Featured recipe

Bichak

Pumpkin-filled half-moon pastries

Across northern Afghanistan, around Mazar, Kunduz and Shibirghan, the autumn pumpkin harvest is turned into bichak, plump half-moon pastries that show the region's Uzbek and Turkmen neighbours in their name and shape. A soft, thin wheat dough wraps a filling of grated pumpkin and onion seasoned only with salt, black pepper and a little chilli, which bakes into something sweet, savoury and juicy, best eaten warm with a glass of tea or alongside a bowl of yogurt. Some families bake them, others fry them in a wok of oil; this version bakes them. The filling must not be wet, or the bottoms go soggy and the seams burst, so squeeze the grated pumpkin hard before mixing. Chef's tip: grate the onion finely too, so it melts into the pumpkin instead of staying in crunchy pieces.

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Attaya (Senegalese mint tea)

Attaya is less a drink than an afternoon. In Dakar courtyards, Banjul markets and village shade trees across Senegal and the Gambia, someone, usually the youngest man present, sets a tiny enamel teapot on a charcoal burner after lunch and makes three rounds, slowly, for an hour or more while everyone talks. The first glass, lewel, is strong and bitter; the second, naani, is sweeter and softer; the third, ñetteel, is the sweetest and most minty. The saying is that the first is bitter like death, the second gentle like life, the third sweet like love. Each tiny glass carries a thick, pale foam made by pouring the tea back and forth from height. The tea is boiled very strong, so it is high in caffeine: keep the glasses small and do not give it to children. The common mistake is rushing the foam; pour slowly and patiently, from as high as you can control, until a 1 cm head stands on the glass. A round is ready when the tea is dark amber, very sweet-bitter and the foam holds. Chef's tip: warm the empty glasses with a little hot tea first; foam lasts far longer in a warm glass.

60 min

Senegalese Drinks

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Daiquiri

The daiquirí is named after a beach and the old iron mines east of Santiago de Cuba, where engineers and miners at the turn of the twentieth century mixed the local white rum with lime and sugar to cut the heat. Later Havana's bars turned it into a frozen blended drink, but in eastern Cuba it is still drunk the plain way, shaken, in the late afternoon or before a dinner of congrí and roast pork. It is a cocktail for adults only, short and clean: tart lime, a light touch of sugar and the soft, dry vanilla notes of light rum, served so cold it almost stings. The common mistake is a lazy shake, which leaves the drink warm, harsh and too strong. Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for a full 12–15 seconds. It is ready when the tin is too cold to hold, there are tiny shards of ice on the surface and the drink has a fine foam at the rim. Have one and drink responsibly. Balance matters more than amounts: taste your limes, and add a little more syrup if they are very sour. Chef's tip: chill the coupe in the freezer first; a daiquirí loses its magic within minutes in a warm glass.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Bombai motai (Sri Lankan candyfloss)

On Galle Face Green at sunset, and at every Vesak fair, the bombai motai seller walks with a glass box of pink candyfloss and a little bell, handing it out in small cones. You can spin a home version without a machine: sugar boiled to the hard-crack stage, then flicked from a fork in thin threads over two spoon handles. Children love to watch, but they must stay well back while the sugar is hot. Contains no major allergens. Chef's tip: make it on a dry day; humidity melts the threads back into sticky sugar.

20 min

Sri Lankan Desserts

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NakatiBitter eggplant leaves with tomato

Nakati are the leaves of the African eggplant, and in Kampala and the Buganda countryside they are cooked as an everyday green beside matooke, posho or rice. The leaves are simmered down with onion and tomato until soft, then often enriched with a spoonful of groundnut paste that softens their pleasant bitterness and makes a creamy sauce. Look for nakati at African grocers; young spinach with a handful of kale is a good stand-in. The usual mistake is adding the groundnut paste too early, which lets it catch and burn. Chef's tip: loosen the groundnut paste with a little hot water before stirring it in, so it melts smoothly into the greens.

