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Lunchbox ideas

Make-ahead food that packs well for school and office lunchboxes. (370 recipes)

Sambousek bi jibnehCheese half-moon pastries

Hot sambousek bi jibneh are the first thing to vanish from a Syrian mezze spread or a Ramadan iftar table, where Damascene and Aleppan cooks fry dozens at a time. A tender olive-oil pastry is folded around white cheese, parsley and nigella seeds, then crimped with a fork or twisted into a rope edge and fried or baked until blistered and golden. Eat them warm, when the cheese is soft and stringy. Common mistake: using a salty cheese straight from the brine — soak akkawi or halloumi for an hour first. Chef's tip: mix a little mozzarella into the filling for that stretchy pull. Akkawi, halloumi and mozzarella are often made with animal rennet; use vegetarian-rennet versions if needed.

65 minSyrianSnacks & Starters
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Lasagne alla bolognese

In Bologna, lasagne means green lasagne: thin sheets of spinach egg pasta layered with slow-cooked ragù, béchamel and plenty of parmigiano, baked until the edges crisp and served for Sunday lunch and every family celebration in Emilia-Romagna. The ragù is made with beef and pork mince and a little pancetta, so this is a pork dish as well as a beef one; a splash of white wine is traditional but optional, and the note gives an alcohol-free swap. Homemade spinach pasta is the classic choice, but bought fresh egg lasagne sheets work well. Serve with a crisp green salad. Chef's tip: keep the layers thin and many rather than thick and few; a proper Bolognese lasagne has at least six layers and holds its shape when cut.

270 minItalianPasta & Noodles
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MondeghiliFried beef and mortadella meatballs

Mondeghili are the thrifty meatballs of Milan, invented to use up the beef left from a pot of bollito misto and now a fixture on the aperitivo counters of the city's bars. The cooked beef is minced with mortadella, a soft pork sausage, then bound with milk-soaked bread, egg, grana and lemon zest, flattened slightly and fried in butter until crisp and brown. They are best warm, with a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of green sauce or simply a cold drink before dinner. Leftover roast beef or veal works just as well as boiled meat. Chef's tip: flatten each ball a little before frying; they cook through evenly and get more of that crunchy crust.

35 minItalianSnacks & Starters
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BoozaStretchy mastic ice cream

In the covered Hamidiyeh souk in Damascus, men pound booza in frozen metal drums with long wooden pestles, and the thump of the mallets is part of the show. The ice cream is milky, chewy and elastic, thanks to sahlab (orchid-root flour) and mastic, then rolled in crushed pistachios. This home version thickens the milk with sahlab powder or cornflour and beats it as it freezes to get that stretch. Serve in scoops or slices, plain or with a spoon of rose syrup. Common mistake: grinding the mastic alone, which turns gummy; always pound it with a spoonful of sugar. Chef's tip: real sahlab gives the true chew, but a mix of cornflour and a pinch of guar gum gets very close.

35 minSyrianDesserts
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GhraybehPistachio shortbread

Across Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, trays of ghraybeh appear for Eid and weddings next to ma'amoul; in Aleppo they are often shaped into little bracelets with a pistachio at the join. Made from just ghee, icing sugar and flour, they are so tender they crumble as soon as you bite, and they should stay ivory-white, never brown. Serve with strong coffee or mint tea. Common mistake: baking until golden — they should come out pale and still soft, and firm up as they cool. Chef's tip: whip the ghee and sugar for a full 10 minutes until white and fluffy; that is what gives the melting texture.

40 minSyrianBaking
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BarazekSesame and pistachio cookies

Barazek are the cookies Damascene families bring out for Eid and to go with an afternoon glass of tea: thin, crisp and buttery, with a glassy crust of sesame seeds held on with honey on top and a scattering of chopped pistachios pressed into the bottom. They are made by the tin-load in Damascus sweet shops and keep for weeks. Common mistake: using untoasted sesame — they should be lightly toasted before going on, or the cookies taste raw. Chef's tip: dip the sesame side into the honey syrup and then the seeds, not the other way round; you get an even, shiny layer that bakes to amber.

