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Olivette di Sant'Agata
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Olivette di Sant'Agata

Almond paste olives

Olivette are tiny green 'olives' of almond paste rolled in sugar, sold in Catania for the feast of St Agatha in early February. A legend tells that as the young saint was led to her trial she stopped to tie her shoe, and a wild olive tree sprang up on the spot and fed her. The sweets are made from ground almonds, sugar and a little water, coloured green and shaped in the palm. They are gluten free and dairy free, and children love to help shape them. Use a natural green such as matcha or spinach powder if you prefer. Chef's tip: knead the paste only until smooth, as overworking draws out the almond oil and it turns greasy.

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TsampaRoasted barley flour with butter tea

Tsampa, roasted highland barley flour, has been the staple food of the Tibetan plateau for centuries. Every morning, families in Lhasa and in nomad tents put a handful in a bowl, pour in butter tea, add a knob of butter and knead it with their fingers into small, nutty balls called pak. It's filling, quick and easy to carry. Barley flour is easy to find; toast it in a dry pan if it isn't already roasted. Chef's tip: add the tea a little at a time; you want a dough like firm marzipan, not a paste.

15 minChineseBreakfast & Brunch
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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 minPortugueseBaking
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MolletesOpen bean and cheese rolls

Molletes are a favourite cheap breakfast and after-school snack across Mexico, especially in Mexico City cafés: a bolillo (a crusty, oval white roll) split, buttered and toasted, spread with refried beans, covered with cheese and grilled until bubbling, then topped with fresh pico de gallo. They are crunchy, creamy and gooey, and children love them. Use crusty white rolls or short pieces of baguette if you can't get bolillos, and a mild melting cheese made with vegetarian rennet, such as mild cheddar, mozzarella or Oaxaca cheese. Chef's tip: toast the buttered rolls before adding the beans, so the bread stays crisp underneath instead of going soggy.

15 minMexicanBreakfast & Brunch
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Mole verde with vegetablesGreen mole with vegetables

Mole verde is the brightest of Oaxaca's seven moles: instead of dried chillies and chocolate it is built from tomatillos, fresh green chillies and a fistful of herbs (hoja santa, epazote, parsley) and thickened with masa or pumpkin seeds. In Oaxaca it is often cooked with white beans and vegetables, which is how we make it here, with potatoes, courgette, green beans and chayote. The sauce is tangy, herbal and silky, and goes with white rice or warm corn tortillas. It is vegan as long as you use vegetable stock. Chef's tip: blend the raw herbs in at the very end, off the heat; cooked any longer they turn grey and lose their fresh perfume.

50 minMexicanCurriesVeganGluten free
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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 minItalianPasta & 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 minItalianSoupsVegan
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Tikil gomenCabbage, carrot and potato stew

Tikil gomen means 'cabbage stew', and it is the mild, golden side on almost every beyaynetu fasting platter in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar. White cabbage, carrots and potatoes are cooked slowly with onion, garlic, ginger and turmeric until soft and sweet, with no chilli heat apart from a few strips of green pepper. Children love it, and it balances the spicy red wats beautifully. Chef's tip: let the cabbage cook down until it is sweet and slightly caramelised at the edges; that is where all the flavour comes from.

35 minEthiopianSidesVeganGluten free
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Yangrou paomoLamb soup with flatbread

Order this soup in one of the old Hui restaurants around Xi'an's Drum Tower and you are handed a dense, barely leavened flatbread and expected to tear it yourself into pea-sized crumbs while you chat; the kitchen then cooks it in rich lamb broth until each crumb is soft yet still chewy. Slices of tender lamb, glass noodles and wood ear mushrooms go in too, and the bowl comes with sweet pickled garlic and chilli sauce on the side. It is a soothing, filling soup, especially on Xi'an's freezing winter mornings. Expect a deep, clean lamb flavour scented with warm spices. Chef's tip: tear the bread small, no bigger than a soybean; big lumps stay doughy in the middle.

