Featured recipe

Kisumu fried tilapia

On the shores of Lake Victoria at Kisumu's Dunga beach and in the fish kiosks of Kampala and Mwanza, tilapia comes straight from the boats, is scored, rubbed with salt, garlic and lemon and deep-fried whole until the skin is crackling. It is served with a block of ugali, sukuma wiki (braised kale) and kachumbari, and eaten with your hands, pulling the sweet flesh off the bone. The mistake is frying a wet fish in oil that isn't hot enough, which makes it greasy and stick; dry it well and wait for 180 °C. Chef's tip: dust the fish lightly with cornflour just before frying for an extra-crisp skin.

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ChyhyrtmaEggs with tomatoes and onions

Çığırtma is the Azerbaijani way with breakfast eggs: onions softened slowly in butter, ripe tomatoes cooked down with them, then beaten eggs poured over and set gently, sometimes with spinach or herbs and sometimes over chicken. This vegetarian tomato version is eaten in Baku with lavash or tandir bread and strong tea. The mistake is rushing the onions; they must turn soft and sweet before the tomatoes go in. Cook the eggs until set if serving anyone pregnant, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: do not stir once the eggs are in; cover the pan and let them puff over the tomatoes like a soft omelette.

25 min

Azerbaijani Breakfast & Brunch

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Cocido quemadoBurnt sugar mate drink

Cocido is how Paraguay starts the day: in Asunción, in the villages of Guairá and Itapúa, and in school kitchens, a pot of burnt yerba is brewed and poured into cups with chipa, the cheesy cassava bread, or with a hard galleta. The old way is to drop a glowing piece of charcoal into a pot with yerba and sugar and stir until the sugar burns. On a home stove you caramelise them together in a dry pan instead, which is safer and gives the same smoky, toffee-like taste. The drink is clear amber-brown, with roasted, slightly bitter mate notes over burnt-sugar sweetness; with milk added it becomes cocido con leche, creamy and coffee-coloured. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so treat it like a cup of coffee. The common mistake is letting the sugar go black: it turns acrid and bitter. Pull it off the heat when the caramel is deep amber and the yerba smells toasted, not burnt. It is ready when the liquid is a clear dark amber and tastes of toffee and smoke. Chef's tip: the water will spit fiercely when it hits the hot caramel, so pour it in from the side, at arm's length.

14 min

Paraguayan Drinks

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Cola de monoCoffee and milk liqueur drink

In Santiago, December means cola de mono: bottles of cold, coffee-coloured spiced milk that families make days ahead and open on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, poured beside slices of pan de pascua, the dense Chilean fruit cake. The traditional version is for adults only, spiked with grape aguardiente; pour small glasses and drink responsibly. It tastes like a sweet, cold café con leche with cinnamon, clove and orange, the aguardiente adding a warm finish, and the texture is smooth and light, never thick. Each glass has about as much caffeine as a small, weak coffee, so use decaf for anyone sensitive. The classic mistake is adding the aguardiente while the milk is still hot: much of the alcohol steams away and the milk can catch and curdle. Let the spiced milk cool completely first. It is ready when the colour is an even tan, the spices smell strong but the milk tastes clean, and it is fridge-cold. It keeps 3–4 days in the fridge in clean bottles; shake before pouring and throw it out if it smells sour. Chef's tip: make it two days ahead; the spices keep blooming and it tastes noticeably rounder.

30 min

Chilean Drinks

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Frozen Christmas pudding

In the heat of an Australian December, many families swap the steamed pudding for a frozen one, ice cream packed with fruit, nuts and chocolate and set in a pudding basin so it still looks the part on the Christmas table in Brisbane or Perth. It is made days ahead and turned out just before serving. A common mistake is letting the ice cream melt too much while mixing, which makes it icy when refrozen; soften it only until stirrable. Chef's tip: soak the fruit in orange juice the night before so it stays soft when frozen.

30 min

Australian Desserts

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Aam ki launjiSweet and sour raw mango relish

In Rajasthan and across the Hindi belt, launji is the quick mango relish made the day the first raw mangoes come home in April, and it keeps appearing on the thali all through the scorching summer. Unlike the long-cured achaars, it is cooked in 20 minutes: mango pieces in mustard oil with saunf, kalonji, methi and cumin, then simmered with jaggery until glossy. The pieces stay soft but hold their shape in a thick, amber syrup that is sweet first, then sour, with a warm hum of chilli and a liquorice note from the fennel. Eat it with dal-baati, puri, paratha or plain khichdi; in the heat it is believed to cool the body. The common mistake is adding the jaggery too early, so it caramelises and turns bitter before the mango is tender; cook the mango first, then the jaggery. It is ready when the syrup coats the back of a spoon and the mango looks translucent at the edges. It thickens as it cools. Store in a clean jar in the fridge and eat within a week to 10 days. Chef's tip: leave a little peel on some pieces; it gives a pleasant chew and stops the mango from turning to mush.

