No onion, no garlic recipes (Swaminarayan and sattvic)

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Sakura mochiCherry leaf rice cakes

When the cherry trees bloom in late March, every wagashi shop in Japan fills its window with sakura mochi. In the Kansai region around Osaka and Kyoto they are made from coarse dōmyōji-ko, steamed and crushed glutinous rice, tinted soft pink and wrapped around bean paste, then tucked into a salted cherry leaf that perfumes it with an almond-like, floral scent; Tokyo's version is a thin pink crêpe instead. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is not soaking the salted leaves, so the mochi tastes too salty; rinse and soak them for 15 minutes. Chef's tip: the leaf is edible, and eating it with the mochi gives the sweet-salty balance the dish is famous for.

50 min

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Mostarda di CremonaCandied fruit in mustard syrup

Mostarda di Cremona is a jar of jewel-like whole fruits, pears, cherries, figs, clementines and apricots, candied slowly in sugar syrup and then spiked with mustard oil so that each sweet mouthful ends with a sharp, nose-tingling heat. In Cremona and across Lombardy it is served at Christmas with bollito misto (boiled meats) and with cheese, and it fills the tortelli of Cremona and Mantua. Pure mustard essence is hard to buy, so this home version uses strong mustard powder. Chef's tip: candy the fruit over three days, bringing the syrup to the boil each day; slow candying keeps the fruit whole and glossy.

90 min

Italian Chutneys & Dips

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OshirukoSweet red bean soup

On snowy days in northern and eastern Japan, and especially after kagami-biraki on 11 January, when the New Year offering of mochi is broken up, families warm up with a bowl of oshiruko: azuki beans simmered into a sweet, thick soup with a puffed, toasted rice cake bobbing in it. In Kansai a chunky version is called zenzai. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is adding all the sugar at the start, which stops the beans softening; sweeten only once they are tender. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt at the end makes the sweetness taste rounder and the bean flavour deeper.

95 min

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Dotorimuk muchimAcorn jelly salad

Dotorimuk is a jelly made from acorn starch, gathered in Korea's oak-covered mountains, and dotorimuk muchim is the salad hikers eat at the little restaurants at the foot of Bukhansan and Gwanaksan after a weekend climb. Wobbly, nutty-bitter cubes of jelly are tossed gently with lettuce, cucumber, carrot and a soy, chilli and sesame dressing. Temple cooks make it exactly like this, without garlic or onion. The common mistake is tossing it hard like a green salad: the jelly breaks into crumbs, so fold it with your fingertips. Chef's tip: if the jelly has firmed up in the fridge, blanch the block in boiling water for 30 seconds and cool it; it turns soft and bouncy again.

20 min

Korean Salads

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KkultteokHoney-filled rice cakes

Kkultteok, 'honey rice cake', are the bite-sized coloured balls lined up in the windows of Korean tteok shops and on every Chuseok and birthday tray; bite one and a sweet, runny syrup of brown sugar and sesame bursts out. Despite the name, the filling is usually sugar, which melts into a honey-like syrup as the dumplings cook. The cakes are boiled, cooled in water and glossed with sesame oil. The common mistake is using too much filling or a thin dough, so the balls burst in the pot; keep the wall about 5 mm thick and seal well. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. The filling is very hot straight from the pot, so let them cool before giving them to children. Chef's tip: let the boiled balls sit 1 minute in ice water; the shell firms up and the syrup inside turns fully liquid.

50 min

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KakigoriShaved ice

Kakigori is Japan's great summer cooler, sold under a flag printed with the character 氷 (ice) at festival stalls and seaside huts and turned into an art in Tokyo dessert cafés, where queues form in July and August. Ice is shaved into soft, snow-like flakes that melt on the tongue, then soaked in fruit syrup, matcha syrup or sweetened condensed milk. Contains dairy if you use condensed milk. The common mistake is using ice straight from the freezer: very cold ice shatters into crunchy shards, so let the block soften for 10 minutes first. Chef's tip: build it in two layers, pouring syrup over the half-full bowl and then again on top, so it is flavoured all the way through.

15 min

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Pizza diavolaSpicy salami pizza

Diavola, the "devil's" pizza, is what most Italians order when they want heat: tomato and mozzarella topped with slices of spicy salami from Calabria or Naples, which curl into small cups in the oven and fill with red, chilli-laced oil. It is a pizzeria staple across the country and a Friday-night favourite. The salami is a cured pork sausage. Chef's tip: add the salami after the pizza has baked for half the time; it crisps at the edges without burning.

30 min

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SujeonggwaCinnamon persimmon punch

After a big Seollal feast in Seoul, sujeonggwa comes out ice-cold in small bowls, dark red-brown and fragrant with cinnamon and ginger, with a soft dried persimmon and a few pine nuts floating in each one. It is the punch of the New Year season, made a day or two ahead and kept on a cold balcony. The cinnamon and ginger are boiled separately and then combined, which keeps each flavour clean. The common mistake is boiling the cinnamon too long or too hard: it turns bitter and cloudy, so keep it to a gentle simmer. Contains pine nuts. Chef's tip: soak the dried persimmons in the cooled punch only a few hours before serving, so they soften without falling apart.

60 min

Korean Drinks

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SongpyeonStuffed rice cakes

On the eve of Chuseok, the harvest moon festival, families all over Korea sit around one table pinching songpyeon, and the old saying goes that whoever shapes the prettiest ones will have pretty children. The chewy rice-flour shells are filled with crunchy toasted sesame and sugar that melts into a syrup as they steam, and the batch is laid on fresh pine needles so the cakes pick up a faint forest scent. They go to the ancestral table first, then out to everyone with a cup of tea. The common mistake is a dough that is too dry: it cracks while you shape it and splits in the steamer, so it should feel as soft as an earlobe. Rice cakes are dense and sticky, so cut them small for young children and older people and make sure they eat sitting down: they are a known choking risk. Chef's tip: brush the steamed cakes with sesame oil while they are still hot; it stops them sticking together and gives that glossy finish you see at the market.

85 min

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MostaccioliSpiced chocolate biscuits

Neapolitan Christmas trays always include mostaccioli: soft, spiced biscuits shaped like diamonds and covered in a shiny coat of dark chocolate. The dough is flavoured with honey, cocoa, orange and pisto, a Neapolitan spice mix of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, star anise and coriander. They are made in early December with roccocò and struffoli and kept in tins for the whole holiday. Not for babies under 1 because of the honey. Chef's tip: let the biscuits rest a day before coating; spiced honey biscuits soften and their flavour deepens after a night in the tin.

50 min

Italian Baking

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Zuccotto fiorentinoChilled sponge dome with cream

Zuccotto is said to have been inspired by the dome of Florence Cathedral, or by the shape of a cardinal's skullcap (zucchetto). It is a dome of sponge or savoiardi soaked in syrup, filled with whipped cream studded with chocolate, toasted nuts and candied fruit, half of it flavoured with cocoa, and chilled until set. Florentine families make it for summer Sunday lunch or a birthday. The traditional soak uses alchermes or brandy; this version uses an orange syrup so it is alcohol free. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: line the bowl with cling film first and leave the sponge to set overnight; it turns out cleanly with a neat dome.

45 min

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Su-renkonPickled lotus root

Lotus root is full of holes you can see straight through, so in Japan it stands for a clear view of the year ahead, and these crunchy, snow-white slices of sweet-vinegared lotus are a fixture of osechi boxes on New Year's Day. Often cut into flower shapes, they taste bright and lightly sweet with a satisfying crispness. The common mistake is boiling the slices for too long: more than 2 minutes and they turn starchy instead of crunchy. Chef's tip: add a splash of vinegar to the boiling water as well as to the pickle, which keeps the lotus root brilliantly white.

