Featured recipe

Cretons

Spiced pork spread

Cretons is a spiced pork spread found on the breakfast table in Quebec homes and diners, from Montreal casse-croûtes to Lac-Saint-Jean farmhouses, spread thick on hot toast with mustard alongside eggs and beans. Minced pork is simmered slowly with onion, milk, breadcrumbs and warm spices until soft, then set in small pots. It keeps for a week in the fridge. A common mistake is not cooking it long enough, which leaves a grainy, watery spread; it needs the full hour. Chef's tip: stir it as it cools so the fat stays mixed through instead of setting on top.

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TafelspitzSimmered beef with apple horseradish

Tafelspitz is Vienna's grand Sunday lunch, the dish the old Beisl taverns and the city's famous beef restaurants built their names on. A whole piece of beef top rump is barely simmered with root vegetables for hours, then served in three acts: first the clear golden broth, then the sliced beef with crisp roast potatoes, sharp Apfelkren (grated apple and horseradish) and a cool chive sauce. Keep any leftover broth for Grießnockerlsuppe or Frittatensuppe. Chef's tip: never let the pot bubble; a slow tremble keeps the meat juicy and the broth clear.

210 min

Austrian Meat

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Tah-chinSaffron rice cake with chicken

Tah-chin is the showpiece of a Tehran dinner party: a round cake of saffron rice set with yogurt and egg, turned out of its dish so the thick golden crust sits on top like a lid, with a layer of tender chicken hidden inside. Families make it for birthdays, Nowruz visits and any day guests are coming, and the barberries scattered over the top add tart red jewels. The crust should crack like a crisp biscuit while the rice inside stays soft. A common mistake is skimping on the resting time after baking; turned out too early, the cake slumps and the crust sticks. Chef's tip: marinate the cooked chicken in a spoon of the yogurt mixture while the rice boils, so the filling is as well seasoned as the rice.

150 min

Persian Chicken

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Tahin pekmezTahini and grape molasses

Tahin pekmez is the simplest thing on a Turkish breakfast table and one of the most loved: tahini and dark grape molasses (pekmez) swirled together on a plate and mopped up with bread. In Central Anatolia and the Aegean, where grapes are boiled down each autumn, grandparents swear by it as a warming winter food. Stirred thoroughly, it becomes a thick, glossy spread that tastes of caramel and sesame. Common mistake: using tahini straight from the bottom of the jar; stir it well first or it is stiff and bitter. Chef's tip: add a few drops of lemon juice and keep stirring; the mixture suddenly thickens and lightens like a nut butter.

5 min

Turkish Breakfast & Brunch

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Arni fricasseeLamb and lettuce stew with egg-lemon

When cos lettuces and spring onions flood the markets around Easter, Greek cooks make arni fricassee: lamb braised slowly with mountains of greens and dill, then thickened at the last moment with avgolemono, the frothy egg and lemon sauce. The result is tender, tangy and fresh, a lighter alternative to the roast lamb of Easter Sunday, served with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Common mistake: pouring the eggs straight into the bubbling pot, which scrambles them; temper them with hot broth first and keep the pot off the heat. Chef's tip: shake the pot to swirl the sauce in rather than stirring, so the lamb and greens stay whole.

125 min

Greek Meat

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Arnavut ciğeriCrisp fried liver with sumac onions

No Istanbul meyhane table in Beyoğlu or Kumkapı is complete without a plate of Arnavut ciğeri: small cubes of lamb's liver dusted in paprika flour and flash-fried until crisp outside and just set within, piled on red onion, parsley and sumac. It is served hot among the cold meze, with toasted bread and a glass of something cold; ayran or şalgam work perfectly. Liver is quick to cook and quick to ruin. Chef's tip: shake off every bit of excess flour and fry in small batches in very hot oil, so the cubes crisp instantly instead of stewing.

25 min

Turkish Meat

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ArnadíPumpkin, sweet potato and almond sweet

In Xàtiva and the villages of La Costera, arnadí is made for Holy Week and given as a gift between neighbours, its golden peaks spiked with almonds and pine nuts like a little fortress. The recipe is a legacy of the region's Moorish centuries: roast pumpkin and sweet potato cooked down with sugar and ground almonds until thick, then shaped by hand in an earthenware dish and browned in the oven. Texture-wise it sits between a fudge and a very dense pudding, fragrant with lemon and cinnamon. A common mistake is using boiled pumpkin; it holds too much water and the arnadí never firms up. Chef's tip: roast the vegetables until the edges caramelise, then leave the purée to drain in a sieve overnight for the best, densest result.

150 min

Spanish Desserts

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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 min

Spanish Fish

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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.

70 min

German Baking

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AçmaSoft buttery breakfast rings

Every simit seller's glass cart in Istanbul has a softer cousin stacked beside the sesame rings: açma, a pillowy, slightly sweet ring of enriched dough that commuters tear apart on the ferry with a glass of tea and a wedge of white cheese. The crumb is close to brioche but lighter, with a shiny golden crust and black nigella seeds on top. Plain ones are best warm; some bakers fold olives or cheese into them. Chef's tip: rest the rolled ropes for ten minutes before shaping, so the gluten relaxes and the rings keep their shape instead of shrinking back.

52 min

Turkish Breads & Parathas

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Machaca de pescadoShredded fish with tomato and pepper

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

40 min

Mexican Fish

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Machaca con huevoDried beef scrambled with egg

Monterrey and Sonora both claim machaca, the dried, pounded beef that once let ranchers carry meat across the desert. At breakfast it is fried with onion, tomato and green chilli, then scrambled with eggs and rolled into soft flour tortillas, and it turns up in every lonchería and roadside café in the north. The beef is savoury, salty and chewy against the soft egg. Proper machaca is hard to find outside Mexico; shredded leftover roast beef or brisket, dried out in the pan until crisp, makes a good substitute, as does unsweetened beef jerky pounded into shreds. Chef's tip: fry the machaca on its own first until the edges crackle, which brings back the toasty flavour before anything wet goes in.

25 min

Mexican Breakfast & Brunch

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Bacalao al ajoarrieroSalt cod with garlic and pepper

The muleteers who carried goods over the mountain roads into Pamplona, the arrieros, lived on salt cod because it kept for weeks, and the garlicky way they cooked it took their name. Today ajoarriero is ordered in the bars around Pamplona's Plaza del Castillo, especially during San Fermín, and served in small earthenware dishes with bread. The Navarrese version is red with peppers, tomato and dried choricero pepper, and many cooks stir in egg at the end. Chef's tip: taste the cod after soaking and only salt the dish at the very end, if at all.

