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Recipes with dried thyme

49 recipes that use dried thyme, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Blackened redfish, takes 20 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, onion and bay leaves.

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Babbouche

After dark in Marrakech's great square, the babbouche stalls are recognisable by their steaming cauldrons and the toothpicks laid out by every bowl. Small land snails simmer in a dark broth of liquorice root, aniseed, thyme, caraway, bitter orange peel, chilli and a bundle of herbs that sellers say has fifteen ingredients, believed to soothe the stomach and warm you on a cold night. You pick the snails out with a toothpick, then drink the peppery, herbal, faintly sweet broth. At home, buy live snails sold for cooking, already purged by a reputable seller, discard any with broken shells or that do not move or retract when touched, and cook them through for at least 45 minutes. Chef's tip: keep the spices in a muslin bag; the broth stays clear and you avoid crunching on seeds.

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Cajun dirty rice

Dirty rice gets its name from the brown speckles of chicken liver and minced pork that colour it, and it is the side dish of Cajun Thanksgivings, church fairs and plate lunches around Lafayette, often served next to fried chicken. It is deeply savoury, peppery and good enough to eat as a main. This recipe contains pork. Chef's tip: chop the livers very finely, almost to a paste, so they melt into the rice rather than sitting in lumps.

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Testi kebabı

In the cave restaurants of Göreme and Avanos, testi kebabı arrives as a sealed clay jug, glowing from the oven, which the waiter cracks open at the table with a sharp tap of a knife. Inside is beef or lamb stewed with tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onion until tender in its own rich juices. A lidded casserole works perfectly at home, and you can still seal the lid with dough for the drama. Serve with plain rice pilaf. Common mistake: adding a lot of water; the vegetables give off plenty and the sealed pot should braise, not boil. Chef's tip: brown the meat in two batches first for a deeper, savoury sauce.

175 minTurkishMeat
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Tas kebabı

Despite the name, tas kebabı never sees a grill: it is a bowl ('tas') of beef braised slowly with lots of onion, tomato and a little pepper paste until the meat is soft and the sauce is rich and glossy. It is a mainstay of esnaf lokantası, the tradesmen's restaurants where workers eat a hot lunch from steam trays, and is served over buttery rice pilaf or alongside mashed potato. Common mistake: crowding the pan when browning, so the beef boils grey. Chef's tip: cook the onions down until jammy before the tomato goes in; they melt into the sauce and give it body without any flour.

125 minTurkishMeatGluten free
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Tavuk sote

Tavuk sote is what Turkish home cooks make on a busy weekday: strips of chicken thigh seared hard, then tossed with green and red peppers, mushrooms, onion, tomato and a spoonful of pepper paste until glossy. It cooks in the time the bulgur or rice takes, and lokantas serve it from the steam tray with a side of yoghurt. Thigh meat stays juicy; breast dries out quickly. Common mistake: adding all the chicken at once, which drops the pan temperature and leaves it pale and watery. Chef's tip: finish with a knob of butter and a pinch of dried thyme off the heat for a glossy, aromatic sauce.

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Çökertme kebabı

Çökertme is the kebab Bodrum is proud of: a bed of crisp, matchstick-thin fried potatoes, a layer of garlicky yoghurt, then tender strips of sautéed beef on top, finished with tomato sauce and butter. It is restaurant food in the town but easy to make at home for a Saturday lunch, and the contrast of hot, crunchy, cool and creamy is what makes it. Chef's tip: cut the potatoes very thin and fry them in two batches just before serving; made ahead, they go limp under the yoghurt.

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Kağıt kebabı

Malatya cooks wrap cubes of lamb with tomatoes, peppers, shallots and garlic in greaseproof paper and bake them slowly, so the meat steams in its own juices and the parcel puffs up like a pillow. At the table each person tears open their own package to a cloud of fragrant steam. It's a festive dish for guests, served with bulgur pilaf and a yoghurt salad. Common mistake: wrapping loosely so the juices leak and the meat dries; fold and crimp the edges tightly. Chef's tip: brown the lamb quickly before wrapping; it gives a deeper flavour than raw meat steamed alone.

120 minTurkishMeatGluten free
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Blackened redfish

Blackened redfish was the dish that made Cajun cooking famous across America in the 1980s, created in a New Orleans restaurant by a chef from Opelousas. Fillets are dipped in butter, coated thickly in paprika, cayenne, thyme and pepper and seared in a white-hot cast-iron pan, so the spices char into a dark, smoky crust while the fish stays moist. It produces a lot of smoke, so open the windows or cook it outside. Chef's tip: the pan must be heated empty for a full 5 minutes; a lukewarm pan steams the fish instead of blackening it.

