Featured recipe

Pain perdu

French toast

Pain perdu means 'lost bread', and French families have always made it from the end of a stale baguette or brioche that would otherwise be thrown away. Thick slices are soaked in milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla, then fried in butter until caramelised outside and soft, almost like custard, inside. In France it is more often a Sunday breakfast or goûter for the children than a brunch dish, eaten with a dusting of sugar, jam or fresh fruit. Chef's tip: use bread that is a day or two old; fresh bread is the common mistake and turns soggy and falls apart in the custard.

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Thalipeeth is a rustic Maharashtrian flatbread made from bhajani, a flour of roasted grains and lentils. The dough is soft and sticky with onion, green chilli and coriander, and is patted out by hand straight onto the pan, with holes poked in it so the oil can crisp it from both sides. It comes off the tawa crunchy at the edges and soft in the middle, smoky with cumin and coriander seed. Eat it hot for breakfast with thick yogurt, white butter or a garlic and peanut chutney, or with lemon pickle. Chef's tip: pat the dough out on a damp cloth or wet baking paper and flip it straight onto the pan; it's too soft to roll, and wet hands keep it from sticking.

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No Tamil meal is really finished without thayir sadam. It's the last course on a banana-leaf lunch, the comfort food packed for train journeys and school tiffins, and the prasadam handed out in some Tamil Nadu temples. Soft, mashed rice is mixed with cool yogurt and a splash of milk, seasoned with ginger, green chilli and curry leaves popped in hot oil, then dotted with pomegranate, grated carrot or green grapes. It's eaten slightly cool with a spoonful of pickle or a fried vathal on the side. Chef's tip: mix a little milk in with the yogurt; it keeps the rice creamy and stops it turning sour if you pack it for lunch several hours ahead.

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50 min

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55 min

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50 min

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5 min

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60 min

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Herding families on the Tibetan plateau traditionally cook yak meat this way, and today shapta is a favourite at Tibetan restaurants from Lhasa to Kathmandu and Delhi. Thin slices of meat are seared with onion, green chillies and tomato, and seasoned with ginger, garlic and timur (Sichuan pepper), which gives a gentle tingle. Lean and full of flavour, it comes out savoury, slightly smoky and pleasantly hot. Serve it with tingmo (steamed bread), rice or flatbread, and a simple radish salad. Chef's tip: yak is very lean, so slice it thin and cook it fast; beef sirloin or rump is the easiest substitute.

25 min

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Tibetan tingmoSteamed twisted buns

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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 min

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Pumpkin kibbehBaked bulgur and pumpkin layers

Kibbet laqteen is the Lenten kibbeh of Lebanon's Christian villages, made in the weeks before Easter when meat is off the table: roasted pumpkin is kneaded with fine bulgur, onion and warm spices into a soft dough, which is pressed in layers around a filling of caramelised onion, chickpeas, spinach and walnuts, then baked in a round tray. It is cut into diamonds and eaten warm or cold, often with a plate of pickles and a bowl of salad. The common slip is a wet pumpkin, which makes the dough too sticky to spread; roast the pumpkin rather than boiling it. Chef's tip: score a deep diamond pattern before baking and pour oil into the cuts, so every piece comes out with crisp edges.

75 min

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Öröm with breadClotted cream on bread

In Mongolian summer, when the herds are milked several times a day, families on the steppe gently heat fresh milk in a wide pan, ladling and pouring it back to froth it, then leave it overnight. By morning a thick, wrinkled, pale-gold skin of cream has formed: öröm. Lifted off and folded, it's spread on boortsog (fried dough) or bread with a sprinkle of sugar and eaten with milk tea. It's rich, slightly nutty and very simple. Chef's tip: use the widest, heaviest pan you own and the lowest possible heat; öröm needs a large surface and patience, not boiling.

130 min

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PumaloiSteamed rice cakes

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50 min

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Pulpo a la gallegaOctopus with paprika and potatoes

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60 min

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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 min

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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 min

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PulihoraTamarind rice

Pulihora is the rice Andhra families cook for Ugadi, Sankranti and every temple festival in between, and it's also the dish wrapped in banana leaves for long train trips because it keeps all day. The Telugu version is sharper and hotter than Tamil puliyodarai or Karnataka puliyogare: cooked rice is tossed with a thick tamarind paste, turmeric, mustard and a hefty tempering of peanuts, chana dal, green and red chillies and curry leaves, with no sweet spice powder. It's sour, hot, nutty and fragrant with sesame oil. Eat it at room temperature with curd or a crisp papad. Chef's tip: cook the tamarind paste until oil separates at the edges; under-cooked tamarind gives the rice a raw, puckery sourness.