55 min

Spanish Fish

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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.

55 min

Spanish Fish

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Maduro con quesoBaked plantain with cheese

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

40 min

Colombian Sides

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Macaxeira fritaFried cassava sticks

Northeastern Brazilians call cassava macaxeira, and fried sticks of it come out with carne de sol, with grilled cheese at beach shacks, and in a bowl beside a cold drink at any bar from Natal to Maceió. Boiling first makes the inside soft and floury; frying afterwards gives a thick, blistered crust that stays crunchy far longer than potato chips. They need only coarse salt, though a dip of vinagrete or garlic mayonnaise is common. Buy sweet cassava, cook it fully, and never eat it raw. The frequent mistake is boiling until the cassava falls apart, which makes sticks that break up in the oil; stop as soon as a knife slides in. Chef's tip: let the boiled sticks steam dry and cool completely, even chill them for an hour, before frying; the drier surface is what makes them crackle.

45 min

Brazilian Sides

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Maçã do amorToffee apples

A shiny red apple on a stick is the picture of a Brazilian festa junina stall, lined up in rows beside the quentão and pipoca. The 'love apple' is a small, tart apple dipped in hot sugar syrup that hardens into a thin, crackling, ruby-red shell; you bite through glass and hit crisp fruit. It is a good one to make at home for a June party because the syrup takes 15 minutes and the apples are ready as soon as the shell cools. Choose a plant-based red colouring to keep it vegan. Where it tends to fail: any water or wax on the apple skin stops the syrup sticking, so it slides off in a puddle. Chef's tip: dip the apples in boiling water for 10 seconds and dry them thoroughly to remove the wax before you start.

30 min

Brazilian Desserts

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MaftoulHand-rolled couscous with chicken

Maftoul means 'rolled', and in Palestinian villages women still sit together in autumn rolling bulgur and flour by hand into pea-sized pearls, drying them in the sun to last the winter. For a family gathering, the maftoul is steamed over a pot of chicken simmering with onions, chickpeas and caraway, then served on a big platter with the chicken on top and the broth in bowls alongside. Bought maftoul or giant couscous is fine. Common mistake: boiling the maftoul like pasta, which makes it gluey; steam it, then moisten with broth. Chef's tip: toss the dry maftoul with oil and spices before steaming so every grain stays separate.

105 min

Palestinian Chicken

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Ma'aroukMahlab-scented sweet bread

As soon as Ramadan begins, bakeries in Damascus and Aleppo stack up golden loaves of ma'arouk, a soft, slightly sweet brioche-like bread that people buy on the way home to break the fast. The dough is perfumed with mahlab (ground cherry stones), topped with nigella and sesame seeds, and is often braided or filled with date paste. Eat it warm with tea, or toasted the next morning with white cheese. Common mistake: adding too much flour while kneading; the dough should stay soft and a little tacky for a tender crumb. Chef's tip: brush with sugar syrup as soon as the loaves leave the oven — it gives the classic shine and keeps the crust soft.

55 min

Syrian Baking

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Tallarines verdesSpaghetti with basil and spinach sauce

Peru's answer to pesto came from Italian-Ligurian families who settled in Lima and Callao, and it was quickly rebuilt with what Peruvian kitchens had: spinach to stretch the basil, queso fresco instead of hard cheese, and a can of evaporated milk to make it creamy. Menú restaurants in Lima serve it on weekdays, often with a breaded steak or a fried egg beside it, and the sauce turns out milder, softer and greener than the Genoese original. This version stays vegetarian: serve it with a tomato and onion salad, or crown each plate with a fried egg if you eat them. The classic mistake is boiling the leaves too long, which turns the sauce khaki and dull; they need only 20 seconds in hot water. Note that queso fresco is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian (microbial-rennet) fresh cheese if that matters to you. Chef's tip: blend the sauce with the evaporated milk while the leaves are still cold from their ice bath and it will stay bright for the whole meal.

30 min

Peruvian Pasta & Noodles

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MaghmourAubergine, chickpea and tomato stew

In Lebanese villages from the Chouf to the Bekaa, maghmour turns up on the table during the long Lenten fasts and through the summer, when aubergines are piled high at every greengrocer. Chunks of fried or roasted aubergine collapse into a sweet, garlicky tomato sauce with chickpeas and plenty of olive oil, so the dish is soft and silky rather than chunky. Lebanese cooks serve it at room temperature with flatbread, pickles and a bowl of olives, and it tastes even better on the second day. Roasting the aubergine instead of deep-frying keeps it lighter without losing the melting texture. Common mistake: stirring hard once the aubergine is in; fold gently or it turns to mush. Chef's tip: add a final drizzle of good olive oil and a pinch of dried mint just before serving to lift the deep, sweet flavours.

75 min

Lebanese Vegetarian

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Magras con tomateCured ham in tomato sauce

Teruel is famous for its cured hams, and magras con tomate is how Aragonese home cooks have long turned a few thick slices into supper: the ham is fried briefly, then simmered in a homemade tomato sauce and served with fried eggs and bread for dipping. It is a typical dinner in the Bajo Aragón and at bar counters in Zaragoza's old Tubo district. This contains pork (cured ham). A common mistake is frying the ham too long; it hardens and turns very salty, so give it barely a minute a side. Use hand-cut slices about 5 mm thick if you can. If you serve the eggs with runny yolks, they are not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; fry them until the yolks are firm for those diners. Chef's tip: don't salt the sauce until the ham has been in it for a few minutes.

50 min

Spanish Meat

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MajariscoPlantain mash with seafood

Its name blends 'majado' (mashed plantain) and 'marisco' (seafood), and along the coast of Piura and Tumbes, near the Ecuadorian border, it's what cevicherías and beach restaurants serve when you want something hot and filling. Mashed green plantain is folded into a sauce of garlic, onion, ají and seafood juices, with prawns, squid and mussels running through it, so every forkful is creamy, garlicky and briny. Serve it with lime and salsa criolla. Mussels must be alive: tap any open ones and discard those that don't close, and discard any that stay shut after cooking. Overcooking the seafood is the most frequent mistake; it goes in at the end, just until pink and opaque. Chef's tip: keep the mussel cooking liquid and use it to loosen the mash; it's pure seafood flavour.

55 min

Peruvian Fish

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TaloGriddled corn flatbread

At Bilbao's and San Sebastián's Santo Tomás fair each 21 December, queues form at stalls where cooks pat out talos and slap them onto hot iron plates. The dough is nothing more than finely ground maize flour, warm water and salt, and the flatbreads were once the everyday bread of Basque farms. This vegetarian version is folded around melting cheese; Idiazabal, the classic choice, is made with animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian sheep's cheese if you need to. A common mistake is a dough that is too dry, which cracks at the edges when you press it out. Chef's tip: keep your hands wet while shaping, and the discs will come out smooth and round.

