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Tutti frutti
Featured recipe

Tutti frutti

Mixed fruit juice

A jewel-bright juice of strawberries, peaches, red grapes, kiwi, pomegranate and passion fruit. Sweet, tangy and full of fruit, it's a treat for children and grown-ups alike. Serve cold or at room temperature.

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Gansu jiangshui noodlesNoodles in tangy fermented vegetable broth

Tianshui and other towns in Gansu keep a crock of jiangshui going all summer: a pale, sour liquid made by fermenting greens in starchy noodle water. It is heated with chilli, Sichuan pepper and garlic chives and poured over hand-cut noodles, a cooling, refreshing bowl that people say beats the heat. The ferment takes 3–4 days in a warm kitchen, then keeps going for weeks if you top it up. Chef's tip: a spoonful of sauerkraut brine jump-starts the first batch, so it sours cleanly instead of growing off-flavours.

40 minChinesePasta & NoodlesVeganSpicy
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Gamja ongsimiPotato dumpling soup

Ongsimi (옹심이) means 'little bird egg' in the Gangwon dialect, and it describes the small, chewy dumplings that Gangneung cooks make from grated potato and its own starch. Gangwon's mountains grow more potatoes than rice, and ongsimi restaurants around Gangneung still serve the dumplings in plain anchovy or kelp broth with courgette, sometimes with knife-cut noodles added. This version uses kelp and shiitake, so it is vegan and gluten free if you season with tamari. The dumplings are translucent, slippery and springy, nothing like gnocchi. Chef's tip: let the potato water stand until the white starch settles at the bottom, then add every bit of that starch back to the grated potato; it is what makes the dumplings chewy.

55 minKoreanSoupsVeganGluten free
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Gamja jeonPotato pancakes

On rainy afternoons in Gangwon province, roadside stalls and mountain trail restaurants fry gamja jeon (감자전): pancakes of nothing but grated potato, salt and a few slices of chilli, fried in plenty of oil until the edges turn lacy and glassy-crisp while the middle stays soft and chewy. It is a different thing from a Western rösti, made from a wet purée rather than shreds. Eat them hot with a sharp soy dipping sauce and a bowl of makgeolli or barley tea. Chef's tip: press each pancake thin with the back of a spoon as soon as it hits the pan; thick ones stay gluey inside.

25 minKoreanSnacks & StartersVegan
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Dal bhatLentils, rice and vegetables

Across Nepal, from Terai farmhouses to trekking lodges below Everest, dal bhat is not a dish so much as the meal itself, eaten twice a day, late morning and early evening, often with the words "dal bhat power, 24 hour". The plate is always the same idea: a mound of plain rice (bhat), a thin, soupy lentil dal scented with jimbu (a dried Himalayan allium) fried in ghee, a dry vegetable tarkari, a little stir-fried greens when there are some, and a sharp spoonful of achar. You pour the dal over the rice and mix it by hand, a little at a time, with bites of curry and pickle. Most newcomers make the dal too thick; Nepali dal should run off the spoon like a light soup so it soaks the rice. Chef's tip: fry the jimbu in the hot ghee only until it darkens a shade and smells of garlicky onion, about 10 seconds, then pour it straight into the dal and cover the pan to trap the aroma.

60 minNepaliCurriesGluten free
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Gambas al ajilloGarlic prawns

Walk into a bar near Madrid's Plaza Mayor or Puerta del Sol and you will hear gambas al ajillo before you see them: peeled prawns still spitting in a small terracotta cazuela of olive oil, sliced garlic and dried chilli. They arrive at the table bubbling, with a basket of bread for mopping up the golden oil, which many people think is the best part. At home it takes ten minutes and works as a tapa for four or a quick supper for two. Chef's tip: pat the prawns completely dry with kitchen paper before they go in, so they sizzle in the oil instead of stewing in their own water.

15 minSpanishFishGluten free
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Torta fritaFried dough discs

In Uruguay, a grey rainy afternoon has one answer: torta frita and mate. These thin discs of dough, pierced with a hole in the middle, are fried until puffed and golden and either sprinkled with sugar or eaten plain, still hot, between sips passed around the circle. In Montevideo you'll smell them from street stalls on wet days; at home they're made with butter or beef fat, here with butter. Chef's tip: the hole in the middle isn't decoration; it lets the centre cook through at the same speed as the edges.

30 minParaguayanSnacks & Starters
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DooghSalted yogurt drink

Doogh is the salty, fizzy yogurt drink served in tall glasses with lunch across Iran, and above all with kebab and rice at the chelow-kababi restaurants of Tehran. Bottled sparkling doogh from the mineral springs of Abali, in the mountains east of the capital, is the famous one; at home it is mixed from yogurt, cold water and soda water with crumbled dried mint, and sometimes wild pennyroyal (kakuti) or rose petals. Its bubbles and mint set it apart from plainer, still yogurt drinks. It is cooling and good with rich, herby food. Chef's tip: add the sparkling water last and stir gently, or the fizz disappears before it reaches the glass.

