Featured recipe

Vegetable steamed bao buns (baozi)

Baozi are breakfast across China: commuters in Shanghai, Beijing and small towns alike queue at steaming stalls for a couple of buns and a cup of soya milk. Vegetable baozi (su cai bao) are a standard on every counter, usually filled with greens, mushroom, tofu and glass noodles. Making them is a weekend job, but they freeze beautifully and reheat in 10 minutes. Chef's tip: let the shaped buns rise until they look puffy and feel light before steaming; under-proved buns come out dense and wrinkled.

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LyutenitsaRoasted pepper and tomato relish

Lyutenitsa is Bulgaria's pantry relish, cooked in huge pans in courtyards around Plovdiv and the Thracian plain every September, when the red peppers are at their sweetest. Roasted peppers, tomatoes and a little aubergine and carrot are ground smooth and simmered for hours into a thick, brick-red spread, warm with garlic and a little hot pepper. It is smoother and more tomato-rich than ajvar or zacuscă. Children grow up on it spread on bread with grated sirene (filiyka), and it goes with everything from eggs to beans. Chef's tip: stir from the bottom often as it thickens; walking away is the common mistake, and a scorched base will taint the whole pot.

140 min

Bulgarian Chutneys & Dips

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LuqaimatSaffron dumplings with date syrup

When the sun goes down during Ramadan in Dubai, Sharjah or Muscat, plates of luqaimat appear on iftar tables and in mosque courtyards. The little balls of yeasted batter, scented with saffron and cardamom, are fried until crisp and golden outside and soft as a cloud inside, then drizzled with dibs (date syrup) and scattered with sesame. Unlike syrup-soaked fritters, they are glazed only lightly, so they stay crunchy. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of oil on your thumb and a wet spoon stop the sticky batter clinging, so the balls drop round into the oil.

75 minGulf Arabian Desserts

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MouhalabiehOrange blossom milk pudding

Mouhalabieh is the pudding a Lebanese grandmother makes when guests drop by unannounced: milk set softly with cornflour and a little rice flour, perfumed with orange-blossom water and topped with chopped pistachios. It appears after Ramadan iftar meals, at Christmas in Beirut and on ordinary weeknights in Damascus, always cold and wobbling in small glasses or a shallow dish. No gelatine is used; the starch alone gives a spoonable, silky set. Chef's tip: mix the cornflour into cold milk before it meets the heat; added to hot milk it forms lumps that no amount of whisking removes.

25 min

Lebanese Desserts

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Moules marinièresMussels in white wine

Along the coast of Normandy and Brittany, from Le Mont-Saint-Michel to Saint-Malo, summer means big black pots of moules marinières and a cone of frites, eaten at a seaside table with fingers and an empty shell as tongs. Fresh mussels steam open in minutes with shallot, garlic, thyme and white wine. The wine boils only briefly, so some alcohol stays; for an alcohol-free version use 150 ml fish or vegetable stock with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Chef's tip: buy mussels the day you cook them and keep them in the fridge in an open bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water or a sealed bag.

25 min

French Fish

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Mousse au chocolatChocolate mousse

Mousse au chocolat is the dessert French children learn to make with their grandmothers and the one every bistro keeps in a big bowl in the fridge. The classic recipe is only dark chocolate, eggs, a little butter and sugar: the yolks make it rich, the whisked whites make it light and airy. It's made a few hours ahead and served in small glasses or scooped from a shared bowl. This version contains raw eggs, so use very fresh ones and avoid serving it to pregnant women, small babies or anyone unwell. For an egg-free version, see our eggless chocolate mousse. Chef's tip: let the melted chocolate cool until just warm before adding the yolks; adding them to hot chocolate is the common mistake and they scramble.

30 min

French Desserts

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RöstiPotato cake

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

60 min

Swiss Sides

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LuosifenRiver snail rice noodles

Liuzhou, an industrial city in Guangxi, turned its late-night snail noodle stalls into a national obsession, and the smell alone makes luosifen famous: sour fermented bamboo shoots give it a funky, love-it-or-hate-it aroma that fills the kitchen. The broth itself is rich and savoury from pork bones and river snails, red with chilli oil, and the bowl is piled with crunchy fried tofu skin, peanuts, pickled beans, greens and slippery rice noodles. Taste-wise it is hot, sour and deeply savoury all at once. It is a meal in a bowl, best eaten with the window open and a cold drink. Chef's tip: use only snails sold ready-cooked and cleaned, frozen or canned, never wild-gathered ones, and still boil them in the broth for at least 15 minutes; if you can't find them, dried shrimp make a good snail-free broth.

120 min

Chinese Soups

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LuladaLulo and lime drink

Lulada is the drink of Cali and the Valle del Cauca, sold in tall glasses from street stalls and juice shops on hot afternoons. Lulo (naranjilla) is a small orange fruit with a green, sour, citrus-like pulp; for lulada it is chopped and crushed by hand rather than blended, then mixed with lime, sugar, cold water and ice, so you drink it with a spoon as much as a straw. Look for frozen lulo pulp or whole fruit in Latin American shops. Chef's tip: crush the lulo with a fork or muddler; blending smashes the seeds and makes the drink bitter.

10 min

Colombian Drinks

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Lula kebabChopped lamb kebab

Lula kebab is the kebab Baku's grill houses are proudest of: minced lamb mixed with onion and a little tail fat, squeezed by hand around wide skewers and cooked fast over charcoal. It comes to the table on thin lavash with sliced raw onion tossed in sumac, grilled tomatoes and a pile of herbs, usually at long family lunches and weddings. The meat is only salted and peppered, so it tastes of lamb rather than spice. Many people skip chilling the mince, and soft warm meat slides straight off the skewer into the fire. Chef's tip: knead and slap the mince against the bowl for a few minutes; it becomes sticky and clings to the skewer.

