Featured recipe

Torta al testo con verdure

Griddle bread stuffed with greens

Torta al testo takes its name from the testo, a heavy round of stone or cast iron that Umbrian families heat over the fire; around Perugia, Gubbio and Foligno it's cooked for village festivals and quick weekday dinners alike. Unlike the thin, pliable piadina of Romagna, it is a thick disc, around 2 cm, raised with a little bicarbonate, with a crisp, freckled crust and a soft, bready middle that is split open like a pitta and stuffed. The favourite filling is wilted greens with garlic and chilli; sausage is common at sagre but has no place here. Chef's tip: prick the disc all over with a fork before cooking, so it rises evenly and doesn't balloon.

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Karahi is named after the heavy round-bottomed wok it is cooked and served in, and the roadside dhabas of Lahore and the Grand Trunk Road through Punjab are where it is at its loudest: a cook working three pans at once over a roaring flame, late at night, for tables of friends tearing naan. The Pakistani style is lean on spice and big on tomato, garlic, ginger, green chilli and crushed black pepper, with no onion and no cream, so the masala tastes bright and sharp rather than rich. Paneer takes the place of meat here and only needs warming through. The usual mistake is pouring in water to make more gravy; a karahi gets its sauce only from tomatoes cooked down until the oil comes back out. Chef's tip: crush the coriander seeds and black pepper yourself just before cooking; the coarse, fresh crunch is what makes it taste like a dhaba karahi.

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On the long beach of Barra Vieja, just south of Acapulco in Guerrero, whole fish are split open, painted with chilli paste and grilled over wood embers in palapa restaurants with their feet in the sand. One half gets a brick-red adobo of guajillo and ancho, the other a bright green paste of herbs and fresh chilli, so a single fish brings two flavours to share. It is eaten straight off the platter with tortillas, rice, lime and cold drinks. Chef's tip: cook it mostly skin-side down in a hinged fish basket, so the skin protects the flesh and the fish turns without breaking.

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Sunday lunch in a Bengali home in Kolkata often means kosha mangsho: goat on the bone, fried patiently in mustard oil until the masala turns almost mahogany and clings to every piece. The word 'kosha' describes that long stirring over the heat, and it is what separates this dish from an ordinary mutton curry. Families eat it with luchi or plain rice, and it also turns up at Durga Puja feasts and wedding dinners. Chef's tip: buy bone-in goat or mutton shoulder cut into curry pieces; the bones and a little fat give the gravy its body.

135 min

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Ranon'apangoToasted rice water

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30 min

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PernilRoast pork shoulder

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360 min

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PerkedelPotato fritters

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RasabaliFried cheese discs in milk

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90 min

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Pepián de verdurasRoasted seed and vegetable stew

Pepián is often called Guatemala's national dish, a recado (sauce) from the Kaqchikel Maya highlands around Antigua and Chimaltenango, served at fiestas and family Sundays. Its depth comes from charring tomatoes, tomatillos and dried chillies and toasting pumpkin and sesame seeds before grinding them into a thick, smoky, reddish-brown sauce. Traditionally it simmers chicken; here chayote, potato, green beans and carrot soak it up. Serve with white rice and tamalitos or warm corn tortillas. Chef's tip: toast the seeds separately and stop when they smell nutty; burnt seeds turn the whole pot bitter.

75 minCentral American 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

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55 min

German Soups

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Penang rojakFruit salad with prawn paste dressing

Few salads are as divisive or as loved as the rojak sold from carts along Penang's Gurney Drive: crisp jicama, cucumber, green mango, pineapple and guava cut into bite-size pieces and tossed in a black, toffee-thick dressing of hae ko (fermented prawn paste), tamarind and sugar. The fruit stays cold and crunchy while the sauce is sweet, sour, salty and funky at once, finished with a snowfall of crushed peanuts. Stalls often add fried dough fritters and tofu puffs for chew. Eat it as an afternoon snack or alongside grilled meats. Chef's tip: toss only just before serving; the salt in the dressing draws water out of the fruit and turns it watery within 15 minutes.

20 min

Malaysian Salads

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Penang lor bakFive-spice pork rolls

Every Penang lor bak stall shows off a tray of fried things, but the five-spice pork roll is the reason people queue. Minced pork and chopped water chestnut, seasoned with five-spice, soy and garlic, are rolled tight in sheets of dried beancurd skin, steamed, then fried until the skin shatters like thin pastry. Slices are dipped in two sauces: a thick, starchy 'lor' gravy streaked with egg and a bright chilli sauce. They are a favourite with drinks at the hawker centres along Kimberley Street or as part of a Chinese New Year spread. Chef's tip: wipe the beancurd skin with a damp cloth rather than soaking it; too wet and it tears and will not crisp.

