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Irish stout beef stew
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Irish stout beef stew

In pubs across Ireland, and in plenty of homes on a wet Sunday, beef stewed in dark stout is the dish that arrives with mash or a slab of brown bread. The stout (it contains alcohol, most of which cooks off but not all) gives the gravy a deep, slightly bitter malt flavour that a spoon of brown sugar balances. For an alcohol-free version use alcohol-free stout, or the same volume of extra beef stock with 1 tablespoon of black treacle. Chef's tip: brown the beef properly in batches; the dark crust on the meat is half the flavour of the gravy.

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Weddings, birthdays and harvest feasts in Qishan county, west of Xi'an, all call for these little bowls of noodles, and guests may eat ten or twenty small portions in a row. The key is the saozi, diced pork slowly cooked in aged vinegar and chilli until it turns red, tangy and fragrant; the broth is sour, spicy and bright with diced tofu, carrot, wood ear, egg and garlic shoots. The noodles are thin and springy and the bowls deliberately small. Serve it to a crowd as a lively lunch, with a plate of pickled vegetables. Chef's tip: make the saozi a day ahead; it keeps for a week in the fridge and tastes better after a rest.

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Rösti was once the farmer's breakfast in the canton of Bern, fried in the morning from potatoes boiled the night before, and it is still the plate Bernese families make on a Sunday or eat with a fried egg for supper. It is so tied to German-speaking Switzerland that the language border with the French-speaking west is jokingly called the Röstigraben, the rösti ditch. Coarsely grated, cold, parboiled potato is pressed into a hot pan of butter and left alone until the underside turns a deep, crunchy gold, while the inside stays soft. Serve it with fried eggs and a tomato salad, with melted cheese on top, or next to mushrooms in cream. Chef's tip: parboil the potatoes a day ahead and chill them overnight; cold, firm potato grates into clean strands that stay separate and crisp.

60 minSwissSidesGluten free
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RotkohlBraised red cabbage

Rotkohl, called Blaukraut in Bavaria and Austria, is the purple braised cabbage that sits next to dumplings and potatoes on German plates from autumn to Christmas. Red cabbage is cooked slowly with apple, onion, vinegar, bay and clove until meltingly soft, sweet-sour and glossy, a deep wine-red because the acid keeps the colour bright. Traditionally it's started in goose fat or lard; oil works perfectly and keeps it vegan. It's one of those dishes that is better the next day, so families make a big pot before Christmas. Chef's tip: add the vinegar at the start, not the end; without acid the cabbage turns an unappetising blue-grey as it cooks.

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Rou jia moSpiced pork flatbread sandwich

Walk through Xi'an's Muslim Quarter or any Shaanxi bus station and you will see cooks chopping steaming braised pork on thick wooden blocks and stuffing it into split, griddle-crisped buns. The bread, called baijimo, has a crackly shell with an 'iron ring' edge, a 'tiger-back' top and a spiral 'chrysanthemum heart' inside; the pork is slow-cooked in a soy broth with a dozen warm spices until it falls apart. Chopped with green chilli and coriander and moistened with the braising juices, it makes one of the world's oldest sandwiches. Eat it hot in the hand, with cold liangpi noodles or a bowl of soup alongside. Chef's tip: keep the braising liquid as a master stock in the freezer; the next batch of pork tastes even better.

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RougailleSpiced tomato sauce with eggs

Rougaille is the Creole tomato sauce at the heart of Mauritian home cooking, made in every kitchen from Port Louis to Mahébourg and also in the Seychelles and Réunion. Tomatoes are cooked down with onion, garlic, ginger, thyme and chilli until thick, and then something is simmered in it: sausages, salted fish, or, in many homes on a weeknight, hard-boiled eggs. Serve with rice, lentils (dholl) and chatini. Chef's tip: cook the tomatoes until the oil separates at the edges; watery rougaille tastes thin.