28 minEast African Vegetarian

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Piña colada

Two bars in 1950s San Juan claim to have created the piña colada, and Puerto Rico made it the island's official drink in 1978. It is the drink of hot afternoons on the beaches of Condado and Isla Verde, of hotel pools and of family parties where the blender runs all day. The rum version is for adults only, and because it tastes like a dessert it is easy to drink too fast, so keep to one or two and drink responsibly. A good piña colada is thick, frosty and smooth, coconut-sweet but kept fresh by the sharp acidity of pineapple, with the rum warming the finish. The common mistake is using coconut milk or unsweetened coconut cream instead of cream of coconut, the thick sweetened coconut syrup sold in tins and squeeze bottles: the drink comes out bland and splits into icy water and fat. If you only have coconut cream, blend in 2 tbsp sugar. It is ready when the drink is thick enough to hold a straw upright for a moment, has no crunchy ice and has turned a pale, creamy yellow. Chef's tip: freeze half of the pineapple juice into ice cubes the day before; you will need less ice and the colada stays thick to the last sip.

5 min

Puerto Rican Drinks

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Margarita

Several towns along Mexico's northern border, from Tijuana and Ensenada to Ciudad Juárez, claim the margarita as their own, born in the 1930s and 40s when visitors crossed over for tequila and tacos. Today it is the Friday-evening drink of norteño restaurants and family parties, poured beside carne asada and guacamole. This version is for adults only and it is simple: good 100% agave blanco tequila, fresh lime and orange liqueur. It should be bright and tart first, then gently sweet, with the salt on the rim making the lime taste even sharper. The usual mistake is reaching for bottled lime juice or ready-made sour mix, which gives a flat, sugary drink with a chemical bite. Squeeze limes just before shaking. A second slip is salting the whole rim inside and out; salt only the outside of half the rim so each sip is your choice. It is ready when the shaker is too cold to hold comfortably and a thin layer of ice crystals floats on top. Enjoy one slowly and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: use coarse sea salt mixed with a little grated lime zest for the rim; it sticks better and smells of lime.

5 min

Mexican Drinks

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Indio viejoShredded beef in corn masa sauce

Masaya and Granada both claim indio viejo, a thick, tangy stew of shredded beef cooked into a sauce of corn masa, tomato, sweet pepper and achiote, sharpened with sour orange and scented with mint. It has the texture of a savoury porridge and is eaten for lunch with white rice and fried ripe plantain. The mistake that ruins it is tipping masa straight into the hot pot, where it forms lumps; whisk it into broth first. Chef's tip: add the sour orange juice only in the last few minutes, so it stays bright and fresh rather than flat.

120 minCentral American Meat

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Bajan rum punch

Every Barbadian knows the rhyme: one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak. It is how rum punch is mixed for Sunday lunch, at beach limes, at the Friday night fish fry in Oistins and through the Crop Over festival in July and August. The punch is for adults only and it is strong, so pour it over plenty of ice and drink responsibly. Made right, it tastes bright and tangy from lime, rounded by brown-sugar syrup, warm with golden Barbados rum and finished by aromatic bitters and the woody smell of fresh nutmeg on top. The usual mistake is reading 'weak' as fruit juice or adding extra rum: the four of weak is water (and melting ice), and swapping in sweet juices makes the punch cloying. Make the syrup properly, measure by volume and taste before you add the last of the water. It is ready when the sweet and sour are in balance, nothing catches your throat and the jug is beaded with cold. It also keeps 2 days in the fridge, so it can be made ahead. Chef's tip: grate the nutmeg over each glass at the table; ready-ground nutmeg has lost the smell that makes Bajan punch what it is.

15 min

Bajan Drinks

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Coconut icePink and white coconut fudge

Coconut ice is the pink and white sweet that fills Australian school fete stalls, Christmas hampers and CWA cake tables, a no-cook fudge of desiccated coconut, condensed milk and icing sugar. It is soft, chewy and very sweet, so cut small squares. A common mistake is a mixture that's too wet to hold; add more coconut until it's firm enough to press. Chef's tip: press the white layer first, then the pink, and chill before cutting for sharp stripes.

20 min

Australian Desserts

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Patacón maracuchoPlantain sandwich

In Maracaibo, the patacón is a sandwich where the bread is a whole green plantain, sliced lengthwise, fried, smashed flat and fried again until crisp. It's stacked with grilled meat, salty white cheese, lettuce, tomato and a flood of sauces, and sold from busy street stands late into the night. This version fills it with garlicky chicken. The common mistake is flattening the plantain after it has cooled, so it cracks. Chef's tip: press it between two sheets of baking paper with a heavy board while it is still hot from the first fry.