60 min

Malaysian Snacks & Starters

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Penang asam laksaSour fish noodle soup

Forget coconut and cream: Penang's asam laksa is all sour, hot and herbal, a dark tamarind broth thickened with flaked mackerel and poured over thick, slippery rice noodles. Hawkers at Air Itam market and along Gurney Drive pile the bowl with shredded pineapple, cucumber, red onion, lettuce, torn mint and a spoon of sticky, sweet prawn paste (hae ko) that you stir in as you eat. Torch ginger flower and Vietnamese mint (daun kesum) give it a smell that is wholly its own. It is a hot-afternoon dish, eaten fast while the herbs are still crisp. Chef's tip: poach the mackerel in the broth whole, then flake it back in; the bones and skin give the soup much of its body.

75 min

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Pen patatSweet potato pudding

Pen patat, sweet potato 'bread', is the Haitian pudding sold in squares by street vendors and baked at home for Sunday afternoons and holidays, from the hills above Pétion-Ville to Haitian bakeries abroad. Grated white sweet potato (patat) and ripe banana are baked with coconut milk, evaporated milk, fresh ginger and warm spices until set and caramel-brown on top. It is dense, moist and fudgy, a little like a spiced cake and a little like a custard, and it's eaten warm or cold with coffee. Chef's tip: grate the sweet potato finely on the small holes; coarse shreds stay stringy, fine ones melt into a smooth pudding.

100 min

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75 min

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PelmeniMeat dumplings

In Siberian villages whole families sat round the table before the long winter to fold hundreds of pelmeni, then froze them in sacks outside where the frost kept them for months. Today every Russian freezer holds a bag, and a bowl with butter and sour cream is a quick supper from Novosibirsk to Moscow. The little ear-shaped dumplings have a thin, springy dough wrapped round a juicy filling of pork and beef with onion; it contains pork. Unlike Ukrainian varenyky, they are always meat-filled and boiled in seasoned water or broth. The classic mistake is rolling the dough too thick, which leaves you chewing flour instead of tasting the filling; aim for 1–2 mm. Chef's tip: work a few spoons of ice-cold water into the mince; it turns to juice inside the dumpling as it cooks.

105 min

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Rava dosaCrisp semolina crêpes

Rava dosa is the instant dosa of Karnataka's Udupi restaurants: a thin, pourable batter of semolina and rice flour, studded with cumin, cracked pepper, ginger and curry leaves, poured onto a very hot griddle so it sets into a crisp, holey lace. There's no soaking or fermenting, so it's the dosa to make when the craving strikes. Serve straight from the pan with coconut chutney and sambar. Because it contains semolina it's not gluten free. Chef's tip: the batter must be watery, thinner than single cream; pour it from a height onto the pan instead of spreading it, and stir the bowl before every dosa because the semolina sinks.

30 min

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Ravitoto with porkPounded cassava leaves with pork

Ravitoto sy henakisoa, cassava leaves with pork, is a favourite of the Malagasy highlands around Antananarivo and is served at family Sunday lunches with a mound of white rice. This dish contains pork. The cassava leaves are pounded to a dark green paste and simmered for a long time with fatty pork, garlic and ginger until rich and soft, often finished with coconut milk. The mistake is undercooking the cassava leaves: they must cook for at least an hour to be safe and lose their bitterness, so don't cut it short. Chef's tip: frozen pounded cassava leaves (sold as ravitoto, pondu or saka saka) save a lot of work.

120 min

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PelamushiGrape juice pudding

Pelamushi is the spoonable cousin of churchkhela: the same thickened grape must, tatara, poured into bowls instead of over walnuts and left to set into a soft, wobbly pudding. In Kakheti it is made in harvest season with fresh must straight from the press, and in Imereti it is often thickened with cornmeal instead of wheat flour. It is served chilled with chopped walnuts, and it is a favourite Lenten dessert because it needs no egg or dairy. A common mistake is adding the flour straight to hot juice, which makes lumps that never cook out; always mix it with cold juice first. Chef's tip: stop cooking when the pudding plops thickly from the spoon; it firms up a lot as it cools.

30 min

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RawonBlack beef soup

Nothing else on the table looks like rawon: a beef soup as dark as strong coffee, served in Surabaya from breakfast through to the late-night warungs that stay open after the football. Its colour and flavour come from keluak (kluwek), the fermented kernel of a tropical tree nut, which tastes earthy and faintly bitter, somewhere between black olive, cocoa and mushroom. Tender beef cubes swim in the broth, and it's served with rice, short crunchy bean sprouts, a salted duck egg and prawn crackers for crunch. Raw keluak contains a natural poison and is only safe after long processing, so always buy ready-prepared kluwek nuts from an Asian grocer. Chef's tip: crack one nut first and taste a crumb; good flesh is moist, black and smells chocolatey, while sour or dry, pale flesh should be thrown away.