180 minChineseSoups
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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 minItalianPasta & Noodles
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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 minItalianPasta & Noodles
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Til pithaSesame rice rolls

Til pitha is the essential sweet of Magh Bihu, the January harvest festival, when Assamese homes stay up late around the fire, frying and toasting. Fresh flour of soaked bora (sticky) rice is spread thin on a hot pan into a round, filled with roasted black sesame and jaggery and rolled into a cigar while still soft; it crisps as it cools. Tins of til pitha are carried to every house visited during Bihu. Chef's tip: the flour must be freshly ground from soaked sticky rice and still slightly damp; dry shop rice flour won't fuse into a sheet.

60 minIndianDessertsVeganGluten free
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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 minItalianPasta & 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 minMalaysianSalads
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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 minItalianVegetarian
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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 minSri LankanSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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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 minHungarianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Yangzhou-style vegetable fried riceEgg and vegetable fried rice

Yangzhou in Jiangsu gave its name to China's most famous fried rice, which is supposed to show off a cook's skill: separate, glossy grains, small even dice and egg in every mouthful. The original carries ham and shrimp; this vegetable version swaps them for shiitake, peas, carrot and sweetcorn, and keeps the seasoning light (salt and a little soy) so the rice stays pale and golden rather than brown. It's a meal on its own or a side for stir-fries. Chef's tip: use rice cooked the day before and chilled uncovered; fresh rice is too soft and clumps.

20 minChineseRice & Grains
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TinutuanRice porridge with pumpkin and greens

Tinutuan, also called bubur Manado, is what North Sulawesi eats for breakfast: rice simmered with pumpkin until the pumpkin melts and turns the porridge golden, then loaded with sweetcorn, cassava and a big handful of greens and lemon basil at the end. In Manado it comes with small fried fish and a fiery tomato dabu-dabu; this version skips the fish and pairs it with fried tofu. It is filling, gentle and naturally vegan. Chef's tip: add the leafy greens only in the last 3 minutes so they stay green and fresh.

65 minIndonesianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Wensi tofu soupShredded tofu soup

This Yangzhou soup is a test of knife skill: a block of soft tofu is sliced and shredded so finely that the threads drift apart like silk in the bowl. It is credited to a Buddhist monk named Wensi, who served it at a temple in Yangzhou during the Qing dynasty, so a meat-free broth is true to its roots. Huaiyang banquets still serve it as a quiet, delicate course. Chef's tip: wet the knife and slice in one smooth stroke without lifting; the tofu then stays together until you fan it into water.

40 minChineseSoupsVegan
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Mole poblano with chickenChicken in chocolate chilli sauce

In the city of Puebla, mole poblano is the dish for weddings, baptisms and saints' days, and families often make it together over a whole afternoon. Three dried chillies (mulato, ancho and pasilla) are fried and ground with almonds, peanuts, sesame, raisins, spices, toasted tortilla and a little chocolate into a sauce that is deep, glossy and only gently sweet. It is spooned over poached chicken and scattered with sesame, with Mexican rice and warm tortillas to mop it up. Making it a day ahead lets the flavours settle. Chef's tip: fry the blended sauce in hot fat before adding stock; that sizzling stage is what turns it from a purée into mole.

180 minMexicanChickenGluten free
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Tire d'érableMaple taffy

Tire d'érable (maple taffy, or 'tire sur la neige') is the highlight of a spring visit to a Québec or eastern Ontario sugar shack: hot boiled maple syrup is poured in ribbons over clean packed snow, where it firms into a chewy, amber toffee that you roll up onto a wooden stick. It's sold at winter carnivals in Québec City and made at home on a tray of snow or crushed ice. Chef's tip: use a sugar thermometer and stop at 112–114 °C; a few degrees under and it stays runny, a few over and it turns hard as candy.

25 minCanadianDessertsVeganGluten free
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TirokafteriSpicy whipped feta

Tirokafteri means 'hot cheese', and in Thessaloniki and across northern Greece it's the dip you order with ouzo or tsipouro: feta whipped with chilli, a roasted red pepper and olive oil into something creamy, salty and properly fiery. Every ouzeri makes it slightly differently; some keep it chunky, some silky, some add yogurt to soften the heat. Scoop it up with toasted bread, or spoon it beside grilled vegetables and fritters. Use feta labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: add the fresh chilli a little at a time and taste; chillies vary a lot, and adding the whole lot at once is the usual mistake that makes it too hot to eat.

