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654 recipes

KesraSemolina pan bread

Kesra is the flat semolina bread of Algerian homes, and in Ramadan a fresh round sits on almost every iftar table, cooked on a clay tajine and torn into pieces to dip into hot chorba frik. This unleavened version is a thin, crumbly-edged galette, golden in patches and slightly chewy in the middle, with a nutty taste from the olive oil. It is made in minutes before sunset so it reaches the table still warm. Chef's tip: work the dough only until it holds together; kneading it like a yeast bread makes kesra tough instead of tender.

40 min

Algerian Breads & Parathas

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KalanehWild leek stuffed flatbread

In Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Newroz arrives with the first spring greens on the hillsides, and families gather wild leeks to fold into kalaneh, thin griddle breads cooked over a fire or a hot pan and soaked in melted butter. The dough is plain and soft, rolled very thin around a pile of chopped leek or chives with a little salt and pepper, so the greens steam inside as the bread blisters. Eat it hot, torn into strips, with yogurt and tea at a Newroz picnic. The common mistake is wet greens, which turn the dough soggy and make it tear; dry them well after washing. Chef's tip: brush the butter on the moment the bread leaves the pan so it soaks right in.

65 minMiddle Eastern Breads & Parathas

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Pajagua mascadaBeef and cassava patties

Pajagua mascada is a Paraguayan street-food classic that appears on every table for the San Juan festival on 24 June, when bonfires burn and the night is full of games and traditional food. Minced beef is mixed with mashed cassava, onion, garlic and a little egg and flour, shaped into flat patties and fried until crisp. The name comes from Guaraní and refers to the 'chewing' of old Paraguayan cooks, who made it from leftover meat. Chef's tip: dry the boiled cassava well and remove its woody core, which keeps the patties light and crunchy.

60 min

Paraguayan Meat

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KaguyjyWhite corn pudding

On the night of 23–24 June, Paraguayans celebrate San Juan with bonfires, games like walking over hot coals and the 'paso de fuego', and a table of traditional foods, and kaguyjy (also mazamorra) is one of them. It is a soft, creamy pudding of cracked white corn (locro) simmered slowly in water and then milk with sugar or honey, sometimes with orange peel. It is eaten warm or cold. It is gluten free. Chef's tip: soak the corn overnight and cook it until each kernel is tender before adding the milk, or it never turns creamy.

130 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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Sopa teólogaTurkey broth with bread and cheese

Sopa teóloga ('the theologian's soup') goes back to colonial convents in Lima and Arequipa, where it was cooked for feast days, and it is still served at Holy Week and family celebrations. A rich turkey (or chicken) broth is thickened with soaked bread, milk and fresh cheese, with yellow potatoes and shreds of turkey, and finished with a little ají amarillo and chopped huacatay or parsley. It is thick, comforting and filling. Chef's tip: blend part of the soaked bread with broth before adding it, which gives the soup its creamy body without lumps.

115 min

Peruvian Soups

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Dowina (Kurdish yogurt soup)

Dowina, called ash-e doogh in Persian, is warming spring food in Kurdish homes around Newroz, when yogurt is plentiful and the first herbs are cut from the garden. Rice and chickpeas simmer in a tangy, lightly thickened yogurt broth, finished with fresh dill, coriander and a sizzle of dried mint in oil. It is eaten warm, never boiling hot, with flatbread. The common mistake is to heat the yogurt too fast without stirring, which makes it split into grainy curds. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoonful of rice flour into the yogurt before it goes on the heat; it holds the soup smooth all the way to the simmer.

75 minMiddle Eastern Soups

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KourdassGrilled lamb liver bundles

After the sacrifice of Eid al-Adha, Moroccan families use every part of the lamb, and kourdass is one of the dishes made in the days that follow: pieces of tripe and liver rubbed with cumin and paprika, wrapped in caul fat and traditionally hung up to air-dry before grilling. This home version skips the drying, which is hard to do safely in a modern kitchen, and grills the bundles fresh over charcoal or under a grill until the fat crisps and the liver is cooked through. Buy cleaned, pre-cooked tripe and caul fat from a halal butcher. Chef's tip: wrap the bundles tightly so the caul fat bastes them as it melts.

90 min

Moroccan Meat

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Chipa so'oCheese bread with spiced beef

In Paraguay, families bake chipa in the clay tatakua ovens on Holy Wednesday so there is food for Thursday and Good Friday, when cooking stops. Chipa so'o ('chipa with meat') is a cassava-starch and cheese bread wrapped around a little filling of minced beef cooked with onion and egg, then baked until crisp outside and chewy within. It is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: knead the dough until it no longer cracks at the edges when pressed; dry dough splits around the filling.