120 min

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Saag (rayo ko saag)Mustard greens stir-fry

Ask for saag anywhere in Nepal and you will get the leafy part of the dal bhat plate: a tangle of greens, most often rayo (a broad-leafed mustard green), fried fast in mustard oil with garlic and a dried chilli until just wilted. It is nothing like the slow-cooked, puréed sarson ka saag of Punjab. Nepali saag keeps its bright colour, a little bite in the stems and a pleasant bitterness. It grows in every kitchen garden from the Terai to the hills and is on the table most days from autumn to spring. Spinach, chard or Chinese mustard greens all work the same way. The common mistake is to cover the pan, which stews the leaves to a grey mush; keep the heat high and the lid off. Chef's tip: add the stems a minute before the leaves so both are done at the same moment.

15 min

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Rechta with vegetable sauceNoodles in turnip and chickpea broth

Rechta is the dish of Algiers and Blida for Mouloud, Ashura and the first day of the new year: thin, square-cut fresh noodles steamed in a couscoussier like couscous, then drenched in a pale, cinnamon-scented white sauce of turnips, courgette and chickpeas. It is usually made with chicken; this vegetable version keeps the gentle, peppery broth. Dried rechta is sold in North African shops; very thin dried egg-free noodles work too. Chef's tip: steam the noodles twice and rub them with oil in between, so they stay separate and silky.

70 min

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Red redBean stew in palm oil

Red red is Ghanaian chop-bar comfort food, eaten at lunchtime from Kumasi to Cape Coast, and it gets its name from its two reds: the bean stew glowing with palm oil and the fried ripe plantain served alongside. Black-eyed beans simmer in a tomato and onion sauce until creamy, then a sprinkle of gari on top adds crunch. It is often made with smoked fish or momoni; this meat-free version uses smoked paprika for the same savoury edge. Chef's tip: choose plantains with mostly black skins; they fry up sweet and caramelised, the perfect partner for the salty stew.

50 min

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PehakFermented soybean and chilli chutney

Pehak is the Apatani chutney of the Ziro valley in Arunachal Pradesh: fermented soybean pounded with roasted chillies, ginger and salt into a thick, pungent paste. It goes with nearly every meal, a little at a time, with rice, boiled vegetables or millet. It is savoury, salty and very hot, and it keeps for weeks. Chef's tip: dry-roast the fermented soybean briefly before pounding; it mellows the sharp smell and brings out a toasty depth. Natto or Naga axone work if you can't get local soybean.

15 min

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PecelBlanched greens in peanut sauce

Madiun, in East Java, calls itself the home of nasi pecel, and its stalls serve it from early morning on banana leaf: rice under a heap of blanched spinach, bean sprouts, long beans and cabbage, drowned in a peanut sauce that's thinner, hotter and more herbal than gado-gado's. The difference is kencur, an earthy, camphor-scented root that gives pecel its signature smell, and lime leaf pounded into the paste. A crisp peanut rempeyek cracker is broken on top. Chef's tip: make a block of pecel paste ahead and dissolve just what you need in hot water each time — that's how East Javanese households do it, and it keeps for weeks in the fridge.

25 min

Indonesian Salads

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Rellenitos de plátanoPlantain dumplings with sweet beans

Rellenitos surprise everyone who hasn't grown up in Guatemala: soft, sweet plantain dough wrapped around a filling of black beans cooked down with chocolate, cinnamon and sugar, then fried and rolled in sugar. They're sold in panaderías and at fairs, and made at home for afternoon coffee and Christmas. The beans taste nothing like a savoury dish; think of a fudgy chocolate paste. Chef's tip: mash the plantains while hot and chill the dough for 20 minutes; cold dough wraps cleanly without sticking to your hands.

75 minCentral American Desserts

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KootuVegetable and moong dal stew

Kootu sits halfway between a dal and a vegetable dish, and in Tamil homes it is the mild, kind side on a lunch plate next to a sharp rasam or a fiery kuzhambu. Chopped vegetables such as chow-chow, snake gourd, cabbage or pumpkin are cooked with moong dal until soft, then thickened with a paste of fresh coconut, cumin and a little green chilli. It's the dish many Tamil grandmothers give children and anyone recovering from a fever. Spoon it over rice with ghee or serve it alongside sambar and poriyal. Chef's tip: grind the coconut paste with the cumin raw, not toasted; the fresh, sweet cumin flavour is what makes kootu taste like kootu.