42 min

Azerbaijani Meat

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Lumpiang shanghaiPork spring rolls

No Filipino party table is complete without a platter of lumpiang shanghai, the pencil-thin pork spring rolls that disappear first at birthdays, Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) and family reunions. They came from the Chinese-Filipino cooks of Manila, and the filling is seasoned minced pork with carrot, onion and water chestnut, rolled tight in thin wrappers and fried until they crackle. Dip them in sweet chilli sauce or banana ketchup. Chef's tip: roll them no thicker than your finger; thin rolls cook through in the time the wrapper takes to turn golden.

65 min

Filipino Snacks & Starters

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Hong Kong milk tea

Hong Kong milk tea is the daily fuel of the city's cha chaan teng, poured hot in thick cups at breakfast and over ice in the humid afternoons. Tea masters brew a blend of strong black teas, strain it again and again through a long cotton bag (the stained 'silk stocking'), and mix it with evaporated milk for a smooth, almost velvety drink. Chef's tip: let the tea simmer for a few minutes rather than just steeping it; Hong Kong milk tea is meant to be strong and slightly astringent, or the milk drowns it.

15 min

Hong Kong Drinks

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MsemenFlaky square pancakes

Msemen are the square, layered flatbreads sold hot from griddles in every Moroccan medina at breakfast time and again for afternoon tea, when they are drizzled with honey or dipped in olive oil. The dough is stretched paper-thin on an oiled surface, sprinkled with fine semolina, folded into a square and cooked until crisp outside and flaky in the middle. This version uses oil throughout so it is vegan; many homes use butter or smen. Chef's tip: oil your hands and work surface generously; the dough should be stretched, not rolled, and it tears if it sticks.

60 min

Moroccan Breads & Parathas

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MshikakiGrilled beef skewers

Mshikaki are the beef skewers grilled at night markets in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar's Forodhani Gardens and every Tanzanian roadside barbecue, sold hot with chips, pili pili sauce and a wedge of lime. Small chunks of beef are marinated in lime, ginger, garlic, chilli and curry powder, which tenderises them, then grilled quickly over charcoal. The mistake is marinating with raw papaya or too much lime for too long, which turns the meat mushy; 2–6 hours is plenty. Chef's tip: soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes so they don't burn.

35 minEast African Meat

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Lucknowi sheermalSaffron sweet milk flatbread

Sheermal is a soft flatbread made with milk and ghee instead of water, lightly sweet, and brushed with saffron milk so it bakes to a glossy amber colour. In Lucknow's old quarters like Chowk and Aminabad, bakers still make it in tandoors each morning, and families buy it for Eid, weddings and Ramadan iftar, eating it alongside rich kormas or simply with a cup of milky tea. It sits halfway between bread and pastry. The usual mistake is adding too much flour while kneading because the dough feels sticky; a dry dough gives a tough, crumbly sheermal. Chef's tip: oil your hands instead of flouring the surface, and let the rich dough rise until it is truly doubled.

120 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Lucknowi galouti kebabMinced lamb patties

Lucknow's galouti kebab is said to have been created in the kitchens of the Nawabs of Awadh for a ruler who had lost his teeth, and 'galouti' means something that melts. The minced lamb is ground again until it's almost a paste, tenderised with raw papaya, scented with a dozen spices plus rose water and saffron, and fried gently on a flat griddle. In the old city around Aminabad they are sold all day on small, flaky ulte tawe ka paratha with sliced onion and mint chutney, and they are a must at Ramadan iftars. Chef's tip: chill the mixture well before shaping; the patties are meant to be fragile, and a cold mixture is the only way to get them into the pan in one piece.

125 min

Indian Meat

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Sha phaley with cabbage and cheeseFried cabbage and cheese pockets

Sha phaley comes from Sikkim's Bhutia and Tibetan communities: rounds of dough are filled, sealed into half-moons and fried until golden and blistered, like a fat, crisp pie. In Gangtok's MG Marg cafés and home kitchens the classic filling is minced meat, but a vegetarian version with cabbage, spring onion, ginger and cheese (paneer or soft churpi) is common and very good. Eat them hot with dalle chutney and a bowl of thukpa or tea. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted cabbage hard before filling; any loose water steams inside and makes the dough soggy.

65 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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MtewemGarlic meatballs in chickpea sauce

Mtewem, from the word for garlic (thoum), is an old dish of the Casbah of Algiers: chunks of lamb and garlicky beef meatballs simmered together in a peppery white sauce with chickpeas, and finished with whole cloves of garlic that turn soft and sweet. It is cooked for Ramadan and for guests, and eaten with bread. Some families add a little tomato; this is the white version. The mistake is letting the sauce boil hard after the meatballs go in, which makes them tough and break; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: wet your hands when rolling the meatballs so they come out smooth and hold together.

105 min

Algerian Meat

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MtoriGreen banana and beef soup

Mtori comes from the Chagga people on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, where cooking bananas grow around every house; it is a thick, smooth soup of green bananas and beef, mashed until creamy and finished with butter. It is given to new mothers to build their strength and eaten on cool mornings in Moshi and Arusha. The mistake is using sweet ripe bananas, which make it sugary; you need hard green cooking bananas or green plantain. Chef's tip: rub a little oil on your hands before peeling green bananas, as the sap stains.

100 minEast African Soups

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MtsvadiGrilled pork skewers

Mtsvadi are the grilled skewers of the Georgian supra and every summer picnic, and in the wine region of Kakheti they are cooked over the embers of dried grapevine cuttings left from pruning. This version is pork: chunks of fatty pork neck marinated simply with onion, salt and pepper, threaded on skewers and grilled until charred at the edges and juicy inside. Serve with raw onion rings, pomegranate seeds and tkemali (sour plum sauce). Chef's tip: keep the marinade simple; Georgians say good mtsvadi needs only good meat and good fire.