20 min

Japanese Sides

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KurikintonSweet potato and chestnut mash

Kurikinton means 'chestnut golden mound', and its bright yellow colour is meant to look like piled gold, which is why it sits in the osechi box at New Year as a wish for wealth. Smooth, sweet mashed sweet potato is folded around whole candied chestnuts, giving a dessert-like side that children love. The traditional yellow comes from dried gardenia pods cooked with the potato. The common mistake is mashing the potatoes without sieving them, which leaves fibres; pushing them through a sieve while hot gives the silky, glossy finish. Chef's tip: peel the sweet potatoes thickly, cutting away the layer just under the skin, as that is where the grey colour and stringiness sit.

45 min

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YaksikSweet rice with chestnuts

Yaksik began as a dish for Daeboreum, the first full moon of the lunar year, and is now a standard of Chuseok and Seollal tables and of birthday gifts, cut into neat squares and wrapped in cling film. Glutinous rice is steamed, tossed with dark sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and cinnamon, then steamed a second time with chestnuts, jujubes and pine nuts until it turns a deep caramel brown and holds together like a soft, chewy cake. The usual mistake is skipping the soak: unsoaked rice stays hard in the centre however long you steam it. Contains soy, sesame and pine nuts. Rice cakes are dense and sticky, so cut them small for young children and older people and make sure they eat sitting down: they are a known choking risk. Chef's tip: caramelise a spoonful of the sugar in a dry pan before adding it; that dark caramel gives the traditional colour without needing extra soy sauce.

95 min

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Bresaola, rucola e granaCured beef with rocket and cheese

Bresaola is beef cured with salt and spices and air-dried in the cool mountain valleys of the Valtellina, near Sondrio in Lombardy. Locals serve it as a light lunch or an antipasto before pizzoccheri: thin dark-red slices dressed with lemon and olive oil, topped with peppery rocket and flakes of Grana Padano. It takes five minutes and needs nothing else but bread. Chef's tip: dress the bresaola with lemon 5 minutes before serving; the acid softens the edges of the slices and brings out the meat's sweetness, but much longer and it turns grey.

10 min

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YokanRed bean jelly

Yōkan is one of Japan's oldest sweets, brought by Zen monks and refined in Edo-period Tokyo into dense, dark blocks that were carried by samurai and are still given as gifts in long wooden boxes. Red bean paste, sugar and agar are cooked down until thick and set into a smooth, firm jelly that slices cleanly, served in thin pieces with bitter green tea. The common mistake is undercooking the agar: it must boil for two full minutes or the yōkan won't set firmly. Chef's tip: cook the paste until a trail drawn across the bottom of the pan holds for a second before closing, which gives the classic firm, glossy neri yōkan.

25 min

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Umeboshi (salted dried ume plums)Salted pickled plums

In the ume orchards of Minabe, in Wakayama's old Kishu province, families salt the June harvest of ripe yellow ume in crocks and then spread them on bamboo mats under the hottest days of late July, the doyo-boshi, before the plums go back into their brine. The result is wrinkled, intensely salty-sour fruit, the classic filling for onigiri and the red sun in the middle of a lunchbox of rice. This is a once-a-year project spread over about two months; the active work is about two hours. Do not cut the salt: below about 15 % of the fruit's weight the plums go mouldy, which is the most common failure at home. Chef's tip: use only fully ripe, yellow, fragrant ume; hard green ones turn tough and bitter.

120 min

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Gari (pickled sushi ginger)

Sushi counters from Tokyo's Tsukiji outer market to neighbourhood conveyor-belt bars set a heap of gari by every plate, a palate-cleanser eaten between pieces of fish. The best is made in early summer, when young ginger with thin, pink-tipped skin appears in Japanese and Asian greengrocers; its blush turns the pickle naturally pale pink in the vinegar, with no colouring. It takes 20 minutes and keeps for months. The usual mistake is slicing too thick: gari should be almost see-through, so use a mandoline or vegetable peeler. Chef's tip: blanch the slices for just 30 seconds; any longer and the ginger loses its crunch.

20 min

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Ichigo daifukuStrawberry mochi

Ichigo daifuku appeared in Tokyo sweet shops in the 1980s and quickly became the treat everyone queues for from January to April, when Japanese strawberries are at their best. A whole berry is wrapped in smooth sweet bean paste, then in a thin skin of soft, stretchy mochi, so you get juicy fruit, earthy sweetness and a pillowy chew in one bite. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is wrapping a damp strawberry, which makes the bean paste slide and the mochi split; dry the berries completely. Chef's tip: microwave the mochi dough in short bursts and stir hard between them, until it turns translucent and elastic, rather than in one long blast.

36 min

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Kashiwa mochiOak leaf rice cakes

On 5 May, Children's Day, families in Tokyo and across eastern Japan eat kashiwa mochi: soft, flat rice cakes folded over sweet bean paste and wrapped in an oak leaf. Oak trees keep their old leaves until new ones bud, so the leaf stands for a family line carrying on. The leaf isn't eaten; it adds a faint woody scent and keeps the mochi moist. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is steaming the dough too briefly, which leaves it pasty; steam until it turns slightly translucent, then knead. Chef's tip: dried oak leaves from Japanese grocers need a 10-minute simmer and a rinse before use; if you can't find them, wrap in cherry or bamboo leaves or baking paper.

55 min

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Gelato al pistacchioPistachio gelato

Real Sicilian pistachio gelato is not bright green; it is a dull, olive-brown colour and tastes intensely of roasted nuts, especially when made with pistachios from Bronte on the slopes of Mount Etna. In Palermo and Catania it is eaten in a brioche for breakfast or as a cone after dinner. The secret is pure pistachio paste, with no added colour or flavourings. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: if you can't find pistachio paste, blend roasted pistachios with a spoon of oil for 5 minutes until it runs smooth; any graininess shows up in the gelato.

30 min

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SikhyeSweet rice punch

Every Korean jjimjilbang (bathhouse) sells sikhye in little cans, and every grandmother makes a big pot of it before Seollal and Chuseok to sip after the heavy holiday meal, because it is believed to help digestion. Barley malt water and cooked rice are kept warm for several hours until enzymes turn the rice starch into sugar and the grains float up to the top, then the drink is boiled with ginger and chilled until icy. It is mild, lightly sweet and nutty, with soft rice grains to slurp. The usual mistake is letting it get too hot while it ferments: above about 65 °C the enzymes stop working and the grains never float. Contains barley (gluten). Chef's tip: use the rice cooker's 'keep warm' setting; it holds the perfect temperature on its own.

320 min

Korean Drinks

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Pizza ai quattro formaggiFour-cheese pizza

Four-cheese pizza is a pizzeria classic from Milan to Palermo, a pizza bianca (no tomato) where each cheese does a different job: mozzarella for stretch, gorgonzola for a blue tang, fontina from the Aosta Valley for creaminess and Parmigiano for a salty crust. It is the order for winter evenings, often with a drizzle of honey or a few walnuts on top. Most of these cheeses are made with animal rennet; choose vegetarian versions of each if you need to. Chef's tip: cut the cheeses into small cubes rather than slices and scatter them unevenly; they melt at different speeds and give pockets of flavour.

30 min

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AnmitsuAgar jelly with red bean

Anmitsu became a craze in Tokyo's Ginza and Asakusa tea rooms in the 1930s and is still the classic summer order in kanmidokoro, the sweet cafés of old Tokyo. Clear, firm cubes of agar jelly are piled into a bowl with seasonal fruit, a scoop of sweet bean paste and boiled red peas, then drenched in dark, smoky kuromitsu syrup. The common mistake is using gelatin, which melts; agar jelly stays firm and refreshing at room temperature. Chef's tip: make the kuromitsu with Okinawan kokuto black sugar if you can; it gives a deep, almost liquorice-like flavour that muscovado only gets close to.