40 min

Indian Curries

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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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PebreCoriander and tomato relish

Every Chilean asado and every basket of warm bread in a picada (simple eatery) comes with pebre: a fresh relish of finely chopped coriander, onion, tomato and ají verde (green chilli) loosened with oil and a splash of vinegar. In Santiago it's spooned on marraqueta bread while waiting for the grill, and on sopaipillas in winter. It's more herb-heavy and oilier than Mexican pico de gallo. Chef's tip: rinse the chopped onion in cold water and drain it well; it takes away the harsh bite without losing crunch.

15 min

Chilean Chutneys & Dips

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Pazham poriBanana fritters

Pazham pori is what the glass cases of Kerala's roadside tea shops are full of at four in the afternoon: long slices of ripe nendran banana dipped in a sweet batter and fried in coconut oil until puffed and golden. Bite through the crisp, slightly chewy coat and the banana inside is soft, hot and honeyed. People eat them standing at the counter with a glass of frothy, milky chaya, or carry a paper parcel home for the family. Chef's tip: wait until the nendran skins are mostly black; the banana must be fully ripe to turn creamy when fried.

25 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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PatoleoRice dumplings in turmeric leaves

In August, when the monsoon makes turmeric leaves grow tall in Goan backyards, families make patoleo. Catholic households steam them for the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August, and Hindu families make the same sweet, called patoli, for Nag Panchami and Ganesh Chaturthi. A thin layer of rice paste is spread on a turmeric leaf, filled with fresh coconut and dark Goan jaggery, folded and steamed. The leaf leaves a sweet, gingery perfume on the rice that nothing else can copy, so look for fresh turmeric leaves in Indian grocers; banana leaves are a fair substitute. Chef's tip: spread the rice paste as thin as you can while still covering the leaf; thick patoleo are stodgy and the filling gets lost.

60 min

Indian Desserts

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Black sesame tang yuan in ginger syrupSesame rice balls in ginger syrup

Tang yuan are eaten all over China at the Lantern Festival, on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, and in the south also at the winter solstice; their roundness stands for family togetherness. The dough is glutinous rice flour, the classic filling black sesame, sugar and fat, served in a light ginger syrup. Lard is traditional in the filling; coconut oil sets just as firmly and keeps them vegan. Chef's tip: chill the filling until firm and roll it into balls before you start the dough; cold filling is far easier to wrap.

45 min

Chinese Desserts

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RevaniSemolina cake in lemon syrup

Revani is the syrup cake you meet in Turkish pastry shops and on home tea tables, especially at bayram visits, when trays of it are cut into diamonds and handed round with çay. Unlike a dense eggless semolina bake, it is a light, airy sponge of whisked eggs, semolina and a little flour, which drinks in cold lemon syrup straight from the oven until it is moist right through yet still holds a clean cut. It sweetens with sugar syrup rather than icing and is often finished with desiccated coconut or crushed pistachios. Serve it at room temperature or chilled, with tea or a spoon of kaymak or thick cream. Chef's tip: pour cool syrup over the hot cake (or hot over cool), never hot on hot; that contrast lets the sponge soak up syrup without collapsing into mush.

60 min

Turkish Baking

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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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Patodi rassaGram flour squares in spicy gravy

Patodi rassa (also called patwadi rassa) comes from the dry, hot districts of Vidarbha around Nagpur and Amravati, where gram flour often takes the place of vegetables. Gram flour is cooked thick like a polenta, spread on a plate, scattered with coconut, sesame and poppy seeds and cut into squares. Just before eating, the squares go into bowls and a spicy, thin rassa of roasted onion and dry coconut is poured over them so they soak it up. It's a dish for a Sunday lunch or a wedding feast in the region, served with jowar bhakri or chapatis and rice. Chef's tip: pour the rassa over the patodi at the table, not in the pot; simmered together, the squares fall apart.

65 min

Indian Curries

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PatishaptaCoconut-filled rice crepes

Patishapta is the star of Poush Sankranti in mid-January, when Bengali homes make pithe-puli, sweets of new rice, coconut and the season's nolen gur (date-palm jaggery). A loose batter of rice flour, semolina, plain flour and milk is swirled thin on a hot pan and rolled round a sticky filling of coconut cooked with jaggery and cardamom. The crêpe should be soft and pale, never crisp. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and grease the pan only lightly with a cut potato dipped in ghee, which spreads a film rather than a pool.

60 min

Indian Desserts

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TantanmenSesame chilli noodle soup

Sichuan dan dan noodles are eaten almost dry, with just a spoonful of sauce, but Chinese chefs cooking in post-war Tokyo turned them into a full bowl of soup for Japanese diners. Today tantanmen sits on the menu of almost every Chinese-style restaurant and many ramen shops across Japan, and it sells best in the cold months. The broth is rich with sesame paste, softened with soy milk and lit up with chilli oil, then crowned with savoury fried pork. Pak choi adds a fresh, crunchy contrast. Chef's tip: fry the pork until it is properly brown and a little crisp before seasoning, so it keeps some bite in the soup instead of turning soft.