10 minGreekChutneys & DipsGluten freeSpicy
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Moksi alesiMixed rice with salted meat

Moksi alesi, "mixed rice" in Sranan Tongo, is a weekday one-pot from Paramaribo's Creole kitchens: rice cooked with salted meat or salt fish, black-eyed beans, coconut milk, onion, celery and hot pepper, until the grains are soft and full of flavour. It is cooked when there's little time but a full pot is needed. This version uses salted pork; it contains pork. The mistake is not soaking the salted meat, which makes the rice far too salty; soak it, then boil it first. Chef's tip: smoked turkey or salt beef works in place of pork.

80 minGuyaneseRice & GrainsGluten free
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TiropitaFeta cheese pie

Tiropita is the cheese pie Greek children grow up on: bought hot from the neighbourhood fourno on the way to school, baked in big trays for birthday parties, and cut into squares for a quick lunch with a glass of ayran-style yogurt drink. The filling is softer and milder than spanakopita's, a creamy custard of feta, a fresh white cheese and eggs set between crisp, buttery fillo. It is good warm from the oven and still good cold in a lunch box. Use a feta labelled vegetarian, as many are made with animal rennet. Chef's tip: crumple the middle sheets of fillo loosely instead of laying them flat; the air pockets keep the pie light, and pressing them flat (the usual mistake) gives a dense, doughy middle.

60 minGreekBaking
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Pappa al pomodoroTomato and bread soup

Pappa al pomodoro is what Florentine grandmothers make in July and August, when tomatoes are almost too ripe and yesterday's unsalted Tuscan bread is going hard. Bread, tomatoes, garlic and basil are cooked together and beaten into a soft, spoonable porridge (pappa means mush, the word for baby food). It is eaten warm, at room temperature or even cold on hot days, never piping hot. Chef's tip: stir it hard with a whisk at the end; it breaks the bread down into a velvety texture without a blender.

40 minItalianSoupsVegan
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Tisryo sukheDry clam coconut masala

When the clam beds of the Zuari and Mandovi rivers are full after the monsoon, Goan kitchens cook tisryo (clams) as sukhe, meaning dry: no gravy, just shells coated in a coarse, spiced coconut masala. It is a Saturday-lunch side dish with fish curry and rice, eaten with the fingers, picking each clam out of its half-shell. Chef's tip: grind the coconut masala without water and only briefly, so it stays coarse and clings to the shells.

60 minIndianFishGluten free
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Papelón con limónIced panela and lime drink

Papelón con limón is the cold drink of Venezuela, served in jugs alongside arepas, empanadas and every Sunday lunch, and sold by the glass from street stalls in the heat of Maracaibo and the plains. Papelón is the Venezuelan name for panela, the dark block of unrefined cane sugar; melted into water and mixed with lots of fresh lime, it tastes like a caramel-scented lemonade. The hot Colombian cousin is aguapanela. Chef's tip: dissolve the papelón in warm water first, then chill; it never fully dissolves in cold water and leaves grains at the bottom.

10 minVenezuelanDrinksVeganGluten free
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Yaprak sarmaRice-stuffed vine leaves

Rolling yaprak sarma is a social job in Aegean kitchens around Ayvalık and Manisa, where vineyards supply the leaves: a tray of grape leaves, a bowl of spiced rice and two or three people talking while they roll. This meat-free version is the olive-oil kind, filled with rice, onion, pine nuts, currants, mint and a pinch of cinnamon and allspice, and served cold as a meze or at tea-time gatherings. Good sarma are thin as a finger and hold together when bitten. A common mistake is overfilling: the rice swells as it cooks and splits the leaves. Chef's tip: use only a teaspoon of filling per leaf and roll firmly but not tight, leaving room for the rice to grow.