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Royyala iguruThick prawn curry

Along the coastal Andhra delta, where the Godavari meets the sea near Kakinada and Bhimavaram, prawns come in fresh every morning and often end up as iguru. The word means cooked down: the onion-chilli masala is reduced until it clings to the prawns, with only a spoonful of sauce left in the pan. It goes onto hot rice with ghee, alongside sambar or pappu, and is a favourite in Telugu homes on weekends. Chef's tip: cook the masala fully first and add the prawns only for the last few minutes, so they stay plump.

40 minIndianFishGluten freeSpicy
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Roz bel labanRice pudding

Roz bel laban (rice with milk) is the pudding of Egyptian homes and dessert shops alike, sold in clay pots and little foil cups across Cairo and eaten all year, especially in the evenings of Ramadan. It is made with short Egyptian rice cooked slowly in milk, thickened with a little cornflour so it sets creamy and spoonable, and scented with vanilla or orange blossom water. This is the roz bel laban fel forn version, finished in a very hot oven so the top blisters with brown spots, the way the Cairo dessert shops sell it. Serve it cold, scattered with pistachios or coconut. Chef's tip: stir the cornflour into cold milk before adding it; dropped straight into the hot pot it turns into lumps you can't whisk out.

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RugbrødDark rye loaf

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Sadza with beef stewMaize porridge with beef stew

Sadza ne nyama, sadza with meat, is the meal most Zimbabweans would call home: a stiff, smooth porridge of white maize meal shaped into rounds with a wooden spoon, served with a beef stew and a side of greens such as covo or rape. Families in Harare and Bulawayo eat it at lunch or supper, rolling a little sadza into a ball in the right hand and dipping it in the gravy. The mistake is adding all the maize meal at once, which makes lumps; stir in a paste first, then add the rest gradually. Chef's tip: let the porridge "rest and cook" under a lid for a few minutes between additions so the meal tastes cooked, not raw.

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Safed maasMutton in white gravy

Safed maas is the quiet sibling of fiery laal maas, created in the palace kitchens of Rajasthan's princely states such as Jaipur and Udaipur, where cooks prized dishes that looked as refined as they tasted. There is no turmeric, no red chilli and no browning: the mutton is cooked white with yogurt, a paste of cashews and almonds, cream and white pepper, scented with cardamom and kewra. Its heat is gentle and comes from white pepper and a few green chillies. It's served at weddings and festive dinners with soft rotis or saffron pulao. Chef's tip: keep the heat low from start to finish; the moment the meat or the spices brown, the gravy turns beige and loses that ivory look.

125 minIndianMeatGluten free
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SaganakiPan-fried cheese

Saganaki takes its name from the small two-handled pan it's cooked in. A thick slice of hard sheep's-milk cheese, usually kefalograviera or kefalotyri, is dusted with flour and fried until it has a crisp, golden crust and a soft, stretchy middle, then splashed with lemon. In Greek tavernas it arrives sizzling at the start of the meal, to share with bread, salad and a cold drink. Traditional Greek hard cheeses are often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian alternative such as a vegetarian graviera or halloumi. We dust it with rice flour so it is gluten free. Chef's tip: chill the cheese and get the pan properly hot before it goes in; a lukewarm pan is the common mistake and the cheese melts into a puddle before it crisps.

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Sakkarai pongalSweet rice and moong dal

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Salad shiraziTomato, cucumber and onion salad

Salad shirazi is named after Shiraz, the city of gardens in Fars province, and it is the salad served with almost every Persian rice and kebab meal. Tomato, cucumber and onion are cut into tiny, even dice and dressed simply with lime juice (or sour grape verjuice, ab-ghooreh, in Shiraz itself), dried mint and a little oil. There are no peppers or herbs to muddy it: it is crunchy, sharp and cold, and is spooned onto rice as a relish. Chef's tip: dice everything as small as a pea; the tiny cubes are what make it taste like Shirazi rather than a chopped salad.

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Salatat daquaTomato salad with peanut dressing

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Sambal goreng kentangFried potatoes in sweet-hot sambal

Sambal goreng kentang turns up wherever there's a celebration in Java and Sumatra: on Lebaran tables next to ketupat and opor, in wedding buffets, and in boxes of nasi kotak handed out at gatherings. The potatoes are cut small, fried until crisp and golden, then tossed through a red chilli and shallot sambal sweetened with palm sugar and sharpened with tamarind, so each cube is coated and chewy at the edges. It keeps well and is eaten at room temperature with rice. Chef's tip: soak and dry the potato cubes thoroughly before frying; damp potatoes spit, steam and never crisp up.