50 minSyrianBaking
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Mona de PascuaEaster brioche with egg

On Easter Monday, families across the Valencian Community head out to the countryside or the beach to "menjar-se la mona": they eat an orange-scented sweet brioche, often with a whole egg baked on top, and children crack the egg on a friend's forehead. The bun is soft and fluffy, glazed and sprinkled with sugar or coloured aniseed sprinkles. Here the eggs are hard-boiled first, so they are cooked through whatever the size of your bun. A common mistake is adding all the flour at once to a sticky dough; it softens as you knead, so hold back the last 50 g until you've kneaded for a few minutes. Chef's tip: make the starter the evening before and the dough on the day; the slow start gives a lighter crumb that stays soft for two days.

70 minSpanishBaking
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Coca de llandaLemon and olive oil sponge

Every Valencian grandmother has a coca de llanda, a plain, fluffy sponge named after the shallow metal tray (llanda) it is baked in, and it turns up at breakfast, at afternoon merienda and in lunchboxes all over the Comunitat Valenciana. Sunflower oil and milk keep it moist for days, lemon zest perfumes it, and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top bakes into a crackly crust. A common mistake is opening the oven in the first 25 minutes, which makes the middle sink. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes in the tin before it goes into the oven; the cinnamon sugar then sits on the surface instead of sinking in.

50 minSpanishBaking
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FartonsSweet glazed buns for dipping

In Alboraya, just north of Valencia, the horchaterías that serve cold tiger-nut horchata in summer put a plate of fartons beside every glass: long, slim, soft buns with a shiny sugar glaze, designed to be dunked and to soak up the milky drink without falling apart. The dough is enriched with egg, milk and sunflower oil rather than butter, which gives them their light, cottony crumb. They are just as good with coffee or cold milk. A common mistake is rushing the second rise; under-proved fartons stay tight and bready instead of airy. Chef's tip: roll each strip a little thinner than you think, about as thick as your finger, because they almost double in the oven.

45 minSpanishBaking
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SupangleChocolate pudding on sponge

Supangle is the chocolate pudding of Turkish pudding shops and school canteens, a favourite of children from Istanbul to Ankara: a thick, dark cocoa custard set in a bowl, traditionally with a piece of sponge cake or biscuit hidden at the bottom to soak up the edges. Served cold with grated chocolate or pistachios on top, it is rich but not heavy. Use proper dark chocolate as well as cocoa for depth. Common mistake: adding the chocolate before the pudding has thickened; it can seize and turn grainy. Chef's tip: whisk the butter in at the very end, off the heat, for a glossy, almost shiny surface.

25 minTurkishDesserts
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GougèresCheese choux puffs

In the wine villages of Burgundy, around Beaune and Chablis, a basket of gougères lands on the table the moment guests sit down: small golden choux puffs, crisp outside and hollow and cheesy within. They are handed round at cellar tastings, christenings and Sunday aperitifs, and they are best eaten warm, within ten minutes of leaving the oven. The dough is the same as for profiteroles, but salted, peppered and beaten with grated Comté or Gruyère. Both cheeses are traditionally made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard mountain-style cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: dry the dough on the heat until it leaves a thin film on the bottom of the pan; drier dough takes more egg and puffs higher.

50 minFrenchSnacks & Starters
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KeşkülAlmond milk pudding

Keşkül takes its name from the bowl that wandering dervishes carried for alms, and it has been on Istanbul pudding-shop counters (muhallebici) since Ottoman times. Ground almonds simmered in milk give it a delicate nutty flavour and a faint grain, set with a little rice flour and cornflour into a soft, spoonable pudding. Turks eat it chilled as an afternoon treat or after a light supper, topped with pistachio and desiccated coconut. The usual mistake is stopping the whisking as it thickens; it catches on the base and tastes scorched. Chef's tip: steep the ground almonds in the warm milk for 15 minutes before you start cooking for a much deeper almond flavour.

35 minTurkishDessertsGluten free
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Bici biciRosewater starch jelly with ice

When Adana's July heat pushes past 40 °C, handcarts on every corner serve bici bici: cubes of wobbly starch jelly piled with shaved ice, splashed with rose syrup and dusted with icing sugar. Children eat it in the shade of the clock tower; grown-ups claim it is the only thing that works in that heat. The jelly is just cornflour, water and a little sugar, set and cut into cubes. The usual mistake is undercooking it, which leaves a cloudy, floury jelly that won't hold a cut. Chef's tip: freeze water in a shallow tray and scrape it with a fork for snowy ice if you have no ice shaver.