45 min

Venezuelan Fast Food

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Cowheel soup

In Trinidad and Tobago, cowheel soup is Saturday soup: the big pot people make at home or buy from roadside soup vendors after a fete, believed to set you right again. Cow heel is simmered for hours until gelatinous, then yellow split peas, pumpkin and 'provisions' such as dasheen, cassava, eddoes and green bananas go in, with green seasoning, a whole scotch bonnet for perfume and soft flour dumplings dropped in at the end. The broth turns thick and silky from the collagen and split peas. The usual mistake is bursting the scotch bonnet, which makes the pot fiercely hot; leave it whole and lift it out. A pressure cooker gets the cow heel tender in 50 minutes. Chef's tip: buy cow heel already cut and scraped by the butcher, then scrub it with lime before cooking.

200 min

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MsetoRice and green grams

Mseto, meaning 'mixture', is a staple of the Swahili coast from Mombasa to Lamu and Zanzibar, often eaten at lunch or for breaking the fast in Ramadan. Rice and green grams (whole mung beans) cook together in coconut milk with onion and a little turmeric until soft, fluffy and gently creamy. It is served beside a vegetable or bean curry, a kachumbari salad and a squeeze of lime. The usual mistake is adding the rice before the green grams are tender, so the rice turns mushy while the beans stay hard. Chef's tip: once the rice is in, cover the pot tightly and leave it on the lowest heat without lifting the lid, so the rice steams evenly.

55 minEast African Rice & Grains

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Chanko nabeChicken meatball hot pot

Chanko nabe is the daily meal of the sumo stables around Ryōgoku in east Tokyo, where young wrestlers cook a huge pot after morning practice and the senior ranks eat first. At home it is a winter supper cooked on a tabletop burner or on the hob: a clear chicken and kombu dashi seasoned lightly with soy, then loaded with ginger-scented chicken meatballs, tofu, napa cabbage, leek, carrot and mushrooms. Everything cooks in the one pot, and the last of the broth is often finished with udon or rice. The usual mistake is boiling the pot hard once the meatballs go in, which turns the broth cloudy and the tofu ragged; keep it at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: shape the meatballs with two wet spoons and drop them in before the vegetables, so they flavour the broth while the cabbage softens.

60 min

Japanese Soups

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Adrak ka acharGinger pickle

Walk into a Punjabi dhaba in winter and there is often a steel bowl of ginger matchsticks soaking in lemon juice beside the onion rings. Adrak ka achar is the simplest pickle of all: tender ginger, green chilli, salt and lemon, nothing cooked. Young ginger with thin, pinkish skin reacts with the acid and turns a pretty pale pink within a day; older ginger stays yellow but tastes just as good. The flavour is clean, hot and sour, with crunch, and a forkful cuts the richness of sarson ka saag, makki ki roti, chole bhature or a heavy dal makhani. Common mistake: cutting the ginger thick or using fibrous old roots, which stay woody and harsh; slice thin enough to see light through. It is ready when the ginger has softened slightly, the juice tastes less sharp and the slices have taken colour. Fresh ginger in lemon juice keeps in the fridge for up to 2 weeks; discard it if mould appears, the juice turns slimy or the smell turns from fresh-sour to musty. Chef's tip: a pinch of black salt (kala namak) added at the end gives it that dhaba-style sulphurous edge.

15 min

Indian Chutneys & Dips

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FororoToasted corn porridge

Fororo is the name for finely ground toasted corn, and for the smooth porridge made from it that grandmothers in Lara, Barinas and the rest of the Llanos give to children before school or to anyone feeling under the weather. It tastes gently nutty, like warm popcorn in a cup, sweetened with panela and scented with cinnamon. If you can't find fororo flour, toasting fine cornmeal in a dry pan gives the same result. The common mistake is tipping the flour straight into hot milk, which makes lumps. Chef's tip: whisk the flour into a little cold milk first, then pour it into the pot.

