Every first Sunday of March, the 90-kilometre Vasaloppet ski race from Sälen to Mora is fuelled by blåbärssoppa: volunteers at the feeding stations hand thousands of skiers paper cups of the warm purple drink, and Swedes drink it from thermoses on winter hikes, after skating and on the ski slopes. It is made from wild bilberries, the small dark forest berries with purple flesh, cooked with sugar and thickened with potato starch so it is just thick enough to coat the cup. It is sweet, softly tart and tastes intensely of berries, with a silky, almost glossy body. The common mistake is stirring the starch straight into the hot pot: it forms jelly lumps at once. Always mix potato starch with cold water first, take the pot off the boil, then stir it in and bring back just to a bubble; long boiling thins it again. It is ready when it turns glossy and coats a spoon in a thin film. Bilberries are sold frozen in Nordic shops; cultivated blueberries work too, with a squeeze of lemon for sharpness. Chef's tip: it is just as good cold the next day, or served as a soup with whipped cream and almond biscuits.
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The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.
Golden, crackly spring rolls made with the book's home-made samosa pastry and filled with rice vermicelli, capsicum, carrot, celery and spring onion seasoned with chilli sauce and coriander. They are served hot with a sweet, sharp dipping sauce of vinegar syrup, cucumber, red chilli and peanuts. A party favourite: make 15 and watch them go.
A sweet-and-savoury Thai fruit salad: crisp apple, banana, semi-ripe papaya and mango tossed in a coconut milk dressing sharpened with lime and warmed with fresh red chilli and a little red curry paste. Fresh coriander lifts it, and it is served chilled on lettuce leaves. Good as a starter, with a curry, or on its own on a hot day.
A crunchy, refreshing salad in the style of Thai som tam: shredded green (unripe) papaya, French beans and carrot, barely softened, then tossed with tamarind, lemon, garlic, chilli, soy sauce and sugar and finished with roasted peanuts. Sweet, sour, salty and hot all at once. Serve cold as a starter or with a curry and rice.
Aubergine, French beans, cauliflower and carrots are simmered gently in coconut milk until tender, then coated in a thick gravy of coconut cream, a fresh paste of spring onion, coriander root, red chilli, lemongrass, galangal and lime peel, and a finish of roasted peanuts and tamarind. Rich, tangy and fragrant. Serve hot with steamed rice.
A light, aromatic Thai-style soup of mixed vegetables simmered in a clear broth with lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, garlic, mint and soy sauce. It is fresh and fragrant rather than rich, and low in fat. Serve hot as a starter, sprinkled with fresh coriander.
A creamy, smoky dip of baked aubergine blended with tahini dip, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, a touch of chilli and olive oil. Sprinkled with parsley, it is perfect with toasted pitta or a plate of vegetable sticks as a starter or part of a mezze spread.
Soft rice noodles tossed with a colourful stir-fry of bean sprouts, carrot, snow peas, capsicum and celery, seasoned with red curry paste, soy sauce and a dash of vinegar. Crushed roasted peanuts, fresh mint and lemon wedges finish it. A quick, spicy one-wok meal.
A quick vegetarian fried rice: boiled rice tossed in a hot wok with garlic, ginger, red kidney beans, sweetcorn, fresh pineapple, tomato, soy sauce and black pepper. Served hot with chopped spring onions and cucumber. Thai dishes are best cooked close to serving time.
A light, no-cook party pudding: chopped lychees mixed with grated crystallised ginger, covered with whipped cream sweetened with icing sugar and more ginger, and decorated with mandarin segments. Fresh, cool and fragrant; chill before serving. Fresh de-seeded lychees work as well as tinned.
A rich, fragrant Thai soup: tofu strips, small aubergines, French beans and broccoli simmered in vegetable stock and coconut milk flavoured with red curry paste, lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, lime rind, garlic and fresh basil. Garnished with slit chillies and served hot. Cook it close to serving time, as Thai dishes don't reheat well. You can use a ready-made red curry paste (check it is free of shrimp paste) or make the paste ahead and freeze it.
Coarsely ground sweetcorn is bound with rice flour, soy sauce and red curry paste, shaped into little oval cutlets and deep-fried until crisp outside and soft and sweet inside. They come with a rich, gently spicy peanut sauce made from coconut milk and curry paste. Serve hot as a starter or a snack.
Cacık is the Turkish version of tzatziki: thick yogurt mixed with cucumber, onion, plenty of parsley, garlic and green chilli, seasoned with salt, white pepper and a pinch of sugar and finished with fresh mint. Cool and refreshing, ready in minutes. Serve with warm pitta bread, curries and rice dishes.
