomatoes ripe enough to smell sweet, mozzarella made that day so it weeps milk when cut, and fruity olive oil. It needs no vinegar; a pinch of salt and oregano is enough. Chef's tip: take the mozzarella out of the fridge 30 minutes ahead; cold mozzarella tastes of very little and feels rubbery.

10 min

Italian Salads

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Babà al rumRum-soaked yeast cakes

Naples took the babà from French and Polish pastry cooks in the nineteenth century and made it its own: small mushroom-shaped yeast cakes so light and airy that they drink up a warm, rum-laced syrup and still hold their shape. Neapolitans pick them up from the pastry counter after Sunday mass, and they are often served with whipped cream or custard. The traditional syrup contains rum; for an alcohol-free version, use the orange and vanilla syrup given in the ingredient notes, which is just as soaking and fragrant. Chef's tip: let the baked babà dry out for a few hours, or overnight; a slightly stale cake soaks up syrup evenly without collapsing.

180 min

Italian Desserts

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Frittata di maccheroniPasta frittata

Neapolitans turn yesterday's spaghetti into frittata di maccheroni, a thick, golden pasta cake bound with egg and lots of grated cheese, with pockets of melting provola inside. It travels everywhere: cut into wedges for the beach at Mergellina, packed for the Easter Monday picnic (Pasquetta) or eaten cold from the fridge. The outside is crisp, the middle soft and cheesy. Most families add cubes of salami; this version leaves them out and uses smoked provola for a savoury depth. Chef's tip: use a plate the size of the pan to flip it, and slide it back in confidently in one move.

35 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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Friarielli con provolaBroccoli rabe with smoked provola

Friarielli are the Neapolitan name for the tender leafy tops of broccoli rabe, piled high on market stalls in Naples from late autumn to early spring. Sautéed with garlic and chilli in olive oil, they turn soft, dark green and pleasantly bitter, and in Naples they are a side dish, a pizza topping and, above all, the filling of a crusty panino. Here slices of smoked provola melt over the hot greens, so they work as a side or straight into a roll. Chef's tip: do not blanch them; Neapolitans cook friarielli raw in the pan with the lid on so they keep their bite and flavour.

25 min

Italian Sides

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