20 min

Venezuelan Breakfast & Brunch

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Tagine bil khorchefLamb tagine with cardoons

In late winter and spring, when wild cardoons (khorchef) appear in the markets of Fez, Meknes and Rabat, Moroccan families cook them into this lamb tagine for a family lunch, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Lamb shoulder is simmered slowly with onion, ginger, saffron and turmeric until tender, then the peeled cardoon stalks are added and finished with preserved lemon and green olives, giving a tangy, faintly bitter, artichoke-like sauce. The usual mistake is not peeling and soaking the cardoons properly: the stringy outside must come off and the stalks must sit in lemon water, or they go brown and taste harsh. Artichoke hearts are a good stand-in. Chef's tip: reduce the sauce uncovered at the end until it is thick and oily, the sign of a well-made tagine.

155 min

Moroccan Meat

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DakbaeksukPoached whole chicken

Dakbaeksuk is a whole chicken simmered plain in a big pot, a dish Koreans eat on the boknal 'dog days' of midsummer and at valley restaurants in the mountains, where families sit on platforms by the stream. Unlike samgyetang it is not stuffed; the bird simmers with a fistful of garlic, a few jujubes and dried roots such as astragalus until it falls apart, and you eat the meat with salt and pepper and drink the milky broth. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high in protein, with no flour or added sugar. About 420 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion; restaurants finish with rice porridge in the broth, so keep that portion small or use brown rice. The usual mistake is boiling it fiercely, which makes the meat stringy; it should simmer gently. Chef's tip: skim the fat off the broth before serving; it tastes cleaner and lighter.

100 min

Korean Chicken

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Feijoa jam

Feijoa bushes grow in almost every garden along Georgia's Black Sea coast, in Batumi, Kobuleti and the hills of Guria, and in late October and November the egg-shaped green fruit drop faster than anyone can eat them. The local answer is a raw jam: the whole fruit, skin and all, minced with sugar and kept cold, so it keeps the fresh, heady taste of pineapple, guava and mint. It is spooned into small glass dishes beside a cup of black tea, spread on bread for breakfast, stirred into yoghurt and eaten by the teaspoon through the winter cold season. The texture is a loose, pale-green pulp with a little grit from the seeds and skin; the flavour is sweet, tart and very aromatic. Common mistake: leaving the cut fruit to stand before mixing with sugar; it browns within minutes, so mince straight into the sugar and stir. The jam is ready when the sugar has fully dissolved and the colour is an even jade green. Because it is never cooked it must live in the fridge or freezer. Chef's tip: use fruit that gives slightly when pressed and smells strongly; hard feijoas taste of skin, overripe ones have brown jelly inside and turn the jam muddy.

20 min

Georgian Chutneys & Dips

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Fermented bean curd

Fu ru is made all over China, from Guilin's chilli-red cubes to Shaoxing's pale ones, and is usually prepared in the cool months between late autumn and early spring, when the moulds grow slowly and cleanly. Firm tofu cubes sit on rice straw or a rack until a soft white fuzz covers them; they are then rolled in salt and chilli and aged in brine until the centre turns custard-soft and the flavour becomes deep, cheesy and savoury. A quarter of a cube is mashed over plain rice congee for breakfast, or stirred into a sauce for stir-fried water spinach. Common mistake: making it in a warm kitchen; above about 20 °C the wrong moulds and bacteria take over. The bloom must be white or greyish-white and fluffy, smelling mildly of mushrooms; throw away any cube with green, black, pink, orange or yellow spots, sliminess or an ammonia or rotten smell, and if many are affected discard the whole batch. Do not reduce the salt: it is what keeps this low-acid soy ferment safe, and the whole ageing happens in the fridge. It is ready after 6–8 weeks, when a cube is soft right through. Chef's tip: press the tofu overnight first, drier cubes grow a cleaner bloom.

70 min

Chinese Chutneys & Dips

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Sop konroBeef rib soup

Sop konro is the pride of Makassar in South Sulawesi, where warung near the harbour serve big bowls of beef ribs in an almost black broth from lunchtime into the night, often with burasa (rice cooked in coconut milk) or plain rice. The colour and earthy, chocolatey depth come from keluak (kluwek) nuts, simmered with a paste of shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, toasted coriander seed and candlenut until the rib meat slides off the bone. The usual mistake is using raw keluak: the nuts are only safe after long fermentation, so buy them ready-prepared from an Indonesian shop, and discard any that smell sour or are dry inside. A pressure cooker gets the ribs tender in 50 minutes. Chef's tip: toast the coriander seeds until they crackle before grinding; they carry the whole soup.

