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Gyeran jjimSteamed egg

At Korean barbecue restaurants in Seoul and Busan, a bubbling stone pot of gyeran jjim arrives puffed high above the rim to soothe mouths burned by grilled meat and kimchi. At home it is a soft, savoury egg custard eaten with rice, especially by children. This vegetarian version uses kelp water instead of the usual salted shrimp or anchovy stock. The common mistake is keeping the heat high once the egg starts to set, which scorches the bottom and makes the top tough and full of holes. Chef's tip: stir constantly for the first minute as it heats, then cover with an upturned bowl over the lowest flame; trapped steam is what makes it rise like a soufflé.

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Scarcella puglieseEaster egg biscuit bread

In Bari, Foggia and the Salento, scarcelle are baked in the days before Easter, often by children with their grandmothers: a soft, lemony shortbread-like dough shaped into baskets, doves, hearts or dolls, each holding a whole egg in its shell held down by strips of dough, then iced and covered in sprinkles. They are given as gifts on Easter morning and to children as a sign of new life. Chef's tip: use raw eggs in their shells and wash them first; they cook in the oven while the biscuit bakes. They are decorative, so wash and dry them well.

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Torta della nonnaLemon custard pine nut tart

Torta della nonna, "grandmother's tart", is on the dessert menu of almost every trattoria in Florence and across Tuscany: a shortcrust case filled with thick lemon-scented custard, covered with a second layer of pastry and scattered with pine nuts and icing sugar. Despite the name it was probably invented by a Florentine restaurant cook in the 1900s, but it tastes of family Sunday lunches. Contains pine nuts. Chef's tip: let the custard cool completely before filling the tart; warm custard melts the butter in the pastry and makes the base soggy.

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Asparagi alla milaneseAsparagus with fried egg

In Milan in April, when the first fat green asparagus come down from the farms of Lombardy, they are served "alla milanese": boiled until just tender, laid on a plate with melted butter and Parmigiano, and topped with a fried egg whose runny yolk becomes the sauce. It is a light lunch or a spring starter in old Milanese trattorie. Parmigiano is made with animal rennet; a vegetarian hard cheese works. For pregnant women, young children and older people, cook the yolk until firm. Chef's tip: tie the asparagus in a bundle and stand it upright in the pan so the thick stems boil while the tender tips steam.

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Shogayaki (ginger pork)

Shogayaki, thin slices of pork loin seared in a sticky ginger and soy glaze, is the single most popular set lunch at Tokyo's teishoku diners, served with a mound of shredded cabbage, rice and miso soup, and it is just as common in home bento. This recipe uses pork, with sake and mirin (Japanese rice wines) in the glaze; both bubble down in the hot pan so the alcohol mostly cooks off, and water and sugar make an alcohol-free swap. The mistake to avoid is marinating the pork for hours: fresh ginger contains an enzyme that turns the meat mushy, so 10–15 minutes in the fridge is plenty. Chef's tip: dust the slices lightly with flour before frying; it helps the sauce cling and keeps the pork tender.

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Bombette pugliesiCheese-stuffed pork rolls

In the white towns of the Valle d'Itria in Puglia, Cisternino, Martina Franca and Locorotondo, butchers' shops double as grill restaurants in the evening: you pick your meat at the counter and it is cooked on the spot over coals. The stars are bombette, small parcels of thin pork neck wrapped around cubes of caciocavallo and pancetta (cured pork belly), skewered and grilled until the cheese melts. They are eaten hot, with bread and a glass of the local wine. Chef's tip: fold the meat tightly around the cheese and close every gap; any opening lets the cheese leak out and burn on the grill.

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Abbacchio alla romanaRoman Easter lamb

Abbacchio is the Roman name for young milk-fed lamb, and abbacchio alla romana is what Roman families cook for Easter Sunday: small pieces of shoulder and leg browned in a pan, then cooked slowly with garlic, rosemary and sage and finished with a paste of anchovy and vinegar that cuts through the richness. It is served with roast potatoes or puntarelle. Outside Italy, use young spring lamb on the bone. Chef's tip: brown the lamb in batches until really golden before adding anything else; pale lamb gives a pale sauce.

