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Kawa zbożowaRoasted grain coffee

In Polish kindergartens, school canteens and grandmothers' kitchens, kawa zbożowa is the breakfast "coffee" everyone can drink: a blend of roasted rye, barley, chicory and sometimes sugar beet that tastes toasty and malty with no caffeine at all. It is usually drunk milky and a little sweet alongside bread and butter. The common mistake is brewing ground grain coffee like espresso: it needs a few minutes of simmering to give up its flavour, or it tastes like weak tea. Chef's tip: let the pot stand off the heat for 2 minutes after simmering so the grounds sink, then pour gently and you won't need a filter at all.

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SchnitzelsemmelSchnitzel in a bread roll

Austrians setting off on a train journey, a ski day or a building-site shift pack a Schnitzelsemmel: a crisp Kaisersemmel roll holding a cold, golden pork schnitzel (veal for special days), a leaf of lettuce and a squeeze of lemon, sometimes with a smear of mustard or a gherkin. Leftover Sunday schnitzels are made for it. The common mistake is pressing the breadcrumbs on hard; they should sit loosely so they puff up and ripple away from the meat as it fries. Chef's tip: shake the pan constantly while frying so hot fat washes over the top, and the crust soufflés into those famous waves.

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Wiener MelangeCoffee with milk and foam

In Vienna you never simply order 'a coffee'; you order by name, and the Melange is the one most Viennese ask for. It arrives in a large cup on a small silver tray with a glass of water and often a tiny chocolate, and you may sit over it for an hour with the newspapers at Café Prückel or Hawelka, mid-morning or after lunch. Traditionally it is a mild, longer espresso (a Verlängerter) with roughly equal hot milk and a soft cap of milk foam; it is gentler than a cappuccino and the foam is looser and creamier. Expect a round, nutty, slightly sweet cup with little bitterness. The common mistake is overheating the milk: once it passes about 70 °C it smells cooked and loses its sweetness and the foam turns big-bubbled and dry. Stop when the jug is too hot to hold for more than a second or two. It is ready when the foam sits in a smooth, glossy dome about a finger thick and the coffee shows as a brown ring at the edge. One cup has about the caffeine of a single espresso. Chef's tip: always serve the glass of water alongside, as Vienna does; it is drunk first to clear the palate.

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BusecaTripe and white bean stew

Buseca arrived in Montevideo with Italian immigrants from Lombardy and became a classic winter dish of Uruguayan bodegones and family kitchens, eaten on cold June and July days. Honeycomb tripe is simmered until tender, then stewed with white beans, pork chorizo, bacon, peppers, tomato and paprika into a thick, warming stew served with crusty bread. Buy tripe that is already cleaned and blanched (dressed). The usual mistake is undercooking the tripe: it needs a full 2 hours, until it's soft enough to cut with a spoon. Slow-cooker option: after step 4, cook on low for 8 hours. Chef's tip: a little grated lemon zest and parsley stirred in at the end lifts the rich, gelatinous sauce.

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EinspännerBlack coffee with whipped cream

The Einspänner is named after the one-horse carriages of old Vienna: coachmen waiting outside in winter supposedly liked their coffee under a lid of cream that kept it hot and stopped it slopping. Today it is served in a handled glass at classic coffee houses, a strong black mocha (a double espresso or Großer Brauner without milk) topped with a thick layer of cold, lightly sweetened whipped cream and a pinch of icing sugar. You do not stir it: you sip the hot, bitter coffee through the cold, sweet cream, so each mouthful is two temperatures and two textures. It is an afternoon or late-morning coffee, often with a slice of Sachertorte. The common mistake is runny cream that sinks and turns the drink into a milky latte; whip it until it just holds a peak and spoon it on gently so it floats. It is ready when the cream stands at least 2 cm above the coffee and slowly sinks at the edges. It is strong: a double shot of caffeine in one glass. Chef's tip: pour the coffee in first and wait ten seconds before adding the cream, so the crema settles and helps support the cap.