90 min

Paraguayan Breads & Parathas

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RabarbrikookRhubarb crumble cake

By Jaanipäev, Estonian Midsummer on 24 June, the rhubarb in every country garden is tall and red, and Estonians take rhubarb cake to the Jaaniõhtu bonfire evening along with grilled sausages, cheese and the beer for the grown-ups. Rabarbrikook is a simple, soft butter cake packed with sharp rhubarb under a thick, sweet crumble that soaks up the juices. Serve it warm with vanilla sauce or cold in squares. Chef's tip: toss the rhubarb in a spoonful of sugar and flour first; the flour thickens the juice so the cake below does not go soggy.

65 minBaltic Baking

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SkābputraSoured barley porridge drink

Skābputra, 'sour porridge', is one of the oldest Latvian foods, and at Jāņi, Midsummer on 23–24 June, it is served cold alongside caraway cheese, pīrāgi and wreaths of flowers. Pearl barley is cooked soft, then soured with buttermilk or kefir for a day or two until it is tangy and fresh-tasting, and it is thinned with milk into a thick, cooling drink sipped or eaten with a spoon on hot summer days. This home version uses bought live buttermilk to start the souring safely. Chef's tip: use clean jars and utensils, and taste it each day; once it is pleasantly sour, chill it so it stops souring.

60 minBaltic Drinks

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DouaraLamb tripe and chickpea stew

Douara is the dish that fills Algerian kitchens on the second day of Eid al-Adha, when the tripe, intestines and lung from the family's sacrifice are cleaned, cut small and stewed slowly with chickpeas, plenty of garlic, cumin and paprika. The sauce is deep red and peppery and the offal turns tender and rich. At home, cleaned lamb or beef tripe and lamb heart from a halal butcher make an easy start; lung can be added if your butcher sells it. Chef's tip: blanch the tripe first in water with a squeeze of lemon to freshen the flavour before it goes into the stew.

180 min

Algerian Meat

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TihaneStuffed lamb spleen

Tihane, or tehal, is an old Eid al-Adha speciality from Moroccan towns such as Fez and Marrakech, made on the days after the sacrifice when the offal is shared out. The lamb's spleen is cut open into a pocket and stuffed with chopped liver and heart, a little fat, green olives, preserved lemon, garlic and cumin, then sewn shut, poached and roasted until browned. It is sliced thin and eaten warm or cold with bread. Ask a halal butcher for the spleen and offal. Chef's tip: prick the spleen with a fine needle before poaching so it doesn't burst in the pot.

130 min

Moroccan Meat

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Setsubun iwashi (salt-grilled sardines)

In the Kansai region, Setsubun in early February is the night for grilled sardines: the smoke and strong smell are said to keep demons away, and many homes still fix a sardine head on a sprig of holly by the door (hiiragi iwashi) as a charm. Eating the oily fish is thought to keep you well through the turn of the season. Salt-grilling is the simplest way to cook them: crisp, salty, blistered skin over rich, soft flesh, cut by the cool sharpness of grated daikon and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with plain rice and miso soup. Chef's tip: salt the fish 15 minutes ahead and pat off the beads of moisture before grilling, which takes away the fishy edge and lets the skin crisp.

20 min

Japanese Fish

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Ebi no umani (simmered prawns)

Bright red prawns curled like a bent back sit in every Shōgatsu osechi box in Japan as a wish to live until your back is bent with age, and their red is the colour of celebration. Simmered briefly in dashi, soy and sugar, they stay plump and juicy, and cooling in the liquid gives them a sweet-savoury flavour right through to the shell. The liquid includes sake and mirin, both rice wines; for no alcohol, replace the sake with extra dashi and the mirin with 3 tbsp water plus 1 tbsp sugar. Use frozen head-on prawns, thawed in the fridge. Serve cold or at room temperature in the osechi box, or warm with rice. Chef's tip: lift the prawns out as soon as they turn pink, reduce the liquid, then return them; this keeps them tender.

20 min

Japanese Fish

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Nanohana karashi-ae (rapeseed blossoms with mustard)

Nanohana, the budding shoots of the rapeseed plant, arrive in Japanese shops at the end of winter, and their little yellow-green flower heads are a sign that spring has come. That makes them a natural side dish for Hinamatsuri on 3 March, next to chirashizushi and clam soup. The greens are blanched just until tender, then dressed with Japanese karashi mustard loosened with soy sauce and kombu dashi: pleasantly bitter, nose-tinglingly hot and very fresh. Outside Japan, tenderstem broccoli or cime di rapa works almost as well. Chef's tip: dress the greens at the last minute, because the soy starts to dull the green colour within half an hour.

15 min

Japanese Sides

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Kubu irichi (Okinawan kombu stir-fry)

In Okinawa, kubu irichi is cooked for Obon (here called Shōmō or Ukui), when families welcome the spirits of their ancestors home with offerings, and it reappears at every big family gathering. Kombu, 'kubu' in the island dialect, sounds like 'yorokobu', to rejoice, and Okinawa has loved it for centuries thanks to the old kelp trade from Hokkaido. Strips of pork belly are stir-fried until their fat runs, then the kelp, konnyaku and carrot simmer in pork-scented stock until the liquid is absorbed, giving a soft, savoury, gently sweet tangle full of the sea. Serve with rice, as part of an Obon spread or a bentō. Chef's tip: keep some of the kombu soaking water; it is the stock that gives the dish its depth.