180 min

Indonesian Soups

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Ssanghwa-cha (herbal tonic tea)

Ssanghwa-cha is the strongest thing on the menu of an old Korean dabang. From the 1960s these smoky tea rooms served it in thick ceramic cups, dark as coffee, with pine nuts, slivered jujube and walnut floating on top; in winter some still slide a raw egg yolk in, which this recipe leaves out. The brew comes from Korean herbal tradition, where ssanghwa-tang is drunk to warm up and recover from tiredness after hard work or a cold. It tastes earthy and bitter at first, then sweet from licorice and jujube, with warmth from cinnamon and ginger and a celery-like perfume from angelica. Herbal shops sell the roots in pre-measured packs. The common mistake is boiling it hard: the liquid reduces too fast and turns harsh. Keep a gentle simmer with the lid ajar for two hours. It is ready when it is very dark brown, reduced to about a third and smells of cinnamon and roots. Because it contains licorice and angelica, skip it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have high blood pressure, or take blood thinners or other medicines unless your doctor agrees. Chef's tip: a second, lighter brew from the same roots is good with honey.

135 min

Korean Drinks

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Grünkohl mit PinkelBraised kale with smoked sausage

In Bremen and Oldenburg, Grünkohl mit Pinkel is the dish of the winter Kohlfahrt, when groups walk out into the frosty countryside and finish at an inn for kale, smoked pork and Pinkel, a smoked sausage of pork, bacon and oats. The kale is braised for hours with onions, lard and smoked pork until dark, soft and almost creamy, then the sausages warm through on top. Serve with boiled potatoes or small caramelised ones and mustard. The usual mistake is cooking the kale briefly like a vegetable side; it needs the long braise to lose its bitterness. Chef's tip: kale is best after the first frost, which makes the leaves sweeter; frozen chopped kale is a good shortcut.

160 min

German Meat

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Chinese plum sauce

In Hong Kong and Guangzhou roast-meat shops, a small saucer of plum sauce comes with crisp roast goose and siu mei, and at home it is the dip for spring rolls at New Year and the glaze for vegetarian fried tofu or cha siu-style mushrooms. Cantonese suan mei jiang is fruitier and more sour than the gloopy bottled kind: ripe plums are simmered with sugar, rice vinegar, ginger and a little chilli until thick and glossy. Make it in late summer when dark plums are cheap. Common mistake: boiling it too thick; it sets further as it cools, so stop when it coats the back of a spoon and a drip on a cold plate wrinkles only slightly. Readiness cues: the plum skins have melted into the sauce, the colour is deep ruby and the taste balances sweet and sharp. This is a high-acid preserve: in the fridge it keeps 2 months, or water-bath process sealed jars for 20 minutes to keep them in a cupboard for a year (refrigerate once opened). Discard if you see mould, it fizzes, the lid bulges or leaks, or it smells fermented. Chef's tip: add 2 Chinese salted preserved plums, mashed, for the authentic salty-sour depth.

55 min

Chinese Chutneys & Dips

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Kawal

Kawal is one of the most distinctive pantry foods of western Sudan, made in Darfur and Kordofan at the height of the rains in August and September, when wild senna (Senna obtusifolia, called kawal or fedo) springs up thickly around villages. Women strip the young leaves, pound them to a dark green pulp and pack it into a clay pot sealed with sorghum leaves, then leave it in a cool, shaded spot for about two weeks, remixing it every few days. The fermented paste is rolled into small balls and dried in the sun, and these keep through the dry months. Crumbled into mullah stews with okra, onions and dried meat and eaten with kisra or aseeda, kawal gives a deep, meaty, pungent savour much like West African dawadawa; the smell straight from the pot is strong and ammonia-like but mellows completely in cooking. The usual mistake is leaving the pot somewhere warm and forgetting to remix it, so the paste rots instead of fermenting. It is ready when the paste is dark, sticky and strongly savoury but not putrid. Chef's tip: if you cannot be certain of the plant, buy dried kawal from a Sudanese grocer.