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Sambal matahRaw shallot and lemongrass relish

Matah means raw in Balinese, and this sambal is nothing more than finely sliced shallots, chillies, lemongrass and lime leaf, squeezed with lime and dressed with hot coconut oil. It is the fresh, sharp counterpart to grilled tempeh, tofu, corn fritters and plain rice in warungs across Bali. Village cooks rub in a little toasted shrimp paste; this vegetarian version gets its savoury edge from salt and a touch of sugar. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted shallots with your fingers before adding the oil; they soften and release juice that carries the flavour.

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Sambal oelekFresh chilli paste

Every Indonesian kitchen has an ulekan, the flat stone mortar that gives sambal oelek its name, and this is the most basic thing ground in it: fresh red chillies and salt, pounded to a coarse, wet, fiery mash. It's the foundation many cooks start from, stirred into fried rice and soups, spooned beside every meal at warung tables nationwide, and the base for more complex cooked sambals. Making it fresh tastes brighter and fruitier than any jar. Chef's tip: wear gloves and pound rather than blitz if you can — crushing releases the oils and gives a juicier, more fragrant sambal than chopping blades.

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Samkeh harraBaked fish with spicy tahini

Samkeh harra, 'hot fish', is the pride of Tripoli and the fishing towns of northern Lebanon, where it is made with a whole sea bream or sea bass on Fridays and for summer lunches by the sea. The fish is baked, then covered with a fiery sauce of tahini, lemon, garlic, chilli and lots of coriander and returned to the oven until bubbling. Walnuts on top are a Tripoli touch. It is eaten warm or at room temperature with bread and a green salad. Chef's tip: loosen the tahini with lemon juice first, then water; it will seize and turn thick before it turns smooth, so keep whisking.

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Vegetable samlor korkoVegetable and green papaya soup

Samlor korko is called the national soup of Cambodia, cooked in villages from Battambang to Kampot and eaten at lunch with a bowl of rice. Its name means 'stirring soup', because the cook stands over the pot moving the vegetables as they go in one by one: green papaya, pumpkin, aubergine, long beans and leafy greens, all in a thin, herb-scented broth thickened with a spoonful of ground toasted rice. Prahok usually gives it its funk; fermented soybean paste and a little soy give depth here, and the soup stays light and full of vegetables. Chef's tip: toast the rice slowly until it is the colour of a hazelnut shell; that nutty smell is the backbone of the soup.

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SangaCorn and greens in palm cream

Sanga is a home dish of the Beti people around Yaoundé in the Centre region of Cameroon, made in the maize season: young corn is grated off the cob and cooked with finely shredded njama njama (huckleberry leaves) and the orange pulp pressed from palm nuts. It is eaten warm from a bowl, sometimes with a little sugar stirred in. Spinach and tinned palm nut concentrate make a good version abroad. Chef's tip: grate the kernels off the cob rather than slicing them; the milky pulp is what thickens sanga.

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Sangkhya lapovCustard-filled steamed pumpkin

Sangkhya lapov is the showpiece of a Cambodian dessert stall: a squat green pumpkin, hollowed out, filled with an egg, coconut and palm sugar custard and steamed whole, then cut into wedges so every slice shows a band of orange flesh around a creamy caramel-coloured centre. In Phnom Penh it is sold by the slice at night markets and made at home for weddings and Pchum Ben. A small kabocha of about 1 kg is ideal. Chef's tip: cool it completely, ideally overnight in the fridge, before slicing; warm custard is soft and slumps out of the pumpkin.