5 minPersianDrinksGluten free
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Wiener SchnitzelBreaded veal cutlet

In Vienna's old Beisl taverns the Schnitzel arrives so large it hangs over the plate: a veal escalope beaten thin, coated in flour, egg and fine breadcrumbs and fried in plenty of hot fat while the pan is swirled, so the crumb lifts away from the meat in golden waves. Austrian law keeps the name 'Wiener Schnitzel' for veal; the pork version, very common in German homes, is called Schnitzel Wiener Art and is cooked exactly the same way. Serve it with a lemon wedge, lingonberry jam and potato salad. The most common mistake is pressing the crumbs firmly onto the meat, which stops the coating from puffing. Chef's tip: shake off the crumbs and lay the cutlet in only when the fat is hot enough that a crumb sizzles at once.

32 minGermanMeat
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Dongbei da la piMung bean sheet salad

In north-east China, a big platter of this arrives at almost every family dinner and restaurant table, often next to the stews and dumplings. Wide, glassy sheets of mung-bean starch sit on a bed of shredded cucumber, carrot and cabbage, with a sesame, garlic and vinegar sauce and a dab of mustard poured over at the table. It's cool, slippery and crunchy. Look for dried la pi sheets or wide mung-bean noodles in Chinese supermarkets. Chef's tip: the sheet noodles must be fully cold before mixing, or they go soft and sticky.

25 minChineseSaladsVegan
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Tortang talongAubergine omelette

Tortang talong is a weekday lunch in Filipino homes from Luzon to Visayas, the dish a mother makes when the fridge holds only a few eggs and some long aubergines from the market. The aubergines are charred whole over a gas flame until the skin blackens and the flesh goes smoky and soft, then peeled (the stem left on as a handle), flattened into a fan with a fork, dipped in seasoned egg and fried until golden. The result is a thin, smoky omelette shaped like an aubergine. Filipinos eat it with rice and banana ketchup or a dish of vinegar with garlic. Chef's tip: char the aubergines right on the flame, not in the oven; that smoky taste is the whole dish.

25 minFilipinoVegetarianGluten free
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DomodaBeef and peanut stew

Domoda is the stew that most families in the Gambia, from Banjul to the riverside villages upcountry, cook several times a week. Beef is browned and simmered with tomato and onion, then smooth peanut butter is stirred in until the sauce turns thick, glossy and rich, with pumpkin and sweet potato melting into it. It is spooned over white rice with a squeeze of lime, and a scotch bonnet floats in the pot for whoever likes it hot. The mistake to avoid is adding the peanut butter too early and leaving it unstirred, as it catches and burns on the bottom; add it once the beef is nearly tender and stir often. Chef's tip: whisk the peanut butter with a ladle of hot broth before it goes in, so it melts smoothly instead of forming lumps.

125 minSenegaleseMeatGluten free
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Domatesli bulgur pilavıTomato bulgur pilaf

Across Turkey, from Anatolian village kitchens to Istanbul lunch counters (esnaf lokantası), a pot of bulgur pilaf sits beside beans, stuffed vegetables and yogurt as reliably as bread does. Coarse bulgur (pilavlık bulgur) is cooked with onion, sweet pepper paste, grated tomato and a green pepper until every grain is separate, tender and lightly reddish. It is nuttier and chewier than rice pilaf and ready in half an hour, which is why so many families make it on weeknights. Spoon it next to kuru fasulye, cacık or a simple salad, or eat a bowl on its own with a dollop of yogurt. Chef's tip: once the water is absorbed, lay a clean tea towel under the lid and let the pilaf rest off the heat for 10 minutes; the towel catches the steam so the grains turn fluffy instead of wet.

30 minTurkishRice & GrainsVegan
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Dolma batataStuffed potatoes in chickpea sauce

Dolma batata belongs to the Algiers home kitchen, where it is a Ramadan favourite and a Friday dish: hollowed potatoes filled with beef mince, onion, parsley and cinnamon, fried until golden, then simmered in a pale sauce (marqa beida) of onion, chickpeas, black pepper and cinnamon. The sauce stays white because no tomato goes in. The mistake is hollowing the potatoes too thinly, so they split in the pot; leave walls about 1 cm thick. Chef's tip: fry the scooped-out potato flesh and add it to the sauce to thicken it.

95 minAlgerianMeatGluten free
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Polenta with mushroomsPolenta with garlic mushrooms

In the Veneto and the mountain valleys of the north-east, polenta is the old daily staple, poured steaming onto a wooden board in the middle of the table. Its classic autumn partner is funghi trifolati: mushrooms sautéed with garlic, parsley and a splash of white wine until glossy and deeply savoury. Soft polenta is spooned into bowls with the mushrooms on top, a warming supper for a cold night. Chef's tip: whisk the cornmeal into the water in a thin stream; if it goes in all at once, it lumps and no amount of stirring will fix it.

40 minItalianRice & GrainsGluten free
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Tortellini in brodoTortellini in broth

Christmas Day in Bologna and Modena begins at the kitchen table, with whole families folding hundreds of tortellini no bigger than a fingertip around a filling of pork loin, mortadella, prosciutto and parmigiano. They are served in a clear, golden broth made from capon, or from chicken and beef, simmered so gently it barely moves. The pasta should be thin enough to see the filling through, and the little rings bob in the bowl with a spoonful of parmigiano on top. It is a full afternoon's work, so make the broth and tortellini a day ahead and freeze any extras on a floured tray; on a busy weeknight, 500 g of good bought tortellini simmered in the homemade broth is a perfectly respectable shortcut. A common mistake is letting the broth boil: it turns cloudy and greasy instead of clear. Chef's tip: make the filling the day before and keep it in the fridge; it firms up and is much easier to dot onto the tiny squares.

