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Mouhalabieh
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Mouhalabieh

Orange blossom milk pudding

Mouhalabieh is the pudding a Lebanese grandmother makes when guests drop by unannounced: milk set softly with cornflour and a little rice flour, perfumed with orange-blossom water and topped with chopped pistachios. It appears after Ramadan iftar meals, at Christmas in Beirut and on ordinary weeknights in Damascus, always cold and wobbling in small glasses or a shallow dish. No gelatine is used; the starch alone gives a spoonable, silky set. Chef's tip: mix the cornflour into cold milk before it meets the heat; added to hot milk it forms lumps that no amount of whisking removes.

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Raclette

In the Valais, the vineyard-and-glacier canton along the upper Rhône, raclette began as a herders' meal: half a wheel of cheese propped beside an open fire, the melting face scraped (racler) onto a plate of potatoes. Today Valais families and village festivals still serve it the slow way, one plate at a time, while at home most people use a tabletop grill with small pans. The cheese is soft and pungent from the wheel and turns sweet and nutty as it bubbles, set off by sharp cornichons and little pickled onions. A proper Valais raclette needs nothing else: no charcuterie, just potatoes, pickles, pepper and a glass of Fendant or hot tea. Raclette cheese is usually made with animal rennet; choose a wheel or slices labelled with microbial or vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: keep the potatoes hot in a covered basket wrapped in a cloth, so each scoop of cheese lands on a steaming potato and stays runny.

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Liège waffles

In Liège, in French-speaking Wallonia, the waffle is not a light batter but a rich yeasted dough studded with pearl sugar, eaten warm from a paper sleeve as you walk down the street. As it cooks in a deep-grid iron, the sugar nuggets melt and caramelise into a crackling, toffee-like crust, while the inside stays soft and chewy like brioche. Belgians eat them plain, any time of day, not loaded with cream (that is the lighter Brussels waffle). Chef's tip: knead the pearl sugar in only at the very end, after the dough has risen; if it goes in earlier, it dissolves and the waffles lose their crunch.

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Fırın sütlaçBaked rice pudding

In Turkish pudding shops (muhallebici) from Istanbul to Ankara, fırın sütlaç is served chilled in little clay bowls, its surface blistered dark brown under the grill while the rice pudding beneath stays creamy and cool. It is a dessert families make on Sunday or for guests, since it has to set in the fridge for a few hours, and it travels well to neighbours during Ramadan evenings. The flavour is clean milk and vanilla, thickened with rice flour rather than eggs, so it is light compared with Western rice puddings. Eat it cold, plain or dusted with cinnamon or ground hazelnuts. Chef's tip: stand the filled bowls in a tray of cold water before they go under the grill; the water keeps the pudding from boiling up while the top browns.

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Halo-haloShaved ice dessert

Halo-halo ('mix-mix') is what the Philippines eats through the hot dry months of March to May, bought from roadside stalls and snack shops and eaten slowly with a long spoon in a tall glass. Sweetened beans and chickpeas, banana cooked in brown sugar, jackfruit, nata de coco and sugar-palm fruit go in first, then a mountain of finely shaved ice, a splash of evaporated milk and a crown of ube halaya, a slice of leche flan or a scoop of ube ice cream, with crunchy pinipig (toasted pounded rice) on top. Unlike Malaysian ais kacang, there's no syrup over the ice: the sweetness comes from the layers and the milk. You stir everything together before eating. Chef's tip: chill the glasses and the toppings first so the ice doesn't melt before you have finished building.

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Stoemp with leeks and spinach

Stoemp (from the Brussels dialect word for 'to mash') is what Brussels brasseries such as those around the Marolles serve on cold days: potatoes crushed together with whatever vegetable is in season, rich with butter and nutmeg. Unlike Dutch stamppot, the vegetables are usually cooked separately and softened in butter first, which gives a sweeter, silkier mash. Leek and spinach is one of the most popular versions in Brussels, and a fried egg with a runny yolk on top turns it into supper. The meat versions come with sausages; this is meat-free. Chef's tip: cook the leeks slowly in butter until they almost melt; quick-fried leeks stay stringy and squeaky in the mash.

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Amritsari aloo wadiyanPotato and lentil dumpling curry

Every winter, rooftops in Amritsar's old city are covered with trays of wadiyan: little cones of spiced urad-dal paste studded with black pepper and dried in the sun until rock hard. Punjabi homes break them into chunks, fry them until they smell nutty, and simmer them with potatoes in a mustard-oil gravy. The wadiyan soften into chewy, spicy, almost meaty pieces, and the potatoes soak up their pepper. It is everyday comfort food, eaten with hot phulkas or rice and a raw onion on the side. Chef's tip: wadiyan are already salted and spiced, so add salt only at the end, after tasting.