45 min

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PukhleinFried rice flour and jaggery cakes

Pukhlein are the sweet treats of Khasi tea stalls and celebrations in Meghalaya: a batter of rice flour and jaggery fried into round, puffed cakes that are crisp and caramelised on the outside and chewy within. They are made for Christmas and family gatherings and are sold at Shillong's Iewduh (Bara Bazaar) with red tea. They taste a little like a cross between a doughnut and an Indian anarsa. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least an hour; the rice flour hydrates and the cakes puff instead of spreading.

95 min

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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 min

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Puerto Rican sofritoHerb and pepper cooking base

Open a freezer anywhere in Puerto Rico, or in the Puerto Rican neighbourhoods of New York and Orlando, and you'll find a tub or ice-cube tray of green sofrito. It is the start of almost everything savoury on the island: beans, rice, stews, soups and sauces. Unlike the slow-cooked Spanish sofrito, this one is raw, blended from culantro (recao), cilantro, little sweet ajíes dulces, cubanelle peppers, onion and lots of garlic. It smells grassy and sharp in the jar and turns mellow and savoury as soon as it hits hot oil. Chef's tip: if you can't find ajíes dulces, use extra red pepper and a tiny piece of seeded scotch bonnet; you want their fruity perfume, not heat.

20 min

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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 min

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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 min

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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 min

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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 min

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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 min

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Orecchiette con cime di rapaOrecchiette with turnip tops

In Bari the old women of Arco Basso still shape orecchiette on wooden boards in the street, and the dish everyone cooks them with is cime di rapa: the bitter, leafy turnip tops sold in big bunches from autumn to early spring. The greens and pasta boil in the same pot, then get tossed with garlic, chilli and good olive oil. Pugliese cooks usually melt in anchovies; this vegan version uses golden fried breadcrumbs (mollica), the 'poor man's cheese' of southern Italy, for crunch and savour. Chef's tip: add the chopped stalks first and the leaves a few minutes later, so everything is tender at the same moment as the pasta.

30 min

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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 min

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Ptitim with vegetablesToasted pearl couscous with vegetables

Ptitim was invented in Israel in the 1950s, when rice was scarce and the Osem factory was asked to make a wheat substitute; the little toasted pasta pearls soon became the dish every Israeli child grew up on. In homes from Haifa to Be'er Sheva it is cooked like a pilaf, first toasted in oil until nutty, then simmered in stock until plump and chewy. This version folds in courgette, red pepper and peas for a quick weeknight dinner or lunchbox side. Chef's tip: toast the dry ptitim until it smells like popcorn and turns light gold; it gives a much nuttier flavour than boiling it like pasta.

25 min

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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 min

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Ptichye molokoSoufflé cake with chocolate glaze

Ptichye moloko, 'bird's milk', is named for the impossible treat in old fairy tales, and in 1978 Moscow's Praga restaurant turned it into a cake: a cloud of vanilla soufflé on a thin sponge, glazed with dark chocolate. Soviet shoppers queued for hours for the boxed version, and it is still the cake for birthdays and 8 March. The soufflé has always been set with agar, a seaweed jelly, which makes it naturally free of gelatine and gives a clean, springy bite. Chef's tip: boil the agar syrup to exactly 110°C (a thread forms between two fingers); undercooked syrup leaves the soufflé weepy and soft.

80 min

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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 min

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ProvoletaGrilled provolone with oregano

Provoleta is the first thing off the grill at an Argentine asado: a thick round of provolone-style cheese, invented by Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires, cooked in a small iron pan or straight on the grate until the outside forms a golden crust and the inside turns molten. It comes to the table bubbling, sprinkled with oregano and chilli flakes and drizzled with chimichurri, to scoop up with crusty bread. Many provolones use animal rennet, so check the label and choose one made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: chill the cheese well before cooking; cold cheese forms a crust before the middle melts and runs.