90 min

Sudanese Basics

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Jhinge postoRidge gourd with poppy seeds

Jhinge posto is a summer staple of West Bengal and especially the Bankura and Birbhum districts, where poppy seed (posto) goes into almost every everyday lunch. Ridge gourd is cooked in its own juices with nigella seeds and green chilli, then coated in a creamy paste of ground white poppy seeds, giving a mild, nutty, slightly sweet dish. Serve it with rice and dal, or with a millet roti for a lower-GI plate. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 150 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding water: the gourd releases plenty, and extra water makes the posto runny. Chef's tip: soak the poppy seeds in hot water for 20 minutes before grinding so the paste is smooth, not gritty.

40 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Cà phê cốt dừa (coconut coffee)

Hanoi takes its coffee seriously, and in the last fifteen years coconut coffee has become one of the city's signatures, sold from Old Quarter cafés, lakeside balconies around Hoàn Kiếm and tiny stools on the pavement. It is a hot-weather drink, at its best on a sticky afternoon between May and September, eaten half with a spoon. Strong Vietnamese robusta drips slowly through an aluminium phin, then is poured over a pale slush of thick coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk and crushed ice, so you get bitter, dark coffee against something rich and cold that tastes like coconut ice cream. The common mistake is blending the slush too long or with too much ice, which leaves it thin and watery, and pouring the coffee in boiling hot so the slush collapses. Blend just until it looks like soft snow, and let the coffee cool for a minute or two. It is ready when the slush holds a spoon upright and the coffee sits in a dark layer on top. Robusta is high in caffeine and this is a strong drink, so it is not for children and one glass is plenty. Chef's tip: chill the coconut cream overnight; cold, thick cream gives a fluffier slush.

15 min

Vietnamese Drinks

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Keema naan (Lahore style)

Along Lahore's Fort Road food street, in sight of the Badshahi Mosque, tandoors work late into the night baking naan with a thin layer of spiced mince pressed inside. The bread puffs and chars in the oven and comes out glossy with butter, with juicy, peppery meat in every bite. At home a very hot oven and a preheated tray stand in for the tandoor. Contains wheat and dairy. Chef's tip: cook the mince first and let it cool fully; warm filling softens the dough and it tears when you roll it.

90 min

Pakistani Breads & Parathas

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Dongbei luan dunMixed vegetable stew

Luan dun, the 'chaotic stew', is everyday harvest cooking from Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, made in autumn when the garden gives everything at once and a big pot feeds the whole household through the cold evenings. Potato, aubergine, green beans, corn on the cob, peppers and tomato are cooked together in a soy-scented broth until soft and saucy, with the potato thickening it naturally. Serve it with steamed rice or mantou buns. The usual mistake is putting everything in together, so the beans stay squeaky while the aubergine turns to mush; add the vegetables in order of how long they take. A pressure cooker works too: 4 minutes on high after the beans and potato go in. Chef's tip: crush the potato pieces lightly against the pot near the end to give the stew body.

50 min

Chinese Vegetarian

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Bollito mistoMixed boiled meats

In Piedmont, bollito misto is the great winter feast, served from November to carnival in Turin trattorias and on family tables when there are many to feed. Several cuts of beef, a chicken and a cotechino (a soft, rich pork sausage) poach gently in one big pot until tender, then come to the table sliced on a warm platter with a sharp parsley and caper salsa verde; the broth is saved for soup or risotto the next day. The usual mistake is letting the pot boil hard: the meat turns stringy and the broth cloudy, so keep it at a bare shiver. Serve with boiled potatoes or mostarda if you like. Chef's tip: put the beef into water that is already boiling so its juices stay in the meat, and use cold water only if the broth matters more to you than the meat.

240 min

Italian Meat

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FarrottoFarro cooked like risotto

In the hills of the Garfagnana and around Spoleto, where farro has been grown since Roman times, cooks make farrotto in autumn and winter as a heartier cousin of risotto. Semi-pearled farro is toasted in olive oil with onion and celery, then cooked slowly with hot vegetable stock, ladle by ladle, until the grains are tender but still bouncy and wrapped in a light, creamy sauce. Finish with pecorino and serve as a main with a green salad. The usual mistake is stirring as constantly as for risotto; farro releases less starch, so stir every few minutes and beat in the cheese at the end for creaminess. Chef's tip: toast the dry grains until they smell like popcorn before adding any liquid; it deepens the nutty flavour.