25 minTurkishDessertsVeganGluten free
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KalitsouniaSweet cheese pastries

Come Holy Week, Cretan kitchens from Chania to Sitia fill trays with kalitsounia, little open pastries whose edges are pinched into stars around a mound of fresh whey cheese. They come out with crisp, slightly sandy pastry and a soft, barely sweet filling that tastes of milk, cinnamon and orange zest, and they are eaten at Easter breakfast, offered to visitors with coffee and packed for the drive back to the village. On the island the filling is fresh mizithra or anthotyro; drained ricotta is the easiest stand-in and is usually made without animal rennet. Common mistake: using wet cheese straight from the tub, which floods the pastry and leaves the bases soggy. Chef's tip: drain the cheese overnight in a sieve lined with kitchen paper so the filling bakes up light and holds its dome.

75 minGreekBaking
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Patatesli kol böreğiPotato and onion filo coil

Kol böreği is the long 'arm' börek that Istanbul neighbourhood bakeries coil into round trays and sell by weight in the morning, and the potato version is the one home cooks make for guests at five o'clock tea. Thin sheets of yufka are brushed with a milk and oil wash, rolled around a peppery potato and onion filling, then coiled and baked until shatteringly crisp outside and soft within. Serve it warm with tea or ayran. Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely before rolling; warm potato steams the pastry from inside and makes it soggy.

80 minTurkishSnacks & Starters
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AçmaSoft buttery breakfast rings

Every simit seller's glass cart in Istanbul has a softer cousin stacked beside the sesame rings: açma, a pillowy, slightly sweet ring of enriched dough that commuters tear apart on the ferry with a glass of tea and a wedge of white cheese. The crumb is close to brioche but lighter, with a shiny golden crust and black nigella seeds on top. Plain ones are best warm; some bakers fold olives or cheese into them. Chef's tip: rest the rolled ropes for ten minutes before shaping, so the gluten relaxes and the rings keep their shape instead of shrinking back.

52 minTurkishBreads & Parathas
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Biscuits roses de ReimsPink dipping biscuits

Bakers in Reims created these pale-pink, sugar-dusted finger biscuits in the late 1600s, baking the dough twice so it would keep, and they are still the city's signature treat. In Champagne it is the custom to dip them into a glass of Champagne, which they soak up without falling apart; at home they are just as good dipped in tea, hot chocolate or a fruit coulis, or layered into a charlotte. The pink colour is from a little food colouring and the vanilla scent fills the kitchen. Chef's tip: dust the piped fingers with icing sugar twice, a few minutes apart; that gives them their fine, crackled crust.

60 minFrenchBaking
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Karadeniz mısır ekmeğiGolden cornbread

Along the Black Sea coast from Samsun to Artvin, cornbread was the everyday loaf long before wheat bread was common, and it still sits beside bowls of collard soup and plates of fried anchovies. This version is the simple household one: fine cornmeal scalded with hot water and milk, a little wheat flour and egg for lift, baked in a well-oiled pan until the crust cracks and the inside stays moist and slightly sweet. Cut it into wedges and eat it warm with butter, cheese or crumbled into soup. Common mistake: using cold water, which leaves the cornmeal gritty; scalding it first softens the grains. Chef's tip: heat the oiled pan in the oven before the batter goes in, so the base sizzles and forms a crisp, shiny crust.

50 minTurkishBreads & Parathas
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Bolos lêvedosSweet griddle muffins

In the steamy valley of Furnas, on São Miguel, bakers have been cooking these slightly sweet, lemon-scented muffins on flat griddles for generations, and visitors queue for them warm on the way to the hot springs. Thick, soft and pale with golden tops and bottoms, they are split and toasted for breakfast with butter, or used as buns for a sandwich. Chef's tip: the dough is very soft and sticky, so use oiled hands rather than more flour when shaping, or they turn dense.

70 minPortugueseBreakfast & Brunch
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Broas de melSpiced molasses biscuits

Alongside bolo de mel, every Madeiran Christmas table has a tin of broas de mel: small, round, dark biscuits made with the same sugarcane molasses and spices, crisp at the edge and slightly chewy inside. Children are given them when they go door to door on the Missas do Parto mornings before Christmas, and they are good dunked in coffee or tea. Chef's tip: chill the dough for half an hour before shaping; molasses dough is sticky when warm.