30 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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Batata nu rasawalu shaakPotato curry in thin gravy

Batata nu rasawalu shaak is the potato curry that arrives with hot puris at Gujarati wedding breakfasts, Sunday brunches and festival thalis, and it is one of the first curries children in Gujarat love. Soft potato chunks float in a thin, red, sweet-and-sour gravy with mustard seed, curry leaves and hing, lightly spicy and very comforting. Serve with puri, rotli or plain rice. The usual mistake is cutting the potatoes in uneven pieces, so some fall apart while others stay hard; cut them all the same size. Chef's tip: once the potatoes are cooked, mash a few against the side of the pan; the starch gives the rasa (gravy) body without any flour.

30 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Kumaoni rasMixed dal broth

In the hill villages of Kumaon in Uttarakhand, ras is cooked through the cold months in a heavy iron kadhai that sits on the fire for hours; the iron turns the broth dark and earthy, and families drink it with rice or mandua (finger millet) roti. Several whole dals, here horse gram (gahat), black soybeans (bhatt), black urad and green moong, are simmered until their liquid becomes a rich, brown, silky broth, lightly thickened with ground rice and finished with a crackling mustard-oil tempering of jakhya seeds. The cooked dal solids are eaten too, as a dry side. The usual mistake is hurrying: the broth needs long, slow simmering to turn silky and full-flavoured. Chef's tip: jakhya (wild mustard seed) is sold in Uttarakhand shops; cumin is a fair stand-in.

105 min

Indian Curries

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Mâncare de dovleceiStewed courgettes

In Romanian homes, from Moldova to Oltenia, mâncare de dovlecei is the summer stew made when the garden is full of courgettes, and it fills a pot on fasting days when Orthodox families eat no animal products. Courgettes are cooked down slowly with onion, peppers and tomato until soft and sweet, then finished with a fistful of dill and garlic. Eat it warm or at room temperature with bread or a slice of mămăligă. The usual mistake is adding too much liquid: courgettes release their own water, and a watery pot loses its flavour. Chef's tip: let the onion and pepper soften properly before the courgettes go in; that sweetness is what seasons the whole stew.

40 min

Romanian Vegetarian

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Passionfruit sponge

The passionfruit sponge is the star of the Australian country show cake table and every Sunday afternoon tea, made from the vines that cover back fences from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast. Two airy, fatless sponges are filled with whipped cream and topped with a tangy passionfruit icing. A common mistake is knocking the air out when folding in the flour; use a light hand and a big metal spoon. Chef's tip: beat the eggs and sugar for a full 8–10 minutes until thick enough to hold a trail.

55 min

Australian Baking

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CorvichePlantain and peanut fish fritters

Along the Manabí coast and in Guayaquil's afternoon snack stalls, corviches are torpedo-shaped fritters with a crisp, peanut-rich green-plantain crust and a filling of fish cooked with onion, pepper and cumin. They are eaten hot with pickled red onion and a dash of chilli, often for breakfast or as an afternoon bite. Peanuts are a major allergen. The usual mistake is making the plantain shell too thick, which leaves raw starchy dough inside; keep it about 1 cm and fry at a steady 170 °C. Chef's tip: grate the plantain on the finest holes of a box grater; a fine grate makes a smooth dough that seals without cracks.

65 minAndean Snacks & Starters

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CouacToasted cassava meal

In French Guiana couac is on the table at almost every meal, sprinkled over fish in sauce, stirred into stews or soaked in water with sugar as a snack, and it is still made in the carbets (open-sided sheds) of Amerindian and Maroon villages along the Maroni river. Traditionally it is made from bitter cassava, which is poisonous until its juice has been pressed out and the meal roasted for hours. This home version uses only sweet cassava (yuca), and still presses out and discards all the juice and toasts the meal until fully dry, because cassava must never be eaten raw. The usual mistake is a heat that is too high: the outside scorches while the inside is still damp. Chef's tip: stir almost constantly over a medium-low heat; the couac is done when it rattles in the pan, smells nutty and a grain snaps cleanly between your teeth.

