All recipes

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Nan-e keshmeshiSaffron raisin cookies

Ask an Iranian child which Nowruz sweet they reach for first and many will say nan-e keshmeshi, the little raisin cookies with crisp golden rims and soft, chewy centres. Confectioners in Tehran make them by the thousand in the run-up to the spring new year, and they turn up again whenever there is tea and company. The dough is a simple butter-sugar-egg batter warmed with saffron and vanilla, spooned out in small dabs that spread thin in the oven. Spooning them too big or too close is the common slip: they run into each other and bake into one sheet. Chef's tip: soak the raisins in hot water for 10 minutes and dry them well first; plump raisins stay juicy instead of burning on the surface.

44 min

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Kak-e KermanshahiThin buttered sugar sheets

Kermanshah, in Iran's Kurdish west, is famous for its ghee, and kak is the sweet that shows it off: dough rolled so thin you can read through it, baked crisp in seconds, then brushed with melted ghee and showered with sugar before the sheets are folded and stacked. Shops in the city's bazaar sell them in tall boxes, and families bring them out for guests and at Nowruz with glasses of black tea. They are traditionally made with Kermanshahi ghee, a nutty sheep's-milk ghee; ordinary ghee or clarified butter works well. The classic mistake is rolling too thickly: anything over a millimetre bakes up like a cracker, not a crisp, glassy sheet. Chef's tip: roll on a lightly oiled counter rather than flour, and stretch the last bit over the backs of your hands, as the Kermanshah bakers do; excess flour scorches on the hot tray.

120 min

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Nan-e badamiAlmond cardamom cookies

Tabriz and Yazd both claim the best nan-e badami, and in the weeks before Nowruz pastry shops across Iran fill trays with these small almond cookies for the new-year table. Made from ground almonds, sugar and egg white with no flour at all, they have a thin crisp shell and a moist, chewy middle, perfumed with cardamom and rose water and topped with a sliver of pistachio. Offer them with tea when guests make their Nowruz visits; they also keep well enough to make a week ahead. Over-whisking is the easy error: the whites only need to be frothy, not stiff, or the cookies puff and crack like meringues. Chef's tip: let the shaped cookies sit uncovered for 20 minutes before baking so a skin forms; that skin is what gives the neat, crackled top.

45 min

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Tarta de coco y dulce de lecheCoconut and dulce de leche tart

Ask Argentinians for their favourite tart at a family birthday and this one often wins: a crisp shortcrust spread thickly with dulce de leche, then covered with a coconut, sugar and egg topping that bakes into a golden, chewy crust. Bakeries from Córdoba to Mar del Plata sell it by the slice for the merienda with mate or a café con leche. It is very sweet, so the slices are thin, and it is a good keeper for a few days. Ordinary spreading dulce de leche is the mistake: it runs and bubbles out at the edges. Use the thicker pastry-style kind, sold in Argentina as 'repostero'. Chef's tip: chill the case with the dulce de leche spread on it for 15 minutes before adding the coconut, so the two layers stay distinct.

75 min

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Nan-e khameiCream puffs

Tehran's pastry shops, the qanadi on every busy street, sell nan-e khamei by the boxful: small golden choux puffs split and filled with softly whipped cream, dusted with icing sugar. Families buy a box to take when visiting relatives, for birthdays and above all for the Nowruz new-year table, and they are eaten with glasses of black tea. The shells are crisp and hollow, the cream barely sweet and sometimes lifted with a drop of rose water, and a few chopped pistachios on top add colour. Filling them too early is the usual mistake, as the cream softens the shells within hours, so fill them shortly before serving. Chef's tip: whip the cream in a chilled bowl and stop at soft peaks with a little hold; it pipes smoothly and doesn't turn grainy.