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Amritsari fishCrisp fried fish

On winter evenings in Amritsar, roadside stalls near the old city fry river fish in huge karahis and sell it by weight, hot and crisp, sprinkled with chaat masala and lemon. The batter is made from gram flour rather than wheat and is fragrant with ajwain (carom seeds), which Punjabis say makes fried food easier to digest. It is a snack or starter, eaten with mint chutney and sliced onions; at home it is the treat that comes out when guests arrive. Use any firm white fish: singhara is traditional, but cod, haddock, basa or tilapia all work. Chef's tip: a little rice flour in the batter is what keeps it crisp for longer after frying.

45 minIndianFishGluten freeSpicy
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Amritsari kulchaStuffed flatbreads

Amritsari kulcha is the pride of Amritsar's dhabas in Punjab: a layered, leavened flatbread stuffed with potato, onion and sour pomegranate seed, slapped onto the wall of a tandoor and smothered in butter the moment it comes out. The outside shatters into crisp, flaky layers while the inside stays soft and steamy. In Amritsar it comes with a bowl of chole, a tangy onion-tamarind chutney and a glass of lassi. At home a very hot oven and a heavy tray stand in for the tandoor. Chef's tip: keep the filling dry and cool, with the onion squeezed of its juice, or the kulcha will tear and steam instead of turning crisp.

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Rose and basil sherbet

Şərbət is poured at the start of every Azerbaijani wedding, and the rose kind, scented with rosewater from the Absheron rose gardens, is the most loved; in Baku it is set out in crystal jugs for Novruz guests and at Ramadan iftar. This version adds two kinds of basil (reyhan): purple basil leaves steeped in the syrup for a clove-like scent, and soaked basil seeds that swell into soft, jelly-coated pearls. Lemon keeps it from tasting like perfume. Serve very cold, with ice, alongside sweets or a rich plov. Chef's tip: soak the basil seeds in plenty of water, at least 20 times their volume; crowded seeds clump into a single lump.

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Fish ambul thiyalSour tuna curry

Ambul thiyal means 'sour stew', and it comes from the fishing towns of the south coast, around Matara, Galle and Tangalle. Fishermen once cooked it so the tuna would keep for days without a fridge: almost no liquid, plenty of goraka and black pepper, slowly reduced in a clay pot until each chunk is dark and coated. Today it is a favourite rice-and-curry dish on Sundays and holidays, and people often pack it for long journeys. It is sharp, peppery and firm, so a little goes a long way with rice and a coconut sambol. Chef's tip: cut the tuna into big 4 cm chunks; small pieces fall apart during the long, slow reduction.

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Azerbaijani black tea

In Azerbaijan tea comes before, during and after everything, served in small pear-shaped armudu glasses in teahouses (çayxana) from Baku's boulevard to the hill towns of Lankaran, where most of the country's tea is grown. It is strong, clear and red-brown, often brewed with a sprig of mountain thyme (kəklikotu) or a crushed cardamom pod, and served with lemon, sugar cubes and little dishes of jam: cherry, quince, white cherry or even walnut. People sip the tea through a sugar cube held in the mouth or with a spoonful of jam, never stirring jam into the glass. It is also the drink that settles a match: tea served sweet at a matchmaking visit means yes. Chef's tip: warm the pot and glasses with boiling water first; tea brewed in a cold pot never reaches full colour.

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Homemade fresh yubaFresh tofu skin

Yuba is the thin skin that forms on soy milk as it heats, and in Kyoto and the temple town of Nikko it is a delicacy in its own right. Workshops in Kyoto's old streets have made it for centuries for monks' shojin ryori, the Buddhist vegetarian cuisine that relied on it for protein. Fresh yuba is soft, creamy and faintly sweet, and the first sheets of the day, eaten warm with a drop of soy, are prized above all. It needs patience rather than skill: just a wide pan, gentle heat and good soy milk. Serve as a starter with wasabi soy, or roll the sheets and slice them. Chef's tip: use unsweetened soy milk with at least 7% protein (check the label). Thin supermarket drinks won't form a skin.