13 min

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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 min

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Mushroom or lamHerb stew with aubergine and mushrooms

Or lam belongs to Luang Prabang, the old royal town on the Mekong, where it is cooked for long family lunches and served at almost every restaurant that makes local food. It is a thick, rustic stew of aubergine, long beans, mushrooms and greens, thickened with a little sticky rice and flavoured with sakhan, a peppery wood that numbs the lips like Sichuan pepper, plus heaps of dill and lemongrass. The usual dried buffalo skin and meat are swapped for two kinds of mushroom here. Eat it with sticky rice and a jeow. Chef's tip: if you can't find sakhan, a few lightly crushed Sichuan peppercorns give the same tingle; add them early so the tingle spreads through the broth.

75 min

Lao Vegetarian

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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 min

Mexican Snacks & 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 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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PrinsesstårtaMarzipan-covered layer cake

This domed green cake sits in every Swedish konditori window and is the cake for name days, birthdays and the last week of September, which Swedes call Prinsesstårtans vecka. It was first written down in the 1930s by Jenny Åkerström, cookery teacher to three young Swedish princesses, and they adored it. Under the smooth marzipan lie airy sponge layers, raspberry jam, thick vanilla custard and a tall mound of whipped cream. Shop versions often set the cream with gelatine; here the custard is firmed with cornflour and the cream with a little mascarpone, so it is fully vegetarian and still slices cleanly. Chef's tip: assemble the cake the day before you need the custard and sponge, but cover it with marzipan only a few hours before serving; marzipan sweats in the fridge overnight.

90 minScandinavian Desserts

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Prawn balchãoSweet-sour prawn pickle curry

Balchão started as a way to keep the catch from the Goan monsoon season: prawns cooked down in a fierce red masala with vinegar and sugar until they keep like a pickle. In Goan homes a jar sits in the fridge to spoon beside rice and dal, and a fresh batch is served as a main curry on Sundays. Its taste is bold: hot, sharp and sweet all at once. Chef's tip: fry the masala slowly until the oil separates and it turns a deep brick colour; undercooked balchão tastes raw and vinegary.

50 min

Indian Fish

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Vegetarian pozole verdeGreen hominy soup

Pozole verde is the green pozole of Guerrero, where Thursday is pozole day and families gather round big bowls of it in Chilpancingo and Acapulco. The broth gets its colour and body from tomatillos, green chillies, coriander and toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) blended into a creamy sauce, and it is full of plump, chewy hominy (maíz pozolero), the nixtamalised corn kernels that open like flowers as they cook. This vegetarian version swaps the usual pork for oyster mushrooms and chickpeas, which give the soup a meaty bite. Serve it with the garnishes in little bowls so everyone builds their own: shredded cabbage, radish, onion, oregano, lime and crisp tostadas. Chef's tip: toast the pumpkin seeds only until they puff and start to pop; if they turn brown the whole pot tastes bitter and goes khaki instead of bright green.

60 min

Mexican Soups

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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 min

Romanian Vegetarian

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Pozole rojoRed pork and hominy soup

In Jalisco and Guerrero, a pot of red pozole means a crowd: it is made for Independence night on 15 September, for Christmas and New Year, and in Guerrero towns every Thursday is 'jueves pozolero'. Big, chewy kernels of hominy and tender pork simmer in a broth coloured with dried guajillo and ancho chillies, and the bowl is finished at the table with crunchy cabbage, radish, onion, lime and a rub of dried oregano between your palms. It tastes even better the next day, so make the whole pot. Chef's tip: strain the chilli purée through a sieve into the pot, so the broth is silky and free of chilli skins.

180 min

Mexican Soups

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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 min

Senegalese Chicken

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Pounded yamPounded yam dough

Pounded yam, iyan in Yoruba, is the pride of Ekiti and Oyo tables, where it is still pounded in a big wooden mortar on Sundays and at celebrations, the thud of the pestle carrying down the street. Boiled white yam is beaten until it becomes a smooth, elastic, slightly sticky dough that is torn off by hand and dipped into egusi, efo riro or okra soup. At home most people now use a stand mixer or food processor instead of a mortar. It has to be true African white yam (puna yam), not orange sweet potato, which some shops label as yam. Chef's tip: pound or mix the yam while it is still very hot; as it cools the starch sets and it turns lumpy instead of stretchy.