40 minPortugueseBaking
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AlegríasAmaranth and honey bars

Amaranth has been grown on the chinampa gardens of Xochimilco and Tulyehualco, in the south of Mexico City, since Aztec times, and each February Tulyehualco holds a fair in its honour. Its tiny seeds are popped on a hot comal and bound with honey or piloncillo syrup into alegrías ('joys'), crunchy, light bars sold at bus stops, school gates and church doors and studded with pumpkin seeds, peanuts or raisins. They are naturally gluten free and full of protein for a sweet. Chef's tip: use bought puffed amaranth; popping it yourself works but takes patience and a lidded pan, as the seeds jump everywhere.

30 minMexicanSnacks & StartersGluten free
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PanelletsPine nut marzipan sweets

For the Castanyada on 31 October and All Saints' Day, Catalan families roast chestnuts, eat sweet potatoes and make panellets: little balls of almond marzipan, bound with a spoonful of cooked potato, then rolled in pine nuts, glazed with egg and baked until golden. The pine-nut ones are the classic, and children often help roll them. They are eaten with a glass of sweet wine or a cup of coffee. Chef's tip: wet the marzipan balls lightly with egg white before rolling; it is the glue that holds the pine nuts on.

57 minSpanishDessertsGluten free
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Nebraska runzasBeef and cabbage bread pockets

Runzas came to Nebraska with Volga German settlers, who called them bierocks, and today they are the state's fast food, packed for Cornhusker football games and long drives across the plains. A soft, slightly sweet bread dough is wrapped around a peppery filling of beef mince, onion and cabbage and baked into a rectangular pocket. Chef's tip: let the filling cool and drain it in a sieve before filling; hot, wet filling makes the dough soggy and tear.

70 minAmericanMeat
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Frittata di maccheroniPasta frittata

Neapolitans turn yesterday's spaghetti into frittata di maccheroni, a thick, golden pasta cake bound with egg and lots of grated cheese, with pockets of melting provola inside. It travels everywhere: cut into wedges for the beach at Mergellina, packed for the Easter Monday picnic (Pasquetta) or eaten cold from the fridge. The outside is crisp, the middle soft and cheesy. Most families add cubes of salami; this version leaves them out and uses smoked provola for a savoury depth. Chef's tip: use a plate the size of the pan to flip it, and slide it back in confidently in one move.

35 minItalianSnacks & Starters
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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 minScandinavianBreads & Parathas
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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 minCanadianMeatGluten free
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FatayaFried beef turnovers

Fataya are the half-moon pastries sold in paper cones outside schools and at bus stops all over Dakar, and fried by the dozen at home for baptisms and Tabaski. The dough is soft and short, the filling is minced beef cooked with onion, garlic and a little chilli, and they come with a sharp onion-and-mustard sauce for dipping. The common mistake is overfilling, which makes them burst in the oil; a heaped teaspoon per small round is enough. Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely before you fill the dough, or the steam softens the pastry and it tears.

85 minSenegaleseSnacks & Starters
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Aussie meat pie

Half-time at the MCG, a country-town bakery at 7 am, a servo on a long drive: the meat pie is Australia's everyday hand-held meal, eaten straight from its paper bag with a squirt of tomato sauce. A sturdy shortcrust base holds minced beef in thick, peppery gravy, and a flaky puff pastry lid shatters on the first bite. Making them at home takes a little time, but the filling can be cooked a day ahead. The mistake behind a soggy base is filling the pastry with hot mince; let the filling cool completely in the fridge first. Chef's tip: cook the filling until it is thicker than you think it needs to be; a loose gravy boils over and leaks through the base.

120 minAustralianBaking
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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 minRussianPasta & Noodles
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Boulets liégeoisMeatballs in sweet-sour fruit sauce

Liège is famous for its boulets: big, tennis-ball-sized meatballs served in a dark, sticky sauce made with sirop de Liège, the region's thick apple-and-pear syrup, with onions and a little vinegar. They are a brasserie staple across Wallonia, eaten with a mountain of chips and a side of salad, and families make them for Sunday lunch. The mix is half pork, half beef, so this is a pork dish. Rushing the onions is the step most people get wrong: they need a good 20 minutes to turn sweet before the sauce comes together. Chef's tip: if you cannot find sirop de Liège, use 3 tablespoons of apple butter or date syrup with 1 tablespoon of black treacle for the same dark, fruity tang.