30 min

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Tataki goboSesame burdock salad

In Kansai homes around Osaka and Kyoto, osechi always includes tataki gobo: burdock root boiled, then beaten with a rolling pin so it splits open, and dressed in a thick ground-sesame vinegar. The long, deep-rooted burdock stands for a family that is settled and lasting. The pounding gives rough, fibrous edges that soak up the nutty, tangy dressing, so each bite is earthy, sweet and sharp. The common mistake is overcooking the burdock until soft; it should still be pleasantly firm before you pound it. Chef's tip: dress the burdock while it is still warm, when the fibres open up and drink in the sesame vinegar.

25 min

Japanese Sides

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Mitarashi dangoSoy-glazed rice dumplings

Mitarashi dango are said to come from Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto, where they were sold at the midsummer purification festival; today they are the snack of shrine fairs, flower-viewing picnics and station kiosks all over Japan. Chewy little rice-flour balls are threaded on skewers, toasted until speckled, and coated in a translucent, sweet-salty soy glaze that tastes a little like caramel. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is a runny glaze: it must simmer until it turns clear and thick, or it slides off. Chef's tip: mix silken tofu into the rice flour instead of some of the water; the dumplings stay soft for hours instead of hardening as they cool.

30 min

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Pinsa romanaOval Roman flatbread

Pinsa is a modern Roman creation inspired by the flatbreads of ancient Rome: an oval base made from a mix of wheat, rice and soy flour (or in this home version, wheat and rice), with a lot of water and a long rest in the fridge. The result is crisp outside, light as a cloud inside and easy to digest. Pinserie in Rome top it with everything from buffalo mozzarella to courgette flowers; this version uses cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Mozzarella is usually made with calf rennet; vegetarian versions are easy to find. Chef's tip: shape the pinsa by pressing with your fingertips on a floured board, never stretching it; you want to keep all the bubbles.

55 min

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Fave e pecorinoRaw broad beans with pecorino

On 1 May, Romans head out to the parks and the Castelli Romani hills with a sack of fresh broad beans still in their pods and a hunk of young Pecorino Romano, and spend the afternoon shelling, nibbling and talking. The pairing is simple and very Roman: sweet, grassy raw beans against salty, sharp cheese, often with a glass of something cold and a hunk of bread. Only the youngest, smallest beans work raw, so this is a dish for a few weeks of spring. Traditional pecorino uses animal rennet; choose a vegetarian sheep's cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: taste a bean before you buy; if it is starchy or bitter rather than sweet, braise those beans instead.

10 min

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PinzimonioRaw vegetables with olive oil

In Tuscany pinzimonio comes out in November, when the frantoi (olive mills) press the new oil and families want something that shows off its peppery green bite. A jug of raw, cold vegetables is set in the middle of the table and everyone dips into their own little bowl of oil seasoned with salt and pepper, usually before a plate of pasta or alongside bruschetta at the mill. Crunch matters more than anything: fennel, celery hearts, radishes, carrots, young artichokes and red peppers, all very fresh. Chef's tip: keep the cut vegetables in a bowl of iced water for 15 minutes before serving; they turn crisper and look glossy without any dressing.

15 min

Italian Salads

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Riso al saltoCrisp fried saffron risotto cake

In Milan, nobody throws away risotto alla milanese. The next day it is pressed into a hot buttered pan and fried until it forms a thin, crackling golden disc, flipped "al salto" (with a jump) like a pancake. Old Milanese trattorie near the Brera district served it late at night after the theatre, and it is still a favourite way to use up saffron risotto. The cheese in the leftover risotto is usually made with animal rennet. Chef's tip: use cold risotto straight from the fridge and press it thin; warm or thick risotto won't crisp and falls apart when you flip it.

20 min

Italian Rice & Grains

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DalgonaHoneycomb toffee

Dalgona, or ppopgi, was the 1970s and 80s snack of Seoul alleyways, where an old man with a little stove melted sugar in a ladle and stamped a star or umbrella into it; if you could break the shape out without cracking it you won a free one. It is just sugar and a pinch of baking soda, puffed into a crisp, toffee-brown honeycomb that tastes faintly bitter-sweet. The common mistake is adding too much baking soda, which leaves the candy bitter and soapy; a tiny pinch on the tip of a chopstick is all it needs. Melted sugar reaches about 160 °C and burns badly, so children should watch while an adult does the melting, and should only press shapes once the candy has set a little. Chef's tip: use a stainless-steel ladle or small pan, not non-stick, and keep the flame low; the moment the sugar is clear and amber, take it off.

7 min

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Pizza a portafoglioFolded street pizza

In the narrow streets of Naples's historic centre, pizzerie sell a small margherita folded in four like a wallet, wrapped in paper and eaten while walking, for a couple of euros. It is the city's original fast food and still a lunch for students and workers around Via dei Tribunali and the Spanish Quarter. The pizza is small and soft so it folds without cracking. Mozzarella is usually made with calf rennet; vegetarian versions are easy to find. Chef's tip: take the pizza out while the crust is still soft and a little pale; a crisp pizza snaps when you fold it.

28 min

Italian Fast Food

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KuromameSweet black soybeans

No osechi box, the lacquered stack of cold dishes Japanese families share over the first three days of January, is complete without kuromame: plump black soybeans simmered so slowly in syrup that they stay whole, wrinkle-free and shining like jet. The word 'mame' also means hard work and good health, so eating them wishes for a diligent year. They are soft, sweet and gently savoury, with a deep bean flavour. The common mistake is letting the beans touch the air while cooking, which wrinkles their skins; keep them submerged under a drop-lid the whole time and top up with water. Chef's tip: soak the dry beans directly in the hot seasoned syrup overnight rather than in plain water, which seasons them from the inside and keeps the skins smooth.

250 min

Japanese Sides

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OhagiSweet red bean rice balls

Ohagi are made twice a year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes (higan), when Japanese families visit ancestors' graves and leave these rice balls as offerings; in spring they are called botamochi. Sticky rice is cooked and only half-pounded, so you can still see the grains, then shaped into ovals and coated in chunky red bean paste, roasted soybean flour (kinako) or black sesame. Mochi is very sticky: cut it into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. The common mistake is pounding the rice smooth like mochi; ohagi should keep a rustic, grainy texture. Chef's tip: wet your hands and squeeze out cling film between shaping, so the rice never sticks.

70 min

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Baci di damaHazelnut shortbread sandwiches

Baci di dama, "lady's kisses", were born in Tortona in Piedmont in the 1800s: two small domes of buttery hazelnut shortbread pressed together with dark chocolate, like two lips meeting in a kiss. They are sold in every pastry shop in Piedmont and eaten with coffee or as a gift at Christmas. The local Piedmont hazelnuts are some of the best in the world. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: weigh each ball of dough so they're all the same size; matching domes make neat kisses.

45 min

Italian Baking

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Polenta taragnaBuckwheat polenta with cheese

High in the Valtellina valley near Sondrio, where wheat struggles but buckwheat grows well, polenta is made grey-brown and nutty with a mix of buckwheat and cornmeal. Taragna gets its name from the tarell, the long wooden stick used to stir it in a copper pot over the fire. At the end, butter and cubes of the local Valtellina Casera or Bitto cheese are stirred in until they melt into strings. It is winter food for cold mountain evenings, eaten with mushrooms or sausages on the side. Local cheeses are usually made with animal rennet; a vegetarian melting cheese works. Chef's tip: stir the flour into the boiling water in a slow rain with a whisk; once it is all in, switch to a wooden spoon and keep stirring.