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Minnesota wild rice soup

Wild rice is the seed of a lake grass that the Ojibwe people of northern Minnesota still harvest by canoe in late summer, and this creamy soup is on every lunch counter and church cookbook in the Twin Cities when the weather turns cold. The long black grains split open and turn chewy and nutty in a velvety broth with mushrooms, carrots and celery. Many versions add chicken; this one is vegetarian. Chef's tip: cook the wild rice separately and add it at the end, or it soaks up all the soup.

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Grillades and grits

Grillades and grits is the long-standing New Orleans brunch for Sunday mornings, Mardi Gras day and Jazz Fest weekends: thin medallions of beef pounded, browned and braised in a rich brown Creole gravy with tomato and the trinity, then spooned over buttery grits. Chef's tip: pound the meat thin and braise it low and slow until a fork slides in easily; rushing it leaves the beef chewy.

125 minAmericanMeatGluten free
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Redfish courtbouillon

In Cajun country, courtbouillon (say 'coo-boo-yon') is not the French poaching broth but a thick, spicy red stew of firm fish, made in the fishing communities of Vermilion Bay and the Atchafalaya Basin after a good day's catch of redfish or catfish. It is built on a roux and tomatoes and finished with lemon and spring onions, then served over rice. Chef's tip: lay the fish on top of the sauce and spoon it over rather than stirring, so the pieces stay whole.

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Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Creole is the tomato-red weeknight dish of New Orleans homes and old Creole lunch counters, quite different from the brown, roux-based Cajun stews of the countryside. Gulf prawns simmer briefly in a sauce of tomato, the trinity, garlic, bay and hot sauce, and the dish is spooned over fluffy rice. Chef's tip: simmer the sauce until it is thick before the prawns go in, because they release water as they cook.

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Manhattan clam chowder

Manhattan clam chowder swaps New England's cream for tomatoes, a style that grew up in the Portuguese and Italian fish restaurants of New York and Coney Island and is still ladled out in Fulton Street lunch counters. It is a brothy red soup with clams, potato, carrot, celery and a little bacon (pork), lighter than the white kind and peppery with thyme. Chef's tip: add the chopped clams only for the last few minutes; long boiling turns them to rubber.

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Scrapple

Scrapple is the thrifty breakfast meat of Pennsylvania Dutch farm country and the Delaware Valley, made at pig-killing time from pork trimmings simmered and set with cornmeal and buckwheat into a loaf. Slices are fried until crisp and brown outside and soft within, and eaten with eggs, apple butter or maple syrup at Lancaster County diners. This home version uses pork shoulder and a little liver. Chef's tip: slice it 1 cm thick and leave it alone in the pan until a dark crust forms; it sticks if you move it early.

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Hoppin' John

Hoppin' John is eaten on New Year's Day across the South for luck, with collard greens for money and cornbread for gold, and its roots run back to the rice plantations of the South Carolina Lowcountry and the West African cooks who worked them. Black-eyed peas are simmered with smoked pork (here a ham hock and bacon), then cooked with rice so every grain takes on the smoky broth. Chef's tip: cook the rice in the bean liquor, not water; that is where all the flavour is.

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Country captain

Country captain is the curried chicken of Savannah and coastal Georgia, said to have arrived with sea captains in the spice trade from India, and it is still served at Georgia Junior League luncheons and holiday buffets. Browned chicken is braised in a mild curry and tomato sauce with peppers, then finished with currants and toasted almonds, and served over white rice. Chef's tip: toast the curry powder in the fat for a full minute; raw curry powder tastes dusty.

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Chicken and andouille gumbo

In the prairie towns of Acadiana around Lafayette and Eunice, a pot of chicken and andouille gumbo goes on the stove for Sunday dinners, Mardi Gras runs and cold winter evenings. It starts with a roux of flour and oil stirred until the colour of dark chocolate, then the holy trinity of onion, celery and pepper, chicken thighs and andouille, a spicy smoked pork sausage. Serve in bowls over rice with potato salad on the side, as many Cajun families do. Chef's tip: never stop stirring the roux and keep the heat medium; a single black fleck means it has burnt and must be thrown out.