40 min

Georgian Meat

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Lu puluCorned beef in taro leaves

Lu pulu is a Sunday dish in Tonga, cooked in the umu (earth oven) after church in Nuku'alofa and by Tongan families in Auckland and Sydney: taro leaves are layered into a cup, filled with corned beef, onion and thick coconut cream, wrapped in foil or banana leaf and baked until the leaves melt into a rich, silky parcel. It is served with boiled taro, yam or sweet potato. The mistake is undercooking the taro leaves: they must cook for at least an hour, as raw taro leaves irritate the mouth and throat. Chef's tip: if you can't find taro leaves, use large spinach or silverbeet leaves, cooked for 45 minutes.

115 minPacific Islander Meat

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Lovo-style chickenEarth-oven style chicken

A lovo is Fiji's earth oven, dug in the ground for weddings, church feasts and Christmas in villages on Viti Levu and Vanua Levu: hot stones are covered with parcels of meat, fish and root vegetables in banana leaves, then buried for hours. This home version wraps chicken marinated in coconut, garlic and ginger with taro, cassava and sweet potato in foil and banana leaves and roasts them slowly, giving the same steamed, smoky-sweet result. The mistake is wrapping loosely, so the steam escapes and everything dries; seal the parcels tightly. Chef's tip: a few drops of liquid smoke or a smoked paprika rub gives a hint of the earth oven.

120 minPacific Islander Chicken

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Loubieh bi zeitGreen beans braised in olive oil

In Lebanese homes loubieh bi zeit belongs to the 'bi zeit' family, vegetables cooked in olive oil and served cool, which turn up on the mezze table in summer and fill lunchboxes the next day. Flat runner beans or wide Romano beans are best: they soak up the garlicky tomato sauce and turn silky. It is eaten at room temperature with Arabic bread to mop the oil, and often with a few spring onions and radishes alongside. Chef's tip: cook the garlic only until it smells sweet before adding the beans; browned garlic turns the whole dish bitter.

45 min

Lebanese Sides

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Lontong sayurRice cakes in coconut vegetable broth

In Jakarta, lontong sayur is what the morning carts sell before offices open: firm slices of pressed rice sitting in a thin, golden coconut broth with chayote, long beans and squares of tofu and tempeh. Betawi families also cook a big pot of it for Lebaran morning. Street versions often add dried shrimp to the spice paste; this one keeps the flavour with candlenuts, galangal and salam leaf instead. Serve with sambal, fried shallots and crackers. Chef's tip: cook the lontong the day before and chill it overnight; cold rice cakes slice cleanly and soak up the broth without falling apart.

135 min

Indonesian Breakfast & Brunch

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LokmaFried yeast fritters in syrup

In İzmir and along the Aegean coast, lokma is the sweet of shared moments: families hire a lokma master with a big cauldron to fry hundreds of these golden balls on the street after a funeral or to mark an anniversary, handing them out to anyone passing by, and stalls sell them by the paper cup all year. Each fritter is a little ball of yeasted batter, crisp outside, hollow and soft within, soaked briefly in lemon syrup so it crunches before it melts. This home version needs no eggs or butter, and kids love squeezing out the balls. Eat them warm, on their own or with a sprinkle of cinnamon or crushed pistachios. Chef's tip: dip your spoon or fingers in a cup of water before each ball; the batter then slides off cleanly into round shapes instead of stringy tails.

60 min

Turkish Desserts

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Mughlai parathaEgg-stuffed paratha

Mughlai paratha is a Kolkata cabin-restaurant classic, the sort of thing eaten at Anadi Cabin or a para stall on a winter evening with a sweet-sour potato curry and sliced cucumber and onion. Paper-thin dough is stretched out on the tawa, a beaten egg with onion, chilli and coriander is poured into the middle, and the sides are folded over into a sealed square parcel that is shallow-fried until it blisters. Many shops add minced meat; this vegetarian version is egg only, the way plenty of Bengali homes make it. Chef's tip: stretch the dough with oiled hands rather than a rolling pin for the thinnest sheet.

60 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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MuhammaraRed pepper and walnut spread

Gaziantep, a city on Turkey's southern border famous for pistachios and pepper paste, claims muhammara as its own, and you will find it on breakfast spreads and meze tables throughout the southeast. Roasted red peppers, walnuts and breadcrumbs are pounded with pepper paste, cumin and pomegranate molasses into a thick, brick-red spread that is smoky, nutty and gently hot. Spread it on bread, serve it with crudités or alongside a bowl of lentil soup. A common mistake is blending until completely smooth; it should keep a little bite from the walnuts. Chef's tip: toast the walnuts in a dry pan first until they smell like brown butter, which deepens the flavour far more than raw nuts.

20 min

Turkish Chutneys & Dips

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RotkohlBraised red cabbage

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

90 min

German Sides

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MujaddaraLentils and rice with crisp onions

Across the Levant, from Tripoli in northern Lebanon to the villages of the Galilee, mujaddara is the thrifty Friday or Lenten supper that nobody tires of: brown lentils and rice cooked together until soft and earthy, then heaped with a tangle of onions fried until mahogany and crisp. It costs very little, keeps well, and is eaten warm or at room temperature with a cucumber-yogurt salad, plain yogurt for non-vegans, or a sharp cabbage salad. The onions do all the seasoning, so be generous. Chef's tip: fry the onions in batches with room to spare in the pan; crowded onions steam and go soft instead of turning crisp.

