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Cioccolata caldaThick hot chocolate

Italian hot chocolate is not a milky drink but almost a pudding: thick enough to coat a spoon, made with real dark chocolate and cocoa thickened with a little starch. On cold winter afternoons in Turin, Florence and Perugia, families sit in historic cafés with a cup topped with whipped cream (con panna), dipping biscuits into it. Children love it. Chef's tip: mix the cornflour and cocoa with a little cold milk to a smooth paste first; dropped straight into hot milk, they form lumps.

15 min

Italian Drinks

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Pain aux raisinsRaisin custard swirl pastry

Pain aux raisins, called escargot in some bakeries for its snail-shell spiral, is the third great pastry of the French breakfast counter, alongside the croissant and pain au chocolat. Croissant dough is spread with vanilla crème pâtissière, scattered with plump raisins, rolled up and sliced into spirals, then baked and brushed with syrup until glossy. The common mistake is spreading the cream too thick, so it oozes out and the spirals open. Chef's tip: soak the raisins in hot tea or orange juice for 30 minutes so they are juicy and do not burn.

680 min

French Baking

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Fagioli con le coticheBeans with pork rind

In Rome and the towns of Lazio, fagioli con le cotiche is the winter dish from the old trattorie of Trastevere: borlotti beans stewed slowly in tomato with cotiche, the skin of the pig, which melts into soft, sticky ribbons that make the sauce rich and glossy. It was the food of the poor who used every part of the pig. Ask the butcher for clean pork rind, or use rind cut from a piece of pork belly. Chef's tip: boil the rind twice in fresh water before stewing it; it removes any strong smell and makes it tender.

210 min

Italian Meat

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Caffè d'orzoBarley coffee

In Italian bars you can always ask for "un orzo": a hot drink made from roasted barley that looks like coffee and has a toasty, slightly sweet taste but no caffeine. During the war, when coffee was scarce, families drank it every morning, and today it is given to children, pregnant women and anyone avoiding caffeine. It can be made in a moka pot, served in a small cup like espresso or in a large one with milk. Barley contains gluten. Chef's tip: don't press the barley into the moka basket like coffee; packed tightly, it blocks the water and the pot hisses.

7 min

Italian Drinks

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Potage Saint-GermainFresh pea soup

Potage Saint-Germain is a Parisian classic named after the Saint-Germain district, a bright green spring soup served at the start of family dinners in May and June when fresh peas arrive, though frozen peas make an excellent version all year. Peas are simmered briefly with lettuce, spring onions and mint, then blended smooth so the soup tastes fresh and sweet. The common mistake is cooking the peas too long, which turns the soup khaki and dull. Chef's tip: cool the blended soup quickly in a bowl set over iced water if you are not serving it at once; it keeps its vivid colour.

30 min

French Soups

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Pâte feuilletéePuff pastry

Pâte feuilletée is the queen of French pastries, the flaky dough behind galettes des rois, mille-feuilles, vol-au-vents and palmiers, still made by hand in pâtisseries all over France. A simple dough is wrapped around a flat block of cold butter, then rolled and folded six times, so that in the oven the water in the butter turns to steam and lifts hundreds of layers. It takes time rather than skill. The common mistake is letting the butter get warm and soft, which smears the layers together. Chef's tip: chill the dough for 30 minutes after every two turns, and work in a cool kitchen.

300 min

French Basics

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Pastina in brodoTiny pasta in broth

Ask any Italian what their mother made when they were ill as a child, and the answer is pastina in brodo: tiny pasta stars (stelline) or alphabet letters cooked in a light homemade broth and finished with a spoonful of grated Parmigiano and a drizzle of olive oil. It is the first "grown-up" food for many Italian toddlers and the comfort food for everyone on a cold or tired evening. Parmigiano is made with animal rennet; a vegetarian hard cheese works. Chef's tip: cook the pasta directly in the broth, not in water; the starch gives the broth a gentle, silky body.

30 min

Italian Soups

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Minestra maritataGreens and pork soup

Minestra maritata, "married soup", gets its name from the happy marriage of greens and meat. It is the oldest soup of Naples, eaten at Christmas and Easter: a rich broth made from pork cuts, such as ribs, pork shoulder, sausage, pancetta and a ham bone, in which several bitter winter greens, such as escarole, chicory, savoy cabbage and borage, are simmered until silky. Families make a huge pot to eat over several days. Chef's tip: blanch each green separately first; it takes away the strongest bitterness and stops the broth turning murky.