240 minItalianSoups
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Gallo pintoRice and black beans

Gallo pinto means 'spotted rooster', for the speckled look of rice tossed with beans, and both Costa Rica and Nicaragua claim it. In Costa Rica it's black beans with plenty of coriander and a tangy brown sauce, served at breakfast with eggs, sour cream and fried plantain; in Nicaragua red beans are fried harder with onion until the rice turns rusty. This version follows the Costa Rican breakfast table and gets its tang from cumin and a little soy sauce. Chef's tip: use rice cooked the day before and keep a cup of the bean cooking liquid; that dark liquid is what colours the rice.

25 minCentral AmericanBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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Pollo a la brasaRoast chicken with green chilli sauce

Born in the 1950s in Chaclacayo, just east of Lima, this rotisserie chicken has grown into a national obsession, with its own holiday on the third Sunday of July and a pollería on almost every block. The bird is marinated in soy sauce, lime, garlic, cumin and ají panca, then roasted until the skin is lacquered and dark. At home a hot oven does the job, and the meal is not complete without chips, a simple salad and a jar of creamy green ají sauce. Chef's tip: dry the skin well and leave the chicken uncovered in the fridge overnight after marinating; it roasts up much crisper.

105 minPeruvianChicken
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Dal baati churmaLentil dal with baked wheat balls

Dal baati churma is the dish every Rajasthani wedding and festival is built around. Baati are hard, round wheat breads, traditionally buried in desert embers, cracked open and drowned in ghee; they are eaten with panchmel dal made from five lentils and with churma, baati crumbs sweetened with sugar and cardamom. The joy is in the contrast: crunchy and soft, spicy and sweet, all rich with ghee. Serve with sliced onion, green chillies and lime. Chef's tip: rub the ghee into the baati flour until a handful holds its shape when squeezed; that shortening is what makes the baati crumbly inside instead of bready.

90 minIndianCurries
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GalhoRice and vegetable porridge

Galho is Nagaland's comfort food, a soft, loose rice porridge cooked with seasonal vegetables, greens, ginger and chilli, sometimes thickened with a spoon of fermented soybean (axone). In Kohima homes it is the dish for cold evenings and for anyone unwell, and in restaurants it is often made with pork; this vegetarian version uses mushrooms and axone for savour. It sits somewhere between khichdi and congee, thick but spoonable. Chef's tip: stir only occasionally; galho should be soupy with distinct grains, not a smooth paste.

50 minIndianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Pol sambolCoconut and chilli relish

Pol sambol sits on the table at almost every Sri Lankan meal, from breakfast hoppers and string hoppers in a Kandy home to a rice packet bought at a roadside kade. Grandmothers grind it on a stone (miris gala) so the chilli and onion bruise into the coconut, and it turns a bright brick red, hot, sour and salty all at once. Most island recipes add a spoonful of Maldive fish (dried tuna flakes); we leave it out to keep it vegetarian and add a little extra onion and lime for depth. A common mistake is using dried desiccated coconut straight from the packet, which tastes dusty; fresh or frozen grated coconut gives the proper moist texture. Chef's tip: rub the chilli, onion and salt together first with your fingers until they turn juicy, then work in the coconut so every flake turns red.

10 minSri LankanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Galette complèteBuckwheat crêpe with ham and egg

In every crêperie in Brittany, from Rennes to Quimper, the first thing most people order is the complète: a lacy buckwheat galette folded square around ham, melted cheese and an egg, eaten for lunch or a casual dinner with a bowl of dry cider. Contains pork (ham). The batter is just buckwheat flour, water, salt and an egg, so the galette has no wheat; some buckwheat flour is milled alongside wheat, so check the packet if you avoid gluten. A cup of apple juice is a good alcohol-free partner. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge; it thickens and the galettes cook up thinner and crisper.

40 minFrenchBreakfast & Brunch
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Pol rotiCoconut flatbread with onion

Pol roti is the hearty coconut flatbread that rural Sri Lankans eat for breakfast or an evening meal, cooked on a flat iron pan (thachchi) and torn up with lunu miris, parippu or a spicy potato curry; you'll see it stacked in glass cases in kades from Anuradhapura to Matara. Wheat flour is mixed with lots of freshly grated coconut, finely chopped onion and green chilli, and the dough is patted out thick by hand, so the roti come out chewy, with toasted coconut flecks and a sweet, savoury smell. The common mistake is rolling them thin: pol roti should be a good 1 cm thick and soft inside. Chef's tip: pat each roti out on a banana leaf or oiled baking paper and flip it straight onto the pan; it's too soft and crumbly to lift any other way.