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Seafood gumbo

Seafood gumbo is the New Orleans Creole style, made in coastal kitchens from the French Quarter to the bayou towns of Plaquemines Parish, with a medium-brown roux, tomato and sliced okra to thicken it, and as much Gulf prawn, crab and oyster as the market offers. It is a Friday, Lent and Christmas Eve dish. Serve over rice with a dash of hot sauce. Chef's tip: make a quick stock from the prawn shells; it carries the sea flavour through the whole pot.

130 minAmericanFish
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Steak and kidney pudding

Steak and kidney pudding is the steamed suet pie of old English chop houses and Northern family kitchens, the kind of dish that filled up mill workers through Lancashire winters. Beef and lamb's kidney in rich gravy are sealed in a basin lined with suet pastry and steamed for hours until the crust is soft and the filling falls apart. Chef's tip: cook the filling first; it gives tender meat and a crust that isn't soggy.

340 minBritishMeat
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Kerry Dingle pies

Dingle pies are small, round mutton pies made in west Kerry for the Puck Fair in Killorglin, for fishermen going to sea, and for farmers at the mart, often reheated in a bowl of the mutton broth. A firm hot-water-crust pastry holds a peppery filling of lamb or mutton, onion and carrot, so they travel well and are eaten by hand or with gravy. Chef's tip: shape the pastry while it is still warm; hot-water crust cracks and won't mould once it cools.

120 minIrishMeat
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Carbonada en zapallo

Of all the dishes served for the 25 May and 9 July national holidays, carbonada criolla is the most theatrical when it arrives inside a whole roasted pumpkin, the lid lifted at the table to let out a cloud of steam. The stew comes from the Spanish-colonial interior and is beloved across Buenos Aires Province: cubes of beef braised with onion, tomato and pepper, then joined by corn, sweet potato, squash and dried peaches (or pears) that melt into a sweet-savoury sauce. Pieces of the pumpkin wall are scooped out with each serving. Beef stew cubes are cooked until tender, well past any pinkness. Overcooking the pumpkin is the common trap: it collapses when you pour in the stew, so roast it only until a knife meets slight resistance. Chef's tip: soak the dried peaches in a little hot water and add both the fruit and the soaking liquid; it gives the sauce its rounded sweetness without extra sugar.

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Mole negro con pollo

Of Oaxaca's seven moles, mole negro is the one brought out for weddings, christenings and the Day of the Dead, when families cook it in huge clay pots and send guests home with containers of it. Its near-black colour comes from chillies toasted very dark and from seeds and tortilla charred on purpose, balanced by fried plantain, raisins, sesame and a little Mexican chocolate, so the sauce tastes smoky, bittersweet and deeply savoury rather than sweet. The true base is the Oaxacan chilhuacle negro, which is hard to find outside the region; this version uses a practical mix of pasilla, mulato, ancho and guajillo, which gets very close. Serve it over the poached chicken with white rice and warm corn tortillas. Oaxacan cooks often fry the sauce in pork lard; vegetable oil works just as well and keeps the dish pork-free. Chef's tip: make the sauce a day ahead; like most moles it rounds out and deepens overnight in the fridge.

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Birria de res

Birria comes from Jalisco, where it is the dish of weddings, baptisms and Sunday mornings after a long night, ladled out at market stalls in Guadalajara from dawn. Beef on the bone is rubbed with a paste of guajillo and ancho chillies, vinegar, garlic and warm spices, left overnight in the fridge, then braised for hours until it falls into soft, glossy strands. The cooking liquid becomes the consommé: sip it from a cup, spoon it over the meat in a bowl, or dip tortillas in its red fat and fry them with the beef and a little cheese for crisp-edged tacos. Serve with chopped onion, coriander, lime and a fiery chile de árbol salsa. Chef's tip: skim the red fat off the top of the finished consommé and keep it for frying the tortillas; it gives the tacos their colour and crunch.

285 minMexicanMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Conejo en salmorejo

Nothing to do with the cold tomato soup of Córdoba: in the Canaries salmorejo is a punchy marinade of garlic, red pepper, paprika, thyme, oregano, vinegar and wine, and rabbit cooked in it is the star of Tenerife's hillside guachinches and Sunday family lunches. The rabbit soaks overnight, then is fried and simmered in the marinade until tender, and served with papas arrugadas to mop up the sauce. The marinade uses white wine; for an alcohol-free version, swap it for water with an extra spoon of vinegar. Chef's tip: dry the rabbit pieces well before frying, so they brown properly rather than stew grey in the marinade.