80 min

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BizcochueloPlain whisked sponge cake

Nearly every Argentine birthday torta starts life as a bizcochuelo: a tall, plain sponge of eggs, sugar, flour and cornflour, with no butter and no baking powder, lifted only by long whisking. Grandmothers bake it on Sunday to split into three and fill with dulce de leche and whipped cream, or eat it plain in the afternoon with mate. The crumb is fine, dry-ish and airy, made to soak up syrup. Opening the oven in the first 20 minutes is the classic way to flatten it, so leave the door shut. Chef's tip: whisk until the mixture reaches 'punto letra', thick enough that a ribbon drawn on the surface holds its shape for a few seconds; that takes a good 8–10 minutes with an electric mixer, and warm eggs get there faster.

55 min

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Khoresh-e porteghalOrange chicken stew

Mazandaran on the Caspian grows Iran's oranges, and in winter, when bitter Seville oranges and sweet navels are everywhere, families there cook khoresh-e porteghal for guests; it has also become a Tehran wedding-season favourite. Chicken braises in saffron and orange juice with ribbons of candied peel, carrot batons and slivered almonds, giving a jewel-bright stew that is fragrant, sweet and tangy. Serve it with chelow. The usual mistake is leaving the white pith on the peel, which makes the whole pot bitter; slice it off thinly and blanch the strips twice. The dish contains almonds. Chef's tip: a squeeze of Seville orange or lime at the end stops it tasting like marmalade.

90 min

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Khoresh-e aluChicken and prune stew

Khoresh-e alu is a dinner-party stew in Tehran, made for guests in winter when it can sit on the stove and wait; the prunes and a spoonful of vinegar give it the gentle sweet-sour balance Tehranis love. Chicken thighs brown with a big heap of fried onion and saffron, then braise slowly with black prunes until the sauce is dark, glossy and sticky. Serve with chelow or saffron rice and a crisp salad shirazi. People often stir the stew hard once the prunes are in, and they split and cloud the sauce; turn the chicken gently instead. Chef's tip: fry the onion slowly until truly brown, not just golden, because that colour is most of the flavour.

90 min

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Kuku-ye morghSaffron chicken egg cake

Tehran families take kuku-ye morgh to the mountains of Darband and Tochal on Friday outings, cut into wedges and stuffed into lavash with tomato and pickled cucumber. Poached chicken is shredded, mixed with golden onion, saffron and eggs, and cooked into a thick, moist cake that holds together for sandwiches. Serve it warm or cold with yogurt and herbs. The mistake is overcooking the chicken before it goes in, which leaves the kuku dry and stringy; poach it gently just to temperature. Contains egg. Chef's tip: add 2 tablespoons of the poaching broth to the eggs; it keeps the kuku juicy even the next day.

55 min

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Estofado de polloChicken stew

Estofado de pollo is the mild, homely chicken stew of Lima's family kitchens and school lunches, usually on the table on a weekday or a quiet Sunday with white rice. Chicken pieces are browned, then braised in a sauce of onion, garlic, tomato, a little ají panca paste and bay, with carrots, peas and yellow potatoes cooked right in the pot until the sauce is thick and orange. It is comforting rather than hot. The usual mistake is boiling it hard, which shreds the potatoes and dries the chicken; keep it at a lazy bubble. Chef's tip: use a few yellow potatoes along with waxy ones; they collapse slightly and thicken the sauce naturally.

65 min

Peruvian Chicken

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Postre MassiniCustard sponge with burnt sugar top

Montevideo's birthday cake of choice since the early twentieth century, the Massini is two thin layers of sponge sandwiching a thick filling of whipped cream folded with egg-yolk custard, crowned with a thin glassy crust of torched yolk and sugar. Bakeries across Uruguay sell it on Sundays. Traditional versions sometimes add a sweet fortified wine to the custard; this one is alcohol-free. The custard is cooked to a safe 71 °C. The common mistake is assembling with warm custard, which melts the cream into a puddle. Chef's tip: if you don't have a blowtorch, put the sugared top under a very hot grill for a minute and watch it closely.