55 min

Italian Rice & Grains

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Pasta e cavolfiorePasta with cauliflower

Pasta e cavolfiore belongs to the family of thick Neapolitan 'pasta e…' dishes eaten at home on Fridays and cold weekdays, when a single cauliflower and a handful of mixed pasta ends have to feed the family. The cauliflower is softened with garlic, a little tomato and chilli, then the pasta is cooked right in it with small additions of hot water until the whole pot is creamy and the cauliflower has partly melted into the sauce. Finish with pecorino and black pepper. The usual mistake is cooking the cauliflower in big florets, which never break down; cut it small so some of it becomes the sauce. Chef's tip: let it rest for two minutes off the heat after the cheese goes in; it thickens into the proper 'azzeccata' texture that holds a fork upright.

40 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Riso e verzeRice and cabbage soup

Riso e verze is a Lombard and Venetian farmhouse supper for the coldest months, when Savoy cabbage has been sweetened by the frost. Shredded cabbage is stewed slowly in butter and onion until it melts, then rice and stock go into the same pot and simmer into a thick, spoon-standing soup finished with grated cheese. Serve it in deep bowls with black pepper and crusty bread. The usual mistake is boiling the cabbage straight in stock, which makes it taste of sulphur; stew it in butter first until it is soft and sweet. Chef's tip: make it a little loose, because the rice keeps drinking the broth as it stands.

45 min

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Ají de fideosNoodles in red chilli with beef

Ají de fideos fills the market comedores of La Paz at lunchtime: spaghetti snapped into short pieces and simmered in a brick-red sauce of dried chilli, onion and tomato with chunks of beef and potato, all eaten with a spoon. It is warming, a little smoky and properly hot, perfect at 3,600 metres. The trap is adding the pasta too early, which leaves it bloated and the sauce gluey. Chef's tip: toast the broken spaghetti in a little oil until golden before it goes into the pot; it keeps its shape and adds a nutty flavour.

90 minAndean Pasta & Noodles

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Horchata de morroMorro seed and rice drink

In El Salvador horchata means horchata de morro, made with the seeds of the morro or jícaro tree, whose round gourds also become cups and bowls. It is poured from big glass jars at pupuserías every evening, sold in plastic bags with a straw outside schools, and drunk at home with Sunday lunch. Markets in San Salvador and Santa Ana sell a ready-ground mix, but toasting your own is easy: rice, morro seeds, sesame, pumpkin seeds and cacao, with cinnamon and allspice. The drink is light brown, cool and creamy, with a nutty, toasted taste, a hint of chocolate and warm spice; quite different from the white Mexican rice horchata. The common mistake is skipping the soak and blending the powder straight with water; it stays gritty and tastes thin. Let it soak at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge. It is ready when it is smooth, beige-brown, coats the glass faintly and smells of toasted seeds and cinnamon. Outside Central America, look for semilla de morro or horchata mix in Latin shops; if you cannot find it, use extra pumpkin seeds and sesame. Chef's tip: toast each seed separately, because they brown at different speeds.

35 minCentral American Drinks

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Fondue de poireauxSlow-cooked leeks in butter

Fondue de poireaux is a winter side from northern France and Belgium, cooked in home kitchens from Picardy to Lille whenever leeks are cheap and sweet. Thinly sliced leeks are sweated very gently in butter with a lid on until they collapse into a soft, pale-green tangle, then finished with a spoon of cream and nutmeg. Serve it with roast fish, eggs, potatoes, or spooned onto toast as a light supper. The usual mistake is cooking over too high a heat, which browns the leeks and makes them bitter; they should never colour. Chef's tip: wash the sliced leeks in a bowl of water and lift them out with your hands, so the grit stays at the bottom.

35 min

French Sides

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MatumboFried tripe

Nairobi's office workers and matatu crews know which roadside hoteli does the best matumbo, and they queue for it at lunchtime with a mound of ugali on the side. The tripe is boiled until it is soft but still has a gentle bounce, then cut into strips and fried hard with onion, tomato and green chilli so the edges catch and the sauce turns thick and peppery. Buy cleaned (dressed) beef tripe from a butcher: the white, honeycomb kind has already been scalded and scraped, which you should not attempt at home. Even cleaned tripe needs a thorough wash and a long simmer, and cutting it before it is tender is the usual mistake, because it then stays rubbery however long you fry it. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lemon and a chopped onion to the boiling water; they freshen the smell in the kitchen and leave the tripe tasting clean.

120 minEast African Meat

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