60 min

Italian Rice & Grains

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Passata di pomodoroBottled tomato purée

At the end of August, all over southern and central Italy, families gather for the "giornata della salsa", the day of the sauce: crates of ripe plum tomatoes are washed, cooked, passed through a hand-cranked mill and bottled in hundreds, with a basil leaf in each bottle. The passata lasts until the next summer and is used for every ragù and pizza. For home bottling, add lemon juice to each jar and process in a water bath, as tomatoes alone are not acidic enough to be safe at room temperature. Chef's tip: use only fully ripe, deep red plum tomatoes; underripe tomatoes give a pale, sour passata.

150 min

Italian Basics

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Carciofi alla giudiaCrisp fried artichokes

Carciofi alla giudia come from Rome's old Jewish Ghetto, where for centuries the restaurants along Via del Portico d'Ottavia have fried them from February to April, when the round Roman romanesco artichokes are in season. The artichokes are trimmed, fried once slowly until tender, then opened like flowers and fried again in hotter oil until the leaves are bronze and crunchy like crisps, while the heart stays soft. Chef's tip: before the second fry, flick a few drops of cold water into the oil from your fingers, standing well back; Roman cooks say the spatter is what makes the leaves extra crisp. Do this carefully.

55 min

Italian Sides

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Granita di gelsi neriBlack mulberry granita

In late June and July the black mulberry trees of Sicily, especially around Messina and Acireale, drop their dark, juicy fruit, and the bars turn them into a granita the colour of ink, sweet and tangy, served in a glass with a warm brioche. Mulberries stain everything, so locals eat it carefully. If you can't find black mulberries, blackberries make a very similar granita. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lemon; it brightens the berry flavour and keeps the colour vivid.

25 min

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Granita al caffè con pannaCoffee granita with cream

In Sicily, and in Rome at the famous Tazza d'Oro café near the Pantheon, coffee granita is served in a glass layered with unsweetened whipped cream: cream at the bottom, coffee ice in the middle and more cream on top. It is a summer breakfast or afternoon pick-me-up, eaten with a long spoon or a brioche. It contains caffeine, so it isn't for children. Chef's tip: make the coffee strong and sweet; flavours fade when frozen, so it should taste almost too sweet before it goes in the freezer.

15 min

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Gelato alla stracciatellaChocolate chip gelato

Stracciatella was invented in 1961 at the Gelateria La Marianna in Bergamo's upper town, inspired by stracciatella soup, where egg is stirred into broth in little rags (stracci). The gelato maker drizzled melted dark chocolate into churning fior di latte, where it froze instantly into thin, crisp shards. It became one of the best-loved flavours in Italy, a favourite with children. Chef's tip: drizzle the chocolate in a thin stream right at the end of churning; it must hit the cold gelato and set at once, or it forms hard lumps.

25 min

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Fiori di zucca ripieni frittiFried stuffed courgette flowers

Every Roman pizzeria a taglio and friggitoria has a tray of fiori di zucca in summer: courgette flowers stuffed with a stick of mozzarella, dipped in a thin cold batter and fried until they shatter. Romans usually tuck in an anchovy fillet, but this vegetarian version swaps it for a little lemon zest and a caper, which gives the same salty spark. They are eaten as an antipasto before pizza or as a snack standing at the counter. Mozzarella is usually made with calf rennet; vegetarian versions are easy to find. Chef's tip: make the batter with ice-cold sparkling water and leave a few lumps; a smooth, warm batter fries heavy and soft.

40 min

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Granita di mandorlaAlmond granita

On summer mornings in Catania, Messina and the towns around Mount Etna, Sicilians have granita for breakfast: a glass of soft, flaky ice made from almond milk and sugar, eaten with a warm brioche col tuppo (with a little bun on top) for dunking. The almond granita is the most traditional flavour, white, sweet and fragrant. It is made without a machine, just scraped with a fork as it freezes. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: stir the granita every 30 minutes without fail; that's what gives it the soft, creamy flakes instead of a solid block.

20 min

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GaraetteokLong cylinder rice cakes

Garaetteok are the long white rice-cake logs that Korean mills churn out before Seollal, when families queue with their own rice to have them pressed and then slice them into ovals for tteokguk, the New Year soup. The length is meant to wish for a long life. Freshly made, they are soft and chewy and eaten warm, dipped in honey or toasted over a grill; once they firm up they are sliced for soup or cut into sticks for tteokbokki. Making them at home is simple, though the logs come out a little less glossy than machine-pressed ones. The usual mistake is rolling the dough when it has cooled: it must be hot to stay smooth. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. Chef's tip: leave the logs to firm overnight before slicing on the diagonal; they cut cleanly instead of squashing.

45 min

Korean Basics

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Mujigae tteokRainbow rice cake

Mujigae tteok is the rice cake of children's birthdays and school picnics in Korea, with soft stripes of pink, yellow, green and white that stand for harmony and happiness; it is also a fixture on the doljanchi first-birthday table. Each layer is the same lightly sweet, fluffy steamed rice flour, coloured naturally. The common mistake is packing the layers down: press too hard and the cake turns dense and the colours bleed, so spread each layer and just level it with a scraper. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. Chef's tip: colour each portion of flour before sieving it, so the colour is even with no streaks.

70 min

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Pizza bianca romanaRoman olive oil flatbread

Walk past any Roman forno at eleven in the morning and you'll see pizza bianca coming out of the oven in planks a metre long: crisp on top, chewy and full of holes inside, brushed with olive oil and scattered with salt. Romans buy it by the slice for children's snacks after school, or split it open and fill it with mortadella or fresh figs in late summer. The dough is very wet and needs only folding, not kneading. Chef's tip: stretch the dough with oily fingertips straight onto the tray; dimpling it presses big bubbles into the dough that puff up in the oven.

50 min

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Takuan (pickled daikon)

Each autumn in the farmhouses of Miyazaki and Kanagawa, whole daikon are strung up under the eaves to dry in the wind before being packed into barrels of rice bran, and the bright yellow, crunchy slices that come out weeks later sit beside almost every bowl of rice in Japan. Homemade takuan is milder and sweeter than shop-bought, with a gentle ferment and no artificial colour; persimmon peel and a little turmeric give the golden tone. The active work is about two hours, but the radish needs 5–10 days of drying and 3–4 weeks in the bran. The common mistake is underdrying: the daikon must bend into a U without snapping, or it will turn watery and soft. Chef's tip: keep the tub somewhere cool (below 15 °C) and press it with a heavy weight, so the brine rises over the radishes within a few days.

120 min

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Pizza al taglioRoman tray pizza

In Rome, pizza al taglio is sold by weight from long rectangular trays, cut with scissors and folded in paper, the lunch of office workers and students across the city. The dough is very wet and rests in the fridge for a day or more, which gives a crust that is crunchy at the base and light and airy above. This recipe makes two classic toppings, potato and rosemary on one half and tomato and mozzarella on the other. Mozzarella is usually made with calf rennet; vegetarian versions are easy to find. Chef's tip: bake the base with just oil and tomato first and add the mozzarella for the last few minutes, so the cheese melts without burning.

70 min

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HwajeonFlower rice cake pancakes

In April, when the azaleas bloom on Korean hillsides, women in Joseon times climbed to picnic spots for hwajeonnori, the flower-cake party, frying little rice cakes with fresh petals pressed into them on the spot. Hwajeon are still made for spring festivals and Samjinnal, the third day of the third lunar month. The cakes are soft and chewy, barely crisp at the edges, and brushed with syrup. The common mistake is frying over too high a heat: the cakes should stay white with the flower bright, so keep the pan low and turn only once. Use only flowers you know are edible and unsprayed, such as pansies, violas or azalea (jindallae) petals; never ornamental shop flowers. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. Chef's tip: press the flower on after you flip the cake, so it warms through and sticks without browning.