40 min

Nigerian Sides

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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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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 min

Burmese Soups

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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 Islander Salads

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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 min

Cambodian Curries

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Poulet DGChicken with plantain and vegetables

Poulet DG, short for "poulet directeur général", earned its name in Yaoundé in the 1980s as a dish rich enough for the boss; now it is the centrepiece at weddings and Sunday lunches across Cameroon. Chicken is browned and simmered with tomato, peppers, carrots and green beans, then fried ripe plantain is folded in at the end, so every mouthful is savoury and sweet. The mistake is stirring the plantain in too early, when it breaks up and goes mushy; add it in the last few minutes. Chef's tip: choose plantains that are yellow with lots of black spots, ripe enough to caramelise but still firm.

90 min

Cameroonian Chicken

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Poulet bicycletteGrilled free-range chicken

Across Burkina Faso and northern Côte d'Ivoire, "bicycle chicken" is the lean village chicken once carried to market strapped to the back of a bike; in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso it is grilled whole at open-air stalls in the evening and eaten with fries, attiéké or a chunk of bread. The birds are smaller and firmer than supermarket chicken, so a small free-range or poussin works best at home. The mistake is grilling a whole chicken over high heat from the start, which burns the outside before the inside is safe; start it on indirect heat or in the oven, then char it. Chef's tip: spatchcock the bird so it cooks evenly and fast.

80 minAfrican Chicken

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Pouding chômeurCake baked in maple syrup

Pouding chômeur ('unemployed person's pudding') was created in Québec during the Depression of the 1930s, from the cheapest ingredients: flour, sugar, a little butter and hot syrup. As it bakes, the light batter rises through the syrup, which settles underneath as a rich caramel sauce. Today it's made with maple syrup and is a fixture of Québec sugar shacks (cabanes à sucre) in March and April, and of family Sunday dinners. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Chef's tip: pour the syrup on boiling hot and spoon the batter over in blobs; never stir them together.

50 min

Canadian Desserts

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Lamb potjiekosLamb and vegetable stew

Potjiekos is the long, sociable cook of South African weekends: a cast-iron three-legged pot (potjie) sits over a small fire for hours while friends talk around it, and the rule is that once the layers are in, nobody stirs. The lamb is browned at the bottom, then potatoes, carrots, butternut, green beans and mushrooms are stacked on top so the hardest vegetables are nearest the heat. A heavy casserole on the hob or in the oven works just as well. Some cooks add a glass of red wine or beer; this version uses stock only, and you may swap 150 ml of it for wine if you like. The mistake is stirring the pot, which turns the neat layers into mush. Chef's tip: add only a little liquid; the vegetables give off their own juice as they steam.

210 min

South African Meat

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PoticaWalnut and honey spiral cake

No Slovenian Easter or Christmas table is complete without potica, a yeasted dough rolled thin around a honeyed walnut filling and baked in a fluted ring mould called a potičnik. When sliced, each piece shows a tight spiral of pale dough and dark nuts. Families in Ljubljana and across Carniola argue about the best filling, but walnut with honey is the classic one, eaten with coffee from Christmas morning until the tin is empty. Unlike a braided Romanian cozonac, the beauty is all in the thin, even swirl. Chef's tip: spread the filling no thicker than the dough and roll it up tightly; a loose roll or a thick layer leaves a gap between dough and filling once baked, the most common potica fault.

210 minBalkan Baking

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Töltött káposztaStuffed cabbage rolls

Töltött káposzta is the dish Hungarians make for Christmas and the wedding feasts of the countryside, a huge pot that tastes better each day. It is a pork dish: soured cabbage leaves are rolled around a filling of pork mince, rice, onion and paprika, then layered with chopped sauerkraut and smoked pork ribs or sausage and simmered for hours. It is served with a dollop of soured cream and bread. Chef's tip: look for whole soured cabbage heads (sold for this dish in Eastern European shops); if you cannot find them, blanch fresh savoy leaves and add extra sauerkraut.

195 min

Hungarian Meat

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Posta negra cartageneraBeef in dark panela sauce

Posta negra comes from the Caribbean coast, from Cartagena's old walled city and the towns around it, and it is what a family cooks for a birthday or a Sunday when the grandparents visit. A whole piece of beef is browned, then braised slowly with onion, a little cola-coloured panela (unrefined cane sugar) and Worcestershire-style sauce until the sauce turns nearly black and glossy, sweet and tangy at once. It is sliced and served with coconut rice, fried plantain and a tomato and onion salad. The most common mistake is letting the panela burn when caramelising: it should turn a deep mahogany and smell like toffee, not acrid smoke. Chef's tip: slice the meat across the grain only after it has rested, then return the slices to the sauce so they soak it up.