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Carne de fiesta

The smell of carne de fiesta, cubes of pork sizzling in a huge pan, drifts over every romería and village saint's day in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, where it is sold piled into bread rolls or with chips. This contains pork. The meat sits for a day in a deep red marinade of garlic, paprika, thyme, oregano, vinegar and white wine before it is fried until crusty. The wine can be swapped for water with an extra spoon of vinegar for an alcohol-free version. Chef's tip: fry in batches with plenty of space, so the meat sizzles and caramelises instead of boiling in its own juices.

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Ropa vieja canaria

The 'old clothes' of the name are the leftover meats from Sunday's puchero, shredded and fried the next day with chickpeas, potatoes, peppers and tomato; it is a different dish from the Cuban ropa vieja, and on the islands it is Monday lunch and a fixture of bar menus in Las Palmas. Some versions include pork; this one uses beef and chicken, poached from scratch if you have no leftovers. A splash of white wine is common; it is optional and the dish is complete without it. Chef's tip: fry the chickpeas until a few catch and crisp, because those browned bits make the dish.

100 minSpanishMeatGluten free
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Petits farcis niçois

From June to September the traiteurs around the cours Saleya market in Nice sell trays of petits farcis: round courgettes, tomatoes and onions hollowed out, refilled and baked until wrinkled and caramelised at the edges. Niçois families often use up leftover daube in the stuffing; this meatless version, common on Fridays and at summer picnics, uses rice, herbs, the vegetables' own flesh and Parmesan. Parmesan is made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese if that matters to you. They are as good at room temperature the next day as hot from the oven. Chef's tip: choose vegetables of a similar size, so they all finish cooking at the same moment.

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Huachinango a la veracruzana

In the port of Veracruz, fish a la veracruzana shows the city's centuries of trade with Spain: red snapper baked in a sauce of tomato, onion and garlic with green olives, capers, bay and herbs, sharpened with pickled yellow chillies. It is served at seafront restaurants on Sundays and is a favourite on Christmas Eve, when many families eat fish. The sauce is tangy, briny and gently hot, and the fish stays moist under it. Serve it with plain white rice to soak up the sauce. Chef's tip: cook the sauce down until thick before the fish goes in; the fish releases juices as it bakes and will thin it out.

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Sopa de pan

This is not a thin soup but a 'dry' one, baked in layers in a deep dish, and in San Cristóbal de las Casas it belongs to fiestas, weddings and the meatless days of Holy Week. Toasted bread is stacked with fried ripe plantain, green beans, carrot, potato, boiled egg and a tomato sauce, then soaked with a saffron and thyme broth until the bread swells into something like a savoury bread pudding. It is served in deep plates with a spoon. Families in the highlands use chicken stock; a good vegetable stock keeps it vegetarian. Chef's tip: dry the bread hard in the oven first; fresh bread dissolves into mush when the broth goes in.

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Carne de vinha d'alhos

No Madeiran Christmas is complete without carne de vinha d'alhos: chunks of pork soaked for days in wine, vinegar, garlic and bay, then simmered and fried until browned and tangy. Families start it after the December pig-killing, and the leftovers fill bread rolls for days. Portuguese sailors carried the idea to Goa, where it became vindaloo. This contains pork and uses white wine; for an alcohol-free version use 250 ml water instead of the wine, as many Madeiran households do. Chef's tip: fry thick slices of bread in the pan juices at the end; they are the cook's reward.

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Nigerian fried rice

Nigerian fried rice sits next to jollof at nearly every party buffet from Abuja to Port Harcourt, its pale yellow colour and confetti of vegetables making the two a classic pair on one plate. It owes nothing to Chinese fried rice: the grains are first boiled in stock with curry powder and thyme, then tossed in a hot pan with small diced vegetables. Party versions often hide liver or prawns; this one stays fully vegetable and serves well with fried plantain, moi moi or a spicy pepper sauce. Chef's tip: cut every vegetable to the size of a pea so they cook in the same couple of minutes and each spoonful gets a bit of everything.

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Cameroonian coconut rice

A colourful one-pot rice from Cameroon: long-grain rice simmered in thin coconut milk with tomato paste, chilli, cinnamon-clove powder and thyme, studded with carrot and yellow pepper. It's lightly spiced, creamy and fragrant. Serve it with beans, a vegetable stew or a simple salad.