40 min

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SirutteokRed bean steamed rice cake

Sirutteok, named after the earthenware siru steamer, is the rice cake Koreans make to bless a new home, open a shop or mark the autumn harvest at a village gosa ceremony; the red adzuki beans were believed to chase away bad luck, and a slice is often left at the door. Layers of fluffy rice flour are steamed between layers of coarse, salted red bean crumble, so every bite is soft, a little sweet and earthy. The common mistake is mashing the beans to paste: the crumble should stay dry and grainy or the layers turn soggy. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. Chef's tip: cook the beans until just tender, drain them, then dry them out in the pan over a low heat until the crumble falls apart.

120 min

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JeolpyeonStamped rice cakes

Jeolpyeon are the patterned rice cakes Korean tteok shops press with carved wooden stamps called tteoksal, so each piece carries a flower or a wish for long life; they appear at weddings, 60th birthdays and Dano, the early-summer festival, when they were made green with mugwort or Korean ox-eye daisy. The cakes are plain and only lightly salted, firm yet chewy, and glossy with sesame oil. The common mistake is pounding too little: the dough must be kneaded until completely smooth, or the stamp won't leave a clean pattern and the cakes crack. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. Chef's tip: no stamp? Press the base of a decorative glass or a clean biscuit mould into each piece.

50 min

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SciattBuckwheat cheese fritters

Sciatt means "toads" in the dialect of Valtellina, the Alpine valley near Sondrio, because of their lumpy shape. They are buckwheat batter fritters, each hiding a cube of Valtellina Casera cheese that melts as they fry, served on a bed of chicory salad. Mountain huts and village festivals serve them hot from the pan in autumn and winter. Local cheeses are usually made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian melting cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: make the batter with very cold sparkling water and a splash of grappa, as locals do; the bubbles and alcohol make a lighter, crispier crust. The alcohol mostly cooks off in the frying; leave it out for an alcohol-free version.

35 min

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BaekseolgiWhite steamed rice cake

Baekseolgi, 'white snow cake', is the plain steamed rice cake that Korean families share out on a baby's baek-il, the 100th day, and at the doljanchi first-birthday party, where its pure white colour stands for a clean, long life. Custom says it should go to a hundred neighbours. It has a fine, crumbly-soft, cake-like texture and a mild, milky rice sweetness, best eaten the day it is made with a cup of barley tea. The usual mistake is skipping the sieving: unsieved flour steams into a heavy, patchy cake, so push it through twice. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. Chef's tip: score the raw cake into portions before steaming; it cooks more evenly and you can lift pieces out cleanly.

55 min

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InjeolmiSoybean-coated rice cake

Injeolmi is the rice cake you meet everywhere in Korea, from the tteok shop by a Seoul subway exit to the trays handed round at weddings, Chuseok and housewarmings. Glutinous rice is steamed, pounded until it stretches like soft taffy, then cut into pillows and rolled in nutty, sweet roasted soybean powder. Bingsu cafés now pile it on shaved ice too. The common mistake is under-steaming the dough, which leaves powdery white specks that never turn chewy; keep cooking until it is evenly translucent. Rice cakes are chewy and sticky, a known choking risk: cut them into small pieces for young children and older people and eat them sitting down. Chef's tip: oil the knife and your hands, and cut the warm slab with a dough scraper pressed straight down rather than a sawing knife.

45 min

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PittuleFried dough balls

In the Salento, the heel of Puglia, pittule are fried on the night of 7 December, the eve of the Immaculate Conception, to open the Christmas season, and again on St Martin's Day in November when the new wine is tasted. The dough is so wet it can't be shaped; it is dropped from a spoon or a wet hand into hot olive oil, puffing into soft, irregular golden balls. Plain ones are dusted with sugar; savoury ones hide olives, capers or cherry tomatoes. Chef's tip: dip your hand or spoon in water before each scoop so the sticky dough slides off into the oil.

40 min

Korean Breakfast & Brunch

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Jat jukPine nut porridge

Jat juk is a pale, silky porridge of ground rice and pine nuts, once served to the royal household in Seoul and still made by Korean families for anyone recovering from illness, for elderly parents and as a gentle breakfast. Pine nuts from Gapyeong, Korea's pine nut capital, give it a rich, buttery taste with nothing more than salt. Pine nuts are a tree-nut allergen. The common mistake is adding the pine nut milk too early; its oil makes the rice starch thin out, so the porridge turns watery. Chef's tip: thicken the ground rice first and stir in the pine nut purée only for the last few minutes.

35 min

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Gelato al fiordilatteMilk gelato

In every gelateria from Turin to Palermo, fior di latte ("flower of milk") is the plainest flavour in the case and the one gelato makers judge each other by: just fresh milk, cream and sugar, with no eggs and no vanilla, so it tastes clean and milky. It is the base for stracciatella and the perfect partner for fruit sorbets in a cone. Italian children often choose it on summer evenings during the passeggiata. Chef's tip: chill the base overnight before churning; a fully cold base freezes faster into smaller ice crystals, which makes it smoother.

25 min

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KongjabanSoy-braised black soybeans

Kongjaban is the shiny black bean banchan that sits in a small dish on Korean tables from Gwangju to Seoul and fills countless lunchboxes, because one batch keeps for a week. Dried black soybeans are soaked, simmered in soy and sugar and finished with rice syrup until each bean is chewy, sweet-salty and gleaming. It is a good source of plant protein and children usually love it. The common mistake is adding the syrup too early: it scorches before the beans are tender and makes them hard. Chef's tip: keep the lid off while the beans cook; the steam escaping helps the skins stay intact and wrinkled rather than bursting.

45 min

Korean Sides

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Gim bugakCrisp fried seaweed

Gim bugak is a temple snack that Buddhist nuns and village cooks in South Jeolla, especially around Damyang and Namwon, still make in large batches in autumn: sheets of laver are painted with glutinous rice porridge, scattered with sesame, dried in the sun and fried until they puff into crackling, savoury chips. It is eaten as a banchan with rice or as a snack with tea. The common mistake is frying it before it is completely dry; any damp patches stay chewy and spit in the oil. Chef's tip: cut the dried sheets with scissors before frying; once fried they shatter if you try to cut them.

180 min

Korean Snacks & Starters

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Hobak jukPumpkin porridge

Hobak juk is the golden pumpkin porridge sold in thermos-sized portions at Seoul's Gwangjang market and cooked in temple kitchens through the cold months, when stored pumpkins are at their sweetest. Steamed pumpkin is blended smooth, thickened with glutinous rice flour and dotted with chewy little rice-cake balls, giving a velvety, naturally sweet bowl that is soothing for convalescents and children alike. The rice balls are soft and sticky, so cut them small for young children to avoid choking. The common mistake is adding the rice-flour slurry in one go to boiling porridge, which makes lumps. The optional pine-nut topping is a tree-nut allergen; leave it off for anyone with a nut allergy. Chef's tip: roast or steam the pumpkin rather than boiling it in water; less water means a deeper colour and sweeter taste.

50 min

Korean Soups

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HoppangRed bean steamed buns

When the first cold snap hits, Korean convenience stores bring out glass steamer cabinets full of hoppang, and office workers grab one for breakfast on the way to the subway. The bun is soft, slightly sweet yeasted dough wrapped around a thick, smooth red bean paste, steamed until pillowy and eaten piping hot. Making them at home takes a morning but they freeze perfectly. The usual mistake is opening the lid too early or steaming over too fierce a heat: the buns collapse and wrinkle, so keep a steady medium heat and leave them to rest 5 minutes before lifting the lid. Contains wheat. Chef's tip: let the shaped buns rise on squares of baking paper; you can move them into the steamer without squashing them.

120 min

Korean Baking

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Gun gogumaRoasted sweet potato

On a winter evening in Seoul, the smell of gun goguma drifts out of black drum ovens on street corners, and vendors hand the potatoes over in paper bags to warm cold hands on the way home. Korean sweet potatoes have purple skin and pale, chestnut-sweet flesh that turns dense and sticky when slow-roasted, and the sugars seep out and caramelise on the skin. At home they are eaten with cold dongchimi or kimchi and a glass of milk or a cup of tea. The common mistake is roasting too hot and too short: the potato cooks but never turns syrupy, so give it the full hour. Chef's tip: once roasted, leave them in the switched-off oven for 15 minutes; they keep getting sweeter as they rest.