30 min

Spanish Breads & Parathas

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MakdousWalnut-stuffed pickled aubergines

Every autumn, Damascus kitchens fill with jars of makdous as families preserve the last of the small aubergines for the winter breakfast table. The aubergines are boiled, salted and pressed for a day, then stuffed with walnuts, red pepper, garlic and chilli and packed under olive oil to cure until tangy and tender. A couple of them, split on a plate with bread, labneh and tea, is the classic Syrian morning. Common mistake: skipping the pressing — any water left in the aubergines can spoil the jar. Chef's tip: keep the jar in the fridge and always lift them out with a clean fork; homemade preserves in oil should be kept chilled and eaten within a month for safety.

55 min

Syrian Basics

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Maki acevichadoPrawn tempura rolls with ceviche sauce

Lima's Nikkei sushi bars invented the acevichado and it has become the roll every Peruvian orders: prawn tempura and avocado rolled in rice, topped with thin slices of fish and drenched in a creamy, lime-sharp sauce built from leche de tigre, ají amarillo and mayonnaise. Crisp, warm, cold and tangy in one bite, it is party food and Friday-night takeaway alike. For a safer topping, use sashimi-grade fish frozen at −20 °C for 24 hours first, keep it cold and eat the rolls at once; you can also sear the slices with a blowtorch or use cooked prawns instead. Even so, the raw-fish topping is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Overfilling is the usual mistake: the roll won't close and the rice splits. Chef's tip: use a pasteurised-egg mayonnaise and wet your hands with vinegared water so the rice doesn't stick.

90 min

Peruvian Fish

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MakmouraLayered chicken and onion bread bake

Makmoura (meaning 'buried') is a village dish from around Jenin in the northern West Bank, made in olive harvest season when there is fresh oil to spare: layers of thin bread dough are baked over chicken and a heap of onions slow-cooked in olive oil with sumac and spice, so the bottom soaks up the juices and the top turns crisp. Families tear it apart by hand and eat it with yoghurt and olives. Common mistake: rushing the onions; they need a full half hour to turn sweet and jammy. Chef's tip: use good, fruity olive oil and don't skimp — it is the soul of the dish.

130 min

Palestinian Chicken

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Tamales de chipilínChipilín leaf tamales

Chipilín is a small-leaved wild legume that grows along the fields of Chiapas and Tabasco, and its grassy, faintly bitter leaves turn up in soups, rice and, most of all, these tamales. In Tuxtla Gutiérrez and San Cristóbal they are sold from steaming pots in the early evening and taken home for supper with hot chocolate or atole: soft, pale green-speckled masa wrapped around a cube of fresh cheese, often with a spoon of tomato salsa. Cooks there beat the masa with lard; vegetable shortening gives the same light texture. Frozen chipilín is sold at Central American grocers; spinach with a few watercress leaves is a fair stand-in. Chef's tip: strip the leaves from the stems by pinching and pulling down; stems make the masa stringy.

125 min

Mexican Snacks & Starters

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Tamales norteñosBeef corn tamales

Families in Salta and Jujuy make tamales by the hundred, usually for the national holidays or for the winter fiestas in the Quebrada, with everyone at the table spreading dough onto husks, spooning in filling and tying parcels. The northern Argentine tamal is different from the Mexican one: the dough is made from finely ground white or yellow maize cooked with squash and beef fat, and the filling is a red, peppery mix of beef (traditionally from the head or charqui, dried beef) with onion, ají molido and cumin. Each parcel is folded and tied with a strip of husk into a little bundle, then boiled. Expect a long, hard afternoon, but they freeze well. Look for dried corn husks and fine maize flour in Latin American shops; masa harina also works. The filling must reach 71 °C, as for any mince, before it goes into the husks. Dough that is too dry is the usual mistake and cracks as it cooks; it should feel like soft polenta. Chef's tip: soak the husks in hot water for 30 minutes so they fold without splitting.

180 min

Argentinian Meat

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MalakofftorteNo-bake sponge finger torte

Malakofftorte is the cake Viennese families put together for name days and summer parties, because the oven stays off. Sponge fingers are dipped in milk and layered with a rich almond cream made from butter, cooked vanilla custard and whipped cream, then chilled until it slices like a soft mousse cake. In many Austrian homes the soaking milk is laced with rum or almond liqueur; this version is alcohol-free and uses vanilla milk, and you can add 2 tbsp dark rum to the milk if you want the traditional taste. A common mistake is soaking the biscuits too long, so they go soggy and the layers collapse; one quick dip is enough. Chef's tip: make it the day before; it needs at least 6 hours to set and tastes best the next day.

55 min

Austrian Desserts

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MalassadasFried yeast doughnuts

On Terça-feira Gorda, the last day before Lent, kitchens all over São Miguel smell of hot oil and sugar, as families fry malassadas to use up eggs and butter before the fast. Emigrants carried them to Hawaii and New England, but on the islands they are still a Carnival treat: irregular, puffy and light, with a crisp sugared outside. Eat them within an hour of frying. Chef's tip: stretch each piece thin in the middle with oiled fingers; it puffs up dramatically and stays airy.

60 min

Portuguese Desserts

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Lulas recheadasSquid stuffed with chouriço and rice

Fishermen's wives in Portimão stretched a modest catch of squid by filling the bodies with chopped tentacles, rice and a little chouriço, then simmering them slowly in tomato sauce until meltingly tender. It is a Sunday dish in the western Algarve, served sliced into rounds with boiled potatoes or more rice. This contains pork (chouriço), and the sauce uses white wine; replace it with the same amount of fish or vegetable stock for an alcohol-free version. Chef's tip: fill the squid only two-thirds full, because the rice swells and can split them.

90 min

Portuguese Fish

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Tamales oaxaqueñosTamales with black mole and chicken

In Oaxaca, tamales are wrapped in banana leaves rather than corn husks, which makes them flat, square and very moist, with a faint grassy scent from the leaf. These are the classic version filled with mole negro and shredded chicken, sold from steaming pots at morning markets and made by the dozen for Christmas, Candlemas on 2 February and the Day of the Dead. The masa is beaten with pork lard, which gives the traditional light, rich texture; vegetable shortening works if you avoid pork. Use leftover mole negro, or a simplified mole made from good ready-made paste thinned with broth. Eat them with hot chocolate or atole. Chef's tip: keep a coin in the bottom of the steamer; when it stops rattling, the water has run low and needs topping up.