80 min

Paraguayan Baking

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Escabeche de polloChicken in vinegar and carrot

Pollo en escabeche is a home classic in Córdoba and Buenos Aires, a legacy of Spanish preserving that Argentines make on a Saturday to eat cold all week. It comes out of the fridge for a picada before the asado, as a summer lunch with a green salad and crusty bread, or packed for a day in the sierras. Chicken is browned, then gently cooked in oil and vinegar with carrot, onion, red pepper, garlic, bay and black peppercorns, and left to rest at least a day. The meat turns tender and lightly tangy, the carrots keep a little crunch, and the oil carries the flavour of bay and pepper. Because garlic sits in oil, safety matters: the liquid is half strong vinegar (at least 5% acidity, never diluted beyond what the recipe says), and the jar always lives in the fridge, never on the shelf. Eat it within 5 days. The common mistake is letting it boil hard, which makes the chicken dry and stringy; it should barely tremble. It is ready the next day, when the chicken tastes seasoned right through and the oil has turned golden. Chef's tip: take it out 20 minutes before serving so the oil melts back to liquid.

65 min

Argentinian Chicken

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Tarta de zapallitosCourgette and cheese tart

In Buenos Aires every rotisería sells tartas by the slice, and at home a tarta de zapallitos is baked on Sunday evening so that a wedge can go into the vianda (packed lunch) for school and work all week. Zapallitos are round green courgettes; ordinary courgettes work just as well. The common mistake is adding the courgette raw, which floods the pastry; sauté it until the liquid has cooked away. Argentine queso rallado and many hard cheeses are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese. Chef's tip: bake the tart on a preheated baking tray so the base crisps before the filling soaks in.

70 min

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Pollo chi jau kayFried chicken in oyster sauce

Any chifa in Lima, from the old dining rooms of Barrio Chino on Calle Capón to the corner chifa in every district, will have chi jau kay on the menu: boneless chicken marinated in soy and ginger, fried in a crisp coating and served under a dark, glossy oyster sauce, scattered with sesame seeds and spring onion. The crust stays crunchy where the sauce hasn't reached and goes sticky where it has. It is shared with arroz chaufa or plain rice and a Chinese soup. The usual misstep is tossing the chicken in the sauce in the pan, which makes it soggy; Lima chifas pour the sauce over at the table. Chef's tip: fry the chicken twice, once to cook and once very hot for a minute to crisp, and it will stay crunchy under the sauce.

45 min

Peruvian Chicken

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KolompehDate and walnut pastries

Kolompeh is the pride of Kerman, a flat, round pastry stamped with a pattern on top and filled with date paste spiced with cardamom, cinnamon and a little fennel seed. Kermanis bake it for Nowruz and for guests, and it keeps well enough to travel, which is why tins of it go home with every visitor. The pastry is short and tender with a hint of sweetness. A common mistake is making the date filling too wet, which seeps through the pastry; it should be a stiff paste you can roll into a ball. Chef's tip: warm the dates for a few seconds before mashing, and they turn into a smooth paste in moments.

70 min

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Nan-e nokhodchiChickpea flour cookies

No Nowruz tea tray in Tehran or Qazvin looks complete without a pile of tiny four-leafed nan-e nokhodchi, each topped with a sliver of pistachio. They are made from flour of roasted chickpeas, so they taste nutty and slightly savoury under the sugar, and they dissolve almost instantly on the tongue. Bakers make them by the thousand in March, but they are simple at home with a small clover cutter. The common mistake is using raw gram flour, which tastes beany and bitter; the flour must be from roasted chickpeas, or toasted first. Chef's tip: knead the dough longer than you think, 8–10 minutes, until it turns smooth and pale; that is what gives the melting texture.