120 min

Guyanese Basics

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Daging masak hitamBlack braised beef

Daging masak hitam, 'black-cooked beef', is a centrepiece of Hari Raya open houses and kenduri feasts across Malaysia, and it is just as good on an ordinary weekday with rice and cucumber. Beef is braised slowly with blended shallots, garlic, ginger and dried chillies, whole spices, tamarind and both sweet and dark soy sauce until the gravy reduces to a sticky, almost black glaze. It tastes better the next day, which is why cooks make it ahead for festivals. The usual mistake is reducing too fast over a high heat: the sugar in the sweet soy scorches and turns bitter. Chef's tip: once the gravy starts to thicken, stir from the bottom every few minutes and lower the heat.

130 min

Malaysian Meat

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Gevulde koekAlmond-filled cookie

A gevulde koek is two discs of short, buttery dough sandwiching a thick layer of almond paste (spijs), glazed with egg and crowned with half an almond. Every Amsterdam bakery has a stack of them, and they are the classic koffie snack at about eleven in the morning, or something to eat on the bike home from the Noordermarkt. The pastry is crumbly and the middle soft, fragrant and lemony. It contains wheat, egg, milk and almonds. Chef's tip: make the almond paste a day ahead; it firms up and is much easier to shape into neat discs.

60 min

Dutch Baking

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Ka'i ladrilloPeanut molasses bricks

Ka'i ladrillo — 'monkey brick' in Guaraní — is the sweet sold by vendors on Asunción buses and at country fiestas: roasted peanuts bound in boiled cane molasses and set in brick-shaped blocks, crunchy and dark with a slightly smoky toffee taste. It contains peanuts, so keep it away from anyone with a peanut allergy. The common mistake is taking the syrup off too soon, so the bricks stay sticky and never set. Chef's tip: test the syrup by dropping a little into cold water; it is ready when it sets into a brittle thread that snaps.

40 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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Chhena tarkariFried cheese cube curry

In Odia homes, from Cuttack to Puri, chhena tarkari is the special curry for a Sunday lunch, a guest or a festival day when the household eats no onion or garlic. Fresh chhena, the soft cheese Odisha also turns into rasagola, is pressed, cut into cubes and fried golden, then simmered with potato in a thin gravy of tomato, ginger and roasted cumin. The cubes stay soft and soak up the sauce, and the dish is eaten with rice, puri or paratha. Chhena is made by curdling milk with lemon juice, so it contains no rennet. The usual mistake is boiling the gravy hard after the chhena goes in, which breaks the cubes into crumbs. Chef's tip: fry the chhena cubes until golden on two sides only, then rest them in warm water for five minutes; they swell and turn spongy, just like an Odia grandmother's.

45 min

Indian Curries

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Peameal bacon sandwich

The peameal bacon sandwich is Toronto's signature breakfast, served from the stalls of St Lawrence Market since the early 1900s. Peameal bacon is cured but unsmoked pork loin rolled in yellow cornmeal (once ground dried peas, hence the name). Thick slices are griddled until golden and piled into a soft kaiser roll with yellow mustard. It is a Saturday market ritual. A common mistake is slicing too thin, which dries it out; aim for 5 mm. Chef's tip: cook it over a medium heat, not high, so the cornmeal crisps without burning before the pork is cooked.

17 min

Canadian Fast Food

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Dal dhokli for toddlersWheat dumplings in dal for toddlers

In Ahmedabad pols and Surat kitchens dal dhokli is the Sunday one-pot lunch: diamonds of spiced wheat dough cooked straight in tangy toor dal. This toddler version, for children from 12 months, keeps the soft pasta-like pieces small, leaves out the chilli, peanuts and cloves, and uses only a pinch of jaggery so the dal stays sweet-sour the way Gujarati families like it. It is cooked in oil, so it is dairy free and vegan. It contains wheat (gluten); there is no milk, egg, nuts or soya. Chef's tip: roll the dough thin, about 2 mm; thick dhokli stay chewy in the middle.

45 min

Indian Curries

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Bibim dangmyeonSpicy glass noodles

At the crossing of Gukje Market and BIFF Square, near Nampo-dong, women sit behind low tables mixing bibim dangmyeon to order for shoppers perched on plastic stools. Chewy sweet-potato noodles are piled with seasoned spinach, carrot, yellow pickled radish and strips of Busan fish cake, then drenched in a sweet, tangy chilli sauce that you mix with chopsticks. It is a quick, cheap bowl, eaten year round, cold in summer. Chef's tip: rinse the noodles in cold water straight after cooking; it stops them clumping and keeps them bouncy.