135 min

Mexican Chicken

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Tamalitos verdesGreen fresh corn tamales

Bright green from a whole bunch of coriander, tamalitos verdes are the morning snack of Chiclayo and Trujillo, sold warm at market stalls and bakeries and unwrapped at the table with a heap of salsa criolla on top. Fresh corn is ground with coriander, onion and ají amarillo into a soft dough, wrapped around a strip of fresh cheese in corn husks and steamed. They should be tender, moist and herby, with a slightly sweet corn flavour and a salty melting middle. Traditional ones are made with lard; this version uses vegetable oil to stay vegetarian. The classic problem is a dough that's too wet, which makes the tamales fall apart; the starchy Peruvian choclo is ideal, and if you use sweet corn, add the cornmeal to firm it up. Queso fresco is usually made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian fresh cheese. Chef's tip: keep the steamer water at a steady simmer and top it up with boiling water, never cold, so the steam never stops.

90 min

Peruvian Snacks & Starters

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Tamar hindiTamarind drink

During Ramadan in Damascus, street sellers in bright waistcoats pour tamar hindi from tall brass jugs on their backs, clinking cups to call buyers before iftar. The drink is a deep brown infusion of tamarind, sweetened and sharpened with lemon and a touch of rose or orange blossom, served ice cold to quench a day's thirst. It is fruity, tangy and refreshing, and made in a big batch to keep in the fridge. Common mistake: boiling the tamarind hard — gentle soaking gives a clean taste, while boiling makes it muddy. Chef's tip: strain twice, the second time through a cloth, for a clear, glossy drink.

15 min

Syrian Drinks

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Malloreddus alla campidaneseSaffron gnocchetti with sausage

Malloreddus, small ridged shells of semolina pasta coloured with saffron, are Sardinia's festive pasta, and on the plain of Campidano, north of Cagliari, they're served at weddings, saints' days and Sunday lunch with this sauce. It's a pork dish: crumbled fennel pork sausage is browned, then simmered with tomato until rich, and the little ridged shells catch every bit of it. A shower of sharp pecorino sardo finishes it. Dried malloreddus (sometimes sold as gnocchetti sardi) are easy to find; homemade ones are a lovely weekend project. Chef's tip: steep the saffron in a spoonful of hot water before adding it to the sauce; the colour and perfume spread evenly instead of staying in threads.

50 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Viennese GugelhupfLemon and raisin ring cake

In Vienna the Gugelhupf is the Sunday cake of home bakers, set out on the table for afternoon Jause with coffee, and every family has its own fluted copper or ceramic mould. Unlike the yeasted ring cakes of Alsace and southern Germany, the everyday Viennese one is a Rührgugelhupf, a buttery sponge lifted with whisked egg whites, scented with lemon and studded with plump raisins. It is tender, light and keeps moist for several days under a cake dome. A common mistake is a badly greased mould; every ridge needs butter and flour or the cake tears as it comes out. Chef's tip: soak the raisins in hot water for 15 minutes, dry them and toss them in a spoon of flour so they don't sink.

90 min

Austrian Baking

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Mamón en almíbarCandied green papaya

Along the subtropical northeast, papaya (mamón) trees grow in backyards from Corrientes to Formosa, and the unripe fruit is turned into this old-fashioned dessert: strips of firm green papaya poached slowly in syrup with cloves and cinnamon until they turn amber and translucent, chewy at the edges and tender inside. It is served cold in little bowls, traditionally next to a slice of fresh cheese for that sweet-and-salty contrast (choose a plant-based cheese to keep it vegan). Rushing the syrup is the misstep that turns the papaya hard and sugary on the outside and raw within, so the heat stays low for well over an hour. Green papaya is sold in Asian and Latin grocers. Wear gloves when peeling; the milky sap can irritate the skin. Chef's tip: soak the strips in water with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda for an hour before cooking; it firms the outside so the pieces hold their shape in the syrup.

130 min

Argentinian Desserts

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MamouniehSemolina pudding with cinnamon

In the old souks of Aleppo, mamounieh shops open at dawn, serving bowls of this hot, buttery semolina pudding to workers before the day starts. Semolina is toasted in butter, then cooked in a light syrup until it sets soft and spoonable, and dusted with cinnamon; Aleppans eat it with a slice of salty white cheese and warm bread on the side, which makes the sweetness sing. Common mistake: pouring cold syrup onto the hot semolina; use hot syrup so it doesn't seize into lumps. Chef's tip: toast the semolina only to pale straw colour — any darker and it loses its delicate milky flavour. Akkawi and halloumi are often made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian white cheese if needed.

25 min

Syrian Breakfast & Brunch

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Mango bicheGreen mango with salt and lime

Paper and plastic cones of mango biche are sold from street carts in Cali, Barranquilla and Bogotá, especially around schools, parks and bus stops. Biche means unripe: the mango is still hard and pale green inside, so it is crunchy and mouth-puckeringly sour, and the vendor cuts it into long strips and shakes on salt, lime and black pepper, sometimes a pinch of chilli. It is a refreshing, almost savoury snack, eaten in the afternoon heat. Choosing a mango that has started to ripen is the slip that spoils it: the flesh should be firm and white-green with no yellow, or it turns soft and sweet. Look for green mangoes in Asian and Latin shops. Chef's tip: chill the mango for 30 minutes before cutting; the strips stay crisp and the salt and lime cling better.

10 min

Colombian Snacks & Starters

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ManiçobaManioc leaf and smoked pork stew

Black-green, smoky and rich, maniçoba is the dish Belém cooks for the Círio de Nazaré in October, when families gather after the great procession, and it is sold all year at the Ver-o-Peso market. Its base is maniva, ground manioc leaves, which contain natural cyanide and must be cooked for days before they are safe; in Pará cooks simmer it for up to a week. Never use raw or home-ground manioc leaves for this dish. Buy only ready-cooked ground maniva (sold frozen in Brazilian shops and labelled pre-cooked), and follow the pack's further cooking time if it is longer than ours. The leaves are then simmered for hours with the cuts of a feijoada: salted pork ribs, smoked bacon, smoked pork sausage, beef jerky and pig's trotter, until the meat falls apart into a thick, smoky, faintly bitter stew. Serve it with white rice, farinha d'água and pimenta-de-cheiro. Plan ahead: the salted meats need soaking overnight. The usual mistake is adding the meat too early, so it disintegrates. Chef's tip: maniçoba tastes even better reheated the next day.