30 minSri LankanBreads & ParathasVegan
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Poisson braiséCharcoal-grilled fish

On the roadside grills of Douala and Yaoundé, women split tilapia or mackerel, smear them with a green paste of ginger, garlic, onion and herbs, and grill them over charcoal while people wait with a cold drink; it is late-evening food, eaten with fried plantain, bobolo (cassava sticks) or miondo and a fiery tomato pepper sauce. At home a very hot grill or a barbecue does the job. The mistake is turning the fish too early, so it sticks and breaks: wait until the skin is crisp and releases. Chef's tip: oil the fish and the grill bars, not just one of them.

55 minCameroonianFishGluten free
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Polos curryYoung green jackfruit curry

Polos is the tiny unripe jackfruit picked in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces long before it sweetens, and cooked low and slow it becomes one of the island's most loved festival curries, especially at Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April and at wedding lunches. The firm, pale flesh soaks up a very dark roasted curry powder, garlic, ginger, goraka (a smoky souring fruit) and coconut milk until it turns almost black-brown and tastes rich, sour and meaty. Fresh polos is hard to find abroad; tinned young green jackfruit in brine works well. A frequent mistake is not cooking it long enough, which leaves it squeaky; the pieces must be soft enough to break with a spoon. Chef's tip: oil your hands and knife before cutting fresh jackfruit; the sticky white sap washes off oiled skin but not dry skin.

75 minSri LankanCurriesVeganGluten freeSpicy
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PljeskavicaLarge grilled meat patty

Leskovac, in southern Serbia, holds a whole grill festival every September in honour of pljeskavica, and Belgrade's street kiosks sell it day and night in a lepinja flatbread with chopped onion, kajmak and urnebes, a fiery cheese spread. It is a broad, thin patty of mixed beef and pork with onion and paprika, grilled hard and fast. The 'gourmet' version, gurmanska pljeskavica, hides cheese and bacon in the middle, and that is the version given here. This recipe contains pork. A common error is pressing the patties on the grill with a spatula: the juices drain away and they dry out. Chef's tip: press a shallow dimple into the centre of each patty with your thumb before grilling; it stops them doming up as they shrink.

40 minBalkanMeat
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PogácsaCheese savoury scones

Pogácsa are small, round, flaky savoury scones that appear on every Hungarian buffet table, at weddings, christening parties and wine tastings in Tokaj and Villány, where they are eaten with a glass of white. Bakeries sell them by weight, and every region has its own: with crackling, potato, cabbage or, like these, butter, sour cream and cheese. The dough is folded a few times, so they split into tender layers, and the top is scored in a criss-cross before baking. Chef's tip: cut straight down with a sharp cutter and don't twist; twisting seals the edges and the pogácsa rise lopsided. Use a cheese made with vegetarian rennet.

60 minHungarianBaking
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DohneiiongPork in black sesame gravy

The name says it plainly in Khasi: 'doh' is meat and 'neiiong' is black sesame. In the Khasi Hills around Shillong this near-black pork curry is cooked for family feasts and Sunday meals, and its roasted, nutty flavour is unlike any other curry in India. The sesame is toasted and ground into a paste that thickens the gravy and coats the pork. Serve with plain rice or jadoh. Chef's tip: pork belly gives the silkiest result; mix it half and half with shoulder if you prefer it less rich.

90 minIndianMeatGluten free
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GalaktobourekoSemolina custard in fillo

Galaktoboureko is the grand dessert of Greek pastry shops: a thick layer of silky semolina custard baked between sheets of buttered fillo, then soaked with cold lemon and cinnamon syrup the moment it leaves the oven. It's bought by the tray for Sunday lunches, name days and Easter, and eaten slightly warm or at room temperature with coffee. The top shatters, the syrup pools at the edges and the custard stays creamy. It takes patience but no special skill. Chef's tip: pour cold syrup over the hot pie (or hot over cold), never hot on hot; that common mistake leaves the pastry soggy instead of crisp.

90 minGreekDesserts
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PomBaked chicken and grated pomtajer

Pom is Suriname's celebration dish, baked for birthdays and holidays in Paramaribo and by the Surinamese community in the Netherlands: a layer of grated pomtajer root (a type of taro) mixed with citrus juice, then a layer of chicken stewed with onion, tomato, nutmeg and pickled peppers, then more pomtajer, baked until the top is golden. It is usually eaten on a roll as a "broodje pom". The mistake is skipping the citrus: pomtajer must be mixed with orange or lime juice, which gives the dish its fragrance. Chef's tip: frozen grated pomtajer from Surinamese or Caribbean shops saves the hard grating; if you can't find it, use grated taro or a mix of taro and potato.

160 minGuyaneseChickenGluten free
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Plátanos en molePlantains in chocolate chilli sauce

Guatemala's mole is not the savoury Mexican sauce but a dessert: fried sweet plantains bathed in a dark sauce of chocolate, tomato, a gentle dried chilli, sesame, pumpkin seeds and cinnamon. It appears at Christmas and during Semana Santa, and in the market comedores of Guatemala City all year, eaten warm with a sprinkle of toasted sesame. It's sweet, spiced and only faintly hot. Chef's tip: use Guatemalan or Mexican-style table chocolate (grainy, with sugar and cinnamon) if you can find it; with dark eating chocolate, add a little more sugar.