60 min

Lebanese Rice & Grains

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LohikeittoCreamy salmon soup

Lohikeitto is what Finns cook when they want something warming after a day outside, ladled up in Helsinki lunch cafés and in lakeside summer cottages alike. Chunks of salmon and potato simmer in a light fish stock with leek and allspice, then a little cream turns it pale and gentle and a big handful of dill makes it taste of summer. It takes about forty minutes and is served with dark rye bread and butter. The common mistake is boiling the salmon hard, which turns it dry and stringy; it only needs a few minutes at a bare simmer. Chef's tip: add the salmon last and switch off the heat with the lid on; the fish finishes in the hot soup and stays in juicy flakes.

30 minScandinavian Soups

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Locro de papaPotato and cheese soup

Locro de papa is Quito's comfort soup, eaten on cold afternoons in the Andean highlands where nights drop near freezing. Potatoes are cooked until half of them dissolve into a thick, achiote-tinted broth, then finished with milk and cubes of fresh cheese that soften into strings. Bowls are crowned with avocado slices and served with ají (chilli sauce) on the side. Ecuador uses two potatoes, a floury one to thicken and a waxy one to hold its shape. Chef's tip: add the cheese off the heat; it should soften and go stretchy, not melt into an oily layer.

50 minAndean Soups

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Locro argentinoCorn, bean and meat stew

Locro comes from the Andean northwest, from Salta, Jujuy and Tucumán, and today the whole country eats it on 25 May and 9 July, the two national holidays, when it simmers in huge pots at clubs and church halls. Dried white corn, white beans and squash cook down with beef, pork belly and chorizo into a stew so thick a spoon stands up in it. This is a pork dish. It is topped with quiquirimichi, a red oil of paprika, chilli and spring onion. The classic mistake is not soaking the corn and beans overnight; without it they never soften. Chef's tip: stir often in the last hour, scraping the bottom, as the squash breaks down and the locro catches easily.

240 min

Argentinian Soups

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LobioRed bean stew

Lobio simply means beans, and in Georgia it means this thick, herb-scented stew of red kidney beans, cooked and served in a clay pot (a ketsi or kotani). In Imereti and Racha it is everyday winter food and a mainstay of the Lenten table, eaten with hot mchadi, pickled cabbage or green chillies and a spoon of tkemali. Some of the beans are crushed so the stew turns creamy while the rest stay whole. A common mistake is mashing everything to a purée; crush only about a third. Raw kidney beans must also boil hard for 10 minutes before simmering, or they can make you ill. Chef's tip: stir in the fresh coriander and garlic only at the end, off the heat, so they stay bright and sharp against the soft beans.

95 min

Georgian Curries

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LobianiBean-filled bread

Lobiani is a round bread stuffed with spiced mashed kidney beans, and in Georgia it belongs above all to Barbaroba, St Barbara's Day on 17 December, when households across the country bake it for neighbours and guests. In the highland region of Racha it is often made with ham; this is the plain bean version that is also baked through Orthodox Lent, so the dough here is made with water and oil and the whole bread is vegan. The filling is soft and peppery with coriander and blue fenugreek, and the crust is thin and chewy. A common mistake is making the bean filling too wet, which turns the dough soggy and makes it burst: the mash should hold its shape on a spoon. Chef's tip: fry the onion for the filling until properly golden, not just soft; its sweetness is what makes the beans taste of something.

95 min

Georgian Breads & Parathas

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Mul naengmyeonCold buckwheat noodles

Mul naengmyeon comes from Pyongyang, where it was once a winter dish eaten in heated rooms; after the war, northern cooks opened naengmyeon houses in Seoul, and now it is the first thing people crave on a sticky summer afternoon. The beef broth is served almost frozen, slightly sweet and sharp with vinegar, over long, springy buckwheat noodles. Bottles of vinegar and hot mustard sit on every table so you can adjust each bowl. Plan ahead: the broth needs at least 4 hours in the fridge, or make it the day before. Chef's tip: put the strained broth in the freezer for the last hour, so it turns slushy just as you serve.

120 min

Korean Pasta & Noodles

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LlapingachosPotato cheese patties

Llapingachos come from the central highlands of Ecuador, especially Ambato and the markets of Riobamba, where women fry them by the dozen on huge round griddles. The patties are mashed potato coloured with achiote, stuffed with cheese and spring onion, and browned until crisp. A full plate adds peanut sauce, a lime-dressed onion and tomato salad, avocado and a fried egg (the market version also includes chorizo, left out here). Chef's tip: chill the shaped patties for 30 minutes; cold patties hold their shape and get a better crust.

80 minAndean Vegetarian

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LlajwaTomato and chilli salsa

No Bolivian table is set without llajwa, the fiery, bright salsa that goes on soups, potatoes, cheese empanadas and anything grilled. In La Paz and Cochabamba it's ground on a batán, a flat grinding stone with a rocking stone on top, which crushes tomatoes and locoto (a fleshy, very hot chilli) into a rough, juicy sauce. The signature herb is quirquiña, with a smell somewhere between coriander and rocket. Chef's tip: no stone? Pound in a mortar or pulse briefly; a blender whips in air and turns llajwa pink and foamy.

10 minAndean Chutneys & Dips

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Mullah bamiaOkra stew

Mullah is the Sudanese word for the thick stews that go with kisra and aseeda, and mullah bamia, with okra, is one of the most loved, cooked in homes from Khartoum to Kassala. The base is a large amount of onion cooked very slowly until it melts, then tomato and garlic; the okra is left to soften until the sauce turns silky. Many households add dried ground okra (weika) for a thicker, earthier stew. It is normally made with meat; here it is all vegetable. Chef's tip: cook the onions until they collapse into a jam before adding anything else; that slow base is what gives mullah its depth.