460 min

Brazilian Meat

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Manjar de cocoCoconut blancmange with prune syrup

Sunday lunch at a grandmother's in Rio, Minas or Pernambuco often ends with a manjar, a snowy ring of coconut blancmange turned out of its mould and drowned in glossy, nearly black prune syrup. It is smooth and cool, with a soft wobble, the mild sweet coconut cream set off by the deep, winey taste of the prunes. The dessert is set with cornflour alone, so it is gluten free, and it has to be made at least 4 hours ahead. Under-cooking the cornflour is what usually goes wrong: the manjar tastes chalky and breaks when turned out. Chef's tip: wet the mould with cold water instead of greasing it, then shake out the drops; the manjar slides out cleanly with a coconut taste unspoilt by oil.

30 min

Brazilian Desserts

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Lorne sausageSquare beef and pork sausage

Lorne sausage, better known in Scotland simply as square sausage or slice, is a skinless loaf of seasoned beef and pork mince that is cut into squares and fried for the full Scottish breakfast, or slapped in a morning roll with brown sauce. It is easy to make at home and freezes well. Chef's tip: freeze the shaped block for an hour before slicing; it cuts into neat, thin squares.

25 min

British Meat

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Loobia poloGreen bean rice with spiced lamb

Loobia polo is a weeknight favourite in Tehran homes, the rice dish children ask for when they come home from school and the one packed for picnics on the slopes of Darband. Parboiled basmati is layered with a sauce of minced lamb or beef, short pieces of green bean, tomato paste and a warm hint of cinnamon, then steamed slowly until every grain is stained a soft orange and a crisp tahdig forms underneath. For a meat-free pot, swap the mince for diced potato and keep everything else the same. Serve with mast-o khiar, salad shirazi and torshi. A common mistake is adding the beans raw to the rice layers: brown them in the sauce first or they stay squeaky and pale. Chef's tip: let the tomato paste fry in the oil until it turns brick red before adding water; that is where the deep, sweet flavour comes from.

90 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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MarathopitesFennel hand pies

In early spring, when wild fennel sprouts along the field walls around Rethymno, Cretan cooks gather armfuls of the feathery fronds for marathopites, thin olive-oil pastry wrapped round a green, aniseed-sweet filling and cooked in a pan. They are Lenten food, so they contain no cheese or egg, and they are eaten warm with olives and a glass of water or tea. Wild fennel can be hard to find outside the Mediterranean; the fronds from bulb fennel mixed with dill give a close flavour. Common mistake: leaving the greens wet after washing, which steams the pastry from inside and splits it. Chef's tip: salt the chopped greens and squeeze them hard in a cloth before mixing the filling.

80 min

Greek Snacks & Starters

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Kaburga dolmasıRice-stuffed lamb breast

In Mardin and Diyarbakır, a stuffed lamb breast is the centrepiece of bayram and wedding tables: the butcher cuts a pocket between the ribs and the meat, which is filled with rice cooked with almonds, currants, allspice and cinnamon, sewn shut and baked slowly until the meat falls from the bones. The rice inside soaks up all the lamb juices. Ask the butcher to open the pocket for you. Common mistake: packing the rice tightly when it is raw; it needs room to swell or the pocket splits. Chef's tip: roast it covered for most of the time, then uncover and turn the heat up at the end for crackling-crisp fat.

250 min

Turkish Meat

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MarinerasRussian salad and anchovy bread rings

No pre-lunch drink in Murcia is complete without a marinera: a crunchy ring-shaped breadstick, the rosquilla, piled with ensaladilla rusa (potato, carrot and peas in mayonnaise) and crowned with an anchovy. Bar counters in the city line them up from midday, alongside the marinero, topped with a vinegar-cured fresh anchovy, and the bicicleta, which has no fish at all. This version uses salted anchovy fillets in oil and shop-bought mayonnaise, which is made with pasteurised egg. If you use vinegar-cured fresh anchovies instead, they are raw fish: buy them frozen first, and they are not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: assemble them at the last moment so the rings stay crunchy.

45 min

Spanish Snacks & Starters

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ArayesKafta-stuffed grilled pitta

Arayes are what Beirut grill houses and family barbecues do with kafta when they want something you can eat with your hands: pitta breads split and filled with a thin layer of lamb or beef mince mixed with onion, parsley and spices, then pressed and grilled until the bread is shatteringly crisp and the meat juices soak in. Cut into wedges, they come with tahini sauce, pickles and a tomato salad. Common mistake: spreading the meat too thickly — the bread burns before the centre is cooked; keep it about 5 mm. Chef's tip: brush the outside of the bread with the fat from the mince bowl or a little olive oil; it fries the pitta to a perfect crunch.

30 min

Lebanese Meat

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MarmitakoBonito and potato stew

Marmitako takes its name from the marmita, the iron pot that fishermen out of Bermeo and Ondarroa kept on board during the summer bonito season, from June to September. Potatoes simmer in a peppery broth made red with choricero pepper, and chunks of fresh bonito go in only at the very end. Along the coast it is still the summer lunch of fishing towns, eaten from deep plates. A common mistake is boiling the fish with the potatoes, which turns it dry and stringy; it needs just a few minutes of gentle heat. Chef's tip: snap the potatoes rather than cut them, so their starch thickens the broth.

60 min

Spanish Fish

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MarmorkuchenMarble cake

Marmorkuchen is the cake German children grow up with: a tall, buttery ring of vanilla sponge swirled with chocolate, baked for birthdays and kindergarten parties and kept under a glass dome for afternoon coffee all week. It needs nothing but a dusting of icing sugar, though many families pour over a thin chocolate glaze. A common mistake is over-stirring the two batters together, which turns the cake a muddy brown instead of showing clear marbling. Chef's tip: layer the batters in the tin, then pull a fork through just once in a spiral; less is more.

75 min

German Baking

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London particularSplit pea and ham soup

London particular is a thick, yellow-green soup of split peas and smoked pork ham hock, named after the pea-souper smogs that once smothered the city. It was a cheap winter warmer in Victorian London eating houses and is still on menus in pubs and cafés when the weather turns. The hock gives a deep smoky saltiness and shreds of soft meat. Chef's tip: skim the grey foam off as the water first boils, for a cleaner taste.