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Cauliflower tinga tacos

Tinga comes from Puebla, where shredded meat is simmered in a sauce of sweet sliced onion, tomato and smoky chipotle chillies and piled onto tostadas or tacos. Here roasted cauliflower takes the place of the chicken: browned in a hot oven so it turns nutty and holds its shape, then folded through the brick-red sauce so every floret is glossy and smoky. The result, tinga de coliflor, is sweet, tangy and properly spicy; serve it in warm corn tortillas or on crisp tostadas with avocado, shredded lettuce and lime. Chef's tip: cook the onions slowly until soft and sweet before the tomatoes go in; the sweetness is what balances the heat of the chipotle.

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Lentil and apricot soup

Red lentil soup with dried apricots is a Lenten favourite of Armenian kitchens, from Yerevan flats to diaspora homes in Beirut and Los Angeles, made in the weeks before Easter when meat and dairy are set aside. The apricots, Armenia's national fruit, melt into the lentils and give a soft sweet-sour note that sits behind cumin, thyme and a squeeze of lemon. It is thick but not stodgy, a bright orange bowl that is filling enough for supper with lavash and a plate of fresh herbs. Chef's tip: chop half the apricots fine and let them dissolve, and add the rest in strips near the end, so you get both background sweetness and juicy bites.

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Ärtsoppa

For centuries Swedes have eaten ärtsoppa on Thursday: school canteens, army messes and home kitchens all serve thick yellow pea soup, followed by thin pancakes with jam (ärtsoppa och pannkakor). The tradition is said to date from Catholic times, a filling meal before Friday's fast. The soup is usually cooked with salt pork, but the soul of it is the dried yellow peas, onion and a generous hand of thyme and marjoram, so this version is fully plant-based and seasons the broth with a little smoked paprika instead. Each bowl gets a spoonful of sharp Swedish mustard stirred in at the table. Chef's tip: soak whole yellow peas overnight and skim the foam as they come to the boil; the skins that float up can then be lifted off, giving a smoother soup.

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Vegetarian erwtensoep

Erwtensoep, or snert, is the soup that Dutch skaters drink from paper cups at the koek-en-zopie stalls on frozen lakes, and that families leave to simmer on a Saturday in January. A proper snert is so thick that a spoon should stand upright in the pan, and it tastes better on the second day. The traditional pot is full of pork and smoked sausage; this version gets its depth from celeriac, leek, a little smoked paprika and a long, slow simmer. Serve it with dark rye bread (roggebrood), butter and mustard. Chef's tip: stir the bottom of the pan every 10 minutes in the last half hour; split peas settle as they thicken and catch easily, and a scorched taste spreads through the whole pot.

140 minDutchSoupsVeganGluten free
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Tocăniță de ciuperci

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

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Vegetarian sausage rolls

Sausage rolls are the snack of Australian bakeries, school canteens and footy grounds, eaten from a paper bag with a squeeze of tomato sauce, and they're on the table at every kids' party from Perth to Hobart, and across the Tasman too. This vegetarian version wraps crisp, buttery puff pastry around a savoury filling of browned mushrooms, lentils, carrot, cheddar and sage, firm enough to slice and with the peppery, herby taste of a good bakery roll. The meat original uses raw seasoned pork or beef mince in place of the filling, as noted in the steps. Chef's tip: cook the mushrooms until they are dry and browned; any leftover liquid will turn the pastry soggy from the inside.

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Fonio with vegetables

Fonio is a tiny ancient grain grown in the Sahel and in southern Senegal's Casamance and Fouta regions, where it is steamed like couscous and eaten with a vegetable or peanut sauce. It cooks in minutes and has a light, nutty taste, which has made it popular again in Dakar restaurants. Here it is fluffed with a little oil and topped with a quick stew of courgette, carrot, aubergine and tomato. Chef's tip: wash fonio in several changes of water and drain it in a fine sieve; it often carries fine sand, and gritty fonio is the most common complaint.

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Mushroom-gravy poutine

Poutine was born in rural Québec in the 1950s, at snack bars (casse-croûtes) in towns like Warwick and Drummondville, and is now eaten across Canada at 2 a.m. after a night out and at hockey arenas. The rules are simple: crisp fries, fresh cheese curds that squeak against your teeth, and a hot, savoury gravy poured over so the curds soften but don't fully melt. This gravy is made with browned mushrooms and vegetable stock instead of the usual chicken-beef stock. Chef's tip: keep the curds at room temperature and the gravy very hot; cold curds stay rubbery and lukewarm gravy makes the fries soggy without softening the cheese.