40 min

Japanese Pasta & Noodles

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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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RibollitaBread and bean soup

Ribollita means 'reboiled': a Tuscan peasant soup of cannellini beans, cavolo nero and other vegetables, layered with stale bread and heated again the next day until thick enough to eat with a fork. Florentines eat it through the cold months, when cavolo nero is sweetest after the first frosts, finished with a green thread of new-season olive oil. Make it a day ahead, because the reboil is the point. Chef's tip: when reheating, let the bottom catch very slightly before stirring; that toasty edge is what Tuscans love about day-two ribollita.

90 min

Italian Soups

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Pâté chinoisBeef, corn and mashed potato bake

Pâté chinois is the weeknight family bake of Quebec, served in school canteens and home kitchens from Montreal to the Gaspé: a layer of seasoned minced beef, a layer of creamed corn, and a thick layer of buttery mashed potato, baked until the top is golden and served with ketchup or pickled beets. Its name is said to come from cooks who fed the Chinese workers building Canada's railway. The mistake is skipping the creamed corn in favour of whole kernels only; the creamed corn holds the layers together. Chef's tip: fluff the top of the mash with a fork so the ridges turn crisp.

70 min

Canadian Meat

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PastitsioBaked pasta with spiced beef

Pastitsio is the dish Greek mothers make for big Sunday lunches and christenings, and the one every Athens taverna keeps warm in a deep tray at lunchtime. Long tubular pasta is layered with a beef and tomato sauce scented with cinnamon and allspice, then topped with a deep, wobbly béchamel that bakes to a golden crust. Cut it into neat squares once it has rested and serve with a green salad. Chef's tip: let it rest for at least 30 minutes after baking; cut hot, it slumps, but rested it slices into clean layers.

130 min

Greek Pasta & Noodles

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PastilRice parcels with shredded chicken

Pastil is the grab-and-go breakfast of Cotabato City and the Maguindanao region of Mindanao: a mound of warm rice wrapped in a banana leaf, topped with shredded chicken that has been fried dry with garlic and onion (kagikit). Vendors sell them by the dozen from early morning, and Muslim families pack them for the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan. Each parcel is small, cheap and filling. Eat them warm with a hot chilli vinegar. Chef's tip: fry the chicken flakes until they are dry and fluffy, almost like floss; moist chicken makes the rice soggy inside the leaf.

90 min

Filipino Rice & Grains

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PašticadaWine and prune braised beef

Split and the Dalmatian coast reserve pašticada for weddings, christenings and Christmas, and the preparations start days ahead. A piece of beef is studded with garlic and cured ham (so this recipe contains pork), marinated overnight in wine vinegar, then braised for hours with onions, dried prunes, tomato and a little sweet Prošek or red wine until the sauce turns dark, glossy and sweet-sour. In Split it is always served with homemade gnocchi; pasta works too. This recipe uses red wine and dried figs or prunes; for an alcohol-free version use grape juice with a spoon of red wine vinegar. The common mistake is rushing the braise: it needs a low, steady heat for at least three hours. Chef's tip: blend the cooked onions and prunes back into the sauce for that velvet texture.

280 minBalkan Meat

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PastelónPlantain and beef bake

Pastelón turns up at Puerto Rican Sunday lunches and Christmas parties all over the island, from San Juan to Ponce, usually next to a pot of rice and beans. Instead of pasta it is layered with long slices of fried ripe plantain, so every bite is sweet and salty at once: soft caramelised plantain, a savoury beef picadillo with olives and capers, melted cheese and a light egg binding. Cut it into squares like a lasagne. The mistake to avoid is using yellow or green plantains; they stay starchy and dry, so wait until the skins are almost black. Chef's tip: leave the pastelón to rest for 15 minutes after baking; the egg and cheese set and the squares come out clean.

85 min

Puerto Rican Meat

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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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RisalamandeRice pudding with cherry sauce

On Christmas Eve, almost every Danish family ends dinner with risalamande, a cold vanilla rice pudding lightened with whipped cream and chopped almonds and served with a hot cherry sauce poured over the top. Hidden somewhere in the bowl is one whole almond, and whoever finds it wins the mandelgave, the almond prize, usually a marzipan pig. Some finders keep the almond in their cheek until everyone has eaten far too much. The rice base, risengrød, is often cooked on 23 December, eaten warm with butter and cinnamon, and the leftovers become risalamande the next night. Chef's tip: let the rice pudding cool completely before folding in the cream; warm rice melts the whipped cream and the pudding turns heavy instead of airy.