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Cocido quemadoBurnt sugar mate drink

Cocido is how Paraguay starts the day: in Asunción, in the villages of Guairá and Itapúa, and in school kitchens, a pot of burnt yerba is brewed and poured into cups with chipa, the cheesy cassava bread, or with a hard galleta. The old way is to drop a glowing piece of charcoal into a pot with yerba and sugar and stir until the sugar burns. On a home stove you caramelise them together in a dry pan instead, which is safer and gives the same smoky, toffee-like taste. The drink is clear amber-brown, with roasted, slightly bitter mate notes over burnt-sugar sweetness; with milk added it becomes cocido con leche, creamy and coffee-coloured. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so treat it like a cup of coffee. The common mistake is letting the sugar go black: it turns acrid and bitter. Pull it off the heat when the caramel is deep amber and the yerba smells toasted, not burnt. It is ready when the liquid is a clear dark amber and tastes of toffee and smoke. Chef's tip: the water will spit fiercely when it hits the hot caramel, so pour it in from the side, at arm's length.

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Morcilla dulceSweet blood sausage with walnuts

No Uruguayan parrilla is complete without morcilla dulce: a soft pork blood sausage sweetened with sugar and scented with orange peel, studded with walnuts and raisins, grilled until the skin crisps and served first, as part of the achuras, while the beef is still cooking. It is pork throughout: pork blood, pork back fat and natural pork casings. Making it at home is a project. Buy fresh pork blood with an anticoagulant added from a butcher who supplies it for sausage making, keep it chilled below 4 °C and use it within a day. The common mistake is poaching at a rolling boil, which bursts the casings. Chef's tip: keep the water at 80–85 °C, just shivering, and prick a sausage after 25 minutes: it is done when brown, not red, juice comes out.

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TereréIced yerba mate

In Asunción the hottest part of the day stops for tereré: a horn or cup packed with yerba mate, topped up again and again with ice water infused with crushed herbs, and passed round the group through a metal straw. It was recognised by UNESCO as part of Paraguay's cultural heritage, and the herbs (yuyos) change with the season and the drinker's mood. Yerba mate contains caffeine, so it isn't one for small children. The common mistake is pouring water straight into loose yerba, which then clogs the straw; tilt the yerba to one side first. Chef's tip: for tereré ruso, swap the water for cold orange or grapefruit juice.

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Herbata z sokiem malinowymTea with raspberry syrup

In Polish homes a bottle of sok malinowy, the raspberry syrup made each July from garden or forest raspberries, waits in the pantry for winter. When someone comes in from the frost, or lies in bed with a cold, it goes into a glass of hot black tea, sometimes with a slice of lemon; grandmothers insist it makes you sweat the chill out, and the drink is traditionally given at the first sign of a sniffle. It also appears simply after a winter walk or with a slice of cake. The tea turns ruby, tastes of summer berries with a light tannic edge, and is sweet enough without sugar. The usual mistake is pouring syrup into boiling tea straight from the kettle: the fresh raspberry aroma cooks off and only sweetness is left. Let the tea cool for a minute or two first. It is ready when the tea is deep amber, the syrup has fully swirled through and it smells clearly of raspberries. No homemade syrup? Use a good shop-bought raspberry syrup, or make the quick one in the optional steps. Chef's tip: brew the tea weaker than usual, about two minutes, so the fruit stays in front.

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MaślankaChilled buttermilk

Maślanka, the tangy liquid left after churning butter, is sold in cartons all over Poland and drunk ice-cold with breakfast, with boiled new potatoes in summer, or blended with fruit for children. On its own it is thin, sour and refreshing; with strawberries and a spoon of sugar it becomes a light pink breakfast smoothie. The mistake is buying "buttermilk" that is really thickened yoghurt drink with added flavourings; look for plain cultured buttermilk with nothing else on the label. Chef's tip: chill the glasses as well as the buttermilk, and blend for no more than 20 seconds so it stays light and doesn't separate.

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Rolada śląskaBeef rolls with bacon and pickle

Sunday lunch in Upper Silesia follows a fixed and much-loved pattern: rosół first, then rolada with kluski śląskie dumplings and braised red cabbage, a trio known locally as the 'holy trinity'. Thin slices of beef topside are spread with mustard and rolled around smoked pork bacon, a strip of pickled cucumber and onion, then browned and braised until meltingly tender in a deep brown gravy that soaks into the dumplings. The pickle gives a sour, salty bite in every slice. Skimping on the browning is what most often lets cooks down; that crust is where the gravy gets its colour and depth. Chef's tip: pound the beef evenly to about 5 mm thick and roll tightly from the narrow end, so the filling stays sealed inside and every slice shows a neat spiral.