120 minTurkishSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Papeda with ikan kuah kuningSago porridge with fish soup

In Ambon, Jayapura and the islands between, the everyday staple isn't rice but papeda: sago starch stirred with boiling water into a translucent, glue-like porridge. It has almost no taste of its own, which is the point; it's eaten with ikan kuah kuning, a sharp, yellow fish soup bright with turmeric, lime and lemon basil. Families twirl the papeda out of the pot on two sticks, drop it into a bowl and ladle the soup over, then slurp it down without chewing. The texture is surprising the first time: slippery, soft and soothing next to the hot, sour broth. Chef's tip: the water must be at a full rolling boil when it hits the sago, or the papeda stays white and lumpy instead of turning clear.

60 minIndonesianFishGluten free
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Papdi chaatCrisp wafers with potato and chickpeas

Papdi chaat is the plate Delhi orders without thinking about it, from the stalls outside Bengali Market to wedding buffets. Small, flaky wheat wafers called papdi are laid flat, topped with potato and chickpeas, drowned in sweetened yogurt and streaked with tamarind and green chutney, so you get crunch and creaminess in the same spoonful. Homemade papdi, crisp with ajwain, are far better than shop ones and keep for a week in a tin, though bought papdi will do on a busy day. Chef's tip: rub the oil into the flour until it holds together when squeezed; that shortening is what makes the papdi flaky rather than hard.

45 minIndianSnacks & Starters
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TkemaliSour plum sauce

Tkemali is Georgia's table sauce, made in Samegrelo, Guria and Imereti from sour cherry plums. Green tkemali comes from unripe plums in late spring; the red one is made at the end of summer, when the plums colour and every family cooks a big pot to bottle for the winter. It goes with almost everything: boiled potatoes, beans, fried courgettes, mchadi and cheese. Traditionally it is flavoured with ombalo (pennyroyal), which is hard to buy, so dried mint stands in here. A common mistake is boiling the herbs and garlic for too long, which turns the sauce dull and brown; they go in only for the last few minutes. Chef's tip: if your plums are sweet supermarket ones, add a squeeze of lemon; tkemali should be properly sour.

40 minGeorgianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Mok paHerb fish steamed in banana leaf

Mok pa is cooked all over Laos, from Vientiane's riverside markets to village kitchens near the Mekong, where freshwater fish is the everyday protein. Chunks of white fish are mixed with a paste of lemongrass, shallot, garlic and chilli, a handful of dill and lime leaves and a spoon of sticky rice flour, then wrapped in banana leaf parcels and steamed until set and fragrant. Eat it with sticky rice and raw vegetables. Chef's tip: soften the banana leaves by passing them briefly over a flame or into hot water; they fold without cracking.

55 minLaoFishGluten free
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Mojo criolloSour orange and garlic sauce

Mojo criollo is the raw sauce Cuban cooks keep in a jar by the stove: sour orange juice from the naranja agria tree, pounded garlic, cumin, oregano and olive oil. On the island it marinates whatever goes on the grill and is spooned over tostones, boiled malanga and roast vegetables; vegetarians use it to marinate tofu, mushrooms or thick slices of squash. It is sharp, garlicky and bright. Chef's tip: pound the garlic to a paste with the salt rather than chopping it; the salt helps it break down so the sauce tastes round, not harsh.

10 minCubanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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TlayudasLarge crisp tortilla with beans and cheese

The tlayuda is the late-night street food of Oaxaca City: a huge, thin, slightly leathery corn tortilla spread with black bean paste and asiento (unrefined pork lard), scattered with quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese) and cabbage, folded and toasted over charcoal until crisp and smoky. This vegetarian version swaps the asiento for browned butter, which gives the same toasty richness, and is topped with avocado, tomato and salsa. Real tlayudas are about 30 cm across and hard to find outside Oaxaca; use the largest corn tortillas you can get, or flour tortillas of 25 cm (then they are not gluten free). Quesillo is made with animal rennet in Oaxaca; for a vegetarian dish use low-moisture mozzarella or a string cheese made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: spread the beans thinly; a thick layer makes the tortilla soggy and stops it crisping.