65 minScandinavian Desserts

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Risi e bisiRice and peas

Risi e bisi was once served to the Doge of Venice every 25 April, the feast of Saint Mark, when the first tender peas arrived from the lagoon islands. It sits between a soup and a risotto: thicker than a minestra, looser than risotto, eaten with a spoon. Venetians make a quick broth from the empty pods, which gives a sweet, grassy flavour no stock cube can match; pancetta often goes in, but this version keeps it vegetarian with parsley and butter. Chef's tip: when podding fresh peas, keep the pods; simmered for 20 minutes they make the whole dish taste of spring.

40 min

Italian Rice & Grains

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Pastelitos de guayabaGuava and cream cheese pastries

Pastelitos de guayaba are the flaky puff pastry squares sold warm from the glass cases of Cuban bakeries, eaten standing up with a café cubano mid-morning. Havana bakers fill them with dense guava paste, often with a layer of cream cheese (de guayaba y queso), and brush the tops with sugar syrup so they shine. Shop-bought all-butter puff pastry makes them easy at home. Chef's tip: chill the filled tray for 15 minutes before baking; cold pastry rises higher and the filling is less likely to leak.

35 min

Cuban Baking

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Risotto alla milaneseSaffron risotto

Risotto alla milanese is the saffron risotto of Milan, served on its own as a first course or beside ossobuco on Sunday tables, and a legend says it was first made in 1574 by a glass-painter's apprentice working on the Duomo who coloured rice with saffron. Milanese cooks use beef marrow and meat broth; here a well-flavoured vegetable stock keeps it vegetarian, with butter and hard cheese for richness. It should be all'onda: loose enough to ripple like a wave when you shake the plate. Chef's tip: keep the stock at a bare simmer beside the rice; cold stock stops the cooking and makes the grains chalky.

40 min

Italian Rice & Grains

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Pastel tres lechesThree milks cake

Pastel de tres leches is the birthday and celebration cake of Mexico and much of Latin America: a light, airy sponge drenched in a mixture of three milks (evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and cream) until it is soaked through but still holds its shape, then topped with whipped cream. It is cold, milky and sweet, and every bakery from Mexico City to Guadalajara sells it by the slice. The sponge is made with whisked eggs for lightness, so it drinks up the milk without collapsing. Chef's tip: let the cake soak in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight; the milk needs time to work its way into the centre and the cake slices far more neatly when cold.

90 min

Mexican Baking

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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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Pastel mandi'oCassava turnovers with beef

Pastel mandi'o are the golden half-moons sold at bus stations and street stalls all over Paraguay, especially in Asunción and around Holy Week: a soft dough of cooked cassava (mandi'o in Guaraní) and a little corn flour, wrapped round minced beef with onion, pepper, boiled egg and cumin, then fried. The mistake is a wet cassava dough that sticks and tears; drain the cassava well and add starch until it is smooth and pliable. Chef's tip: shape them between two sheets of cling film, which stops the soft dough sticking to the worktop.

80 min

Paraguayan Snacks & Starters

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Vegetarian pastel de chocloMushroom and corn bake

In Chile pastel de choclo is the taste of January and February, when choclo (big-kernelled starchy corn) is in every market from Santiago to Talca and families bake it in individual clay dishes called pailas. Underneath is the pino, a slow-cooked onion filling with olives, raisins and hard-boiled egg; on top, fresh corn blended with basil and a little milk, scattered with sugar so it browns into a crackly crust. This version makes the pino with mushrooms instead of beef. Chef's tip: cook the corn topping on the hob until it thickens like polenta before it goes in the oven, or it will stay runny.

100 min

Chilean 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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Rocoto rellenoStuffed rocoto peppers

Rocoto relleno is the pride of Arequipa's picanterías: fiery rocoto peppers stuffed with a sweet-savoury filling, topped with cheese and baked over sliced potato in an egg and milk custard. The traditional filling is minced beef; this vegetarian version uses mushrooms and lentils fried with ají panca, cumin, peanuts, raisins, olives and boiled egg, which gives the same rich, spiced, slightly sweet bite. The peppers are first blanched several times in fresh water with sugar and vinegar to tame their heat, which is the real skill of the dish. If you can't find rocotos, use small red bell peppers and add a little habanero to the filling. Chef's tip: taste a sliver of rocoto after the second blanching; stop when it is hot but pleasant, and blanch once more if it still burns.

90 min

Peruvian Vegetarian

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Pastéis de nataCustard tarts

Pastéis de nata were first baked by monks of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, on the Lisbon waterfront, who used surplus egg yolks (whites went to starch habits) in a lemon-and-cinnamon custard. Today every pastelaria in Portugal sells them warm from first thing in the morning, eaten standing at the counter with a bica or galão, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar. The pastry is a spiral of thin, buttery layers pressed up the sides of the tin with a wet thumb; the custard is baked in the hottest oven you have, so it sets creamy and catches dark freckles in under 15 minutes. Chef's tip: chill the rolled log of pastry well and press the discs from the centre outwards, so the edge stands slightly above the rim; that thin rim is what shatters when you bite.