25 min

Korean Pasta & Noodles

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Dalia chikkiRoasted chana and jaggery brittle

For Uttarayan, the January kite festival, every Gujarati kitchen turns out trays of chikki, and dalia (roasted split chana, the yellow dal sold for chutneys) is the one that gets forgotten until someone tastes it. It is lighter and crunchier than peanut chikki, with a toasty, slightly savoury edge from the dal. It is all about the jaggery syrup. The common mistake is pulling the jaggery off too early; underdone syrup gives sticky, chewy chikki that never snaps. Chef's tip: drop a little syrup into cold water: when it sets hard and cracks cleanly (hard-crack stage), tip in the dalia straight away.

25 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Suan rong xilanhuaGarlic broccoli

Garlic broccoli is on the menu of almost every Chinese home kitchen and family restaurant, from Guangzhou to Shanghai, as the quick green dish at a weekday dinner. The florets are blanched just until bright, then tossed in a hot wok with a big spoon of minced garlic and a splash of water, so they stay crisp, glossy and full of garlic flavour. Serve with tofu, fish or eggs and a modest portion of rice. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 90 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding the garlic to very hot oil before the broccoli, where it burns and turns bitter. Chef's tip: add a few drops of oil to the blanching water; it keeps the broccoli shiny and green.

15 min

Chinese Sides

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Capeletis a la CarusoStuffed pasta in cream sauce

Capeletis a la Caruso were created in a Montevideo restaurant in the 1950s and named after the great tenor, and they are still a Sunday lunch favourite in Uruguayan homes: little stuffed pasta hats in a rich sauce of cream, cooked ham (pork), mushrooms and onion, finished with grated cheese. Buy good fresh capeletis or tortellini; the sauce is what you make. The usual mistake is boiling the cream sauce hard, which makes it oily and grainy. Chef's tip: cook the mushrooms in a dry hot pan first until they squeak and brown, before any butter goes in, for a deeper taste.

35 min

Paraguayan Pasta & Noodles

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Blåbärssoppa (warm bilberry drink)

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.

20 minScandinavian Drinks

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Ginataang puso ng sagingBanana blossom in coconut milk

Every banana tree in the Philippine countryside gives a heavy purple flower, and in Bicol, Batangas and the Visayas it is shredded and stewed in coconut milk as an everyday ulam for lunch with rice. The banana blossom has a tender, slightly flaky texture and soaks up the ginger, garlic and chilli. The traditional version includes shrimp or fish; this one is vegan. The usual mistake is skipping the salt rub: unrubbed banana blossom stays bitter and turns the sauce grey, so squeeze out its dark sap first. Chef's tip: keep the shredded blossom in water with a spoon of vinegar while you work, so it stays pale.

35 min

Filipino Vegetarian

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Mula ko tarkariRadish curry

In the hills around Kathmandu and Pokhara, long white winter radishes are pulled with their leaves still on, and both go into this simple tarkari served beside dal-bhat. The radish is cut into thin batons and cooked down in mustard oil with a sizzle of fenugreek seed, turmeric and tingly timur pepper until it turns sweet and translucent, while the greens wilt in at the end. The usual mistake is adding too much water: radish releases plenty of its own juice, and extra water turns it into a bland soup. Chef's tip: let the fenugreek seeds turn dark brown, almost black, before the radish goes in; that toasty bitterness is what makes Nepali radish taste right.

30 min

Nepali Vegetarian

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Diabolo mentheMint syrup and lemonade

Ask anyone who grew up in France about diabolo menthe and they will remember sitting on a café terrace after school, or on holiday in Brittany or the Vendée, with a tall glass of startling green fizz and a straw. It is simply sirop de menthe, the sweet mint syrup sold in every French supermarket, topped up with limonade, which in France means a clear, lightly sweet, lemony fizzy drink. Grenadine makes a diabolo grenadine, lemon syrup a diabolo citron. It tastes cool, minty and sweet, like a liquid mint sweet, with a sharp sparkle. The common mistake is pouring the syrup on top of the lemonade: it sinks in a dense layer and you drink plain fizz followed by pure syrup. Put the syrup in the glass first and pour the lemonade down the side so it mixes as it rises. It is ready when the glass is an even mint-green from bottom to top and still fizzing hard. Café ratio is about one part syrup to seven parts lemonade. Chef's tip: for a homemade syrup, steep a big handful of fresh mint in hot sugar syrup for 30 minutes and strain; it will be pale gold-green rather than emerald, and tastes fresher.