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AnarsaRice and jaggery sesame cakes

Anarsa is a sweet of patience. In Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, women start soaking rice three days before Teej or Diwali, changing the water every day, then pound it into a damp flour, bind it with jaggery and leave the dough to mellow overnight. Fried with the sesame side up, each disc puffs into a lacy, honeycombed top with a crisp edge and a chewy middle. They are stacked in brass plates for guests and offered at home shrines. Chef's tip: fry one test anarsa before the batch; if it spreads and dissolves, knead in a spoonful of rice flour, and if it cracks, add a few drops of milk or water.

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BadamburaLayered almond rolls

Badambura means "almond twist", and in Baku it is the cousin of shekerbura that takes more patience: the dough is rolled thin, brushed with butter and rolled up in a long spiral, so it bakes into crisp, flaky layers around a moist almond filling. It is made for Novruz and weddings and sold year-round in the old-city bakeries of Icherisheher, wrapped in paper with a dusting of icing sugar. The flavour is pure almond and cardamom with a hint of vanilla. Serve with black tea in pear-shaped glasses. Chef's tip: keep the rolled spiral cold in the fridge for 20 minutes before cutting; firm dough keeps its layers.

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Lentil and apricot soup

Red lentil soup with dried apricots is a Lenten favourite of Armenian kitchens, from Yerevan flats to diaspora homes in Beirut and Los Angeles, made in the weeks before Easter when meat and dairy are set aside. The apricots, Armenia's national fruit, melt into the lentils and give a soft sweet-sour note that sits behind cumin, thyme and a squeeze of lemon. It is thick but not stodgy, a bright orange bowl that is filling enough for supper with lavash and a plate of fresh herbs. Chef's tip: chop half the apricots fine and let them dissolve, and add the rest in strips near the end, so you get both background sweetness and juicy bites.

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Miso katsu (Nagoya pork cutlet with red miso sauce)

Dark soybean miso, such as the hatcho miso made in nearby Okazaki, gives Nagoya food its deep brown colour and rich, slightly bitter flavour. Miso katsu is the city's best-known way to use it: a fried pork cutlet covered in a thick, sweet miso sauce. It is served in lunch restaurants on a bed of shredded cabbage with rice and miso soup, or sliced over rice as a bowl. The sauce is glossy and savoury, a little like a darker, sweeter barbecue sauce. Chef's tip: snip through the strip of fat and sinew along the edge of each chop every 2 cm before coating it, so the cutlet stays flat in the oil and cooks evenly.

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Roasted cauliflower with tahini

Tel Aviv restaurants made the whole roasted cauliflower famous, set on the table charred and steaming for everyone to tear apart, and it has since become a favourite for Shabbat dinners and Friday get-togethers across Israel. The head is first boiled in salted water until just tender, then roasted very hot with olive oil until the florets blister and blacken in places. Lemony tahini, a scatter of herbs and a dusting of sumac turn a humble vegetable into the centre of the meal. Chef's tip: let the boiled cauliflower steam dry for 5 minutes before roasting; a wet head steams in the oven and never chars.

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Matzo ball soup with vegetable broth

Ashkenazi Jewish families from Kraków to New York serve matzo ball soup at the Passover seder and whenever someone has a cold, and arguments about 'floaters' versus 'sinkers' go back generations. Here the broth is golden and savoury without chicken: onions browned with their skins, carrots, celery, parsnip and a few dried mushrooms simmered with dill. The kneidlach are made with oil instead of chicken fat and a splash of sparkling water so they come out light and fluffy. Chef's tip: chill the matzo mixture for at least 30 minutes; it needs time to absorb the liquid or the balls fall apart in the pot.

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Eggs with dates and onions

On a winter morning in the Emirati countryside, when the date palms have given their harvest, a pan of eggs scrambled with onion and chopped dates is a quick, filling breakfast eaten with flatbread and a glass of sweet tea. The dates melt into sticky pockets among the eggs, the onions add savoury sweetness and a pinch of cardamom ties it together. It is homely food rarely seen in restaurants, made in minutes from what every Gulf kitchen has. Chef's tip: use soft, moist dates such as khalas or medjool; dry ones stay chewy and never melt into the eggs.

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Goan ros omelette

After dark in Panjim, Mapusa and Margao, roadside carts fry omelettes to order and ladle over them a thin, spicy chicken gravy called ros, meaning juice. It is late-night food, eaten standing up, mopped with soft Goan pao. The ros is a loose chicken xacuti, rich with roasted coconut, poppy seeds and star anise. Chef's tip: keep the gravy soupy; it should flood the omelette and soak into the bread, not sit on top like a stew.