180 min

Colombian Meat

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PortokalopitaOrange fillo cake

Portokalopita is a Greek orange cake with an unusual trick: instead of flour, it uses dried, torn fillo pastry, which soaks up an orange yogurt batter and then a hot orange syrup. It became a favourite in Greek homes in the 1990s and is now baked for coffee mornings, Sunday visits and village festivals across the country. The texture is like a moist sponge with crisp edges, very orangey and not too sweet. It keeps beautifully, so it is perfect for making the day before. Chef's tip: dry the fillo properly until crisp; using it soft is the usual mistake and gives a heavy, gummy cake.

75 min

Greek Baking

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Tom yum goongHot and sour prawn soup

Steaming bowls of this prawn soup land on almost every table in central Thailand, from riverside shophouses in Ayutthaya to family dinners in Bangkok, where it sits in the middle to be shared with rice and two or three other dishes. The broth is thin but loud: sour from lime, salty from fish sauce, hot from crushed bird's eye chillies, and perfumed by bruised lemongrass, galangal and torn makrut lime leaf, which flavour the soup but are left in the bowl. This is the clear style (nam sai) with a spoonful of roasted chilli paste for colour and a gentle sweetness; the creamy nam khon style adds evaporated milk, which we leave out to keep it dairy free. Serve it piping hot with plain jasmine rice. Chef's tip: simmer the prawn heads and shells for five minutes before anything else goes in, and the soup tastes of the sea rather than of water.

25 min

Thai Soups

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Tomaat-garnaalTomatoes stuffed with grey shrimp

Along the Belgian coast, from Ostend to De Panne, tomaat-garnaal is the starter that tells you you are at the seaside: a hollowed raw tomato heaped with tiny, sweet North Sea grey shrimp in homemade mayonnaise, served with lettuce, lemon and often a few chips. The shrimp are caught and boiled on the boats, so they come ready-cooked and peeled. Because the dish has so few parts, everything depends on good ripe tomatoes and very fresh shrimp. The thing people often get wrong is drowning the shrimp in mayonnaise; use just enough to bind them so their sweetness comes through. Chef's tip: salt the hollowed tomatoes and turn them upside down for 10 minutes so they do not leak water onto the plate.

20 min

Belgian Fish

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ZoboHibiscus and pineapple drink

Zobo is the deep crimson drink sold ice-cold in recycled bottles at Nigerian bus parks, markets and parties, and in Ghana the same drink is called sobolo, often made punchier with extra ginger and grains of selim. Dried hibiscus calyces are boiled with pineapple peel, fresh ginger and cloves, then strained and sweetened, giving a tart, fruity, gently spicy drink. It is drunk fresh and alcohol-free, very cold, especially in the dry heat before the rains. Chef's tip: sweeten the drink once it is strained and still warm, tasting as you go; hibiscus tastes much sharper hot than when it is chilled, so leave it a touch sweeter than you think.

30 min

Nigerian Drinks

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Porotos granadosFresh bean, pumpkin and corn stew

Porotos granados is what central Chile cooks when the fresh beans arrive in late summer: tender cranberry beans shelled at the kitchen table, simmered with pumpkin until it collapses into a thick orange sauce, then finished with grated corn and basil. Families in the Valle Central eat it on hot days, often with pebre and a tomato salad; when the corn is blended in larger amounts it's called 'con mazamorra'. It's hearty but fresh-tasting, and fully plant-based. Chef's tip: add the corn only in the last 10 minutes; it's there to thicken and sweeten, and overcooked it turns floury.

65 min

Chilean Vegetarian

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Pork tocinoSweet cured pork

In Pampanga, tocino is breakfast: thin slices of pork shoulder in a sweet, garlicky marinade, fried until the sugar caramelises at the edges, then served with garlic fried rice and a fried egg as 'tosilog'. Shop tocino is often bright pink from curing salts; this home version leaves those out, so it is a sweet marinated pork rather than a true cure, gets its warm red colour from annatto and paprika, and must be kept in the fridge and cooked within 3 days (or frozen). Look for pork with a little fat running through it so it stays juicy. Chef's tip: start it in a splash of water; the pork simmers through first, then the sugar glazes once the water is gone, so it doesn't burn before it's cooked.

