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Mandi'o chyryryFried cassava with onion and egg

Mandi'o chyryry means 'fried cassava' in Guaraní, and it is what rural Paraguayan families make from yesterday's boiled mandi'o: chunks crushed and fried in a big pan with onion until crisp in places, then scrambled with eggs. It comes out for breakfast with cocido or for a quick supper, and costs next to nothing. Use sweet cassava, the kind sold in supermarkets. The mistake is stirring constantly, which turns it to mush; let the cassava sit and brown. Chef's tip: the best chyryry starts with cold, day-old boiled cassava, which fries crisper than freshly boiled.

45 min

Paraguayan Sides

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

185 min

Paraguayan Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

14 min

Paraguayan Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

120 min

Paraguayan Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

10 min

Paraguayan Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fa'alifu fa'iGreen bananas in coconut cream

Fa'alifu fa'i is one of the everyday staples of Samoa, cooked in family kitchens in Apia and the villages of Savai'i to go with fish, chicken or a Sunday umu. Green cooking bananas are boiled until soft, then finished in a rich, salty-sweet coconut cream sauce with onion, so they turn silky and soak up the flavour. A common mistake is using ripe bananas, which fall apart; they must be hard and green. Chef's tip: oil your hands before peeling green bananas so the sticky sap doesn't stain your fingers.

30 minPacific Islander Sides

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Lolo bunsCoconut cream baked buns

Lolo buns are the Sunday treat of Fijian kitchens, made for church lunches and family get-togethers in Lautoka and Suva: soft yeast buns packed into a tin and baked in a bath of sweetened coconut cream (lolo), which soaks into the bottoms and bakes into a sticky, caramel-edged sauce. Everyone pulls one out warm from the tin. A common mistake is pouring the coconut cream on too early; add it just before baking so the buns have risen fully. Chef's tip: use thick, full-fat coconut cream for a rich glaze.

65 minPacific Islander Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hawaiian poi for babiesTaro paste for babies

Poi, cooked taro (kalo) pounded with water, is the oldest staple of Hawaiʻi, and it was traditionally among the first foods given to babies across the islands; you can still buy it fresh by the bag at markets in Honolulu and on Kauaʻi. Fresh poi is mild, smooth and gently sweet, with a lilac-grey colour; left a few days it ferments and turns sour, which adults love but a baby is better without. Taro must be cooked right through, because raw taro contains crystals that irritate the mouth. Nothing else is added: no salt, sugar or honey. It is free of the major allergens. Chef's tip: wear gloves to peel raw taro, and cook a test piece; if it tingles on your tongue, it needs longer.

90 minPacific Islander Sides

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Koko SamoaHot cocoa drink

Koko Samoa is the morning drink of Samoa, made from the island's own cocoa beans, roasted over a fire, pounded into a dark paste and dried into blocks sold at Apia's Fugalei market. Dissolved in hot water and sweetened, it is earthy, slightly bitter and rich, with a little oil floating on top, and is drunk with panikeke or buttered bread. If you can't find koko Samoa, use 100% cocoa chocolate. A common mistake is expecting it to be like milky hot chocolate; it is darker and thinner. Chef's tip: simmer it for a few minutes rather than just stirring it in, which brings out the roasted flavour.

10 minPacific Islander Drinks

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Kaukau in coconut creamSweet potato in coconut cream

Kaukau, sweet potato, is the staple food of the Papua New Guinea Highlands, grown in mounded gardens around Mount Hagen and Goroka and eaten at almost every meal. Simmered in coconut cream with onion and a little salt, it becomes soft, sweet and creamy, a side for greens, fish or a mumu. A common mistake is stirring too much, which breaks the potato into mush; shake the pan instead. Chef's tip: use white or purple-skinned kaukau if you can; they're drier and hold their shape better than orange ones.

35 minPacific Islander Sides

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Fa'apapaDense coconut bread

Fa'apapa is a dense, chewy Samoan coconut bread, once baked wrapped in banana leaves in the umu (earth oven) for Sunday lunch, and now often made in a tin in home ovens in Apia and Pacific Auckland. It is made from flour and freshly grated coconut with coconut cream, so it is rich, slightly sweet and very filling, best eaten warm in thick slices. A common mistake is expecting it to rise like bread; it's meant to be heavy and moist. Chef's tip: wrap the dough in banana leaf before putting it in the tin for a gentle, smoky aroma.

65 minPacific Islander Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

'OtaiWatermelon and coconut drink

'Otai is the drink of the Tongan summer, ladled from big bowls at church feasts, weddings and beach picnics around Tongatapu. Watermelon is grated or mashed into chunky pulp and mixed with coconut milk, a little sugar and lots of ice; some families add grated mango or pineapple. It is drunk and eaten at the same time, with pieces of fruit in every glass. A common mistake is blending it smooth; it should be pulpy. Chef's tip: grate the melon on the coarse side of a box grater straight into the bowl to catch all the juice.

15 minPacific Islander Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

LaulauSteamed pork and fish bundles

Laulau is one of the oldest dishes of Native Hawaiian cooking: fatty pork and salted butterfish are wrapped in young taro (lūʻau) leaves, tied in a ti-leaf parcel and steamed for hours until the leaves turn soft as cooked spinach and the pork is meltingly tender. It is the centrepiece of a plate with poi, lomi lomi salmon and haupia at lūʻau and family celebrations. Taro leaves must be cooked a long time, as they irritate the throat when undercooked; if you can't find them, use large spinach leaves and wrap in banana leaves or foil. Chef's tip: steam the bundles for the full four hours; shortcutting leaves the taro leaves scratchy.