30 minMexicanSnacks & Starters
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Pumpkin tortelliPumpkin-filled pasta

Tortelli di zucca are the Christmas Eve dish of Mantua, in Lombardy, where the dense orange pumpkins of the Po plain are roasted and mashed with crushed amaretti biscuits, spicy fruit mostarda and hard cheese. The filling is sweet, salty and a little hot all at once, a taste that goes back to the Renaissance Gonzaga court. They are served simply, with melted butter, sage and more cheese. Chef's tip: roast the pumpkin rather than boil it, and make the filling the day before; a dry, rested filling is easy to pipe and the flavours blend.

120 minItalianPasta & Noodles
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PapanașiFried cheese doughnuts

Papanași are the dessert Romanians order after almost any restaurant meal, from the old town of Bucharest to the mountain chalets of Sinaia and Bran. A soft dough of fresh cheese, egg and semolina is shaped into a ring with a little ball on top, fried until puffed and golden, then crowned with cold smântână and sour cherry or blueberry jam. Warm, tangy and very rich, one is a full dessert. Chef's tip: use dry, crumbly cheese and drain it if it's wet; a common mistake is a sloppy dough that soaks up oil and falls apart, so add flour only until it just stops sticking.

45 minRomanianDesserts
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Papad ki sabziPapad curry

Papad ki sabzi comes from Rajasthan's dry interior, where fresh vegetables were scarce and pantries relied on sun-dried staples. Roasted papads are broken into a hot, spiced yogurt gravy at the last minute, so they soften but keep a little chew. Marwari households still make it on days when the vegetable basket is empty, eating it with bajra roti or phulka and a little ghee. Because it's ready in minutes, it's also a favourite for unexpected guests. The common mistake is adding the papads too early: they swell and turn to mush. Chef's tip: go easy on the salt, because papads are already well salted; season after tasting with the papad in.

20 minIndianCurriesGluten free
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Papa a la huancaínaPotatoes in spicy cheese sauce

Papa a la huancaína is named after Huancayo in Peru's central Andes, but it is eaten everywhere, from Lima's set-lunch counters to Sunday family tables. Thick slices of cold boiled potato are blanketed in huancaína sauce, a silky, mildly hot sauce of ají amarillo, fresh cheese and evaporated milk, then finished with boiled egg and black olives. It is served cold as a starter, and the sauce is also the favourite dip for boiled corn and fried yuca. Use a queso fresco made with vegetarian rennet if you want it fully vegetarian (or a mild feta rinsed of salt). Chef's tip: fry the chillies, onion and garlic before blending; this takes off their raw edge and gives the sauce its rounded, sweet heat.

30 minPeruvianSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Tocăniță de ciuperciMushroom stew

Tocăniță is the everyday stew of Romanian home cooking, and the mushroom version is a fixture of the Orthodox fasting days, when Transylvanian cooks use forest mushrooms gathered in the Apuseni hills and city cooks use button mushrooms from the market. Onions, garlic, tomato, white wine and thyme cook down into a thick, glossy sauce, without the sour cream and paprika of a Hungarian paprikás. It is always eaten with hot mămăligă and a spoon of the sauce over the top. Chef's tip: brown the mushrooms in batches in a hot pan; crowding them is the usual mistake, and they then stew grey in their own water instead of turning golden.

50 minRomanianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Pap (stywe pap and krummelpap)Maize porridge

Pap is the everyday staple of South Africa, eaten in Soweto kitchens and Limpopo villages at almost every evening meal, and in a three-legged pot at every braai. It is plain white maize meal cooked in water, in two main styles: stywe pap (stiff pap), smooth enough to roll into balls and dip into relish, and krummelpap (crumbly pap), steamed into dry, fluffy crumbs. Both are eaten with chakalaka or a tomato-and-onion sauce. Chef's tip: wet the meal to a paste before it hits the boiling water, or you'll be fighting lumps for the next 20 minutes.

30 minSouth AfricanSidesVeganGluten free
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Yassa pouletLemon onion chicken

Yassa comes from Casamance, the green, rice-growing south of Senegal, and has become the dish Dakar families cook for guests and naming ceremonies. Chicken spends a night in lemon juice, mustard and a huge pile of sliced onions, is grilled or browned until charred at the edges, then braised in those same onions until they collapse into a sharp, sweet, jammy sauce. It is served over plain white rice with a green olive or two on top. A common mistake is rushing the onions; if they are still crunchy the sauce tastes raw and harsh, so give them the full half hour. Chef's tip: keep the marinade, because it becomes the sauce; just boil it well with the onions so it is safe to eat.