135 min

British Soups

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MarranitasPlantain balls with pork crackling

Breakfast stalls along Cali's busy streets and the bakeries of the Valle del Cauca fry marranitas all morning: green plantain, half-fried, pounded while hot and shaped around a nugget of crunchy pork chicharrón, then fried again until crisp and golden. The name means 'little piglets', after the pork inside. The outside shatters, the plantain layer is dense and starchy and the crackling gives a salty, porky crunch in the middle. Eat them hot with a mug of coffee or hot chocolate, or as a snack with ají and hogao for dipping. The plantains must be truly green and hard; yellowing ones turn sweet and sticky and won't hold a crisp shell. Chef's tip: pound the plantain the moment it comes out of the first fry, using a little warm salted water on your hands; once it cools it stiffens and cracks when you shape it.

70 min

Colombian Snacks & Starters

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Lomito completoLoaded tenderloin sandwich

Córdoba claims the lomito as its own, and at lomiterías and late-night carts in the city it comes completo: thin, quick-seared slices of beef tenderloin piled into a big soft roll with cooked ham (pork), melting cheese, a fried egg, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. It is messy, juicy and filling, the classic end to a night out or a Saturday football match, usually with chips on the side. The meat is only a few millimetres thick, so it cooks in a minute; Córdoba grills cook it through, but as a whole steak you can leave it a little pink to taste. The big error is a lukewarm pan, which boils the thin beef grey instead of searing it. Chef's tip: lay the cheese on the ham in the hot pan to melt while the egg fries, so everything goes into the toasted roll hot at once.

30 min

Argentinian Fast Food

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Lomi lomi salmonSalmon, tomato and onion relish

Lomi means to massage: at Hawaiian lūʻau and graduation parties, salted salmon is squeezed by hand with diced tomatoes, sweet onion and spring onions into a cold, juicy relish that cuts through rich kalua pig and poi. It arrived with salted salmon traded from the Pacific Northwest by nineteenth-century whalers. The traditional version uses raw salt-cured salmon, which is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; this safer version gently poaches the salmon first. Chef's tip: chill everything well and drain the tomatoes, so the relish stays bright rather than watery.

30 minPacific Islander Fish

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LokumTurkish delight

Istanbul's confectioners have been cooking lokum since the 18th century, and boxes of it still go to every host, office and family on holiday visits. Real lokum is nothing more than sugar syrup, lemon and cornflour, stirred for an hour until it turns translucent, firm and springy, then scented with rosewater and studded with pistachios. It is a test of patience, not skill. Common mistake: stopping too soon; undercooked lokum is sticky and never sets cleanly. Chef's tip: it is ready when a little dropped into cold water forms a soft, pliable ball and the mixture is the colour of pale honey.

90 min

Turkish Desserts

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Arakas laderosPeas braised in olive oil

In Peloponnese villages from Argos to Messinia, the first sweet peas of April become this humble ladero, the olive-oil stew that fills the table during Lent and on any meatless Wednesday or Friday. Peas, potato and carrot simmer slowly in tomato and plenty of oil until the sauce is thick and the peas are soft and almost creamy. It's eaten warm with feta (or vegan cheese), olives and crusty bread to mop the oil. Common mistake: cooking for only 10 minutes as if the peas were a side; laderá need time for the oil and vegetables to come together. Chef's tip: frozen petits pois work perfectly — add them after the potatoes have had 10 minutes.

55 min

Greek Vegetarian

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MasghatiRosewater and saffron starch sweet

Masghati takes its name from Muscat, from where traders brought the recipe to the port towns of the Persian Gulf, and today Lar and Shiraz are famous for it. It is a clear, firm, jelly-like sweet of starch, sugar and rosewater, tinted gold with saffron and studded with pistachios, made for Nowruz guests and for gifts. It sets enough to cut into neat diamonds but stays tender. A common mistake is not cooking the starch long enough: it must turn from milky to clear, or the masghati tastes floury and weeps. Chef's tip: stir with a flat wooden spatula and scrape the bottom constantly, because the paste catches suddenly in the last few minutes.

45 min

Persian Desserts

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Tapao de pescadoFish and green plantain stew

Quibdó's riverside kitchens and the villages along the Atrato and Baudó rivers make tapao, which simply means 'covered': fish and chunks of green plantain cooked in a little water and a refrito of onion, tomato and herbs, with the pot sealed under a plantain leaf and a lid so it all cooks in its own steam. There's no coconut, unlike the Pacific's encocados, so it tastes clean and brothy, of fish and herbs, with the plantain soaking up the juices and thickening them slightly. It's a weekday dish, often made with bocachico or other river fish, and eaten from deep plates with a spoon and fingers. Adding the fish with the plantain from the start is a common slip; the plantain needs a head start or the fish falls apart before the plantain is tender. Chef's tip: if you can find bocachico or another river fish, use it; otherwise sea bream or tilapia steaks with the bone in give the broth the best flavour.

55 min

Colombian Fish

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Tapenade provençaleBlack olive and caper spread

The name gives the game away: tapeno is the Provençal word for capers, and a Marseille chef is said to have first pounded them with black olives in the 1880s. Across Provence, from the markets of Nyons to the cafés of Aix, tapenade comes out with the apéritif before a long summer dinner, spread thickly on toasted baguette. The classic recipe adds a few anchovy fillets; this version leaves them out and leans on extra capers and lemon for the salty, savoury edge, so it is vegan. Chef's tip: buy olives with stones and pit them yourself; ready-pitted black olives are often the dyed, bland kind and give a flat, inky spread.

15 min

French Chutneys & Dips

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Massa sovadaSweet lemon bread

Sovar means to knead hard, and Azorean women once kneaded this rich bread dough for an hour by hand before Easter and the Holy Spirit feasts of early summer, when loaves are blessed and shared with the whole parish. The crumb is soft, golden and feathery, with a tight, dark shiny crust. Slices are eaten plain with coffee, toasted with butter, or used to soak up the juices of alcatra on Terceira. A common mistake is baking before the loaf has doubled, which gives a dense, cakey crumb. Chef's tip: give it a slow, full rise, which is what gives the bread its fine, cotton-soft crumb.

80 min

Portuguese Baking

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Mast-o musirYoghurt with wild shallots

Every kebab house in Tehran puts a little bowl of mast-o musir on the table beside the chelow, and at home it sits next to Friday lunch the same way. Musir is a wild mountain shallot from the Zagros, sold dried in slices; once soaked it is mild, garlicky and faintly sweet, and it gives thick yogurt a sharp bite. The one mistake to avoid is skipping the long soak, which leaves the shallots tough and bitter. If you cannot find musir, see the swap in the steps. Chef's tip: make it a few hours ahead; the shallot flavour deepens as it sits in the fridge.