55 minCentral AmericanDessertsVeganGluten free
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XalwoCardamom halwa

Xalwo is the sweet of Somali celebrations: weddings, Eid and the arrival of guests are all marked with a tray of this dark, glossy, chewy confection, cut into diamonds and served with coffee or spiced tea. Sugar is caramelised, then cooked slowly with cornflour and oil or ghee while the cook stirs without stopping until it pulls away from the pan. It is a cousin of Omani and Yemeni halwa. Chef's tip: stir constantly and keep going until the oil starts to separate and shine on the surface; stopped early, xalwo stays soft and does not set.

70 minSomaliDessertsGluten free
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PoffertjesMini puffed pancakes

The smell of poffertjes drifts across every Dutch kermis (funfair), Christmas market and summer street festival, where they are flipped by the hundred on a cast-iron plate full of shallow hollows. They are tiny, puffy, yeasted pancakes made partly with buckwheat, served a dozen at a time on a cardboard dish with a slab of melting butter and a snowfall of icing sugar. At home you need a poffertjespan, a pan with small round dips; a Danish æbleskiver pan is too deep. Chef's tip: put the batter in a squeeze bottle or a piping bag; filling 30 hollows quickly by spoon is almost impossible, and the first ones burn while you fill the last.

45 minDutchDesserts
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Pondicherry fish assadFish in coconut milk curry

In Puducherry, the former French enclave on the Tamil coast, Creole families of mixed Tamil and French descent cook a fish curry that is softer and creamier than anything else along that shore. Assad is mild and pale, fragrant with fennel, pepper and curry leaves, with the fish poached in thin coconut milk and finished with a thick, rich pour. It is a Sunday-lunch and Christmas dish in these homes, eaten with plain rice or a crusty loaf from the town's bakeries. Chef's tip: add the thick coconut milk only at the very end and keep the curry below a boil, so it stays silky and white.

40 minIndianFishGluten free
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PootharekuluPaper-thin rice sheet sweets

Pootharekulu ('coated sheets') come from Atreyapuram village in the Godavari district, where women make translucent rice-starch films by dipping a cloth in batter and wiping it over a hot, upturned clay pot. Those whisper-thin sheets are then layered with ghee and powdered sugar or jaggery and folded into neat parcels that melt on the tongue. True rekulu need the special pot and years of practice, so this home method spreads a very thin rice batter on an upturned wok or non-stick pan and peels off the dried film. Sheets can also be bought ready-made in Indian shops; then just do the filling. Chef's tip: work with the sheets dry; brush ghee on, never sugar syrup, or they turn soggy and tear.

90 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Plăcintă cu brânzăCheese and dill pies

In Moldavia, on both sides of the Prut, plăcintă means a flat round pie fried or baked on a griddle, and the cheese and dill one is what grandmothers in Iași and Chișinău make for weekend breakfasts and for guests at the door. A soft, stretchy dough is pulled thin, wrapped around salty cheese with fresh dill and egg, coiled into a snail and flattened, then cooked in a pan until blistered and crisp. They are eaten hot with a glass of sour milk or tea. Chef's tip: rest the oiled dough properly so it stretches without tearing; skipping the rest is the common mistake and you'll be fighting a springy dough that leaks its filling.

75 minRomanianBreads & Parathas
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Pla rad prikFried fish with chilli sauce

A whole fried fish blanketed in glossy red chilli sauce is the centrepiece of many family celebrations and riverside restaurant meals in central Thailand. The sauce is known as sam rot, 'three flavours', because palm sugar, tamarind and fish sauce are balanced against pounded chillies and garlic; spooned over a fish fried until its skin crackles and the fins crunch like crisps, it turns sticky and shiny. Sea bass (pla kapong) is the usual choice, though snapper or tilapia work well too. Bring it to the table with jasmine rice, a stir-fried green vegetable and a clear soup to share. Chef's tip: score the fish down to the bone on both sides and pat it bone-dry, so the heat reaches the thickest part and the oil doesn't spit.

45 minThaiFishSpicy
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DakosBarley rusk with tomato and cheese

Dakos is Crete's favourite summer meze: a round, hard barley rusk softened with a sprinkle of water, piled with grated ripe tomato and crumbled cheese, then drenched in olive oil and dusted with oregano. On the island it's made with soft, tangy mizithra and eaten in the afternoon with a glass of raki, but feta works well. The rusk drinks up the tomato juice and oil while keeping a little crunch. Look for barley rusks (paximadia) in Greek or Middle Eastern shops. Chef's tip: wet the rusk lightly, just enough to take the edge off; soaking it is the common mistake and it falls apart before you can eat it.

10 minGreekSalads
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XawaashSomali spice blend

Xawaash (pronounced 'ha-wash') is the spice mix every Somali kitchen keeps in a jar, used in rice, soups, stews, sambuusa fillings and even tea. Families toast and grind their own, often in quantity before Ramadan, and the balance of warm cumin, earthy coriander and sweet cardamom and cinnamon varies from house to house. It is different from Yemeni hawaij and Ethiopian berbere: there is no chilli in it. Chef's tip: toast each spice only until it darkens a shade and smells warm; burnt cumin turns the whole jar bitter.