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Savoiardi

Savoiardi were created in the 1300s at the court of the House of Savoy in Piedmont, for a visit by the King of France. They are long, light finger biscuits of whipped eggs, sugar and flour, with a crisp sugary crust and a dry, spongy inside, made to be soaked: in coffee for tiramisù, in liqueur for zuppa inglese, or in milk for children's breakfast. Chef's tip: dust the piped fingers twice with icing sugar, 5 minutes apart; this forms the pearly crust that keeps them crisp outside.

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Gyudon (beef and onion rice bowl)

Gyudon fuels Japan's commuters: at 24-hour counters near every big station from Tokyo to Osaka, a bowl of rice topped with soft onions and wafer-thin beef in sweet soy broth arrives in under a minute. At home it takes about 20. Sake and mirin go into the broth and simmer away, so very little alcohol is left; swap them for water and a little sugar if you prefer. The usual mistake is boiling the beef hard and long, which makes thin slices tough and grey; simmer the onion first, then add the beef only until it changes colour. Chef's tip: pile on pink pickled ginger (beni shoga) and a raw or soft-poached egg yolk for the full counter experience; use a soft-poached egg for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system.

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Sukju namulSeasoned bean sprouts

Sukju namul is the most delicate of Korea's sprout dishes, set out on every ancestral-rite table at Chuseok and on everyday trays in Seoul homes because it takes five minutes and costs very little. Mung bean sprouts are blanched for barely a minute, then dressed with salt, a little garlic and sesame oil, so they stay juicy and crunchy with a clean, nutty taste. It belongs in bibimbap too. The common mistake is overcooking: mung bean sprouts go limp and stringy within seconds of being done, so pull them while they still squeak. Chef's tip: plunge them straight into iced water after blanching and squeeze gently; they keep their snap for a whole day.

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Pani ca' meusaVeal spleen sandwich

Pani ca' meusa ("bread with spleen") has been sold in Palermo since the Middle Ages, when the Jewish butchers of the city were paid with the offal of the animals they slaughtered and sold it in bread. At the old Focacceria San Francesco and the stalls around the Vucciria market, veal spleen and lung are boiled, sliced thin and then fried in pork lard in a huge pan before being piled into a sesame roll. Ordered "schettu" (single) it comes with lemon; "maritatu" (married) with ricotta and caciocavallo. Lung is not sold in many countries, so this recipe uses spleen only. Chef's tip: slice the boiled spleen while it is cold and firm; warm spleen crumbles.

170 minItalianMeat
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Carpaccio di manzoRaw beef carpaccio

Carpaccio was created at Harry's Bar in Venice in the 1950s for a countess whose doctor had told her to avoid cooked meat, and it was named after the painter Vittore Carpaccio for its deep red colour. Venetians eat it as a light first course at lunch: beef sliced so thin you can see the plate through it, with a creamy mustard-lemon sauce drizzled in lines across the top, rocket and shaved Parmigiano. The classic version is completely raw, which is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; the safer version here sears the outside of the beef first, which kills surface bacteria and keeps the centre rosy. Chef's tip: wrap the beef tightly and freeze it for 40 minutes before slicing; firm meat lets you cut wafer-thin slices with an ordinary sharp knife.

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Polenta con le spuntaturePolenta with pork ribs

In the towns of the Ciociaria and the Sabine hills of Lazio, polenta is poured straight onto a wooden board, the spianatora, set in the middle of the table, and topped with spuntature, short pork ribs stewed with pork sausage in tomato. Everyone eats from their own patch of the board, working inwards. It is a winter feast for the feast of Sant'Antonio in January and for big family Sundays. Alcohol is used here: white wine, which you can replace with water and a spoonful of vinegar. Chef's tip: brown the ribs well before the tomatoes go in; the colour and crusty bits make the sauce rich and meaty.

140 minItalianMeatGluten free
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Butadon (Obihiro grilled pork rice bowl)

Butadon was invented in Obihiro, on the Tokachi plain of eastern Hokkaido, as a cheap, filling lunch for farmers clearing the land, and today the town's shops still grill thick slices of pork loin over charcoal and lay them overlapping on rice like roof tiles. The glaze is a sweet-salty mix of soy, sugar, mirin and sake that is boiled down so the alcohol cooks off; water and extra sugar make an alcohol-free version. A griddle pan or hot grill gives the smoky edges. The common mistake is slicing the pork too thin: about 5 mm keeps it juicy. Pork must reach 71 °C in the middle with no pink juices. Chef's tip: snip the fat edge so the slices stay flat, and dip them in the glaze twice in the pan for a lacquered finish.