15 min

Persian Chutneys & Dips

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MasteloClay-pot Easter lamb with dill

Sifnos is an island of potters, and its Easter dish is named after the deep clay pot it is cooked in: lamb or kid laid on a bed of vine prunings, splashed with red wine, scattered with dill and sealed in the baker's oven overnight. The meat steams in the wine and its own juices until it falls from the bone, smelling of dill and woodsmoke, and is served on Easter Sunday with potatoes and bread. This recipe uses red wine; for an alcohol-free version use red grape juice with 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Common mistake: opening the pot to check, which lets the steam escape and dries the lamb. Chef's tip: if you can't get vine twigs, a few thick slices of onion or a small rack under the meat stops it sitting in the liquid.

230 min

Greek Meat

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Mecklenburger RippenbratenApple and prune stuffed pork belly

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

180 min

German Meat

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MatafanThick potato pancake

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

40 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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Matambre a la pizzaFlank steak with tomato and mozzarella

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

120 min

Argentinian Meat

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Matambre arrolladoRolled stuffed flank steak

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

180 min

Argentinian Meat

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Mate com limãoIced mate with lime

On Copacabana and Ipanema, vendors in orange uniforms trudge across the hot sand carrying two metal barrels, one of iced mate tea and one of limonada, shouting 'mate, limão!' and mixing the two in a plastic cup for each customer. The tea is chá mate tostado, roasted yerba mate leaves brewed like ordinary tea, with a smoky, toasty taste; with sweet lime lemonade it becomes the definitive carioca beach drink, cold, tangy and gently caffeinated. Toasted mate is sold loose or in tea bags in Brazilian shops; green yerba mate gives a grassier result. Squeezing the limes too hard, or blending them whole, is the usual pitfall, because the white pith turns the lemonade bitter. Chef's tip: brew the tea strong and chill it completely before mixing, so the ice does not dilute it.

15 min

Brazilian Drinks

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Liverpool scouseBeef and lamb stew

Scouse is so central to Liverpool that its people are named after it; the thick stew of meat, potatoes and onions was carried from the Baltic by sailors and cooked for dockers' families, and city restaurants still celebrate Global Scouse Day each February. Some of the potatoes cook down into the gravy, making it thick and hearty. Serve it with pickled red cabbage or beetroot and crusty bread. Chef's tip: cut half the potatoes small so they collapse and thicken the stew, and leave the rest in chunks.

170 min

British Meat

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TaramosalataFish roe dip

Taramosalata is the star of Clean Monday, the first day of Greek Lent, scooped onto torn lagana at picnics while children fly kites, and it stays on taverna meze tables all year. The real thing is beige-pink, not bright pink, made from salted cured carp or cod roe (tarama) beaten with soaked bread, onion, lemon and oil into a salty, briny, mousse-like dip. Because tarama is cured rather than cooked, buy pasteurised roe for a safer version; even so, this dip is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Common mistake: adding the oil too fast, which splits it. Chef's tip: use white tarama if you can find it; it is less salty and lets the lemon shine.

20 min

Greek Chutneys & Dips

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Matjes HausfrauenartHerring in apple cream sauce

Matjes nach Hausfrauenart, 'housewife's matjes', is the early-summer plate of northern Germany, eaten when the new season's young herring arrives in June, from Glückstadt on the Elbe to the cafés of Emden. Mild, buttery matjes fillets are covered in a cool sauce of sour cream and yoghurt with crisp apple, onion and gherkin, and served with hot boiled new potatoes in their skins and sometimes green beans. Matjes is cured raw herring, so buy commercially prepared, previously frozen fillets from the chilled counter and keep them cold; it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: make the sauce first and let it chill for 20 minutes so the apple and onion flavour it before the fish goes in.

30 min

German Fish

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Tarhana çorbasıFermented yoghurt and vegetable soup

Late every summer, women across Central Anatolia, from Uşak to Konya and Sivas, ferment a dough of yoghurt, flour, tomatoes, peppers and onion, dry it on cloths in the sun and rub it into crumbs. All winter that tarhana becomes a quick, warming soup with a gentle sourness and the sweetness of sun-dried pepper. It is breakfast in villages, a cure for colds in cities, and is eaten with bread and a squeeze of lemon. Common mistake: tipping dry tarhana straight into hot liquid, which forms stubborn lumps; soak it in cold water first. Chef's tip: finish with a spoon of butter sizzled with dried mint and chilli flakes drizzled over each bowl; it lifts the whole soup.

30 min

Turkish Soups

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Viennese KaisersemmelCrisp star-topped rolls

No Viennese breakfast is complete without a Kaisersemmel: a light, hollow-crusted white roll with a pinwheel of five curved segments on top, split and spread with butter and apricot jam or filled with Leberkäse at a market stand. The crust should shatter and the inside be soft and airy. The star is traditionally knotted by hand, though a stamp works too. A common mistake is skipping the overnight cold dough, which leaves the rolls bland and pale. Chef's tip: prove the shaped rolls upside down, star side down, on a floured cloth, then flip them just before baking; the pattern stays sharp instead of puffing shut.

170 min

Austrian Breads & Parathas

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LiptauerPaprika curd cheese spread

No Heuriger, the wine tavern on the vineyard slopes at the edge of Vienna, is complete without a bowl of rust-red Liptauer next to the bread basket. Quark and soft butter are beaten with sweet paprika, ground caraway, mustard, onion and capers into a spread that is creamy, tangy and gently warm. Spread it thick on dark rye bread with radishes and chives, or pipe it onto halved peppers for a snack board. A common mistake is using wet quark straight from the tub, which makes the spread runny; drain it in a sieve first. Most quark is set without rennet, but some brands use a little animal rennet, so pick one labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: make it a few hours ahead; the paprika colour deepens and the caraway softens as it sits.

15 min

Austrian Chutneys & Dips

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Linsen mit SpätzleSweet-sour lentils with egg noodles

Linsen mit Spätzle is Swabia's Saturday supper, eaten in kitchens from Stuttgart to Ulm when the week's cooking was done and something cheap and filling was needed. Small brown or green Alb lentils are stewed with root vegetables, then sharpened with vinegar and a little sugar, and ladled over freshly scraped Spätzle. Most families add a pair of thin smoked Saitenwürstle; this version skips them, and the smoked paprika keeps a hint of that flavour. A common mistake is adding the vinegar at the start, which stops the lentils softening, so it goes in at the end. Chef's tip: beat the Spätzle batter until bubbles pop on the surface; that air is what makes them springy.