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Hong Kong vegetable macaroni soup

Walk into any Hong Kong cha chaan teng before 11 am and you'll see bowls of macaroni in clear soup on almost every table, part of the breakfast set with toast and milk tea. The usual version carries strips of ham; at home many families make it with sweetcorn, peas, carrot and a fried egg instead, for a light, comforting bowl that children love. Chef's tip: cook the macaroni separately and add it to the broth at the end, so it stays springy and the soup stays clear.

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Claypot rice with mushroom and tofu

In winter, the dai pai dong stalls of Temple Street and Mong Kok line up dozens of little clay pots over roaring flames, and queues form for bou zai faan: rice cooked right in the pot, topped with the day's ingredients and doused with sweet soy at the table. The prize is the golden, crackling crust (faan jiu) at the bottom. This vegetarian pot uses shiitake, fried tofu puffs and choy sum, seasoned with a mushroom-based vegetarian oyster sauce. Chef's tip: once the rice has absorbed its water, drizzle oil round the inside edge of the pot and turn it slowly over the flame; that's how the crust forms evenly instead of burning in one spot.

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Hong Kong French toast

In Hong Kong's cha chaan teng (tea restaurants), French toast means two thick slices of white bread sandwiched with peanut butter, dipped in egg, fried until puffed and golden, then crowned with a pat of butter and a pour of golden syrup or condensed milk. It is an afternoon tea-set favourite, paired with a strong cup of milk tea, and it's richer than any French version. Chef's tip: trim the crusts and press the sandwich edges firmly so the egg doesn't seep into the peanut butter.

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Hong Kong pineapple bun

Despite the name, there is no pineapple in a bolo bao; the crackled, golden sugar crust on top just looks like the fruit's skin. It is the best-selling bun in Hong Kong bakeries and cha chaan teng cafés, eaten warm at breakfast or tea time with milk tea, and many people order it as bo lo yau, split open with a thick, cold slice of butter melting into it. Chef's tip: roll the topping between two sheets of baking paper rather than on a floured board; the soft dough is fragile and paper lets you lift it on in one piece.

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Taiwanese pineapple cakes

Feng li su are the gift-box sweet of Taiwan: little golden squares of crumbly, milky shortbread wrapped round a chewy pineapple jam. Bakeries in Taichung and Taipei pack them in tins for Lunar New Year, weddings and visiting relatives, and the name sounds like 'prosperity arriving' in Taiwanese Hokkien. Older bakeries bulk the filling with winter melon for a softer, sweeter jam; this home version uses fresh pineapple only, cooked down until thick and tangy. Chef's tip: chill the dough and the jam balls before wrapping; cold, firm pieces are far easier to seal without the jam breaking through.

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Anticuchos de corazónBeef heart skewers

As night falls in Lima, anticucheras set up charcoal grills on street corners and fan the smoke towards passers-by; the October processions of the Señor de los Milagros are lined with them. The skewers are traditionally beef heart, a lean, firm and surprisingly mild meat, soaked in a dark-red marinade of ají panca, vinegar, cumin and garlic. They come with a boiled potato, a piece of choclo (large-kernel corn) and a spicy green ají sauce. If you can't get heart, sirloin steak works well. Chef's tip: baste the skewers with the leftover marinade and oil using a few coriander stalks tied together as a brush, the way the street cooks do.

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Gua bao with braised tofu and mushroom

Gua bao are the folded, clam-shaped buns sold at night markets from Tainan to Keelung, traditionally stuffed with a slab of soy-braised pork belly and eaten as a 'tiger bites pig' snack at year-end company dinners. Here the filling is thick slices of tofu and king oyster mushroom simmered in the same sweet soy braise, then layered with sour mustard greens, a spoon of ground peanut and sugar, and fresh coriander. The soft bun, salty filling and sweet peanut crumble are what make it. Chef's tip: brush the half-moons with oil before folding and lay a strip of baking paper inside, so the buns open cleanly after steaming.

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Bacalhau com natasSalt cod baked with cream

Bacalhau com natas is the comfort bake that turns up at Portuguese Christmas gatherings, Sunday lunches and every café menu from Porto to Faro. Flaked salt cod, soft onion and cubes of fried potato are folded into a light béchamel enriched with cream, then baked until bubbling and golden on top. It is rich, gently salty and easy to make ahead for a crowd. Serve with a crisp green salad and some bread. Chef's tip: fry the potato cubes only until pale gold; they finish cooking in the oven, and crisp ones turn soggy anyway.