80 min

Korean Snacks & Starters

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Beoseot jeongolMushroom hot pot

Beoseot jeongol is the mushroom hot pot that Korean temple kitchens and mountain restaurants around Odaesan and Songnisan serve in autumn, when wild mushrooms come down from the slopes. Fans of shiitake, oyster, enoki and king oyster mushrooms are arranged with tofu, cabbage and greens in a shallow pot and cooked at the table in a clear kelp and shiitake broth. It tastes deep, clean and woodsy, with no garlic or onion in the temple way. The common mistake is boiling it hard from the start, which turns the broth cloudy and the enoki stringy. Chef's tip: save the shiitake soaking water and add it to the broth; it doubles the savoury depth without any seasoning.

40 min

Korean Soups

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YakgwaHoney ginger cookies

Yakgwa, 'medicinal sweet', were once so prized at royal banquets in Joseon-era Seoul that the court restricted who could make them, because of the honey and oil they swallowed. Today they turn up in gift boxes for Seollal and Chuseok and on the ancestral memorial table, and lately in Seoul cafés that cannot keep them in stock. The flaky, layered dough is fried at a low heat, then left to drink a ginger and cinnamon honey syrup until it is dense and soft all the way through. The mistake nearly everyone makes the first time is frying too hot: the outside browns while the middle stays raw and hard, so keep the oil low and be patient. Contains wheat and sesame. Chef's tip: fold and press the dough, don't knead it; the loose layers are what open up into those flaky ridges.

110 min

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Nukazuke (rice-bran pickles)

Before refrigerators, almost every Japanese kitchen kept a nukadoko, a crock of salted, fermenting rice bran that someone stirred by hand every morning, and families in Kyoto and Kyushu still pass theirs down for decades. Cucumbers, carrots, daikon or aubergine buried overnight come out crisp, sour and deeply savoury, a little like a gentle sauerkraut. Starting a bed takes about an hour of work and a week of 'feeding' with scraps before it pickles well. The most common mistake is forgetting to stir: left alone, the surface grows yeast and the bed starts to smell sharp and off. Chef's tip: stir from the bottom up once a day with clean hands, and if the bed gets watery, soak up the liquid with a clean cloth rather than pouring it away.

60 min

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StrattuSun-dried tomato paste

In late August in western Sicily, around Trapani and Palermo, tomato purée is spread on large wooden boards and left in the hot sun for several days, stirred by hand until it turns into a thick, dark-red paste that smells of sun and sweet tomatoes. Strattu, short for "estratto", is used a spoonful at a time to give depth to sauces and stews. This home version dries the passata slowly in a low oven over a day. Chef's tip: spread the purée thin, no more than 1 cm, and stir it every hour; thick layers dry on top and stay wet underneath.

520 min

Italian Basics

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Yeongeun jorimSoy-braised lotus root

Yeongeun jorim is a winter banchan from the lotus ponds of South Jeolla, where Muan county is famous for its lotus fields, and it is now made in homes all over Korea for lunchboxes and holiday tables. Slices of lotus root are blanched in vinegared water, then simmered in soy and syrup until they turn dark, glossy and chewy with a lingering crunch. The holes make every slice look like lace. The common mistake is skipping the vinegar blanch, which leaves the slices grey and starchy. Chef's tip: stop cooking while there are still a couple of spoonfuls of sauce in the pan; the glaze thickens as it cools and turns sticky rather than hard.

50 min

Korean Sides

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Radicchio trevigiano ai ferriGrilled radicchio

Treviso, north of Venice, is famous for its radicchio tardivo, long crimson leaves with white ribs that are harvested in December and forced in cold spring water until they are crisp and only gently bitter. In the Veneto it is often grilled on a griddle over the fire, dressed with olive oil, salt and a few drops of vinegar, and served next to grilled meat or polenta. The heat softens the bitterness and adds a smoky sweetness. Chef's tip: cut the heads lengthways through the root so the leaves stay joined and don't fall through the grill.

17 min

Italian Sides

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Gelo di melloneWatermelon jelly pudding

Gelo di mellone is the summer dessert of Palermo, eaten above all on 15 July for the feast of Santa Rosalia, the city's patron saint. Fresh watermelon juice is set with starch into a soft, wobbly pink pudding, scented with cinnamon and sometimes jasmine flowers, and topped with chocolate chips and chopped pistachios that look like watermelon seeds. It is served chilled in small bowls or as a tart filling. Contains nuts in the topping. Chef's tip: strain the watermelon juice through a fine sieve; any pulp clouds the jelly and stops it from setting smoothly.

30 min

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Tartufo di PizzoChocolate hazelnut gelato ball

In 1952, in the seaside town of Pizzo in Calabria, a gelato maker ran out of moulds for a wedding banquet and shaped gelato by hand in his palm, around a centre of molten chocolate, then rolled it in cocoa. The tartufo, named for its resemblance to a truffle, is now protected as a local speciality, and the cafés on Pizzo's main piazza serve it in summer to crowds of visitors. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: work in a cold kitchen with chilled cling film and refreeze between each step; the gelato must stay firm enough to hold its ball shape.

60 min

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Gelato alla nocciolaHazelnut gelato

Piedmont's Langhe hills grow the Tonda Gentile hazelnut, prized for its sweet, toasty flavour, and the region's gelaterie turn it into a deep, nutty, caramel-coloured gelato that many Italians consider the king of flavours. Turin is also where hazelnut and chocolate were first combined, in gianduja. In winter the same paste goes into cakes and biscuits. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: toast the hazelnuts until dark golden right through; under-toasted nuts give a flat, green flavour.

35 min

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Asazuke (overnight cucumber and cabbage pickle)Quick cucumber and cabbage pickle

Asazuke means shallow pickle, and it is the quick, fresh pickle that Japanese home cooks make the night before, tucked in a plastic bag in the fridge door and served with breakfast rice and miso soup. Cucumber and cabbage are rubbed with salt and pressed with kombu, a few slivers of chilli and yuzu or lemon peel, so they stay crunchy, juicy and only gently seasoned. It takes 15 minutes to make. The common mistake is not squeezing out the liquid before serving, which leaves the pickle watery and salty. Chef's tip: rub the salt in firmly with your hands for a full minute; bruising the vegetables a little is what lets them season through in a few hours.

15 min

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Yeonnip bapLotus leaf sticky rice

Yeonnip bap is a Buddhist temple dish from South Jeolla, where monasteries near the lotus ponds of Muan and the old temples of Jangseong wrap sticky rice in lotus leaves for festival days and visiting guests. Glutinous rice studded with chestnuts, jujubes, black beans and pine nuts is folded into a leaf parcel and steamed, so it comes out chewy, faintly sweet and scented with the green, tea-like aroma of lotus. Like all temple cooking, it uses no garlic, onion or other pungent alliums. Pine nuts are a tree-nut allergen. The common mistake is under-soaking the rice: it steams up hard in the middle however long you cook it. Chef's tip: sprinkle the rice with salted water halfway through steaming; it seasons every grain evenly and keeps the top layer from drying out.

85 min

Korean Rice & Grains

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Burrata con pomodoriniBurrata with cherry tomatoes

Burrata was born in the dairies around Andria in northern Puglia as a way to use the scraps of mozzarella curd, wrapped in a pouch of stretched curd and filled with cream. In Bari and the towns of the Murge it is eaten the day it is made, often as the first thing on the table at Sunday lunch, torn open over the sweetest summer tomatoes. The outside is soft and springy; the inside, called stracciatella, spills out like thick cream. Mozzarella and burrata are usually made with calf rennet, so look for a vegetarian-rennet burrata if that matters to you. Chef's tip: take the burrata out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving; straight from the cold it tastes of very little.