65 min

German Curries

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Limonada de cocoCoconut lime cooler

Cartagena's heat makes limonada de coco almost compulsory: beach kiosks and restaurants in the old walled city blend it to order, and it arrives as a pale, frosty slush, sharp with lime and rich with coconut. It is a drink to sip slowly with fried fish, coconut rice and patacones, or on its own on a hot afternoon. Coconut cream gives the body, sugar balances the lime, and a full load of ice gives the frozen texture. The common slip is blending lime pieces with their peel for too long, which turns it bitter within minutes; use juice plus a little zest instead. Shake the tin of coconut cream before measuring, since it separates. Serve it straight away, before it melts and separates. Chef's tip: freeze some of the coconut cream in an ice-cube tray beforehand and use it in place of half the ice for a thicker, creamier result.

10 min

Colombian Drinks

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Lilikoi butterPassion fruit curd

Lilikoi is the Hawaiian name for passion fruit, which grows wild on vines all over the islands, and lilikoi butter is the tangy golden curd that farmers' markets on Maui and Kauai sell in jars. It is spread on toast, sweet bread and scones, or spooned onto shave ice and cakes. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and stir constantly; the curd is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and holds a line drawn through it with your finger.

30 minPacific Islander Chutneys & Dips

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LemonanaFrozen mint lemonade

From café terraces in Ramallah and Jaffa to juice bars along Hamra Street in Beirut, summer means tall glasses of lemonana: lemons and fistfuls of fresh mint blended with ice into a sharp, sweet, electric-green slush. It is the drink handed to you after a walk through the market at noon, and it cools a mezze lunch like nothing else. Everything goes in a blender, but the mint must be fresh and plentiful. The common mistake is blending the mint for too long, which bruises it and turns the drink murky and grassy. Chef's tip: make a lemon-sugar syrup first and chill it; dissolved sugar sweetens evenly and lets you blend for only a few seconds.

20 min

Palestinian Drinks

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Leitão à BairradaRoast suckling pig

Along the old Lisbon–Porto road through the Bairrada, around Mealhada, restaurant after restaurant roasts suckling pigs whole in wood ovens, and people drive for hours for a Sunday lunch of it. This contains pork (suckling pig and lard). The inside is rubbed with a fierce paste of lard, garlic, black pepper and bay, while the skin roasts to a glassy, crackling sheet. It is served cold or warm with sliced oranges, crisp potato chips and a green salad. A half or quarter pig from a specialist butcher fits a home oven. Chef's tip: keep the skin completely dry and paste only the inside, as any fat or water on the skin stops it crackling.

210 min

Portuguese Meat

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Tarta de chocloSweetcorn tart

Ask any Argentine rotisería for a slice of tarta and choclo will be next to the chard and the ham-and-cheese. This is the creamy one: sweetcorn kernels folded into a thick white sauce with softened onion and red pepper, set with egg and cheese inside a buttery shortcrust. It is lunchbox and picnic food, eaten warm or at room temperature with a green salad, and it is a big favourite with children for its sweetness. The filling should slice cleanly but still be soft. A runny centre is the usual problem, and it comes from a thin white sauce or from forgetting to blind-bake: make the sauce thick enough to coat the spoon heavily, and part-bake the case. Mozzarella and grated hard cheese are often made with animal rennet, so buy vegetarian ones if that matters. Chef's tip: blitz a third of the corn with the white sauce; it gives a creamier, more corn-tasting filling while the whole kernels keep some bite.

80 min

Argentinian Vegetarian

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MazamorraHominy milk pudding

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

160 min

Argentinian Desserts

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Tarta de SantiagoFlourless almond cake

Pilgrims finishing the Camino in Santiago de Compostela see this cake in every bakery window around the cathedral, dusted white with icing sugar and stencilled with the cross of St James. It is made only from ground almonds, sugar, eggs and a little lemon and cinnamon, so it is naturally free of gluten, moist and dense with a thin crisp crust. Galicians eat it with coffee after Sunday lunch or at weddings. A common mistake is overbeating the eggs to a foam, which makes the cake rise and then sink; just mix until smooth. Chef's tip: cut a cross from paper and lay it on the cold cake before sifting over the icing sugar.

55 min

Spanish Baking

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Mazorca desgranadaSweetcorn with chicken and cheese

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

35 min

Colombian Fast Food

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Leipziger LercheAlmond marzipan tartlets

Leipziger Lerchen began as real roast larks stuffed with herbs, sold in Leipzig until the King of Saxony banned songbird hunting in 1876. The city's bakers answered with a pastry that kept the name: a shortcrust tartlet filled with almond-marzipan cream, a cherry or jam hidden in the middle like the bird's heart, and two crossed strips of pastry on top like the string that tied it. Today you find them in every Leipzig café, especially at the Christmas market. A common mistake is overfilling the cases, so the filling bubbles over and the cross sinks. Chef's tip: chill the lined tins for 15 minutes before filling so the pastry keeps sharp edges.

65 min

German Baking

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Leipziger AllerleiSpring vegetables with morels

Leipziger Allerlei is Leipzig's showpiece of spring: young carrots, peas, asparagus, kohlrabi and cauliflower, each cooked separately until just tender, then brought together in a light butter sauce with morel mushrooms. The traditional dish also includes crayfish and bread dumplings; this vegetarian version keeps the morels and vegetables, which were always the heart of it, and serves it with new potatoes. Dried morels are easiest to find and give a deep, smoky flavour. A common mistake is boiling everything together in one pot, which turns the dish muddy and over-soft. Chef's tip: save the vegetable cooking water and morel soaking liquid; together they make the stock for the sauce.

60 min

German Vegetarian

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MeghliSpiced rice pudding

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

50 min

Lebanese Desserts

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Mejillones a la provenzalMussels with garlic and parsley

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

25 min

Argentinian Fish

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Mexillóns en escabechePickled mussels

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

40 min

Spanish Fish

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Tarte au sucre lilloiseBrioche sugar tart

In Lille and across the Nord, a sugar tart is not pastry at all but a flat round of soft brioche dough, dimpled and covered with brown cassonade sugar, butter and a little egg and cream, which bakes into a sticky, caramelised top over a fluffy base. Families buy it from the boulangerie for Sunday breakfast and goûter, or bake one when guests come for coffee. The Nord's own beet sugar, vergeoise, gives it a deep, almost molasses flavour; soft dark brown sugar is the closest swap. Chef's tip: press deep dimples into the risen dough with your fingertips before adding the topping; the sugar and cream collect in them and bake into little pools of caramel.

55 min

French Baking

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Mel i matóCurd cheese with honey and walnuts

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

30 min

Spanish Desserts

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Mulinciani chiniStuffed aubergines

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

70 min

Italian Vegetarian

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MelcochasPulled panela taffy

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

45 min

Colombian Desserts

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