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Taipei sesame noodles

Ma jiang mian is the first thing many Taipei students order at the corner noodle shop, with a bowl of soup on the side and a plate of sliced cucumber. The noodles are tossed, never drowned, in a thick sauce of toasted sesame paste loosened with soy sauce, black vinegar and a little of the cooking water, then splashed with chilli oil. It works hot in winter and cold from the fridge in the sticky Taipei summer. Chef's tip: use Chinese toasted sesame paste rather than tahini if you can; it's made from roasted seeds and gives a much nuttier, darker sauce.

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Anzac biscuitsOat and coconut biscuits

Anzac biscuits are baked in kitchens all over Australia and New Zealand in the days before 25 April, Anzac Day, when both countries remember the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who landed at Gallipoli in 1915. Recipes appeared in fundraising cookbooks soon after the war, and they keep well because they contain no eggs: just oats, flour, coconut, sugar, butter and golden syrup, raised with bicarbonate of soda. Bake them short for chewy, longer for crunchy; every family has its side. Chef's tip: add the bicarbonate to the hot butter and syrup and wait for it to foam up before mixing; that froth is what makes them light and lacy.

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Api con pastelPurple corn drink with cheese pastry

On cold mornings in La Paz, El Alto and Sucre, market stalls ladle out steaming api: a thick, spiced drink of purple corn flour with cinnamon, cloves and orange peel. It's served with a pastel, a big, thin fried empanada filled with fresh cheese and dusted with icing sugar, crackling and blistered outside. Some stalls swirl the purple api with white (corn and milk) api in the same glass. Chef's tip: whisk the corn flour into cold water before it meets anything hot, or it lumps immediately.

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Appam with vegetable stewRice hoppers with vegetable stew

Appam with stew is a Kerala breakfast loved across communities, and the classic Easter and Christmas morning meal for Syrian Christian families. Appams are bowl-shaped pancakes of fermented rice and coconut batter: crisp, lacy edges around a thick, spongy, slightly sweet centre. The stew (ishtu) is pale and gentle: potatoes and vegetables simmered in thin coconut milk with whole spices, ginger and green chilli, finished with thick coconut milk and curry leaves. Chef's tip: swirl the appam pan once, firmly, the moment the batter goes in, then cover; the swirl makes the lace and the lid steams the soft centre.

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Three-cup tofu

Three-cup dishes (san bei) are cooked in every Taiwanese home and in the rè chǎo stir-fry beer halls, where they arrive at the table still crackling in a clay pot. The name comes from the old equal measures of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine; today cooks use less, but the result is the same sticky, garlicky glaze lifted at the last second by a fistful of Taiwanese basil. Chicken is the most famous version; tofu soaks up the sauce even better and is just as popular in vegetarian restaurants around Taipei. Serve with plain rice. Chef's tip: fry the ginger slices in the sesame oil until they curl and frill at the edges before anything else goes in; that is where the dish's warm, toasty smell comes from.

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Hong Kong egg waffles

Gai daan jai, 'little eggs', are the honeycomb sheets of puffed bubbles sold from street carts in Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po since the 1950s, handed over in a paper bag to be pulled apart bubble by bubble while you walk. A good one is crisp and thin on the outside and soft, almost hollow, in the middle, with the smell of egg, vanilla and evaporated milk. You need the special egg waffle pan with round cups. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 30 minutes; it bakes up lighter and the bubbles fill evenly.

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AppeltaartDutch apple pie

Dutch appeltaart is a tall, generous pie baked in a springform tin, piled so high with apple chunks that a slice stands almost as tall as it is wide. A buttery, cake-like crust holds apples with cinnamon, lemon and raisins, and the top is woven into a lattice. It is what Dutch cafés serve with coffee, and what people bake for a birthday, always with a spoon of slagroom (lightly whipped cream). Amsterdam's Winkel 43 made it famous with tourists. Chef's tip: use firm, tart apples such as Goudreinet, Elstar or Bramley mixed with Jonagold; soft dessert apples collapse into purée and leave a gap under the lattice.

115 minDutchBaking
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Vegetarian FlammkuchenLeek and mushroom tarte flambée

Flammkuchen comes from the borderlands of Alsace, Baden and the Palatinate, where farmers baked it on bread day to test the heat of the wood oven. The dough has no yeast and is rolled almost as thin as paper, spread with crème fraîche or quark and baked hot and fast so the edges blister and char in spots. The classic topping is onion and bacon; around Strasbourg and Freiburg the leek and mushroom version is a popular meat-free choice, often eaten with a glass of new wine in autumn. Chef's tip: bake it as hot as your oven will go, on a preheated tray or stone; a Flammkuchen baked at a moderate heat turns out bready instead of crisp.

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