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SantulaMildly spiced mixed vegetables

Santula is everyday Odia comfort food, the dish cooks in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack make when someone is unwell or when the family wants something light after festival meals. Papaya, potato, aubergine, pumpkin and raw banana are boiled with turmeric, then given a quick tempering of panch phoron, garlic and dried chilli in a little oil, and finished, in many homes, with a spoon of milk. It is soft, mild and slightly soupy, and eaten with rice and dal. Chef's tip: boil the vegetables only until just tender; santula should look like separate pieces, not a mash.

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Sara udonCrispy noodles with seafood sauce

Nagasaki's second famous noodle dish uses the same toppings as champon but turns them into a thick sauce poured over a plate of crunchy fried noodles. The name means plate udon, though the classic noodles are very thin and fried crisp. In Nagasaki homes it is a quick weekend lunch and a standard dish at family gatherings, and supermarkets there sell the fried noodle nests ready to use. People splash it with Worcestershire sauce at the table, and a dab of hot mustard is common too. Chef's tip: pour the sauce over at the very last moment and let the noodles soften slowly as you eat, so you get crisp and soft in every mouthful.

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Sardinhas assadasGrilled sardines

In June the steep lanes of Alfama and Mouraria fill with smoke during the Santos Populares, Lisbon's street festivals for Saint Anthony, and almost every grill is loaded with sardines. They are salted, grilled whole over charcoal until the skin blisters, and laid on a thick slice of country bread that soaks up their juices. Add roasted green peppers and a salad of tomato and onion, and that is the whole feast. Chef's tip: salt the sardines with coarse salt 30 minutes before grilling and keep them chilled; the salt firms the skin so it doesn't stick to the grill.

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Sarva pindiRice flour and peanut flatbread

Sarva pindi, also called ginne appa or tapala chekka, is a thick, crisp rice-flour bread from rural Telangana, pressed by hand into a heavy pan, studded with holes and baked slowly in oil until the base is golden and crunchy. The dough is full of soaked chana dal, peanuts, sesame, green chilli, curry leaves and coriander, so every bite is savoury and nutty. It is the snack that waits on the stove when children come home from school, and a favourite for Sankranti and long train journeys because it keeps well. Chef's tip: press the dough into a cold pan, not a hot one; it spreads evenly and the holes stay open as it heats.

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Sata andagiOkinawan doughnuts

In the Okinawan language, sata andagi simply means 'sugar deep-fried'. These round doughnuts came from Chinese sweets brought to the old Ryukyu kingdom and have been a family treat on the islands for centuries, made for celebrations and sold warm in paper bags at Naha's Makishi market. They are dense and cakey inside with a thick, crunchy crust, and as they fry they split open into a shape Okinawans call a smile, a sign of good luck. Okinawa's dark kokuto sugar gives them a caramel flavour; brown sugar works too. Chef's tip: fry in oil that is only warm, about 150°C. Slow frying lets the balls cook through and crack open, while hot oil seals them shut and leaves the middle raw.

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Satay (Kajang)Chicken satay

The town of Kajang, just south of Kuala Lumpur, built its name on satay, and evenings there still smell of lemongrass smoke drifting from long charcoal troughs. Kajang skewers are cut in larger chunks than most, soaked in a yellow marinade of turmeric, lemongrass, cumin and fennel, and grilled while being basted with oil brushed on through a lemongrass stalk. They come with a chunky, sweet-spicy peanut sauce, cubes of compressed rice (nasi impit), raw onion and cucumber. Order them by the dozen with friends as a starter or a whole supper. Chef's tip: thread a small piece of chicken skin or fat between the meat on each skewer; it melts over the coals and keeps the satay juicy.

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Sate lilitMinced fish skewers

When a Balinese village gets ready for a temple festival, the men gather the night before to chop, pound and mix sate lilit, while the women prepare the offerings. 'Lilit' means to wrap: instead of threaded chunks, a soft mixture of minced fish, grated coconut and base genep spice paste is moulded around lemongrass stalks or flat bamboo sticks and grilled over coconut-husk embers. The result is tender and lightly springy inside, browned and smoky outside, with the lemongrass perfuming every bite. Eat them hot with rice, sambal matah and a wedge of lime. Chef's tip: knead the mixture firmly until it feels sticky and chill it before shaping, or it will slide off the sticks on the grill.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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