70 min

Sudanese Curries

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Litti chokhaStuffed wheat balls with mashed vegetables

Litti chokha is Bihar's signature meal, cooked on street corners and at village gatherings over smouldering embers. Litti are rustic wheat balls stuffed with sattu (roasted gram flour) sharpened with garlic, ginger, mustard oil and pickle masala; they bake until crusty outside and crumbly inside. Chokha is a smoky mash of fire-roasted aubergine, potato and tomato with raw mustard oil and green chilli. Together they are filling, protein-rich and deeply savoury. Many Biharis dunk hot litti in melted ghee; for a vegan plate, brush them with mustard oil instead. Chef's tip: roast the aubergine and tomatoes right on a gas flame until the skins are black all over; that charring is the whole flavour of chokha.

75 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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LinseneintopfLentil stew

Linseneintopf is the one-pot lentil stew that German families cook on cold weekdays, and in many school and works canteens it's still the Thursday or Saturday lunch. Brown lentils simmer with potatoes, carrots, celeriac and leek until thick and soft; the finishing touch, all over Germany, is a good splash of vinegar at the table, which wakes the whole bowl up. It's usually made with smoked sausage or bacon; here smoked paprika and vegetable stock give the smoky depth instead. Chef's tip: add the vinegar only at the end, because acid added early keeps the lentils hard.

55 min

German Soups

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Lentilles du Puy saladGreen lentil salad

Le Puy-en-Velay, in the volcanic hills of the Auvergne, grows a small, slate-green lentil with its own protected name. Lentilles du Puy hold their shape when cooked and have a peppery, almost mineral taste, which makes them perfect for salad. In French homes and bistros this salad is dressed while warm with a sharp mustard vinaigrette, shallot, carrot and parsley, then eaten as a starter, a packed lunch or a side to a quiche. Chef's tip: dress the lentils while they're still warm so they absorb the vinaigrette; dressing them cold is the common mistake and the flavour just sits on the outside.

30 min

French Salads

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Lentil bobotieCurried lentil bake

Bobotie is the dish Cape Town is proudest of, brought to the Cape by Malay and Indonesian cooks centuries ago and still baked for Sunday lunch in the Bo-Kaap and across the Western Cape. Its flavour sits between sweet, sour and mildly hot: curry spices, apricot jam, fruit chutney and lemon, with a set egg-and-milk custard on top scented with bay leaves. The classic uses beef mince and milk-soaked bread; here brown lentils carry the spices so well that no bread is needed. Serve with yellow rice, chutney and a sliced banana and tomato sambal. Chef's tip: let the lentil filling cook down until thick and almost dry before baking, or the custard sinks into it instead of setting on top.

70 min

South African Vegetarian

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Sev puriPuri topped with potato and chutneys

Sev puri is the snack Mumbaikars eat standing up at Juhu and Girgaum Chowpatty, or at the chaat stall outside the office in the evening. Flat, crisp papdi are laid out on a plate, topped with potato, onion and raw mango, splashed with green, sweet tamarind and red garlic chutneys, then buried under a snowfall of fine sev. It must be eaten within a couple of minutes, before the papdi soften. Here the papdi are made at home, but good shop-bought ones work fine on a busy day. Chef's tip: assemble each plate just before it's eaten, in the order given; chutney on bare papdi makes them soggy, so the potato always goes down first.

50 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Mumu-style pork roastOven-roasted pork with sweet potato

A mumu is the earth oven of the Papua New Guinea highlands, around Mount Hagen and Goroka, made for feasts, bride-price ceremonies and Christmas: pork, kaukau (sweet potato), bananas and greens are wrapped in banana leaves and steamed over hot stones for hours. This dish contains pork. This home version packs the same ingredients, with coconut milk, into a covered roasting tin and cooks them slowly until the pork is soft. The mistake is cooking the pork fast and hot; it needs long, gentle heat to become tender. Chef's tip: add the greens only for the last 30 minutes so they stay bright.

210 minPacific Islander Meat

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LegimMashed vegetable stew

Legim (from the French légumes) is a Haitian Sunday dish, made in big pots in Port-au-Prince and the countryside and eaten with white rice or diri kole. Aubergine, cabbage, chayote (mirliton), carrots and spinach or watercress are cooked down slowly with epis and tomato paste until soft, then crushed with a pilon or spoon into a thick, rough, savoury mash. It's often cooked with beef or crab; this vegetable version is just as traditional for the days without meat. It tastes deep and green, gently sweet from the carrot and warm from clove and scotch bonnet. Chef's tip: cook it uncovered at the end until the liquid has almost gone and the oil shows at the edges; that's when the flavours concentrate and it stops tasting boiled.

75 min

Haitian Curries

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LefseSoft potato flatbread

In Norway, and among Norwegian-American families in Minnesota and the Dakotas, lefse appears at Christmas in towering stacks wrapped in tea towels. These are soft, almost cloth-thin rounds made from riced potato and a little flour, cooked dry on a hot griddle until freckled with brown spots. The classic way to eat them in Telemark and Hallingdal is spread with butter, sprinkled with sugar and sometimes cinnamon, then rolled up or folded into triangles; savoury rolls with cheese are just as common. Home cooks use a grooved rolling pin and a long wooden stick to turn them, but a floured ordinary pin and a wide spatula do the job. Chef's tip: rice the potatoes while hot and let the mash cool completely, even overnight; warm potato soaks up too much flour and the lefse go tough.

80 minScandinavian Breads & Parathas

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LecsóPepper and tomato stew

Lecsó is what Hungarian kitchens cook in late August, when markets in Szeged and Kecskemét are heaped with pale yellow wax peppers and over-ripe tomatoes. It is a soft, sweet-sour stew of peppers and tomato cooked down in paprika-scented oil; many families add smoked sausage or scramble eggs into it, but this version keeps it vegan and lets the peppers carry the flavour. Eat it hot with crusty bread or rice, or cold the next day, and jars of it are put up for winter. Chef's tip: add the tomatoes only once the peppers have softened; if they go in together, the tomato juice stews the peppers instead of letting them sweeten in the oil.