Small, soft pancakes made from plain flour, rice flour and semolina, sweetened with condensed milk and scented with mango, folded around a sticky filling of ripe mango, sugar and coconut. They are served cold with extra mango and a scoop of ice cream or fresh cream: a lovely make-ahead dessert for a party.
Thin, crackly rolls of buttered fillo pastry wrapped around a filling of walnuts, almonds, sugar, cinnamon and clove, baked until light golden and then bathed in a warm syrup scented with lemon rind, cinnamon and cloves. Like little baklava fingers, sweet and nutty. Serve with coffee or mint tea; they keep well for a few days.
A mild, fragrant Thai green curry made with a fresh paste of green chillies, garlic, lemongrass, coriander and lemon, simmered with coconut milk, a big mix of vegetables and soft cubes of paneer. The sauce is creamy and herby rather than fiery, and the vegetables keep a little bite. Serve hot with plain steamed rice or jasmine rice.
Crumbly, buttery biscuit dough is rolled out, spread with a soft date filling flavoured with cinnamon and lemon, rolled into logs, sliced and baked into pretty pinwheels. They make a big batch of 50 and keep well in an airtight tin. Serve with tea, or with ice cream as a dessert.
Cubes of tofu coated in seasoned cornflour and fried until crisp, then tossed quickly in a hot wok with sliced white onion, strips of red chilli, green chilli and garlic, and finished with plenty of spring onions. Spicy, crunchy and ready in minutes; serve straight away as a starter or with rice. Like most Thai dishes it is best cooked just before serving, as it doesn't reheat well.
A soft, moist cake made without eggs: self-raising flour and brown sugar are rubbed with butter, then mixed with milk and sour cream and studded with chopped dates, raisins and pistachios, with a warm hint of nutmeg and vanilla. Lovely with tea or served warm with cream.
Tamia is the Egyptian cousin of falafel: soaked raw chickpeas are ground with dill, coriander, onion, garlic, chilli and cumin, shaped into small patties, coated with sesame seeds and deep-fried until crisp and golden outside and green and fluffy inside. Serve hot with coconut and tamarind chutneys, or tuck them into pitta with salad.
Um Ali is Egypt's much-loved warm bread pudding. Here toasted bread is layered with bananas, pistachios, almonds, walnuts and raisins, then covered with saffron and cardamom milk mixed with sweetened whipped cream and baked until bubbling and golden. Rich, creamy and comforting; serve warm.
A dry Thai-style curried rice: cubes of tofu or paneer, carrots and French beans are fried with a home-made massaman paste of red chilli, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, lemongrass and lemon rind, then tossed through cooked rice. It is finished with roasted peanuts, crisp fried onions, spring onions and a squeeze of lime, so every mouthful is warm, aromatic and crunchy. A complete meal on its own.
A soft, spongy, low-calorie dhokra made from soaked black-eyed beans blended to a batter with fresh fenugreek, spinach and green chilli-ginger paste, lifted with fruit salt and steamed. Cut into squares and serve with green chutney as a snack or light meal.
Konafa (kunafa) is a celebration sweet of shredded kataifi pastry tossed in butter and baked in two layers around a filling of coconut, almonds, pistachios and mixed peel with glacé cherries. The hot pastry is drenched in cold rose-water syrup and pressed so it holds together, then cut into squares. Crisp, syrupy and nutty; serve cold with fresh cream or ice cream.
A warm, protein-rich and low-calorie bhel of mixed sprouts (green grams, bengal grams and moth beans) quickly cooked with cumin, onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli, tomato and spices, then finished with lemon and coriander. Ready in 15 minutes; serve hot as a snack or light meal.
Ma'amoul are delicate shortbread-like pastries made for Eid and Easter across the Middle East. A soft, rose-scented butter dough is wrapped around a filling of dates, walnuts, almonds and pistachios cooked with cinnamon, marked with a fork, baked pale and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 35; they keep well in a tin.
Pudas are thin savoury pancakes. These low-calorie ones are made from rice, maize and wheat flour mixed with crumbled paneer, spinach, fenugreek and coriander and a fresh paste of onion, chilli, mint, garlic and ginger. The moisture in the vegetables and paneer is enough to bind the dough, so no ghee, oil, yogurt or water goes into it. Cook on a griddle with just a little oil and serve with tea, or with plain yogurt and pickle.
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