10 min

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KadboliCrunchy savoury rice and lentil rings

Kadboli is the Maharashtrian answer to chakli for people without a press: the same kind of roasted multi-grain flour, called bhajani, is rolled into ropes on a wooden board and twisted into rings by hand. Grandmothers in Kolhapur and Satara can turn out hundreds in an afternoon, each with the faint ridges of the board on it. The flavour is deeper and more toasty than a plain gram-flour snack, thanks to rice, chana, urad and moong all roasted before grinding, with coriander and cumin roasted in. They are hard-crunchy, spicy and moreish, eaten from the faral dabba with tea through Diwali week. Ready-made kadboli bhajani from a Maharashtrian grocer saves the roasting steps. Chef's tip: knead with water that is just off the boil; the heat partly cooks the starch and gives a pliable dough that rolls into smooth ropes without cracking.

60 min

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MathriFlaky savoury crackers

In Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan the Holi tin is never complete without a stack of mathri next to the gujiya. These are thick, rough-edged discs of maida made very short with ghee, flecked with carom seeds and crushed black pepper, and fried slowly over a low flame for nearly twenty minutes until they turn pale gold and crumble into flaky layers. They taste savoury and peppery, a little like a buttery cracker, and they are meant for dipping in hot masala chai or eating with a sliver of mango or lemon pickle. Unlike the papad-thin Gujarati mathiya of moth bean flour, mathri is a sturdy wheat cracker that keeps for a month and travels in every child's luggage back to hostel. Chef's tip: don't knead the dough smooth; just press it together. Over-kneading builds gluten and makes mathri hard instead of flaky.

60 min

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Dhani khajurPopped jowar and dates

On Holika Dahan night, Gujarati families circle the bonfire with coconut, water and a plate of dhani, dalia and khajur, toss a handful into the flames, and then share the rest. The popped jowar is light and crunchy, the roasted chana nutty and mealy, and the dates bring a chewy, caramel sweetness, so together they make a surprisingly satisfying snack. The idea passed down by elders is practical: as the season turns from winter to summer, dates give warmth and energy, and the dry grains settle the stomach. It is also the first thing handed to children when they come home with coloured faces the next morning. Buy fresh dhani in the weeks before Holi, when Gujarati grocers and street sellers have it by the sackful. Chef's tip: shake the dhani in a sieve before mixing; it loosens the papery husks and the hard unpopped kernels that can crack a tooth.

15 min

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Gul poliJaggery-stuffed flatbread

Puran poli belongs to Holi and Gudi Padwa, but Makar Sankranti in Maharashtra is the day of gul poli. The filling here is not chana dal at all: it is grated jaggery mixed with roasted sesame, roasted gram flour, poppy seeds and dry coconut, which melts inside the dough as the poli cooks and then sets slightly as it cools. A good one is thin, with crisp brown spots, and does not leak. It keeps for a week, so many Pune households make a stack on Bhogi and eat them through the festival, warm with a spoon of ghee or cold with milk. The mistake most beginners make is using sticky, wet jaggery, which melts into a puddle and bursts the poli; choose dry, crumbly jaggery and grate it fine. Chef's tip: roll on a sheet of plastic or rice flour and cook on a low to medium heat; jaggery burns fast and leaks if the tawa is too hot.

65 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Tilgul ladooSesame and jaggery balls

On Makar Sankranti in Maharashtra, neighbours, colleagues and old rivals swap tilgul and say 'tilgul ghya, goad goad bola': take this sesame and jaggery, and speak sweetly. Sesame and jaggery both warm the body in the coldest weeks of January, which is why the ladoo appears in every Pune and Mumbai home, often next to halwa sugar beads. These are the softer, chewy kind: sesame and peanuts are roasted separately, then bound with jaggery cooked just to the soft-ball stage and rolled quickly while warm. They taste nutty and toffee-like with a hint of cardamom. Hand them out in small bags or eat one after lunch. The common mistake is overcooking the jaggery: it sets rock hard and the ladoos can crack a tooth. Grease your hands with a little oil rather than ghee to keep them vegan. Chef's tip: test the jaggery by dropping a little into cold water; it should gather into a soft ball you can squash between your fingers.

30 min

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Gunda nu athanuGum berry pickle

Gunda (lasoda or Indian cherry, Cordia myxa) appear in Gujarati markets for only a few weeks in early summer, and a jar of gunda nu athanu is the reward for catching them. Each green berry is slit and its sticky seed pulled out, then stuffed with the same kuria-based masala used for methia keri, along with small pieces of raw mango for sourness. Under groundnut oil the berries soften in a few days into a tender, slightly chewy pickle with a mild sweetness of their own and plenty of chilli heat. It is loved alongside bhakhri, thepla, khichdi and kadhi, and many families make it as keri-gunda, half mango, half berries. Getting the seed out is the only tricky part, because the flesh is gluey: dip your knife and fingertips in salt and the seed slips out cleanly. Pick firm, fully green berries with no brown patches. Common mistake: washing and stuffing straight away; any water left inside the berry will spoil the jar, so dry them completely first. Keep everything submerged under oil, always use a dry spoon, and discard if you see mould. Chef's tip: gunda soften faster than mango, so make a smaller jar and eat it within three months.

55 min

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Punjabi aam ka acharRaw mango pickle

Drive through Punjab in June and you will see rooftops lined with glass barnis of mango pickle warming in the sun. The Punjabi style is bold and oily: firm raw mango is chopped with its stone, dried until leathery at the edges, then tossed with coarse saunf (fennel), kalonji (nigella), methi dana, yellow mustard, turmeric and red chilli, all bound by mustard oil heated until it smokes. A week of sun mellows the oil's bite and softens the mango, giving a pungent, fennel-sweet pickle with a strong mustard-oil kick, quite different from the sesame-oil avakaya of Andhra or a Gujarati methia keri. It is the pickle for aloo paratha with white butter, dal-chawal and rajma. Common mistake: using mustard oil straight from the bottle; it must be heated to smoking and cooled, or the pickle tastes harsh. Keep all the pieces under oil, use a dry spoon and discard the jar if mould forms. Chef's tip: cut the mango with a heavy cleaver so each piece keeps a sliver of the soft stone; families fight over those bits.

50 min

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Khatta meetha kadduSweet-sour pumpkin

Kaddu ki sabzi with puri is the meal served at countless bhandaras, the free community feasts outside temples in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and at home it is a fasting favourite for Navratri. Chunks of yellow pumpkin are cooked until soft with sizzling fenugreek seeds and cumin, then half-mashed and finished with jaggery and dry mango powder, so the dish swings between sweet and sour with gentle heat from ginger and chilli. The fenugreek gives it a faintly bitter, maple-like depth. This fasting version uses rock salt and leaves out the turmeric, asafoetida and fennel that bhandara cooks add. Serve with kuttu puri or regular puri, and a bowl of raita. Chef's tip: keep the skin on part of the pumpkin; it holds the pieces together while the peeled pieces melt into the sauce, giving a better texture.

30 min

Indian Vegetarian

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SuvaliSweet milk and sesame puris

Open any Gujarati steel dabba in Diwali week and suvali will be near the top, stacked between chorafali and mathiya. Families fry them on the days around Dhanteras and Kali Chaudas, then hand them to every guest who drops by on Bestu Varas, the Gujarati New Year, with a cup of masala tea. The dough is short with ghee and sweetened by sugar dissolved in milk, so the puris snap cleanly and melt into a gentle sweetness rather than tasting like a biscuit. Sesame gives a nutty crunch, cardamom the festive smell. They should stay ivory with only the faintest blush of colour. Eat them with tea, or the way many grandparents do, with a spoonful of chhundo or sweet mango pickle. Chef's tip: roll every suvali before you start frying and keep them under a damp cloth, so you can give the pan your full attention and keep the heat low and steady.