120 minPolishMeat
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Easter pâté

A thick slice of homemade pasztet belongs on the Easter breakfast table after the blessing of the food basket, next to ham, eggs, ćwikła and white sausage. This baked loaf combines pork shoulder, chicken thighs and pork liver, simmered with root vegetables and allspice, minced twice and baked until firm, so it slices cleanly yet stays moist and spreadable. Marjoram and nutmeg give it the classic Polish flavour; serve it cold with horseradish, beetroot relish and pickles. Overbaking dries it out, but underbaking is the bigger risk with poultry and liver, so always check the centre with a thermometer. Bake it two days ahead: it needs to chill overnight to set, and it keeps for five days in the fridge. Chef's tip: save the cooking stock and add it a ladle at a time as you mix; the mixture should be as soft as thick porridge, which keeps the finished loaf juicy.

180 minPolishMeat
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Fasolka po bretońskuWhite beans in tomato with sausage

Despite its name, nothing about fasolka po bretońsku is French; this is pure Polish canteen and milk-bar food, the thick, brick-red bean stew that has fed Warsaw students, soldiers and hungry families for generations. White beans simmer in tomato with smoked pork sausage, smoked bacon, onion and plenty of marjoram until creamy, smoky and slightly sweet. It is filling enough on its own with a hunk of bread and even better reheated the next day. Under-cooked beans are the most common disappointment; they must be soft right through before the tomato goes in, because acid stops them softening. Soak the dried beans overnight beforehand. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the cooked beans against the side of the pot before serving to give the sauce its typical velvety body.

90 minPolishMeatGluten free
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KrupniokBlood and groat sausage

Every Silesian butcher's counter has a tray of krupnioki, plump sausages of pork, pork blood, liver and buckwheat or barley groats, sold ready-cooked and eaten fried for a quick supper, often with sauerkraut, mustard and a slice of bread. Heated in a pan the filling loosens into a soft, peppery, marjoram-scented crumble under a crisp skin, while onions fried alongside add sweetness. This is a pork dish through and through. Because the sausage contains blood and offal, buy it ready-cooked from a butcher you trust, keep it cold and use it within its date. The trap many fall into is frying it too hot: the skin splits and the filling spills before the centre is warm. Chef's tip: for neat slices, chill the sausage well, cut it with the skin on, then fry the rounds; peel the skin away at the table if you prefer.

25 minPolishMeat
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Maczanka po krakowskuPork roll in caraway juices

Long before burgers reached the Rynek, Kraków's taverns sold maczanka, a soft bread roll split, dunked in the cooking juices of slowly braised pork shoulder and stuffed with sliced meat. The name comes from maczać, to dip, and the dipping is the whole point: the roll should drip, so eat it over a plate with a knife and fork or a stack of napkins. The pork is braised with plenty of onion, caraway and marjoram until it slices like butter, and the juices go glossy and savoury. Serve it with a pickled cucumber and a sharp beetroot and horseradish relish (ćwikła). Where most people go wrong is rushing the braise at a boil, which tightens the meat instead of softening it. Chef's tip: braise the shoulder the day before, chill it in its juices and slice it cold; it cuts neatly and reheats beautifully in the liquid.

150 minPolishMeat
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PrażonkiLayered potato, cabbage and sausage

Come late summer, villages around Kraków, the Jura uplands and the Beskid foothills hold prażonki parties, where a heavy cast-iron pot called a kociołek sits in the embers of a bonfire and everyone waits for the lid to come off. Inside are layers of smoked pork belly, onion, potato, cabbage and smoked pork sausage that steam in their own juices with only a splash of water, so the potatoes turn buttery and the cabbage sweet and smoky. It is eaten straight from the pot with buttermilk or kefir and a pickle. The usual slip is adding too much liquid: the pot should hiss and steam, not boil, or you end up with soup. A heavy casserole on the hob works just as well as a campfire. Chef's tip: put the bacon and onion at the very bottom; they protect everything above from burning and season the whole pot as their fat melts.

120 minPolishMeatGluten free
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Pyzy z mięsemPork-filled potato dumplings

Old Warsaw's Praga district made pyzy famous: at the Bazar Różyckiego market, traders once ladled them hot from jars wrapped in blankets. These are large, soft balls of raw and boiled potato, filled with seasoned minced pork and topped with fried onion and crisp pork crackling (skwarki) that drips its fat over the plate. The outside is silky and slightly chewy, the middle savoury with marjoram. A glass of kefir or a bowl of sauerkraut salad cuts the richness. The pitfall is leaving too much water in the grated raw potato, so the dough is sticky and the dumplings fall apart. Chef's tip: let the squeezed potato liquid stand for 10 minutes, pour off the water and scrape the white starch at the bottom back into the dough; it binds everything for free.