100 minSenegaleseChickenGluten free
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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 minFilipinoVegetarianVegan
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Ohn no khao swe with tofuCoconut noodle soup with tofu

Ohn no khao swe is the comforting coconut noodle soup that Burmese families serve for weekend lunches and for crowds at donation feasts, especially around Mandalay and Yangon. Wheat noodles sit in a rich, mildly spiced coconut broth thickened with chickpea flour, and everyone adds their own toppings: lime, sliced raw onion, chilli flakes, coriander and crispy fried noodles. It's normally made with chicken; tofu and chickpeas take its place here. Chef's tip: stir the coconut milk in at the end and keep it at a gentle simmer; a hard boil makes the coconut split and turn oily.

60 minBurmeseSoupsVegan
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Hawaiian tofu pokeMarinated tofu bowl

Poke (say 'POH-keh', meaning 'to cut into pieces') is Hawaii's everyday snack: in local markets and at the deli counters of Honolulu, raw cubed fish is tossed with soy, sesame oil, sweet Maui onion, seaweed and inamona (roasted candlenut). Tofu poke has become a standard option at those same counters, and it's how this recipe is written; the original uses raw tuna (ahi) instead of tofu. Serve it as a pūpū (snack) or over rice. Chef's tip: press the tofu well and dry it; firm, dry cubes soak up the dressing instead of watering it down.

20 minPacific IslanderSaladsVegan
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Tofu and pumpkin amokSteamed tofu and pumpkin custard

Amok is the dish Cambodians proudly serve to visitors, especially around Siem Reap and the Tonlé Sap, where it is traditionally made with freshwater fish. This home version keeps everything that makes it amok, the fragrant kroeung, thick coconut cream and a beaten egg that sets it into a soft, spoonable custard, but fills the banana-leaf cups with firm tofu and sweet pumpkin instead. Noni leaves (slok ngor) usually line the cups; young spinach gives the same green layer. Serve it with plain jasmine rice for a special dinner. Chef's tip: stir the custard in one direction only while you mix the coconut cream and egg; Cambodian cooks say this keeps it silky, and it also stops air bubbles that leave holes once steamed.

60 minCambodianCurriesGluten free
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Pão de ló de OvarMolten-centred sponge cake

Pão de ló is Portugal's oldest sponge cake, made with nothing but eggs, sugar and a little flour, and every region claims its own. In Ovar, a town on the lagoon coast south of Porto, it is baked only briefly, so a thin golden crust hides a centre of barely set, glossy egg cream that oozes when cut. It is the cake for Easter, when godparents give it to their godchildren, and it is sold all year at the town's bakeries wrapped in the paper it was baked in. Eat it at room temperature with a spoon, on its own or with a glass of port. Chef's tip: whisk the eggs and sugar for a full 12–15 minutes until the mixture is very thick and white; that air is the only thing that lifts the cake.

50 minPortugueseBaking
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PanzanellaTomato and bread salad

Panzanella is how Tuscans eat old bread in summer: hard, unsalted loaf soaked in water, squeezed and crumbled with juicy tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and basil, then dressed with vinegar and plenty of olive oil. In Florence and the Maremma it is a cool lunch for the hottest days, and every family argues about cucumber. Make it 30 minutes before eating so the bread drinks the tomato juice but keeps some bite. Chef's tip: salt the tomatoes first and let them weep in a bowl; that juice becomes the dressing.

20 minItalianSaladsVegan
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Panqueques con dulce de lecheCrêpes with dulce de leche

In Argentina and Uruguay, panqueques are not fluffy American pancakes but thin crêpes, and the classic way to eat them is rolled around dulce de leche, often as the dessert at a neighbourhood parrilla or on a rainy Sunday afternoon at home. Some restaurants sprinkle them with sugar and caramelise the top with a hot iron; at home a dusting of sugar is enough. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 20 minutes so the flour relaxes and the crêpes come out thin and tender rather than rubbery.

25 minArgentinianDesserts
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