11 minSomaliBasicsVeganGluten free
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Pork sisigSizzling chopped pork

Sisig comes from Angeles City in Pampanga, where cooks turned pig's head and ears into a sizzling, sour, peppery bar snack that is now on almost every Filipino menu. This home version is pork, using pork belly (and pig's ears if your butcher has them) that is boiled, grilled until charred, then chopped finely and fried with onion, chilli and calamansi juice. It arrives at the table crackling on a hot cast-iron plate, often with a raw egg stirred in. Eat it with rice, or as pulutan with drinks; a cold calamansi juice works as well. Chef's tip: chop the pork small but not to mince; you want little crisp edges and chewy bits in every spoonful.

110 minFilipinoMeatSpicy
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Pork tocinoSweet cured pork

In Pampanga, tocino is breakfast: thin slices of pork shoulder in a sweet, garlicky marinade, fried until the sugar caramelises at the edges, then served with garlic fried rice and a fried egg as 'tosilog'. Shop tocino is often bright pink from curing salts; this home version leaves those out, so it is a sweet marinated pork rather than a true cure, gets its warm red colour from annatto and paprika, and must be kept in the fridge and cooked within 3 days (or frozen). Look for pork with a little fat running through it so it stays juicy. Chef's tip: start it in a splash of water; the pork simmers through first, then the sugar glazes once the water is gone, so it doesn't burn before it's cooked.

35 minFilipinoMeatGluten free
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Pla kapong tod nam plaFried sea bass with fish sauce

Seafood restaurants on the jetties of Krabi, Trang and Hua Hin bring this out whole on a long platter, its scored sides fanned open and crackling, as the centrepiece of a shared table. The skin and fins fry so crisp you can eat them, while the flesh inside stays moist and sweet; a sticky glaze of fish sauce and palm sugar goes over at the last minute. It is salty-sweet rather than spicy, so it sits happily beside a sour green mango salad, a hot curry and plenty of jasmine rice. Chef's tip: dry the fish thoroughly with kitchen paper, inside the cuts too, and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 30 minutes if you can; dry skin is crisp skin and spits far less.

40 minThaiFishGluten free
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Porotos granadosFresh bean, pumpkin and corn stew

Porotos granados is what central Chile cooks when the fresh beans arrive in late summer: tender cranberry beans shelled at the kitchen table, simmered with pumpkin until it collapses into a thick orange sauce, then finished with grated corn and basil. Families in the Valle Central eat it on hot days, often with pebre and a tomato salad; when the corn is blended in larger amounts it's called 'con mazamorra'. It's hearty but fresh-tasting, and fully plant-based. Chef's tip: add the corn only in the last 10 minutes; it's there to thicken and sweeten, and overcooked it turns floury.

65 minChileanVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Doh khliehBoiled pork salad

Doh khlieh is the cool, sharp side dish that sits next to jadoh on almost every Khasi table in Meghalaya. Tender boiled pork is chopped small and tossed with raw onion, ginger, green chilli and lime, so it is fresh and fiery rather than rich. In Shillong it is eaten at lunch and at gatherings, and some families add boiled pork brain, which this version leaves out. Chef's tip: chop the pork while it is still slightly warm; it takes up the lime and ginger much better.

60 minIndianSaladsGluten freeSpicy
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YukjeonEgg-battered fried beef

In Gwangju, yukjeon is a restaurant meal in its own right: the server sits by a hot plate at your table and fries slice after slice of egg-coated beef, handing them over while they're still sizzling. Elsewhere in Korea it's more often a festive pancake, made for Chuseok and Lunar New Year along with other jeon. The beef is cut very thin, so it cooks in the time it takes the egg to set. Gwangju places serve it with a sharp salad of finely shredded spring onion and a little salt and sesame oil for dipping. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for 40 minutes before slicing; firm meat is easy to cut into slices 2 to 3 mm thick.

25 minKoreanMeat
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PortokalopitaOrange fillo cake

Portokalopita is a Greek orange cake with an unusual trick: instead of flour, it uses dried, torn fillo pastry, which soaks up an orange yogurt batter and then a hot orange syrup. It became a favourite in Greek homes in the 1990s and is now baked for coffee mornings, Sunday visits and village festivals across the country. The texture is like a moist sponge with crisp edges, very orangey and not too sweet. It keeps beautifully, so it is perfect for making the day before. Chef's tip: dry the fillo properly until crisp; using it soft is the usual mistake and gives a heavy, gummy cake.

75 minGreekBaking
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Gai yangGrilled lemongrass chicken

Bus stations and football matches across Isan have the same soundtrack: the crackle of chicken pieces clamped in split bamboo over glowing coals, and the thump of a pestle making som tam beside them. Gai yang is marinated in garlic, coriander root, white pepper and lemongrass, then grilled slowly so the skin turns lacquered and smoky while the meat stays juicy. Tear it apart with your hands and eat it with sticky rice, green papaya salad and a sour-hot jaew dipping sauce. Chef's tip: leave it in the marinade overnight in the fridge; the lemongrass and garlic need hours to get past the skin.

60 minThaiChickenGluten free
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Posta negra cartageneraBeef in dark panela sauce

Posta negra comes from the Caribbean coast, from Cartagena's old walled city and the towns around it, and it is what a family cooks for a birthday or a Sunday when the grandparents visit. A whole piece of beef is browned, then braised slowly with onion, a little cola-coloured panela (unrefined cane sugar) and Worcestershire-style sauce until the sauce turns nearly black and glossy, sweet and tangy at once. It is sliced and served with coconut rice, fried plantain and a tomato and onion salad. The most common mistake is letting the panela burn when caramelising: it should turn a deep mahogany and smell like toffee, not acrid smoke. Chef's tip: slice the meat across the grain only after it has rested, then return the slices to the sauce so they soak it up.