90 minPolishMeat
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Roast goose with apples

On 11 November, St Martin's Day and Poland's Independence Day, roast goose comes back to tables from Poznań to Gdańsk, and Pomeranian and Kujawy farms still raise their own white geese for it. The bird is rubbed with marjoram, garlic and salt, left overnight in the fridge, then stuffed with sharp apples and roasted slowly so the fat renders out and the skin turns crisp and mahogany. The meat is dark and rich, the apples collapse into a tart sauce. Serve with braised red cabbage, potato dumplings and the pan juices. Most people forget to drain the fat as it roasts, and the bird ends up frying in its own puddle; pour it off every half hour and save it for roast potatoes. Allow an extra night for the marinade. Chef's tip: prick the skin all over, especially under the wings and thighs, without piercing the meat, so the fat has somewhere to escape.

240 minPolishMeatGluten free
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Steirisches WurzelfleischPork simmered with root vegetables

Wurzelfleisch, 'root meat', is a winter dish from the farms of Styria in south-east Austria, cooked in November and December when pigs were killed and the cellar was full of carrots, celeriac and parsley root. Pork shoulder is simmered in a lightly sour broth, then served in deep plates with thin strips of root vegetables, boiled potatoes and a snowfall of freshly grated horseradish. It is a gentle, clean-tasting dish, quite unlike a roast. Chef's tip: grate the horseradish at the table; it loses its bite within minutes.

130 minAustrianMeatGluten free
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TafelspitzSimmered beef with apple horseradish

Tafelspitz is Vienna's grand Sunday lunch, the dish the old Beisl taverns and the city's famous beef restaurants built their names on. A whole piece of beef top rump is barely simmered with root vegetables for hours, then served in three acts: first the clear golden broth, then the sliced beef with crisp roast potatoes, sharp Apfelkren (grated apple and horseradish) and a cool chive sauce. Keep any leftover broth for Grießnockerlsuppe or Frittatensuppe. Chef's tip: never let the pot bubble; a slow tremble keeps the meat juicy and the broth clear.

210 minAustrianMeatGluten free
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Tiroler GröstlFried potato and pork with egg

Tiroler Gröstl is what Tyrolean mountain huts serve to skiers and hikers coming in from the cold, and what farmhouse kitchens around Innsbruck make on Monday from Sunday's roast. Cold boiled potatoes are fried until crusty with onions, then tossed with cubes of leftover roast pork or smoked pork, caraway and marjoram, and crowned with a fried egg. It is made in one big pan and brought to the table in it. Chef's tip: let the potatoes fry undisturbed for the first few minutes; the brown crust is the whole dish.

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Asado uruguayoGrilled beef short ribs and chorizo

Sunday in Uruguay means asado: in Montevideo backyards and the cattle towns of the interior, beef ribs (asado de tira), chorizo and morcilla cook slowly over the embers of a wood fire, with only coarse salt, while the family waits. The parrillero rakes coals under the grill and keeps the heat low and even. This recipe includes pork chorizo. The mistake is cooking over flames; the fire should burn down to embers you can hold your hand above for 6–8 seconds. Chef's tip: salt the meat only when it goes on the grill, with coarse salt, never fine.

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Kotlet schabowyBreaded pork cutlet

Kotlet schabowy is the Polish Sunday dinner, served in homes and milk bars from Warsaw to Wrocław, usually with buttery dill potatoes and mizeria (cucumber in soured cream) or braised cabbage. It is a pork dish: slices of boneless pork loin are pounded thin, dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried in lard or oil until crisp and golden. Chef's tip: pound the meat between sheets of cling film to an even 5 mm; even thickness means the coating browns just as the meat is done.

35 minPolishMeat
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BigosHunter's stew with sauerkraut and pork

Bigos, the hunter's stew, is cooked in huge pots across Poland for Christmas, New Year and the long winter, and every family insists theirs is best on the third reheating. Sauerkraut and fresh cabbage stew for hours with pork shoulder, smoked kiełbasa and bacon, dried wild mushrooms, prunes, juniper and a splash of red wine; it is a pork dish through and through. The wine contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version use 100 ml apple juice with 1 tbsp cider vinegar. Serve with rye bread or boiled potatoes. Chef's tip: taste the sauerkraut first; if it is very sharp, rinse it once in cold water and squeeze it dry.

240 minPolishMeatGluten free
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