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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.

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Panino con il lampredottoTripe sandwich

Lampredotto is the fourth stomach of the cow, slowly simmered in a broth with tomato, onion and celery until tender, and for Florentines it is the true street food of the city. Lampredottai sell it from carts at the San Lorenzo market and Porta Romana from mid-morning: the meat is chopped on a board, salted, piled into a crusty roll whose top half is dipped in the broth, and topped with salsa verde and chilli oil. Ask a butcher for lampredotto or abomasum tripe, ready cleaned. Chef's tip: dip the top of the bun ("bagnato") briefly in the hot broth; it soaks up the flavour but shouldn't fall apart.

205 minItalianMeat
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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.

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Cannoncini alla cremaCustard puff pastry horns

Every pastry shop in Turin and Piedmont has a tray of cannoncini: puff pastry wrapped around metal cones, baked until golden and flaky, then piped full of vanilla custard and dusted with icing sugar. Little ones are part of the "pasticcini mignon" bought on Sunday morning after church to take to lunch at the grandparents' house. You need cannoncino or cream-horn moulds. Chef's tip: fill them just before serving; custard softens the pastry within a few hours.

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DongeurangttaengPork and tofu patties

Dongeurangttaeng are the coin-sized pork patties that Korean families fry by the hundred in the days before Chuseok and Seollal, the whole kitchen floor in Seoul flats covered with newspaper and pans. Minced pork is mixed with mashed tofu, onion, carrot and spring onion, dipped in flour and egg and pan-fried until golden, tender and juicy. They are eaten warm or at room temperature with a soy-vinegar dip, and children love them. The common mistake is frying over high heat: the egg coating browns long before the pork is cooked through to the middle. Chef's tip: squeeze the tofu bone-dry in a cloth; wet tofu makes the patties fall apart and spit.

55 minKoreanMeat
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Torta capreseFlourless chocolate almond cake

Torta caprese was born on the island of Capri in the 1920s, the story goes, when a baker forgot to add flour to a chocolate almond cake and created a classic by accident. It is now the cake of the Amalfi Coast: dense, moist and fudgy in the middle, with a thin crackled crust and a dusting of icing sugar. Restaurants in Capri and Sorrento serve it with a spoonful of cream or lemon sorbet. It is naturally gluten free. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: take it out while the middle is still slightly soft; it firms up as it cools and stays moist for days.

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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.

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SundaeKorean blood sausage

Sundae is the steamed sausage sold sliced from big steaming trays in every Korean market, from Seoul's Sillim-dong sundae town to the Byeongcheon market in Cheonan, and eaten with salt and pepper, tteokbokki sauce or a bowl of soup. This home version fills cleaned pork casings with pork blood, glass noodles, sticky rice, cabbage and bean sprouts, then poaches them gently until firm, giving soft, savoury, slightly springy slices. It is pork through and through: pork blood and pork casings. Buy the blood fresh from a butcher, keep it chilled and use it the same day. The common mistake is boiling the water hard, which bursts the casings; keep it at a lazy simmer and prick any air bubbles. Chef's tip: fill the casings only about three-quarters full; the rice swells as it cooks and an overfilled sausage splits.

140 minKoreanMeat
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Melanzane a funghettoFried aubergine with tomatoes

Neapolitans call this aubergine "a funghetto" because the small fried cubes look and taste a little like sautéed mushrooms. It is a summer side dish from Naples and the Amalfi Coast, made when aubergines are cheap and glossy: cubes fried until golden, then tossed with a quick sauce of cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil. It is served warm or cold next to grilled meat or fish, or piled on bread. Chef's tip: salt the aubergine cubes and leave them in a colander for 30 minutes, then pat dry; they soak up less oil and fry crisp.

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Shokupan (Japanese milk bread)

Shokupan is the everyday sandwich loaf of Japan, sold by the half loaf at bakeries from Sapporo to Fukuoka and toasted in thick slabs for breakfast with butter and jam. Its feathery, pull-apart crumb comes from a cooked flour paste (yudane-style) that lets the dough hold more water, so the bread stays soft for days. You need a 900 g loaf tin and a few hours of mostly waiting. The usual mistake is slicing it while hot, which squashes the delicate crumb into gummy layers; let it cool fully. Chef's tip: roll each piece of dough into a tight spiral before it goes into the tin, which gives the tall, even rise and those stringy, tearable layers.

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