3 min

French Drinks

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DobladitasFolded lard breads

In the south of Chile, from Concepción down through Temuco and Chiloé, dobladitas are baked for breakfast and the evening once: rounds of a lard-enriched dough brushed with more melted pork lard, folded in half and in half again, and baked until the layers puff and flake apart. Eat them warm, pulled into their layers, with tea and butter (or margarine to keep them dairy free), jam or avocado. The lard is pork fat. The common mistake is using cold, hard lard for brushing; it must be melted and warm, so it soaks between the layers and makes them separate. Chef's tip: roll the folded pieces only lightly, just to seal the layers; pressing hard squeezes the lard out and they bake up tough.

45 min

Chilean Breads & Parathas

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DobradinhaTripe and white bean stew

Dobradinha came to Brazil with Portuguese settlers and is now a Saturday lunch in botecos and family kitchens from São Paulo to Minas Gerais, eaten with white rice and a splash of hot pepper sauce. Cleaned honeycomb tripe is simmered until tender, then stewed with white beans, smoked pork sausage (linguiça), bacon, tomato and plenty of green seasoning until thick and savoury. This recipe contains pork. The usual mistake is undercooking the tripe: it must be soft enough to cut with a spoon before the beans go in, or it stays rubbery. A pressure cooker does the tripe in 35 minutes. Chef's tip: blanch the tripe with a squeeze of lime first; it freshens the smell and the colour.

180 min

Brazilian Meat

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DosavakayaCucumber mustard pickle

Dosavakaya is the everyday pickle of Andhra homes: no waiting for mango season, just a round yellow dosakaya cubed with its skin on and tossed with mustard powder, chilli, salt, garlic and raw gingelly oil. It is made in minutes, often for Sunday lunch or to go with a festive meal, and eaten over the next few days with hot rice and ghee, pappu or curd rice. It is crunchy, juicy and mustard-sharp, hot and tangy, and the cubes give off a little juice that loosens the masala into a sauce. Dosakaya is sold in Indian grocers abroad; if you cannot find it, use a firm field cucumber, seeded, and add a little extra lemon juice for the missing tang. Because it contains raw garlic and cucumber, it is a fridge pickle: acidified with lemon and eaten within a week. Common mistake: using a bitter cucumber; taste a sliver from each end before you cut, and discard any that taste bitter. It is ready 2–3 hours after mixing, when the masala has turned glossy and the cubes taste seasoned through. Chef's tip: keep the skin on; it holds the crunch.

23 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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Kari gros poisButter bean curry

In Mauritius, gros pois (butter beans) are a pantry staple, and kari gros pois is cooked in Creole and Indo-Mauritian homes alike for weekday lunches and Friday meat-free meals. The beans simmer in a curry of onion, tomato, garlic and ginger, flavoured with curry powder, fresh thyme and curry leaves, so it tastes of both India and the island's French side. It is served with rice, farata flatbreads and a tomato or chilli chutney. The usual mistake is frying the curry powder on high heat; it scorches in seconds and turns bitter. Pressure cooker option: cook the soaked beans for 15 minutes at pressure. Chef's tip: crush a few beans into the sauce at the end, which thickens it without any flour.

85 min

Mauritian Curries

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DrachenaBaked egg and milk custard

Drachena belongs to the old peasant cooking of northern Russia, from Arkhangelsk to Vologda, where it was baked in the cooling Russian stove on Sunday mornings. Eggs are whisked with milk, a little sour cream and flour, poured into a hot buttered pan and baked until puffed, golden and wobbly, somewhere between an omelette and a soufflé. It is eaten warm, plain or with sour cream. The common mistake is opening the oven early; the drachena collapses if it gets a draught before it is set. Chef's tip: heat the buttered dish in the oven before pouring in the batter, so it starts to set and rise from the bottom at once.