250 min

Italian Soups

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Torta allo yogurtYogurt cake

Torta allo yogurt is the first cake many Italian children bake, because everything is measured using the empty yogurt pot: one pot of yogurt, then pots of sugar, flour and oil. It is a soft, moist everyday cake made in homes across the country for breakfast or the afternoon merenda (snack), plain or with fruit. This recipe gives the amounts in grams for an average 125 g pot. Chef's tip: use whole-milk yogurt at room temperature; it gives a moist cake that stays soft for days.

50 min

Italian Baking

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BicerinLayered chocolate and coffee drink

The bicerin ("little glass" in Piedmontese dialect) has been served since 1763 at the tiny Caffè al Bicerin opposite the Consolata church in Turin, where it was the drink that churchgoers had after fasting before Mass. It is three layers in a small glass: thick hot chocolate at the bottom, espresso in the middle and cold, lightly whipped cream on top, not stirred, so you taste each layer in turn. Contains caffeine. Chef's tip: pour the coffee and then the cream slowly over the back of a spoon so the layers sit on top of each other instead of mixing.

10 min

Italian Drinks

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CiambottaSummer vegetable stew

In August, when the vegetable gardens of Basilicata and the Cilento are overflowing, families make ciambotta: peppers, aubergines, potatoes, courgettes, onion and tomato stewed slowly together in olive oil until soft and sweet. Farmworkers once ate it in the fields with bread; today it's a summer supper, eaten warm or at room temperature, sometimes with an egg cracked on top. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in stages, potatoes first and courgettes last; that way they all finish tender at the same time without any turning to mush.

60 min

Italian Vegetarian

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Zuppa di cicerchieGrass pea soup

Cicerchie (grass peas) are an ancient legume that looks like a small, squared-off chickpea, grown on the hills of the Marche and Umbria around Serra de' Conti and Gubbio. They make a thick, nutty, rustic winter soup cooked with garlic, tomato and rosemary, served over toasted bread with a thread of new olive oil. Grass peas contain a natural toxin when eaten in large amounts, so always soak them for at least 24 hours, changing the water a few times, and enjoy them as an occasional dish. Chef's tip: change the soaking water at least three times; it removes most of the toxin and makes the peas easier to digest.

105 min

Italian Soups

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Pâté lorrainPork and veal pastry pie

Pâté lorrain is the pride of Lorraine in north-east France, a long puff pastry loaf filled with pork and veal marinated overnight in white wine, shallots and herbs, served hot as a starter for Sunday lunch or village feasts with a green salad. It contains pork. The meat marinates raw in wine in the fridge and then bakes for an hour, which cooks off most of the alcohol but not all; for an alcohol-free version marinate in 150 ml chicken stock with 1 tbsp white wine vinegar. The common mistake is underbaking: the filling must reach 71 °C in the centre. Chef's tip: cut the meat into thin strips, not cubes; it cooks evenly and slices neatly.

90 min

French Meat

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Pain au laitSoft milk rolls

Pain au lait is the soft, slightly sweet milk roll French children take to school for goûter at four o'clock, split and filled with a bar of chocolate or spread with jam. The dough is enriched with milk, butter and a little egg, shaped into small oval rolls, snipped along the top with scissors and sprinkled with pearl sugar. The common mistake is overbaking, which gives a crust; they should stay pale gold and pillowy. Chef's tip: brush them with egg twice, before and after proving, for the glossy bakery finish.

175 min

French Baking

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Polpette di pane al sugoBread balls in tomato sauce

When meat was a luxury, families in Calabria, Basilicata and Campania made "meatballs" from stale bread, eggs, pecorino, garlic and parsley, fried until crisp and then simmered in tomato sauce. These polpette are so good that they're still made today, as a Friday supper or as part of a Sunday spread, eaten with lots of bread to wipe up the sauce. Pecorino is usually made with animal rennet; a vegetarian hard cheese works. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked bread really dry; wet bread makes polpette that break apart in the sauce.

60 min

Italian Vegetarian

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CiambelloneItalian ring cake

Every Italian nonna has her own ciambellone, the tall, plain ring cake that sits under a glass dome on the kitchen counter for breakfast, sliced and dunked in caffellatte or eaten with jam. It is made with eggs, sugar, flour and oil or butter, flavoured with lemon zest, and often marbled with cocoa. In Rome and Emilia it is also the cake brought to friends' houses and church fêtes. Chef's tip: whisk the eggs and sugar for a full 8 minutes, until very pale and thick; that air is what makes the cake rise tall without much baking powder.