120 min

Portuguese Baking

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Pasta e patatePasta with potatoes

Pasta e patate is Neapolitan home cooking at its most thrifty: potatoes and mixed broken pasta (pasta mista, the odds and ends from many packets) cooked together in one pot like a risotto, until the potato breaks down and the starch makes everything creamy. Naples families eat it on weekday evenings in winter, and many stir in cubes of smoked provola at the end so it goes stringy (pasta patate e provola). Children love it. Chef's tip: cut half the potato small and half larger; the small pieces melt into the sauce while the larger ones keep their shape.

40 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Pasta e fagioliBean and pasta soup

In Naples pasta e fagioli (pasta e fasule in dialect) is thick enough to stand a spoon in, made with cannellini or borlotti beans, a few cherry tomatoes, garlic and broken pasta cooked straight in the bean broth. It is a cheap, filling Friday-night meal in many Neapolitan homes, and the bean starch, not cream or cheese, makes it velvety; this version stays vegan. Chef's tip: blend a ladle of the beans before the pasta goes in; it thickens the soup naturally so the pasta is coated, not swimming.

45 min

Italian Soups

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Pasta con le sardePasta with sardines and fennel

Sweet, salty and grassy all at once, Palermo's favourite pasta carries the island's history in one pan: Arab raisins, pine nuts and saffron meet fresh sardines and the wild fennel that grows on every Sicilian hillside in spring. It is cooked at home and in the city's old trattorie from March to the start of summer, and on 19 March for the feast of San Giuseppe. Instead of cheese, it is finished with olive oil toasted breadcrumbs, the crunchy 'muddica' that Sicilians call poor man's parmesan. Wild fennel is hard to find outside Italy; the fronds from two fennel bulbs plus a few fennel seeds come close. Serve it warm, or at room temperature as Palermitans often do. Chef's tip: blanch the fennel greens in the pasta pot first and cook the bucatini in that same green, aniseed-scented water, so the flavour runs right through the pasta.

45 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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KosambariMoong dal and cucumber salad

No Karnataka festival lunch on a banana leaf is complete without a spoonful of kosambari at the top left corner. This raw salad of soaked split moong dal, cucumber, carrot and fresh coconut, sharpened with lemon and finished with a mustard-seed tempering, is especially made for Ram Navami, when it is offered in temples with panaka (jaggery water), and for Ugadi and weddings. It is crunchy, cool and refreshing, and packed with protein. Chef's tip: add the salt and lemon only just before serving; salted cucumber weeps water and turns the salad soggy within half an hour.

17 min

Indian Salads

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Pasta alla NormaPasta with fried aubergine and tomato

Pasta alla Norma comes from Catania, in the shadow of Mount Etna, and is named after Norma, the opera by the city's own composer Vincenzo Bellini; a local writer is said to have called the dish 'a real Norma', meaning a masterpiece. Fried aubergine, a simple garlic and basil tomato sauce and a snowfall of salty ricotta salata make one of Sicily's best summer lunches. Chef's tip: keep a few of the best fried aubergine slices aside and lay them on top at the end; the rest melt into the sauce and the top ones stay silky.

40 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Tofu adoboTofu braised in vinegar and soy

Adobo is the dish Filipinos call national, cooked in some form in nearly every home from Ilocos down to Mindanao, and the meat versions are what most people know. In Catholic households, though, Holy Week and the Fridays of Lent call for a meatless table, and adobong tokwa (tofu adobo) is the answer many families reach for. Firm tofu is fried until it has a golden skin, then simmered in a reduced sauce of cane vinegar, soy sauce, a whole head of garlic, bay leaves and whole peppercorns until the sauce clings, sour and salty with a little sweetness. It tastes even better the next day and is eaten with mounds of plain rice. Chef's tip: press the tofu well and fry it properly; a dry, golden crust is what soaks up the adobo sauce instead of turning it watery.

35 min

Filipino Vegetarian

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Pasta alla griciaPasta with guanciale and pecorino

Older than both carbonara and amatriciana, gricia is the white pasta of the Roman hills: no egg, no tomato, nothing but guanciale, pecorino and pepper brought together with starchy cooking water. On a Roman menu it often sits with its siblings under the heading of the four great Roman pastas, and it is many locals' quiet favourite for a weekday lunch. Short rigatoni catch the creamy, salty sauce in their ridges and tubes, and the guanciale is cooked until amber and crisp-edged so its fat flavours everything. Follow it with something light, such as sautéed chicory with garlic. Chef's tip: before you finish the pasta, mash the pecorino in a bowl with a few spoonfuls of cooled pasta water into a smooth cream; it melts into the sauce instead of seizing into strings.