180 minColombianMeat
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Tostadas de frijolBean tostadas

Tostadas, crisp flat corn tortillas, are eaten all over Mexico as a quick meal or snack, and tostadas de frijol are the everyday vegetarian version: a thick smear of refried beans topped with shredded lettuce, tomato, avocado, crema and crumbled cheese. The contrast between the shattering crunch, the creamy beans and the cool, fresh toppings is the whole point. Buy ready-made corn tostadas, or bake your own from corn tortillas. Use queso fresco made with vegetarian rennet, or mild feta. Chef's tip: spread the beans warm and thick right to the edge; they act as glue for the toppings and stop the tostada from shattering when you bite it.

15 minMexicanSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Dabu-dabuFresh tomato and chilli salsa

Every table in Manado, North Sulawesi, has a bowl of dabu-dabu: diced tomato, shallot and red chilli with calamansi juice and lemon basil, sometimes dressed with hot oil. It is spooned over grilled food, fried tofu and the pumpkin porridge tinutuan, and its cool juiciness makes very hot chilli easier to take. Unlike Bali's sambal matah, it is built on tomato and stays chunky and wet. Chef's tip: salt the tomatoes and leave them 5 minutes before mixing, so they release juice that becomes the dressing.

10 minIndonesianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
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PiyazWhite bean salad with tahini

Antalya does piyaz its own way. Elsewhere in Turkey the bean salad is dressed with oil and vinegar, but on the Mediterranean coast the beans are folded through a pale, nutty sauce of tahini, lemon and vinegar, then crowned with sumac onions, tomato and parsley. Lunch canteens in the old town serve it on the side of almost everything, and at home it is a filling lunch with bread or a cool side on a hot evening. Tinned beans make it a fifteen-minute dish. Chef's tip: when the lemon hits the tahini it will seize into a stiff, grainy paste; don't panic, just keep beating in cold water a spoonful at a time and it turns silky.

15 minTurkishSaladsVeganGluten free
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TostonesTwice-fried green plantain

Tostones are the crisp golden discs of green plantain sold at every Cuban cafeteria and fried at home to go with rice, beans and mojo; along Colombia's coast and in Cali the same thing is called patacones and comes with hogao or ají on top. The plantain is fried once to soften, smashed flat, then fried again until the edges shatter while the middle stays starchy and tender. Eat them hot as a side or a snack. Chef's tip: use truly green, hard plantains; yellow ones turn sweet and soft and will never go crisp.

25 minCubanSidesVeganGluten free
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Pizza frittaFried pizza parcels

Pizza fritta is the street-food pizza of Naples: a disc of pizza dough folded over a filling and fried in hot oil until puffed and blistered, sold from kiosks in the Spanish Quarter and around Via dei Tribunali. It became popular after the war, when wood ovens were scarce and a pan of oil was all many cooks had. The classic filling has ricotta, smoked provola, tomato and pepper; pork crackling (cicoli) is often added, but not here. Chef's tip: seal the edge by pressing with your fingertips, not a fork, and leave a 2 cm border; a well-sealed parcel puffs like a pillow instead of bursting.

50 minItalianPizza
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Pithla with jowar bhakriGram flour curry with sorghum flatbread

In villages across the Deccan plateau of Maharashtra, pithla bhakri is what a farmer's family eats when the pantry is low and the day is long: a pan of gram flour simmered with garlic, green chilli and onion until it sets to a soft, spoonable curry, with thick jowar bhakri patted out by hand and a raw onion on the side. It became a symbol of rural Maharashtra, served at roadside stalls near Sinhagad fort to trekkers and at political rallies alike. Zunka, the dry version, uses the same flavours but is stirred until crumbly. Serve with thecha or a wedge of lemon. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into cold water before it meets the pan; that one step is the whole secret to a lump-free pithla.

50 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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ToumWhipped garlic sauce

Every shawarma and grill shop in Lebanon has a tub of toum, a fluffy, snow-white emulsion of garlic, lemon and neutral oil that tastes fiercely of fresh garlic. At home it is spread on roast potatoes, stirred into grilled vegetables, dabbed on falafel wraps and served with batata harra. It contains no egg: the garlic itself holds the emulsion, so the only trick is patience while the oil goes in. Chef's tip: halve each garlic clove and pull out any green shoot; the germ makes toum bitter and harsh.

15 minLebaneseChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Xi'an liangpiCold wheat starch noodles

In Xi'an's Muslim Quarter, cooks peel liangpi off steaming trays all day, cut it into wide ribbons and toss it with chilli oil, black vinegar, garlic water and cubes of springy gluten. It's eaten cold, often with a flatbread, as a summer lunch. Gansu's niangpi, from Lanzhou and Tianshui, is the same dish with thicker sheets and more garlic, so it's covered here too. You wash a flour dough to split the starch from the gluten, so allow 4 hours for the starch to settle. Chef's tip: stir the starch water every time before you ladle it, because the starch sinks fast.