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Nigerian jollof rice

Every Nigerian wedding, naming ceremony and Saturday owambe in Lagos has a giant pot of jollof, and the guests judge it before they judge the bride's dress. The rice is long-grain parboiled rice, cooked in a thick base of fried red peppers, tomatoes and scotch bonnet until every grain is orange, separate and lightly smoky. The prized bit is the slightly scorched layer at the bottom of the pot, which party cooks call the 'bottom pot' flavour. Serve it with fried ripe plantain, moi moi and a crunchy coleslaw. Chef's tip: fry the tomato paste and the blended pepper base hard, until the oil floats on top and the raw, sour smell is gone, before a single grain of rice goes in.

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Hünkar beğendi

Hünkar beğendi is a dish from the Ottoman palace kitchens of Istanbul; its name means 'the sultan was pleased', and a well-known story links it to a royal banquet of the 1860s. Today it is a special Sunday or guest dish in Istanbul homes and old-style lokanta restaurants. Tender chunks of lamb are braised slowly with tomato and peppers, then spooned over beğendi, a silky purée of fire-charred aubergine whisked into a light cheese sauce. The smoky, creamy base against the rich stew is the whole point. Chef's tip: char the aubergines directly over a gas flame until the skins are black and collapsing; the oven alone won't give that smoky flavour.

150 minTurkishMeat
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Nigerian chicken stew

Almost every Nigerian kitchen has a pot of this red stew in the fridge. Lagos households cook a big batch on Saturday and eat it all week over white rice, boiled yam, plantain or beans. Red bell peppers, tomatoes, scotch bonnet and onion are blended and fried in oil for a long time until the raw taste is gone and the oil rises to the top, then browned chicken goes in. The classic mistake is not frying the pepper base long enough; the stew tastes sour and raw if you rush it. Chef's tip: boil the chicken first with seasoning, then fry it before it goes into the stew, and use that seasoned stock in the sauce.

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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.

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Red beans and rice with andouille

In New Orleans, red beans and rice is what Monday tastes like: the pot used to go on the back of the stove on washday with the ham bone left from Sunday, and plenty of Creole kitchens still cook it on Mondays. This version contains pork: a smoked ham hock and sliced andouille sausage simmer with kidney beans and the 'holy trinity' of onion, celery and green pepper until some beans collapse into a creamy gravy. Serve over white rice with hot sauce and a piece of cornbread. Chef's tip: when the beans are tender, mash a ladleful against the side of the pot; that is what makes them creamy.

170 minAmericanMeatGluten free
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Louisiana jambalaya

Jambalaya feeds crowds at church fairs and Mardi Gras parties all over south Louisiana, from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. This is the Creole or 'red' style from the city, with tomato in the pot; the Cajun country version leaves it out. Chicken thighs and smoked andouille (a pork sausage) are browned first, then rice cooks in the spiced tomato stock with the holy trinity, and prawns go in at the end. Chef's tip: once the rice is in, resist stirring; just turn it once halfway so the bottom does not catch.

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Ghana jollof rice

Ask anyone in Accra and Ghana jollof is the only jollof worth arguing about, a friendly rivalry with Nigeria that plays out at every West African party and all over social media. The difference is real: Ghanaians favour long, fragrant basmati or jasmine rice rather than parboiled rice, a base heavier on ginger and garlic, and a softer, more aromatic finish without the smoky 'bottom pot'. It is served with fried plantain, a fresh salad and shito, Ghana's dark pepper sauce, on the side. Chef's tip: wash the basmati until the water runs clear and keep the liquid tight; fragrant rice turns sticky very quickly if it swims in sauce.

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Mici

Every Romanian park, beer garden and May Day picnic smells of mici, the little skinless rolls of minced beef and lamb that sizzle on charcoal grills from Bucharest's Obor market to the Black Sea coast. The mince is beaten with garlic, thyme, a strong beef stock and a little bicarbonate of soda, which makes them springy and juicy inside with a crusty outside. They come in tens, with plenty of mustard, fresh bread and sometimes chips. The usual error is cooking them straight after mixing: the mince needs a night in the fridge for the bicarbonate and garlic to work. Chef's tip: shape them with oiled hands on an oiled tray, and grill them no thicker than your thumb so the middle cooks before the outside burns.

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Goes well with dried thyme