280 minPacific Islander Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hawaiian Chantilly cake

In Hawaii, Chantilly cake means a chocolate layer cake covered in a rich, caramel-coloured frosting made from evaporated milk, egg yolks and butter, not the whipped cream the name suggests. Honolulu bakeries have sold it for birthdays and graduations for decades, and it is very different from mainland cakes. Chef's tip: cook the frosting base slowly and stir constantly until it is as thick as pudding; if it is runny, the frosting will slide off the cake.

85 minPacific Islander Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hawaiian malasadas

Malasadas came to Hawaii with Portuguese workers from Madeira and the Azores in the 1870s, and on Malasada Day, the Tuesday before Lent, bakeries in Honolulu have queues round the block. They are eggy, airy yeast doughnuts with no hole, fried golden and rolled in sugar while hot; some are filled with haupia or custard. Chef's tip: the dough is very soft and sticky, so oil your hands rather than adding more flour, or the malasadas turn heavy.

50 minPacific Islander Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hawaiian butter mochi

Butter mochi is the sweet of Hawaii's potlucks, school fundraisers and family parties, a local mix of Japanese mochi and the islands' coconut. Glutinous rice flour is baked with coconut milk, evaporated milk, butter and eggs into a golden, chewy cake with crisp edges and a soft, bouncy middle. Chef's tip: cut it with a plastic knife once fully cooled; a metal knife drags and sticks.

70 minPacific Islander Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lu puluCorned beef in taro leaves

Lu pulu is a Sunday dish in Tonga, cooked in the umu (earth oven) after church in Nuku'alofa and by Tongan families in Auckland and Sydney: taro leaves are layered into a cup, filled with corned beef, onion and thick coconut cream, wrapped in foil or banana leaf and baked until the leaves melt into a rich, silky parcel. It is served with boiled taro, yam or sweet potato. The mistake is undercooking the taro leaves: they must cook for at least an hour, as raw taro leaves irritate the mouth and throat. Chef's tip: if you can't find taro leaves, use large spinach or silverbeet leaves, cooked for 45 minutes.

115 minPacific Islander Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

PanipopoSweet rolls in coconut sauce

Panipopo (from 'pani', bun, and 'popo', coconut) are soft, sweet bread rolls baked sitting in a pool of coconut milk and sugar, which bubbles into a sticky, caramel-coloured sauce around them. Samoan families bake them for Sunday lunch, fundraisers and church gatherings, and they've spread to Samoan communities in Auckland and Hawaii. Served warm with the sauce spooned over, they're somewhere between a cinnamon roll and a pudding. Chef's tip: pour the coconut sauce around the rolls just before baking, not hours ahead, or the bottoms go soggy instead of sticky.

60 minPacific Islander Baking

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Loco moco

Loco moco was first served in 1949 at the Lincoln Grill in Hilo, on Hawai'i's Big Island, as a cheap, filling meal for teenagers, and it is still the plate-lunch classic across the islands: white rice topped with a beef burger patty, a fried egg and a generous ladle of brown gravy. People eat it for breakfast, lunch or late at night with a scoop of macaroni salad. The mistake is a thin, floury gravy; cook the flour in the beef fat until it browns before adding the stock. Chef's tip: press a dimple into the centre of each patty so it stays flat as it cooks.

40 minPacific Islander Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kalua pork

Kalua pig is the heart of a Hawaiian lū'au: a whole pig wrapped in ti and banana leaves and cooked all day in an imu, an underground oven, until it falls apart, smoky and salty. This dish contains pork. Families across O'ahu and the other islands make this simpler version at home with pork shoulder, coarse sea salt and a little liquid smoke, wrapped and slow-roasted. It is served with rice, poi or cabbage, or in sliders. The mistake is using fine table salt in the same amount; it makes the pork far too salty, so use coarse sea salt. Chef's tip: stir a little of the cooking juice back into the shredded pork so it stays moist.

375 minPacific Islander Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mumu-style pork roastOven-roasted pork with sweet potato

A mumu is the earth oven of the Papua New Guinea highlands, around Mount Hagen and Goroka, made for feasts, bride-price ceremonies and Christmas: pork, kaukau (sweet potato), bananas and greens are wrapped in banana leaves and steamed over hot stones for hours. This dish contains pork. This home version packs the same ingredients, with coconut milk, into a covered roasting tin and cooks them slowly until the pork is soft. The mistake is cooking the pork fast and hot; it needs long, gentle heat to become tender. Chef's tip: add the greens only for the last 30 minutes so they stay bright.

210 minPacific Islander Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

140 min

Paraguayan Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChajáSponge, peach and cream cake

Chajá was created in 1927 at a bakery in Paysandú, a city on the Uruguay River, and named after a local bird whose feathers look as fluffy as its crumbly meringue coat. Today it's Uruguay's birthday and celebration cake: layers of light sponge soaked in peach syrup, filled with whipped cream, peaches and dulce de leche, then covered in crushed meringue. It's sweet, soft and crunchy at once, best on the day it's assembled. Chef's tip: soak the sponge but not too much; it should feel moist, not wet, or the layers slide.

90 min

Paraguayan Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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