25 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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PasemburVegetable and fritter salad

Pasembur is sold from Indian-Muslim (mamak) stalls along Penang's Gurney Drive and Esplanade: shredded cucumber, jicama and bean sprouts piled with sliced fried tofu, boiled egg and crisp fritters, all buried under a thick, sweet, gently spicy sauce made from sweet potato, chilli and peanuts. You pick your fritters at the stall; prawn fritters are common, but here they are crunchy cabbage and onion ones. Chef's tip: dress it at the very last moment and eat at once, so the fritters stay crisp under the sauce.

60 min

Malaysian Salads

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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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Rooh Afza sherbetRose syrup drink

During Ramadan almost every household in Pakistan breaks the fast at sunset with a jug of this bright red sherbet on the table, from Karachi apartments to village courtyards in Punjab. It is made with the herbal rose syrup sold as Rooh Afza (any rose sherbet syrup works), stirred into ice-cold water with a squeeze of lemon and a spoonful of swollen basil seeds (tukh malanga) that are said to cool the body after a long, hot day without water. Some families make it with cold milk instead, which turns it pink and creamy. The mistake people make is adding the basil seeds dry; they clump into hard lumps, so soak them first. Chef's tip: chill the water and syrup well before mixing so you need less ice and the sherbet does not taste watered down.

5 min

Pakistani Drinks

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Parmigiana di melanzaneBaked aubergine with tomato and mozzarella

Parmigiana di melanzane is Campania's big summer bake, made when aubergines are cheap and glossy and served for Sunday lunch or carried in a tin to the beach. Fried slices of aubergine are layered with a quick basil tomato sauce, fior di latte and grated hard cheese, then baked until the edges bubble and darken. It is better warm than piping hot, and better still the next day, cut into neat squares. Chef's tip: salt the slices and press them for 30 minutes before frying; they drink less oil and the layers stay distinct instead of watery.

90 min

Italian Vegetarian

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Ropa viejaShredded beef stew

Ropa vieja means 'old clothes', after the ragged strands the beef falls into, and it is the dish Cubans name first when asked about home cooking. Families in Havana and Camagüey make a big pot on a weekend: flank steak is simmered until soft, pulled into threads and then stewed again in a sofrito of peppers, onion, tomato, cumin and green olives. It is eaten with white rice, black beans and fried ripe plantain, and it tastes even better reheated the next day. The common mistake is cutting the beef across the grain before cooking; leave it whole so it shreds into long strands. Chef's tip: keep the cooking liquid from the first simmer and use it instead of water in the sauce, because it carries most of the beefy flavour.

190 min

Cuban Meat

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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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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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TaralliFennel and olive oil rings

Taralli are the crunchy rings found on every table in Puglia: with a glass of wine before dinner, in bags on the beach, or dunked in coffee. They are made with olive oil and dry white wine, no yeast or butter, and boiled briefly before baking, which gives them their shiny skin and fine, crumbly bite. Fennel seed is the classic flavour; black pepper or chilli are common too. They keep for weeks in a tin. Chef's tip: lift them out of the water the moment they float; longer boiling makes them hard and glassy instead of crumbly.

75 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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Parippu vadaiCrunchy split pea fritters

Parippu vadai are the crunchy, lumpy fritters sold from glass boxes on Sri Lankan trains and from carts along Colombo's Galle Face Green at sunset, often with a couple of fried prawns pressed on top; ours are the plain vegetarian kind, which are just as common. Soaked yellow split peas (kadala parippu) are coarsely ground with green chilli, onion, curry leaves and fennel, shaped into flat discs and deep-fried until craggy and golden, crisp outside and nubbly within. Eat them hot with a cup of plain tea or a spoonful of seeni sambol. They're different from South Indian medu vada, which are made with smooth black lentil batter. The common mistake is grinding the lentils to a smooth paste; leave plenty of whole and half peas for the crunch. Chef's tip: hold back about a quarter of the soaked peas and stir them in whole after grinding.

40 min

Sri Lankan Snacks & Starters

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Paprikás krumpliPaprika potato stew

Paprikás krumpli is a thrifty potato stew that every Hungarian student learns to cook, and it turns up at school dinners, on autumn weekdays and in cauldrons at village harvest festivals. Potatoes simmer in an onion and paprika base with pepper and tomato until they start to break and thicken their own sauce. Most versions add sliced smoked sausage; this vegan one swaps it for a pinch of smoked paprika and caraway, which give the same savoury depth. Serve in bowls with crusty bread and a pickled cucumber or a spoon of pickled peppers on the side. Chef's tip: cut the potatoes unevenly on purpose; the smaller pieces melt and thicken the sauce while the bigger ones stay whole.

45 min

Hungarian Vegetarian

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