60 min

Italian Baking

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Scarola e fagioliEscarole and bean soup

Scarola e fagioli is one of the oldest dishes of Neapolitan home cooking: tender escarole, a slightly bitter winter salad green, simmered with creamy cannellini beans, garlic, chilli and olive oil into a thick soup, sometimes with broken pasta stirred in. In Naples it is a cold-weather supper, eaten with toasted bread rubbed with garlic. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the beans into the broth; it thickens the soup and makes it creamy without any cream.

40 min

Italian Soups

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OrzataAlmond syrup drink

Orzata was first made from barley (orzo), but in Liguria, Sardinia and Sicily it has long been made from almonds: a milky, sweet almond syrup, diluted with ice-cold water and drunk on hot summer afternoons in seaside bars and at home. Its gentle almond and orange-blossom flavour makes it a children's favourite. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: soak the blanched almonds in water for an hour before blending; they release more milk and the syrup is richer.

20 min

Italian Drinks

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MarocchinoEspresso with cocoa and milk foam

The marocchino was born in the bars of Alessandria in Piedmont, and it is now ordered all over northern Italy: a little glass dusted inside with cocoa, filled with an espresso and topped with milk foam and more cocoa, sometimes with a spoonful of chocolate sauce at the bottom. Its name comes from the brown colour of a leather called "marocchino" once used for hat bands. It is a mid-morning or afternoon treat. Contains caffeine. Chef's tip: dust the empty glass with cocoa before pouring the coffee in; it sticks to the hot glass and gives each sip a chocolate edge.

5 min

Italian Drinks

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Trippa alla romanaTripe in tomato sauce

Rome's quinto quarto, the "fifth quarter" or offal, was the food of the slaughterhouse workers of Testaccio, and trippa alla romana is still served there every Saturday: honeycomb beef tripe stewed slowly in tomato with onion, carrot and celery, finished with fresh mint, which Romans call mentuccia, and a heap of grated pecorino. It is tender, rich and surprisingly delicate. Buy tripe ready cleaned and part-cooked from a butcher. Alcohol is used here: white wine, which you can replace with water and a spoonful of vinegar. Chef's tip: add the mint only at the end; cooked too long, it turns dark and loses its fresh, cooling taste.

170 min

Italian Meat

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Cappuccino

In Italy the cappuccino is strictly a breakfast drink, ordered at the bar counter with a cornetto before 11 in the morning, never after a meal. It is a single espresso topped with an equal amount of hot milk and a thick cap of velvety foam, named after the brown habits of Capuchin friars. Baristas in Turin and Trieste are famous for their thick, glossy microfoam. Contains caffeine, so it's not for children. Chef's tip: heat the milk only to about 65 °C, when the jug is too hot to hold for more than a second; hotter milk tastes cooked and the foam collapses.

5 min

Italian Drinks

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Frittata di zucchineCourgette frittata

Frittata is Italy's everyday dish for a quick supper or a packed lunch: a thick, flat omelette cooked slowly in a pan, then flipped over a plate. Courgette frittata, with soft, golden slices of courgette and Parmigiano, is the summer favourite, taken to the beach in a panino or cut into squares for children. It is just as good cold the next day. Parmigiano is made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian hard cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: cook the courgettes until golden before adding the eggs; raw courgettes make the frittata watery.

25 min

Italian Vegetarian

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Polpette al sugoMeatballs in tomato sauce

In southern Italian homes, polpette al sugo are the Sunday treat: soft meatballs of beef and pork mince with stale bread, egg, Parmigiano, garlic and parsley, browned and then simmered slowly in tomato sauce. The sauce goes on pasta as the first course, and the meatballs are the second, with bread. Neapolitan grandmothers make them big, the size of a small orange. They contain pork. Chef's tip: soak the bread in milk and use plenty of it; it is what keeps the meatballs tender and light, not firm and dry.

90 min

Italian Meat

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Brioche à têteTopknot brioche

Brioche à tête, the brioche parisienne, is the little fluted bun with a round head that sits in every French bakery window, eaten for Sunday breakfast, dunked in hot chocolate or served with jam at goûter. The dough is very rich in eggs and butter, kneaded long until silky, then chilled overnight, which makes it easy to shape and gives a deep flavour. The common mistake is adding the butter too fast, which leaves a greasy dough. Chef's tip: add the butter a little at a time while the mixer runs, and wait until each piece disappears before adding the next.

620 min

French Baking

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