35 min

Filipino Meat

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Tomato pappuTomato dal

Pappu (dal) is the backbone of an Andhra meal, and tomato pappu is the one most Telugu households cook on an ordinary weekday. Toor dal is cooked with plenty of ripe tomatoes, onion, green chillies and a little tamarind, then mashed to a thick, rustic consistency and finished with a fierce garlic and red chilli popu (tempering). It's tangier and hotter than a North Indian dal, and it's mixed into hot rice with a spoon of ghee and eaten with avakaya pickle and a crisp fried vegetable. Chef's tip: mash the dal and tomatoes together with a whisk or a wooden mathu while hot; it gives the creamy, slightly rough texture that blending never does.

40 min

Indian Curries

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Tomato rasamTomato tamarind soup

Rasam is the thin, sour, peppery broth that runs through every Tamil Nadu meal, poured over rice after sambar or sipped from a tumbler when you have a cold. This tomato version is the everyday kind: ripe tomatoes and tamarind simmered with crushed garlic, black pepper and cumin, then lifted with a tempering of mustard seeds, dried chilli and curry leaves. It's light, warming and ready in 25 minutes. Serve it with plain rice and a dry vegetable, or on its own in a cup. Chef's tip: once you add the spice mix, take the rasam off the heat as soon as it froths up; boiling it hard turns the flavour flat and the pepper harsh.

25 min

Indian Soups

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Nasi gorengIndonesian fried rice

Every warung and night stall from Medan to Makassar has its own nasi goreng, but the starting point is always yesterday's rice, a pounded paste of shallot, garlic and chilli, and a glug of kecap manis that turns the grains glossy and caramel-brown. Indonesians eat it for breakfast as readily as for a late supper, crowned with a fried egg and served with cucumber, tomato and a heap of crackers. This vegetarian version keeps all the smoky-sweet depth without the usual shrimp paste. Chef's tip: get the wok properly hot and add the kecap manis down the side of the pan, not onto the rice, so it sizzles and caramelises before you toss it through.

20 min

Indonesian Rice & Grains

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Pork sisigSizzling chopped pork

Sisig comes from Angeles City in Pampanga, where cooks turned pig's head and ears into a sizzling, sour, peppery bar snack that is now on almost every Filipino menu. This home version is pork, using pork belly (and pig's ears if your butcher has them) that is boiled, grilled until charred, then chopped finely and fried with onion, chilli and calamansi juice. It arrives at the table crackling on a hot cast-iron plate, often with a raw egg stirred in. Eat it with rice, or as pulutan with drinks; a cold calamansi juice works as well. Chef's tip: chop the pork small but not to mince; you want little crisp edges and chewy bits in every spoonful.

110 min

Filipino Meat

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PootharekuluPaper-thin rice sheet sweets

Pootharekulu ('coated sheets') come from Atreyapuram village in the Godavari district, where women make translucent rice-starch films by dipping a cloth in batter and wiping it over a hot, upturned clay pot. Those whisper-thin sheets are then layered with ghee and powdered sugar or jaggery and folded into neat parcels that melt on the tongue. True rekulu need the special pot and years of practice, so this home method spreads a very thin rice batter on an upturned wok or non-stick pan and peels off the dried film. Sheets can also be bought ready-made in Indian shops; then just do the filling. Chef's tip: work with the sheets dry; brush ghee on, never sugar syrup, or they turn soggy and tear.

90 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Pondicherry fish assadFish in coconut milk curry

In Puducherry, the former French enclave on the Tamil coast, Creole families of mixed Tamil and French descent cook a fish curry that is softer and creamier than anything else along that shore. Assad is mild and pale, fragrant with fennel, pepper and curry leaves, with the fish poached in thin coconut milk and finished with a thick, rich pour. It is a Sunday-lunch and Christmas dish in these homes, eaten with plain rice or a crusty loaf from the town's bakeries. Chef's tip: add the thick coconut milk only at the very end and keep the curry below a boil, so it stays silky and white.

40 min

Indian Fish

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PomBaked chicken and grated pomtajer

Pom is Suriname's celebration dish, baked for birthdays and holidays in Paramaribo and by the Surinamese community in the Netherlands: a layer of grated pomtajer root (a type of taro) mixed with citrus juice, then a layer of chicken stewed with onion, tomato, nutmeg and pickled peppers, then more pomtajer, baked until the top is golden. It is usually eaten on a roll as a "broodje pom". The mistake is skipping the citrus: pomtajer must be mixed with orange or lime juice, which gives the dish its fragrance. Chef's tip: frozen grated pomtajer from Surinamese or Caribbean shops saves the hard grating; if you can't find it, use grated taro or a mix of taro and potato.