75 minBelgianMeat
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ThiakryMillet couscous with sweet yogurt

Thiakry, called dégué in Mali and Burkina Faso, is the creamy dessert of Senegalese weddings, naming ceremonies and Tabaski: pellets of steamed millet stirred into sweetened yoghurt and soft fromage frais, scented with vanilla and nutmeg and served cold. Ready-made millet granules (arraw or sankhal) are sold in African grocers, which makes it a 15-minute job. Raisins and a little coconut are common in Dakar. Chef's tip: steam or soak the millet fully before it meets the yoghurt; undercooked grains stay hard and gritty in the cold.

25 minSenegaleseDesserts
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Chin chinCrunchy fried dough bites

Every December, Nigerian kitchens turn into small factories of chin chin, crunchy little cubes of sweet fried dough packed into big plastic tubs for Christmas visitors, weddings and the long drive back to the village. The dough is enriched with butter, egg and evaporated milk and scented with nutmeg; cut small and fried, it shatters with a satisfying crunch. It keeps for weeks, so families make kilos at a time. Chef's tip: roll the dough evenly thin, about 5 mm, so every piece fries through to a crisp centre at the same time.

50 minNigerianSnacks & Starters
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SalteñasJuicy baked beef pastries

Salteñas are the pastries all of La Paz queues for between 10 and noon, when they come out of the oven: a slightly sweet, golden crust wrapped round a soupy filling of beef, potato, peas, olive and egg in a gelatine-set broth seasoned with cumin and ají. The trick, and the fun, is to bite off the top and sip the juice without spilling. The mistake is filling the pastry with warm stew: the filling must be chilled overnight until it sets firm, or it leaks. Chef's tip: hold a salteña upright, nibble off one corner and drink the juice before eating the rest.

90 minAndeanSnacks & Starters
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Shepherd's pie

Shepherd's pie comes from the sheep-farming hill country of northern England and Scotland, where Monday's pie once used up Sunday's roast lamb; with minced beef the same dish is called cottage pie. Minced lamb simmers with onion, carrot, a little tomato and Worcestershire sauce into a deep gravy, then hides under a thick layer of buttery mash that browns in the oven. A family supper all over Britain, it is served with peas or buttered cabbage. Chef's tip: rough up the top of the mash with a fork; the ridges catch the heat and turn crunchy.

100 minBritishMeat
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BitterballenCrisp beef ragout balls

Order a round of drinks in an Amsterdam brown café and a plate of bitterballen will follow: small crumbed balls with a crackling shell and a molten centre of beef ragout, eaten with a dab of sharp mustard. They are the classic borrel snack across the Netherlands, served at parties and receptions as well as in bars. The filling is a thick roux sauce with slow-cooked shredded beef that has to set firm in the fridge before it can be rolled. The usual failure is a filling that is too soft, so the balls split open in the oil; cook the ragout until it is very thick and chill it for at least four hours. Chef's tip: crumb them twice (egg, crumbs, egg, crumbs) and freeze them for 20 minutes before frying for a shell that never bursts.

180 minDutchSnacks & Starters
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FrikadellerPork and veal patties

Frikadeller are the everyday comfort food of Denmark, fried up for Monday suppers in Copenhagen, packed cold on rye bread for lunch and served at nearly every children's birthday. The mix is mostly pork, with some veal, so this is a pork dish, loosened with milk and bound with egg and a spoonful of flour to make soft, flattened ovals with a crisp brown crust. Danes eat them hot with boiled potatoes, brown gravy and sweet-sour pickled red cabbage, or cold the next day with pickled beetroot. Where people go wrong is frying them on too high a heat; the outside burns before the middle is cooked. Chef's tip: let the mixture rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before shaping; it firms up and the patties keep a neat shape in the pan.

40 minScandinavianMeat
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Tibetan tingmoSteamed twisted buns

Tingmo are the everyday bread of Tibet: plain steamed buns made by stretching and twisting oiled strips of dough into a knot, so they open into soft, pull-apart layers. Families in Lhasa and Tibetan communities in Nepal and India eat them with spicy vegetable stews, dal and chilli sauce, tearing off pieces to mop up the sauce. The dough is simple; the twist takes a little practice. Chef's tip: once the steaming time is up, turn off the heat and wait 3 minutes before lifting the lid, so the buns don't collapse.