60 min

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ChorafaliCrisp besan and urad strips

Chorafali is the snack Gujarati children wait for in Diwali week, because it is made in the last days and vanishes first. The dough of gram flour and white urad flour is kneaded, then pounded with a pestle until it turns pale and elastic, rolled out almost transparent and cut into strips. In hot oil the strips swell into crunchy, bubbled ribbons in under a minute, and a shower of red chilli, dry mango powder and kala namak while they are hot makes them tangy, salty and sharp. It is a Surat and Saurashtra favourite and comes out alongside suvali, mathiya and ghughra for guests on the New Year. Eat it on its own or with tea. Chef's tip: roll with oil on the board and pin, never dry flour; loose besan burns in the oil and leaves bitter brown flecks on the strips.

60 min

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KalakandMilk cake

Alwar in Rajasthan built its reputation on kalakand, and the town's sweet shops still sell it by the slab, moist and crumbly, somewhere between fudge and fresh cheese. The texture comes from two dairy elements cooked together: fresh chhena, curdled with lemon so it stays in fine, soft crumbs, and full-fat milk reduced to a thick cream. Sugar loosens it, then it is cooked down until it just holds together and spread to set. It tastes of sweet milk and cardamom, with tiny grains that melt as you chew. It is a favourite for Diwali, Raksha Bandhan and any good news. Serve it at room temperature, cut into squares. Chef's tip: stop cooking while it still looks a little moist; kalakand firms up a lot as it cools, and overcooking turns it dry and chewy.

60 min

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Aam kasundiMango mustard relish

Kasundi was once made in Bengali homes only by women of the household on a particular day in spring, with elaborate rules; today most families make this quicker aam (mango) version and keep it in the fridge through summer. Soaked black and yellow mustard seeds are ground with sour raw mango, green chilli, turmeric and salt, then loosened with mustard oil and left in the sun for a few days so the flavours mellow and sharpen at the same time. It is nose-tingling, sour, salty and a little bitter, the dip for beguni, alur chop, fish fry, mochar chop and the snack plates of a Kolkata evening, and a spoon in jhalmuri lifts it straight away. Common mistake: grinding the mustard too long or in a hot blender jar, which makes it bitter; grind in short bursts with cold water and something sour. Keep the jar under a thin film of mustard oil, use a clean dry spoon and discard if mould appears. Chef's tip: soak the mustard in water with a pinch of salt and turmeric; it tames the bitterness and gives a brighter yellow.

35 min

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Karuveppilai podiCurry leaf powder

Grandmothers in Tamil Nadu make karuveppilai podi as much for health as for taste; curry leaves are said to be good for the hair and the blood, and this is the most delicious way to eat a whole bunch at once. Big handfuls of leaves are roasted until crisp and crumbly, then ground with roasted urad and chana dal, red chillies, a little tamarind for sourness and pepper. The powder is dark, fragrant, savoury and slightly tart. Mix it into hot rice with sesame oil or ghee for a quick lunch with a vegetable poriyal, or sprinkle it over idli and dosa. Common mistake: using leaves that are still damp after washing. The podi then traps moisture, loses its colour and can turn mouldy in the jar. Chef's tip: wash the leaves a few hours ahead and spread them on a cloth to air-dry until they feel papery, then roast them on the lowest heat until they crack between your fingers.

25 min

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Makar chaulaRaw rice, banana and jaggery offering

On Makar Sankranti in Odisha, the first rice of the winter harvest goes to the sun god before anyone else tastes it. Makar chaula is that offering: freshly harvested rice soaked and coarsely pounded, then mixed raw with grated coconut, ripe banana, chhena (fresh cheese), jaggery or sugarcane juice, milk, black pepper and a little ginger. Temples such as Puri and Konark offer huge quantities, and every home in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar makes its own bowl after the morning bath. It is not cooked at all, so it tastes fresh, milky and gently spiced, with a soft chew from the rice. Eat it in the morning as prasad, with sugarcane pieces and til ladoo. The common mistake is grinding the rice to a powder; it should stay coarse, like broken grains, or the mix turns gluey. Chef's tip: use the newest, softest short-grain rice you can find; old rice stays hard even after soaking.

15 min

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Gobi parathaCauliflower-stuffed flatbread

When the first tight, white cauliflowers come into the Ludhiana and Jalandhar mandis in November, gobi paratha becomes the Sunday breakfast of choice. Finely grated cauliflower is mixed with ginger, green chilli, coriander, ajwain and a pinch of amchur, sealed inside atta dough and rolled out, then cooked on a tawa with ghee until brown and blistered. The filling stays juicy and slightly sweet against the crisp, flaky outside. Serve with a cube of white butter melting on top, a bowl of thick dahi, and some mixed achar or green chutney, with a glass of lassi or a cup of chai. Common mistake: salting the filling and then leaving it to sit. Salt pulls the water out of the cauliflower and the parathas burst while rolling. Chef's tip: keep the gobi unsalted, squeeze it gently in a cloth, and season it with salt only a few minutes before you start stuffing.

50 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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PeradGuava cheese

Goan grandmothers make perad when the guava trees are full in winter, and it sits in a tin on the dresser all through Christmas, cut into dark pink squares for the kuswar plate. The name and the method come from the Portuguese goiabada: ripe guavas are cooked, sieved, then boiled down with sugar and lime juice for the best part of an hour until the paste is thick, glossy and comes away from the pan in one mass. Set in a tray, it slices cleanly and tastes intensely of guava, sweet and slightly tart, with a chewy, jelly-like bite. Eat it on its own, with a piece of cheese, or on bread. The common mistake is stopping too early: it looks thick in the pan but stays soft and sticky once cool. Test a little on a cold plate; it should hold its shape and peel off cleanly. Chef's tip: choose fragrant pink-fleshed guavas and add a couple of slightly under-ripe ones; they carry more pectin and help it set.

95 min

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Bengali boriSun-dried lentil dumplings

Winter mornings in rural Bengal used to mean bori-making: the household gathered on the roof with a big bowl of freshly ground, hand-whipped urad dal and dropped little peaked dollops onto cloth in neat rows. In Medinipur the women even pipe them into lace-like gohona bori, a folk art of its own. The everyday kind is simpler, a cone the size of a marble, sun-dried until rock hard. Fried in mustard oil, a bori turns crisp and golden outside and slightly spongy inside, and it soaks up gravy beautifully. A handful goes into shukto, into a maacher jhol with potatoes, into lau ghonto (bottle gourd) or into a simple vegetable chorchori. Common mistake: grinding the dal with too much water; the paste then spreads flat on the cloth instead of holding a peak. Chef's tip: check the whipped paste by dropping a little into a bowl of water. If it floats, it has enough air and the bori will be light; if it sinks, keep beating.

50 min

Indian Basics

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Sakkare acchuMoulded sugar figures

Every Sankranti plate in Karnataka carries a few of these little sugar figures beside the ellu bella: an elephant, a temple gopuram, a parrot, a coconut. The wooden moulds, two halves tied with string, are soaked in water overnight so the sugar does not stick, and the syrup is clarified with a splash of milk until it is crystal clear. It is cooked to a thick stage, then stirred until it turns cloudy and pours like thin cream, and poured fast before it sets. Children love making them almost as much as eating them; they melt on the tongue like a soft fondant. The milk makes them vegetarian rather than vegan. The common mistake is pouring before the syrup has been beaten enough: it stays clear and sets like brittle glass that sticks in the mould. Chef's tip: work in small batches of about 150 g sugar so the syrup does not set in the pan while you are still pouring.

55 min