160 min

Guyanese Chicken

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Omegi tteokMillet rice cakes with red bean

Omegi tteok (오메기떡) are Jeju's best-known rice cakes: small dark-green rounds of glutinous millet and rice dough flavoured with mugwort, filled with sweet red bean, and rolled in a coat of mashed red beans or toasted nuts. Jeju farmers grew millet on fields too stony for rice, and the dough was once fermented into omegi-sul, the island's rice wine. Now they are bought in boxes at Seogwipo's Olle market as the island's favourite gift, kept in the freezer and thawed for tea time. Chef's tip: knead the dough with boiling water while it is still hot; mugwort and millet need the heat to bind into a smooth, stretchy dough.

55 min

Korean Desserts

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Olluquito con charquiOlluco and dried beef stew

Olluco is a glossy yellow-and-pink tuber grown high in the Andes, crunchy when raw and silky when cooked, and in Lima's market eateries it is cut into fine matchsticks and stewed with charqui, sun-dried meat that was the travel food of Inca messengers. The dish is gently spiced with ají panca and finished with fresh parsley, and it is always served with white rice. Latin shops sell olluco in jars; if you can't find it, firm new potatoes or courgette give a similar texture, and beef brisket stands in well for charqui. Chef's tip: cut the olluco and rinse it well; the slippery sap washes off and the stew won't turn slimy.

95 min

Peruvian Curries

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Polos curryYoung green jackfruit curry

Polos is the tiny unripe jackfruit picked in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces long before it sweetens, and cooked low and slow it becomes one of the island's most loved festival curries, especially at Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April and at wedding lunches. The firm, pale flesh soaks up a very dark roasted curry powder, garlic, ginger, goraka (a smoky souring fruit) and coconut milk until it turns almost black-brown and tastes rich, sour and meaty. Fresh polos is hard to find abroad; tinned young green jackfruit in brine works well. A frequent mistake is not cooking it long enough, which leaves it squeaky; the pieces must be soft enough to break with a spoon. Chef's tip: oil your hands and knife before cutting fresh jackfruit; the sticky white sap washes off oiled skin but not dry skin.

75 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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Nasi dagangCoconut rice with tuna curry

Breakfast on the east coast, in Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bharu, very often means nasi dagang: soft, slightly sticky rice steamed twice with coconut milk, ginger and fenugreek seeds, wrapped in paper with a ladle of gulai ikan tongkol, a gentle tuna curry. The rice is fragrant and a little chewy from the glutinous grains mixed in, while the curry is mellow, coconutty and sour from dried tamarind slices. Stalls sell it from dawn, with hard-boiled eggs and cucumber pickle on the side. It also makes a fine weekend brunch at home. Chef's tip: soak the two kinds of rice overnight so the grains steam evenly and turn plump rather than chalky.

90 min

Malaysian Rice & Grains

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Pollo a la brasaRoast chicken with green chilli sauce

Born in the 1950s in Chaclacayo, just east of Lima, this rotisserie chicken has grown into a national obsession, with its own holiday on the third Sunday of July and a pollería on almost every block. The bird is marinated in soy sauce, lime, garlic, cumin and ají panca, then roasted until the skin is lacquered and dark. At home a hot oven does the job, and the meal is not complete without chips, a simple salad and a jar of creamy green ají sauce. Chef's tip: dry the skin well and leave the chicken uncovered in the fridge overnight after marinating; it roasts up much crisper.

105 min

Peruvian Chicken

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ZopfPlaited butter bread

In German-speaking Switzerland the Sunday breakfast table is not complete without a Zopf (Züpfe in Bern): a shiny, plaited white loaf made with milk and plenty of butter, sliced thick and spread with more butter and jam or honey. Bakeries from Bern to St Gallen bake them on Saturday nights, and many families plait their own on Sunday morning. The crumb is soft, light and faintly sweet from the butter, not the sugar, and the egg-yolk glaze gives a deep brown, glossy crust. Leftovers make excellent French toast (Fotzelschnitte). Chef's tip: let the shaped plait rest in a cool place for 15 minutes before glazing and baking; the strands hold their shape and the pattern stays crisp.