40 min

Hungarian Vegetarian

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Lechon kawaliCrispy fried pork belly

Lechon kawali is pork belly, boiled with garlic and bay, dried, then fried in a wok (kawali) until the rind blisters into crackling. It is the everyday cousin of the whole roast pig: Manila carinderias sell it by the slice at lunchtime, and home cooks make it for weekend lunches all over Luzon. Each piece should be shatteringly crisp on top and juicy underneath. Serve it chopped with rice and a sharp garlic-vinegar dip, or with the sweet liver sauce sold in jars. Chef's tip: after boiling, leave the belly uncovered in the fridge overnight; a bone-dry rind puffs up and spits far less in the oil.

110 min

Filipino Meat

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Muriwo une doviGreens in peanut butter sauce

Muriwo une dovi, greens with peanut butter, is a daily relish in Zimbabwean homes, eaten with sadza at lunch and supper. Collard greens, rape or pumpkin leaves are cooked with onion and tomato, then stirred into a creamy peanut sauce. Zambia's ifisashi is the same idea, usually without tomato and often made with pumpkin leaves or spinach and eaten with nshima. Chef's tip: add the peanut butter at the end and cook just long enough to thicken; long boiling makes it gluey.

30 minSouthern African Sides

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Lechón asadoRoast pork with mojo

This is a pork dish. In Cuba a whole pig is roasted for Nochebuena, Christmas Eve, and for big family parties, often in a pit in the yard; at home in Miami or Havana the same flavour comes from a pork shoulder soaked overnight in mojo, the sour-orange, garlic and oregano marinade. The meat roasts slowly until it pulls apart, and the skin turns to crackling. Serve it with moros y cristianos, yuca con mojo and a squeeze of lime. A common mistake is leaving the shoulder in the marinade on the kitchen counter: it must always marinate in the fridge. Chef's tip: if you can't find sour (Seville) oranges, mix two parts orange juice with one part lime juice for the same sharp edge.

330 min

Cuban Meat

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MurtabakStuffed griddled bread

Mamak shops stay open late across Malaysia, and the man at the big flat griddle swinging dough into a translucent sheet is half the show. Murtabak is that dough wrapped around a filling of curried minced meat, onion and beaten egg, folded into a fat square parcel and fried until blistered and crisp outside, soft and steamy within. Ramadan bazaars sell piles of it at dusk for breaking the fast. Cut into squares and serve with a ladle of dhal or curry gravy and pickled red onion. Chef's tip: oil your hands and the work surface generously; murtabak dough wants to be stretched, never rolled, and the oil lets it glide.

60 min

Malaysian Snacks & Starters

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Rou jia moSpiced pork flatbread sandwich

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

150 min

Chinese Fast Food

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Leche flanCaramel custard

Leche flan is on the table for every Filipino Noche Buena on Christmas Eve, at fiestas and at birthdays, steamed in the oval aluminium tins called llaneras and turned out shining under a dark caramel. Unlike Spanish flan or the Brazilian pudim, it is made with egg yolks only, condensed milk and evaporated milk, so it is much denser and smoother, almost like a firm custard fudge, and a little goes a long way. A grating of calamansi or lime zest cuts the richness, and many cooks steam rather than bake it. The leftover whites go into meringue biscuits. Chef's tip: strain the custard twice and stir, don't whisk; air bubbles become holes in the finished flan.

60 min

Filipino Desserts

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Mushroom luwomboSteamed mushroom groundnut stew

Luwombo is a royal dish of the Buganda kingdom in central Uganda, served at weddings, introduction ceremonies and Christmas: a stew wrapped and tied in softened banana leaves and steamed for hours so the leaf perfumes everything. Chicken, beef or smoked fish are traditional, but mushroom luwombo in a groundnut (peanut) sauce is a well-loved meat-free version, especially with the large wild mushrooms sold in Kampala markets. Serve with matoke. Chef's tip: wilt the banana leaves over a flame until they turn glossy and bendy; stiff leaves split and the sauce runs out.

130 minEast African Vegetarian

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KaftaGrilled minced meat skewers

Kafta is the everyday grilled mince of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine: a Sunday barbecue staple in the Lebanese mountains and a quick dinner in city flats, cooked on skewers, shaped into fingers for the pan, or baked in a tray with potatoes and tomato. Lamb and beef are mixed with plenty of onion and parsley and warmed with baharat (seven spice). Wrap them in bread with tomato, onion and a smear of hummus or tahini sauce. Chef's tip: grate the onion and squeeze it hard in a clean cloth; dry onion keeps the kafta firm on the skewer and stops it steaming.

27 min

Lebanese Meat

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Łazanki with cabbage and mushroomsSquare noodles with cabbage and mushrooms

Łazanki are short, square egg noodles, and in the Podhale highlands and around Kraków they are tossed with soft-fried white cabbage, a little sauerkraut and mushrooms for a cheap weekday supper, especially in autumn when the cabbage is new. Most cooks add smoked bacon; this version leaves it out and gets its depth from dried ceps, browned fresh mushrooms and plenty of black pepper and marjoram. It is soft, savoury and slightly sour. Serve it on its own with a glass of buttermilk or kefir, as people do in the mountains. Chef's tip: let the cabbage catch and brown in places before you add the noodles; that browning is the flavour bacon would otherwise give.