40 min

Russian Breakfast & Brunch

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DroëworsDried coriander beef sausage

Long before road trips had petrol-station snacks, Voortrekker families packed droëwors: thin beef sausage seasoned with roasted coriander, clove and vinegar and dried until it keeps for weeks. Today it hangs in coils in every butchery from Bloemfontein to Bellville, and bags of it go to cricket matches, hikes and the back seat of long drives to the coast. The bite is chewy and slightly crumbly, salty-sour with that toasted coriander warmth. The fat must be beef or lamb, never pork: pork fat goes rancid as it dries, and too much of any fat does the same, so keep it to about a sixth of the mix. This home method cooks the sausage to 71 °C before drying, but it is still not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: use thin sheep casings, and don't twist the sausage into links; a long, even rope dries evenly.

555 min

South African Snacks & Starters

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Dubki wale alooHing-scented potato curry

In the lanes of Mathura and Agra, breakfast is bedai or kachori with dubki wale aloo, a thin, peppery potato curry with so much gravy the puri can take a dip, or dubki. Its flavour comes from hing, crushed coriander seed and fennel rather than onion or garlic, which suits the Vaishnav kitchens of Braj and Holi mornings. The common mistake is making the gravy thick; it should run, so add enough water and mash only a few potatoes to give it body. Chef's tip: crush the boiled potatoes by hand into rough pieces rather than cubing them; the jagged edges soak up the spice.

35 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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DubukThick lentil curry

Dubuk is a Kumaoni winter staple from the hill villages around Almora and Pithoragarh, where soaked bhatt (black soybean) or gahat is ground on a stone and simmered slowly in an iron kadhai until it turns thick and dark. It is eaten with plain rice on cold evenings, and the iron pot gives it its slightly earthy colour and taste. Toor dal or a mix of toor and urad works well if you cannot find pahadi lentils. The common mistake is grinding the lentils to a fine paste and boiling hard, which makes dubuk gluey; grind coarse and keep the simmer gentle. Chef's tip: stir in a spoon of the rice paste only at the end, and only if the gravy needs body, because the lentils thicken a lot as they stand.

60 min

Indian Curries

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Dulce de lechosaPapaya in clove syrup

No Venezuelan Christmas plate is complete without a spoonful of dulce de lechosa beside the hallaca, pan de jamón and ensalada de gallina: strips of green papaya simmered in a dark panela syrup with cinnamon and cloves until translucent, sweet and gently chewy. Families make big jars in mid-December to share. The common mistake is cutting the strips too thin, so they fall apart in the syrup. Chef's tip: soak the strips in water with bicarbonate for 30 minutes first; it firms them so they keep their shape.

120 min

Venezuelan Desserts

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Dulceață de nuci verziCandied green walnuts

Around Sânziene in late June, families in Moldavia and Transylvania climb the walnut trees to gather nuts that are still green and soft, before the shell has begun to form. A week of patient work follows: peeling, pricking and soaking in water changed morning and evening until the harsh bitterness leaches out, then slow simmering in a syrup scented with cloves and lemon until the nuts turn glossy black. The finished dulceață is offered the old way, one walnut on a small glass saucer with a teaspoon and a glass of cold water for a visitor, or with coffee on a winter afternoon. Each nut is tender all the way through with a faint crunch at the heart, tasting of caramel, cloves and something resinous and bittersweet. The decisive mistake is picking too late: if a darning needle no longer slides easily through the centre, the shell is hardening and the nuts will stay woody whatever you do. The syrup is done when a drop holds its shape on a cold plate. Chef's tip: wear gloves for every stage, as green walnut juice stains skin brown-black for days.

175 min

Romanian Desserts

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Homemade doenjangFermented soybean paste

Doenjang starts in late autumn, after the soybean harvest, when Korean households used to boil beans in a cauldron, pound them into bricks and hang the meju from the rafters on straw ropes to grow a white, sweet-smelling bloom over the winter. In early spring, on a clear dry day, the bricks are dropped into salt brine in an onggi jar with dried chillies, jujubes and a red-hot piece of charcoal. Some six to eight weeks later the dark liquid is drawn off and boiled into soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang), and the softened bricks are mashed into doenjang, which ripens through the summer. It is chunkier, saltier and funkier than miso, with a nutty, almost smoky depth: the backbone of doenjang-jjigae, ssamjang and spinach namul. Common mistake: making the brick too thick or drying it in a warm, still room, so the centre rots before it dries; keep it about 6 cm thick and hang it where air moves. The paste is ready when it is mid-brown, smells of toasted nuts and soy, and tastes salty-sweet rather than sharp. Chef's tip: you can buy dried meju blocks from Korean grocers and start at the brining step.

300 min

Korean Basics

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