70 min

Swiss Breads & Parathas

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TorlyBaked mixed vegetables

Torly is a tray of mixed vegetables (potatoes, courgettes, carrots, green beans, peas, peppers) baked in a tomato and garlic sauce until soft and slightly caramelised at the edges. The name is Turkish, a reminder of Ottoman times, but it has long been an everyday Egyptian home dish, usually cooked when the summer markets are full of courgettes and served with white rice or vermicelli rice. Many families add meat; this meat-free version is just as common in fasting seasons. Chef's tip: cut the potatoes and carrots smaller than the courgettes, so everything is tender at the same moment.

75 min

Egyptian Vegetarian

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Olla de carneBeef and vegetable pot

Olla de carne, "pot of meat", is the Costa Rican Sunday soup, cooked slowly in the Central Valley around San José and in country homes: beef shin and short ribs simmered for hours in a clear broth with big pieces of yuca, chayote, green plantain, corn, carrot and taro. The broth is served first, then the meat and vegetables, with rice on the side. The mistake is putting all the vegetables in together; add the hard ones first and the soft chayote and corn last. Chef's tip: use a little bone with the beef; it gives the broth body without any stock cube.

180 minCentral American Soups

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OliebollenRaisin fritters

On the last day of December the queues outside the oliebollenkraam, the caravan-like stalls that pop up in every Dutch town, stretch round the block. Oliebollen ('oil balls') are the food of Oudejaarsavond, New Year's Eve: round, yeasted fritters full of raisins, currants and apple, deep-fried and buried in icing sugar. Families fry big batches at home in the afternoon and eat them with champagne at midnight. They are best within a few hours. Chef's tip: dip your two scooping spoons in the hot oil before each ball; the sticky dough slides off cleanly and the balls come out round instead of ragged.

60 min

Dutch Desserts

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OlanAsh gourd and cowpea stew

Olan is the quietest dish on a Travancore sadya leaf, the banana-leaf feast served in southern Kerala for Onam, weddings and temple festivals. Thin, glassy slices of ash gourd and soft red cowpeas sit in coconut milk with nothing louder than green chilli and curry leaves, and its job is to cool the palate between the tangy, fiery curries around it. The flavour comes from coconut milk added in two stages and a spoonful of raw coconut oil poured over at the end. Eat it with plain rice, or ladle it beside appam on an ordinary weekday. Chef's tip: slice the ash gourd as thin as a coin so it turns translucent in the time the coconut milk takes to thicken.

60 min

Indian Curries

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OkroshkaCold vegetable and kvass soup

When Moscow swelters in July, okroshka replaces every hot soup: a bowl of finely chopped radishes, cucumber, potato, egg and a forest of green onion and dill, with ice-cold kvass poured over at the table. It is the lunch of dacha weekends and of hot afternoons on the Volga, and families argue over whether kvass or kefir is the right base (kefir works well and is less sweet). The name comes from kroshit, to crumble, since everything is chopped small. Chef's tip: rub the spring onions and dill with salt first until they give off juice; it releases a green, pungent flavour that tastes of summer.

45 min

Russian Soups

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YomariSteamed rice flour dumplings

Yomari are the sweet dumplings of the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, made once a year on Yomari Punhi, the full moon of December that marks the end of the rice harvest. Freshly milled rice flour is kneaded with hot water, pinched into a hollow cone, filled with chaku, a dark, fudgy Newari molasses, and toasted sesame, then shaped with a pointed tail like a fish or a teardrop and steamed. Children go from house to house singing for them, and families offer a few to the gods before anyone eats. The shell is soft and slightly chewy, and the filling melts into warm, smoky caramel. The usual mistake is mixing the dough with lukewarm water: it must be just off the boil so the starch swells and the dough stretches without cracking. Chef's tip: keep a bowl of warm water beside you and dip your fingertips often; damp hands smooth out cracks as you shape.

60 min

Nepali Desserts

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Yong tau fooStuffed tofu and vegetables

Hakka miners brought yong tau foo to the tin town of Ampang, on the edge of Kuala Lumpur, and families still drive there on weekends for big bowls of it. You choose your pieces from a counter, tofu, chillies, okra, aubergine and bitter gourd, each stuffed with a savoury paste, and the stall poaches or fries them and serves them in a light broth, with a sweet brown sauce and chilli sauce to dip. The traditional filling is fish and pork; this one is firm tofu, shiitake, water chestnut and carrot. It is a gentle, light meal. Chef's tip: press the stuffing in tightly and smooth it flush with a wet finger, so it stays put while it cooks.

60 min

Malaysian Soups

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