45 min

Polish Pasta & Noodles

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MusakhanSumac chicken on flatbread

Musakhan is the dish Palestinian families in the villages around Jenin and Tulkarem make in late autumn, when the olives have been pressed and the first green, peppery oil comes home from the mill. Mounds of onion are cooked slowly in that oil with plenty of sumac, piled onto taboon bread with roast chicken and baked until the bread's edges crisp and its middle soaks up the purple-red juices. It is eaten with your hands, shared from one big tray, with yogurt and a chopped salad. Chef's tip: use more oil than feels right; the bread is meant to drink it, and a dry musakhan misses the point.

100 min

Lebanese Chicken

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Shiro watSpiced chickpea flour stew

Shiro is the most eaten dish in Ethiopia: on Wednesdays and Fridays and during Lent, when Orthodox Christians fast from all animal food, kitchens from Addis Ababa to Mekelle make it daily, and it is a favourite in Eritrea too. It is made from shiro powder, a ground mix of roasted chickpeas or field peas with garlic, ginger and berbere, whisked into a red onion base and simmered into a smooth, thick sauce. Served bubbling in a clay pot over injera, it is comforting, spicy and very cheap. On non-fasting days, a spoon of niter kibbeh stirred in at the end makes it richer. Chef's tip: whisk the shiro powder in slowly, a spoonful at a time, and keep whisking; dumped in all at once it forms lumps that never dissolve.

30 min

Ethiopian Curries

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Mushroom khinkaliMushroom dumplings

Khinkali come from the mountain villages of Pshavi, Khevsureti and Tusheti in Georgia's north-east, and the roadside khinkali houses of Pasanauri on the Georgian Military Road are where many Tbilisi families stop for them. The classic filling is meat, but mushroom khinkali (sokos khinkali) are made all through Orthodox Lent and are on most menus. You hold each one upside down by its twisted topknot, bite a small hole, sip the hot juices, then eat the rest and leave the doughy knot on the plate to count how many you have eaten. The common mistake is rolling the wrappers too thin or the dough too soft, so they tear in the pot and lose their juice. Chef's tip: grind black pepper over them generously at the table, as Georgians do; it wakes up the mushrooms.

120 min

Georgian Snacks & Starters

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Mushroom tacos al pastorChilli mushroom tacos

Tacos al pastor are the night-time taco of Mexico City, born when Lebanese immigrants' spit-roasted shawarma met Mexican dried chillies: meat marinated in guajillo and achiote is stacked on a vertical spit (the trompo), shaved into small corn tortillas and finished with pineapple, onion and coriander. This vegetarian version, tacos al pastor de hongos, uses torn oyster mushrooms in the same brick-red adobo, seared hard in a hot pan until the edges crisp and char like meat cut from the trompo. Expect smoky, tangy, gently hot tacos with bursts of sweet, caramelised pineapple; serve them with salsa verde and lime wedges. Chef's tip: press the mushrooms flat with a spatula and leave them alone in a very hot pan; moving them around makes them steam and go soft instead of crisp.

35 min

Mexican Vegetarian

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Mushroom tibsSeared spiced mushrooms

Tibs means pieces of food quickly seared in a hot pan, and in Addis Ababa it is usually beef or lamb sizzling in a clay dish. In the last decade the city's busy vegan restaurants, especially during the long fasts, have made mushroom tibs a favourite in its own right: big chunks of mushroom fried hard with red onion, peppers, garlic, rosemary and a little berbere, so they come out browned and meaty. Serve straight from the pan with injera or rice. Chef's tip: cook the mushrooms in a single layer in a very hot pan and don't stir for the first two minutes; crowded mushrooms steam and go soggy.

20 min

Ethiopian Vegetarian

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Mushroom zrazyMushroom-stuffed potato cakes

Kartoplyani zrazy are a thrifty Ukrainian classic, made in kitchens across Chernihiv and the forested Polissia region where mushrooms are gathered every autumn: mashed potato is wrapped around a filling of fried mushrooms and onion, shaped into ovals, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried until crisp. They are a good home for yesterday's mash, and appear on the Lenten table and at casual family dinners with sour cream and pickles. Chef's tip: use cold mashed potato; common mistake is shaping the zrazy from warm, soft mash, which sticks to your hands and splits in the pan.

60 min

Ukrainian Snacks & Starters

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LaugenbrezelSoft pretzels

The Brezel is the emblem of German bakeries in Bavaria and Swabia: deep chestnut-brown and shiny outside, soft and chewy inside, with a fat 'belly' and thin crisp arms, studded with coarse salt. In Munich it's eaten with sweet mustard and Obatzda in beer gardens; in Stuttgart it's split and buttered for breakfast. Bakeries dip them in a lye solution, which is too caustic for most home kitchens; a bath of baked baking soda gets close in colour and flavour and is safe to handle. Chef's tip: chill the shaped pretzels uncovered for 30 minutes before the bath; a slightly dry skin holds its shape and turns darker and shinier.

120 min

German Baking

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MustikkapiirakkaBlueberry pie

In late July and August, Finns head into the forests with buckets and come home with purple fingers, and the first thing many make is mustikkapiirakka. Finnish wild blueberries (mustikka) are small and blue right through, far more intense than cultivated ones. This is the version from Savo and central Finland: a soft, cakey shortcrust pressed into a tin, a deep layer of berries and a just-set topping of sour cream, egg and sugar. It is eaten at summer cottages (mökki) with coffee, warm or cool, often with vanilla sauce. Frozen wild blueberries from the freezer aisle work all year. Chef's tip: toss the berries with potato starch before they go into the crust; it catches the juice so the slices hold together instead of running purple.

55 minScandinavian Desserts

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Lasary voatabiaTomato and spring onion relish

Lasary voatabia is the fresh tomato relish served beside the rice at almost every Malagasy meal, from Antananarivo's highland homes to the coast. Tomatoes and spring onion are chopped very small, sharpened with lime or vinegar and a little sakay (chilli), and spooned onto the rice to wake up broths like romazava. It is juicier and finer than a salad. Chef's tip: chop the tomatoes very small, almost to a pulp at the edges; the juice is meant to soak into the rice.