100 minChinesePasta & NoodlesVeganSpicy
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PoticaWalnut and honey spiral cake

No Slovenian Easter or Christmas table is complete without potica, a yeasted dough rolled thin around a honeyed walnut filling and baked in a fluted ring mould called a potičnik. When sliced, each piece shows a tight spiral of pale dough and dark nuts. Families in Ljubljana and across Carniola argue about the best filling, but walnut with honey is the classic one, eaten with coffee from Christmas morning until the tin is empty. Unlike a braided Romanian cozonac, the beauty is all in the thin, even swirl. Chef's tip: spread the filling no thicker than the dough and roll it up tightly; a loose roll or a thick layer leaves a gap between dough and filling once baked, the most common potica fault.

210 minBalkanBaking
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TourtièreSpiced pork and beef pie

Tourtière is the meat pie of Quebec, served after midnight mass at the Christmas Eve réveillon and through the holidays, from Montreal to the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region (where a deep, layered version is also called tourtière). This dish contains pork. Minced pork and beef cook slowly with onion, a little potato and warm spices — cinnamon, cloves, allspice and savory — then are baked in a flaky double crust and served with ketchup or fruit chutney. The mistake is a wet filling that makes the bottom crust soggy; cook it until the liquid has almost gone and cool it before filling. Chef's tip: a grated potato in the filling soaks up the juices and holds the slices together.

120 minCanadianBaking
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Lamb potjiekosLamb and vegetable stew

Potjiekos is the long, sociable cook of South African weekends: a cast-iron three-legged pot (potjie) sits over a small fire for hours while friends talk around it, and the rule is that once the layers are in, nobody stirs. The lamb is browned at the bottom, then potatoes, carrots, butternut, green beans and mushrooms are stacked on top so the hardest vegetables are nearest the heat. A heavy casserole on the hob or in the oven works just as well. Some cooks add a glass of red wine or beer; this version uses stock only, and you may swap 150 ml of it for wine if you like. The mistake is stirring the pot, which turns the neat layers into mush. Chef's tip: add only a little liquid; the vegetables give off their own juice as they steam.

210 minSouth AfricanMeatGluten free
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Pouding chômeurCake baked in maple syrup

Pouding chômeur ('unemployed person's pudding') was created in Québec during the Depression of the 1930s, from the cheapest ingredients: flour, sugar, a little butter and hot syrup. As it bakes, the light batter rises through the syrup, which settles underneath as a rich caramel sauce. Today it's made with maple syrup and is a fixture of Québec sugar shacks (cabanes à sucre) in March and April, and of family Sunday dinners. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Chef's tip: pour the syrup on boiling hot and spoon the batter over in blobs; never stir them together.

50 minCanadianDesserts
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Gai tod Hat YaiSouthern fried chicken

Hat Yai, the busy trading city in Songkhla province near the Malaysian border, gave its name to Thailand's best-loved fried chicken: pieces marinated with coriander root, garlic and white pepper, fried in a thin rice-flour coat until deep bronze, then buried under a drift of crisp fried shallots. Stalls there sell it from early morning with sticky rice and sweet chilli sauce, and Bangkok vendors copy it on every soi. The skin is light and crackly rather than bready, the meat aromatic and well seasoned, and the shallots add sweetness and crunch. Children love it with the sauce on the side. Chef's tip: marinate overnight in the fridge so the coriander root and pepper reach right to the bone.

60 minThaiChicken
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PissaladièreOnion and anchovy tart

In the old town of Nice, pissaladière is sold by the square from bakeries and market stalls, a lunchtime slice or something to nibble with a drink before dinner. A thin bread dough is spread thickly with onions cooked down for almost an hour until soft and sweet, then crossed with salted anchovies and dotted with small black Niçoise olives. It is just as good at room temperature as warm. Chef's tip: cook the onions low and slow without letting them brown; they should be pale gold and jammy, not caramelised.

120 minFrenchBaking
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Poulet bicycletteGrilled free-range chicken

Across Burkina Faso and northern Côte d'Ivoire, "bicycle chicken" is the lean village chicken once carried to market strapped to the back of a bike; in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso it is grilled whole at open-air stalls in the evening and eaten with fries, attiéké or a chunk of bread. The birds are smaller and firmer than supermarket chicken, so a small free-range or poussin works best at home. The mistake is grilling a whole chicken over high heat from the start, which burns the outside before the inside is safe; start it on indirect heat or in the oven, then char it. Chef's tip: spatchcock the bird so it cooks evenly and fast.

80 minAfricanChickenGluten free
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Poulet DGChicken with plantain and vegetables

Poulet DG, short for "poulet directeur général", earned its name in Yaoundé in the 1980s as a dish rich enough for the boss; now it is the centrepiece at weddings and Sunday lunches across Cameroon. Chicken is browned and simmered with tomato, peppers, carrots and green beans, then fried ripe plantain is folded in at the end, so every mouthful is savoury and sweet. The mistake is stirring the plantain in too early, when it breaks up and goes mushy; add it in the last few minutes. Chef's tip: choose plantains that are yellow with lots of black spots, ripe enough to caramelise but still firm.

90 minCameroonianChickenGluten free
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