118 min

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Morgh-e torshChicken with walnuts and sour plums

Morgh-e torsh is everyday Sunday cooking in Rasht and the villages of Gilan, where gardens overflow with herbs and the cooking leans sour rather than sweet. Chicken pieces are browned, then braised with a mountain of chopped coriander, parsley, mint and garlic chives, ground walnuts and sour plums, finished with verjuice or lemon until the sauce turns a deep olive green. It is eaten with kateh, the simple Caspian rice. A common mistake is adding the herbs raw to the pot; fry them first until dark and fragrant, or the sauce tastes grassy. Chef's tip: a beaten egg stirred in at the very end is how many Gilani grandmothers thicken and enrich the sauce.

80 min

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GondiChicken and chickpea-flour dumplings

Gondi is the Friday-night dish of Tehran's Persian Jewish families, served at the Shabbat table before the main course or as a light lunch after. Big, soft dumplings of minced chicken, grated onion and roasted chickpea flour, scented with cardamom, are poached in a clear turmeric broth with chickpeas, and each bowl gets one or two with plenty of broth, fresh herbs and flatbread. The texture should be tender and slightly crumbly, a little like a dense matzo ball. A common mistake is using raw chickpea flour; buy roasted chickpea flour (nokhodchi flour) or dry-toast plain gram flour first, or the dumplings taste raw. Chef's tip: chill the mixture for 30 minutes before shaping so the dumplings hold their shape in the broth.

90 min

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Ghorabieh TabriziAlmond and egg-white cookies

Every traveller to Tabriz is expected to bring back a box of ghorabieh from the bazaar confectioners: pale, domed almond cookies with a thin crackled shell and a soft, chewy middle, scented with vanilla and sometimes topped with a sliver of pistachio. They are a Nowruz favourite in Azerbaijan province and keep well, so families bake them a week ahead. A common mistake is baking them too hot, which browns the outside before the inside sets and leaves them hollow. Chef's tip: let the piped cookies sit for 20 minutes before baking so a skin forms; that skin gives the classic crackled top.

55 min

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KispiñoSteamed quinoa cakes

Pressed in a fist so each one carries the marks of the cook's fingers, kispiño are small, dense quinoa cakes from the Puno highlands, steamed and then left to dry so they keep for weeks on journeys, herding trips and pilgrimages. Traditional ones are bound with a little lime water (from cal, the mineral) and fat; this home version uses oil and a pinch of aniseed and sugar, so they're vegan and pleasantly savoury-sweet. They're firm and chewy, a little like a grain cake, and good with hot tea, coca tea or a soup on a cold day. The common mistake is making the dough too wet, so the cakes slump in the steamer; it should feel like damp sand that holds its shape when squeezed. Ground quinoa is quinoa flour; grind your own from rinsed, dried and toasted grain, or buy it ready ground. Chef's tip: toast the ground quinoa in a dry pan first until it smells nutty, which takes away any bitterness.

55 min

Peruvian Baking

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Haji badamAlmond and cardamom cookies

Haji badam are the small, pale almond cookies of Yazd, crisp at the edge and soft and chewy inside, baked for Nowruz and kept in tins for guests through the new year. They need only ground almonds, sugar, egg yolk and cardamom, so they are naturally gluten-free. Each one is rolled into a ball and pinched or pressed with a pistachio sliver. A common mistake is baking them until golden all over: pull them when only the bottoms colour, or they go hard and dry. Chef's tip: let the dough rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, which makes it much easier to roll without cracking.

35 min

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Nan-e berenjiRice-flour cookies

Kermanshah in western Iran is famous for its nan-e berenji, and in the weeks before Nowruz bakeries there pack them by the boxful for guests who come visiting through the holiday. Made with rice flour, they are pale, crumbly and melt on the tongue, scented with cardamom and rosewater and sprinkled with a few poppy seeds. Many families make the dough a day ahead. The common mistake is letting them colour in the oven; they should come out white with only the faintest gold underneath. Chef's tip: rest the dough in the fridge for at least an hour so the rice flour hydrates; otherwise the cookies crack and spread.

120 min