85 minChineseBreads & ParathasVegan
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Swedish meatballsMeatballs with cream gravy

In Sweden köttbullar turn up everywhere from Stockholm school canteens to the Christmas julbord, and most families keep a bag of homemade ones in the freezer for busy weeknights. These are small, soft and lightly spiced with allspice, made from a mix of beef and pork, so this recipe contains pork. They come to the table in a pale, peppery cream gravy with buttery mashed potato, sharp lingonberry jam and quick pressed cucumber. The usual slip is rolling them too big and packing them tight: they should be the size of a walnut and shaped with wet hands, never squeezed. Chef's tip: soak the breadcrumbs in milk for a full five minutes before mixing in the meat; that panade is what keeps them tender.

65 minScandinavianMeat
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Cincinnati chili

Cincinnati, Ohio has hundreds of 'chili parlors', a tradition started by Greek-Macedonian immigrants in the 1920s, and their chili is nothing like the Texan kind. Minced beef is simmered (not browned) in water with tomato and a warm spice mix of cinnamon, allspice, clove, cumin and a little cocoa until it becomes a fine, thin sauce. It is ladled over spaghetti and buried in finely grated cheddar: a 'three-way'. Add onions for a four-way, beans for a five-way. Chef's tip: break the raw mince up in cold water before heating; that gives the signature smooth texture.

135 minAmericanPasta & Noodles
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Nigerian meat pie

No Nigerian party, from a Lagos wedding to a child's birthday in Abuja, is complete without a tray of meat pies. Rich, crumbly short pastry is folded around a filling of minced beef, diced potato and carrot cooked with thyme and curry powder, crimped with a fork and baked golden. They are just as popular as a bakery snack with a cold drink. A common mistake is filling the pastry with hot or runny filling, which melts the butter and makes soggy pies; cool it and thicken it first. Chef's tip: keep the dough cold, and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling so the pies stay short and flaky.

90 minNigerianBaking
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Empanadas salteñasBaked beef empanadas

In Salta, in Argentina's far northwest, empanadas are small, sealed with a tight twisted edge (the repulgue) and so juicy that locals eat them leaning forward with their feet apart. The filling is hand-cut beef with potato, spring onion, cumin and paprika, plus chopped hard-boiled egg; they are eaten at Sunday gatherings, at peñas with folk music and on any public holiday. The mistake that ruins them is filling them while the beef is still warm: the fat melts the pastry. Chill the filling until it is firm. Chef's tip: add a few spoonfuls of the cooking juices to the cold filling; they set to a jelly in the fridge and melt in the oven, which is where the famous juiciness comes from.

105 minArgentinianSnacks & Starters
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Milanesa de carneBreaded beef cutlet

If there is one dinner every Argentine child grows up on, it is milanesa: beef pounded very thin, dipped in garlicky egg, coated in breadcrumbs and fried until golden. It came with Italian immigrants to Buenos Aires and Rosario, and today it is eaten on weekday nights with mashed potato or chips, cold in sandwiches the next day (milanesa al pan), and on long car trips. Lemon wedges are a must. The mistake most people make is leaving the beef too thick; it should be about 5 mm, so it cooks through by the time the crumb is golden. Chef's tip: bread the milanesas, lay them on a tray and chill them for 30 minutes before frying, so the coating sticks firmly and doesn't fall off in the pan.

40 minArgentinianMeat
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Bacalhau com natasSalt cod baked with cream

Bacalhau com natas is the comfort bake that turns up at Portuguese Christmas gatherings, Sunday lunches and every café menu from Porto to Faro. Flaked salt cod, soft onion and cubes of fried potato are folded into a light béchamel enriched with cream, then baked until bubbling and golden on top. It is rich, gently salty and easy to make ahead for a crowd. Serve with a crisp green salad and some bread. Chef's tip: fry the potato cubes only until pale gold; they finish cooking in the oven, and crisp ones turn soggy anyway.

90 minPortugueseFish
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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 minFilipinoRice & GrainsGluten free
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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 minFilipinoMeatGluten free
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Lumpiang shanghaiPork spring rolls

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

65 minFilipinoSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sri Lankan fish cutlets

No Sri Lankan party table, from Colombo office leaving-dos to village weddings, is complete without a tray of fish cutlets. These are small, round balls of tinned or fresh tuna mashed with potato, onion, green chilli and black pepper, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried until crisp. They're also a go-to teatime short eat, eaten with a cup of plain tea or tucked into a lunch box. Serve them with chilli sauce or a squeeze of lime. Chef's tip: fry the onion and spices with the fish before mixing in the potato; it dries the filling and makes the cutlets far tastier than mixing everything raw.

65 minSri LankanSnacks & Starters
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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 minGreekPasta & Noodles
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