10 min

Malagasy Chutneys & Dips

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Lasary legiomaTurmeric pickled vegetables

Lasary legioma, vegetable lasary, is a tangy, turmeric-yellow pickle of carrot, green beans and cabbage that sits on the table in Malagasy homes and hotelys (small canteens) to brighten rice and plain dishes. It is close to the achards of Réunion and Mauritius and is made in large jars to last the week. Chef's tip: blanch the vegetables for only a minute and cool them fast; they should stay crunchy, not cooked.

33 min

Malagasy Chutneys & Dips

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Lasaniya batakaGarlic potatoes

Lasaniya bataka is a dhaba favourite along the highways of Kathiawad, where it lands on the table next to bajra rotla, a lump of white butter, raw onion and a glass of chaas. Baby potatoes are boiled, lightly fried, then coated in a thick paste of pounded garlic and red chilli that has been cooked down until it smells sweet rather than sharp. It is hot, garlicky and a little tangy, the kind of side dish that turns plain flatbread into a meal. Make it for a winter lunch with Kathiawadi kadhi and khichdi. Chef's tip: pound the garlic and chilli in a mortar instead of blending; a slightly coarse paste clings to the potatoes and gives you little bursts of garlic.

40 min

Indian Sides

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Shorshe ilishHilsa in mustard sauce

Hilsa, ilish, is the national fish of Bangladesh, and during the monsoon, when the shoals swim up the Padma and Meghna rivers, families in Dhaka and Chandpur cook it almost daily. Shorshe ilish is the most loved way: steaks of the rich, silvery fish gently simmered in a paste of ground yellow and black mustard seed, green chillies and mustard oil until the sauce turns sharp, creamy and nose-tingling. Eat it with plain white rice and nothing else. Hilsa is very bony, so warn guests and eat slowly; salmon steaks are an easier, less traditional swap. The common mistake is boiling the sauce hard after the mustard paste goes in, which turns it bitter. Chef's tip: grind the mustard seeds with a pinch of salt and a green chilli, and let the paste rest for 10 minutes before cooking; this tames the bitterness.

45 min

Bangladeshi Fish

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Shui zhu fishFish in chilli broth

'Water-boiled fish' is Sichuan humour at its driest, because what arrives at the table in Chongqing and Chengdu restaurants is a great basin of silky fish slices half hidden under a red sea of chillies and Sichuan pepper, still crackling from a ladle of smoking oil poured over at the last moment. Underneath is a savoury broth of chilli bean paste with soft bean sprouts and celery. It is a dish for sharing with friends over beer or tea: you fish out the slices with chopsticks and leave the oil behind, as everyone does. Plain rice is essential, and something cooling such as smacked cucumber helps. Chef's tip: coat the fish in egg white and cornflour and give it no more than three minutes in the broth; the coating keeps each slice tender and stops it breaking up.

45 min

Chinese Fish

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ShuktoBitter mixed vegetable stew

Shukto opens a traditional Bengali meal: a mild, slightly bitter stew of bitter gourd, raw banana, sweet potato, drumsticks and aubergine, eaten with the first mouthfuls of rice to wake up the palate. The vegetables are fried, then simmered with a paste of mustard and poppy seeds and finished with milk and a spoonful of ghee, so the bitterness is balanced by a creamy, faintly sweet sauce. It is a dish of West Bengal's home kitchens, cooked especially in spring. Chef's tip: fry the bitter gourd separately until well browned and add it at the end; this keeps its bitterness pleasant and stops it spreading through the whole pot.

45 min

Indian Curries

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Morning glory with garlicGarlic stir-fried water spinach

Rau muống, water spinach or morning glory, is the everyday green of Vietnam, and a plate of it stir-fried with garlic sits on family tables everywhere, from Hanoi rice-shops to Saigon street stalls. Done well, the hollow stems stay crunchy and bright green and the leaves silky, with a strong hit of garlic. Look for it in Asian grocers as water spinach or ong choy. This version is seasoned with soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Chef's tip: blanch the greens for 30 seconds and plunge them into iced water, as Hanoi cooks do, then stir-fry over the highest heat for barely a minute; they stay vivid green and never go soggy.

10 min

Vietnamese Sides

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Patatas bravasFried potatoes with paprika sauce

Patatas bravas are Madrid's favourite bar snack: chunky potatoes fried until crisp outside and fluffy inside, then splashed with a brick-red sauce of olive oil, pimentón and a little stock. In Madrid the sauce is not ketchup or tomato sauce but a smooth, smoky paprika sauce with a kick; in Barcelona and Valencia you often get it with a spoon of alioli as well. This home version is fried twice for crunch and keeps the heat moderate so children can join in; add more hot paprika for the grown-ups. Serve with cold drinks, tortilla and pimientos de Padrón for a tapas spread. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat before adding the pimentón; paprika burns in seconds and turns bitter, and that bitterness is the most common reason homemade bravas sauce tastes wrong.

40 min

Spanish Snacks & Starters

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Pimientos de PadrónBlistered green peppers

Pimientos de Padrón come from Herbón, near the town of Padrón in Galicia, where they are fried whole in olive oil and showered with coarse salt. They are small, thin-skinned and mostly mild and grassy, but the Galician saying goes 'os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non' (some are hot and some are not): roughly one in ten has a real kick, which is half the fun. They take five minutes and make the perfect tapa with a cold drink, tortilla or bread. Chef's tip: get the oil properly hot and leave the peppers alone for the first minute so the skins blister and puff; stewing them in lukewarm oil makes them soft and khaki instead of bright and blistered.

8 min

Spanish Snacks & Starters

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