45 min

Japanese Meat

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Kuri gohan (chestnut rice)

Kuri gohan is one of the great dishes of the Japanese autumn, made all over the country when fresh chestnuts arrive in September, and it is often eaten around the harvest moon, when chestnuts are offered beside dumplings and taro (the later moon-viewing in October is even nicknamed the "chestnut moon"). Sweet, fluffy chunks of chestnut sit in salty, slightly sticky rice scented with kombu, and the dish is all about the season's bounty. It traditionally uses a spoonful of sake; this is optional, and plain water works perfectly well for an alcohol-free version. Serve with miso soup, pickles and grilled fish, sprinkled with black sesame salt. Chef's tip: soak the chestnuts in hot water for 30 minutes before peeling; the shells soften and the furry inner skin lifts away far more easily.

75 min

Japanese Rice & Grains

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Matsumae-zuke (squid and kelp pickle)

Matsumae-zuke is Hokkaido's gift to the New Year table, named after the old Matsumae domain whose ports traded in dried squid and kombu; families make a big jar at the end of December to eat through Shōgatsu, with kombu ('yorokobu', joy) and herring roe for many children. As it sits, the kelp releases its natural stickiness, so the chewy squid and crisp carrot are bound in a glossy, savoury-sweet, deeply umami dressing. The marinade uses sake and mirin, both rice wines, boiled to drive off most of the alcohol; for none at all, use water instead of the sake and 3 tbsp water plus 1 tbsp sugar instead of the mirin. Serve a spoonful over hot rice or as a nibble with drinks. Chef's tip: cut the squid and kombu with dry kitchen scissors; wet ones stick and tear.

30 min

Japanese Fish

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Fukumame (roasted lucky soybeans)

On Setsubun, the eve of spring in early February, households all over Japan fling roasted soybeans out of the door shouting "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (demons out, luck in), then each person eats one bean for every year of their age, plus one for the year ahead. The beans are called fukumame, "fortune beans", and roasting them matters: a raw bean could sprout, and a demon's bean must not take root. Home-roasted ones are nutty, toasty and properly crunchy, far better than the packet kind, and they are good with green tea or scattered over a salad. Whole roasted beans are a choking hazard, so do not give them to children under five; grind theirs to a powder and sprinkle it on rice or yoghurt instead. Chef's tip: let a test bean cool for a minute before you judge it, because hot beans always feel softer than they will be.

30 min

Japanese Snacks & Starters

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Hanami dango (three-colour dumplings)

When the cherry trees bloom in late March and April, families and colleagues spread blankets under the branches for hanami, and these skewers of pink, white and green dumplings are the sweet that goes with them. The colours tell the story of the season: pink buds on top, white for the fading snow, and green for the summer leaves still to come. They are lightly sweet and pleasantly chewy, with a faint grassiness from the matcha, and need no sauce; just bring a flask of green tea. Mochi is very sticky: cut the dumplings into small pieces for young children and older people, and make sure they chew well and eat sitting down. Chef's tip: add the water a spoonful at a time and stop when the dough feels like a soft earlobe, since rice flours vary a lot in how much they drink.

40 min

Japanese Desserts

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Tsukimi dango (moon-viewing dumplings)

On the night of the harvest moon in September or early October, families across Japan set a tray of plain white dumplings by the window with a vase of pampas grass, as thanks for the harvest and an offering to the full moon. The round white dango stand for the moon itself, and the traditional count is fifteen, for the fifteenth night of the eighth lunar month, stacked nine, four and two. This Kanto-style dough is steamed and then kneaded, which gives a smoother, firmer bite than boiled dango, with a clean rice flavour that loves a dusting of kinako or a spoonful of sweet red bean paste once the moon-viewing is over. Mochi is very sticky: cut the dumplings small for young children and older people, and see that they chew well and eat sitting down. Chef's tip: knead the steamed dough while it is still hot, wrapped in a damp cloth, until it turns satiny.

40 min

Japanese Desserts

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Tsukimi udon (moon-viewing udon)

Tsukimi means moon-viewing, and in noodle shops all over Japan the name is given to any bowl topped with an egg: the yolk is the full harvest moon, the white the clouds drifting round it, and it is a favourite around the September moon festival. Here the broth is a vegetarian kombu and shiitake dashi seasoned with soy, sweetened with a little sugar instead of mirin so it has no alcohol, giving a clean, savoury base for silky thick noodles and a rich yolk you break into the soup. Add spring onions and a pinch of shichimi, and eat at once. Egg safety: use pasteurised eggs or British Lion eggs if the yolk will stay runny, and for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system, poach the egg in the broth until it is firm. Chef's tip: heat the kombu slowly and lift it out before the water boils, which keeps the broth sweet and clear.

25 min

Japanese Pasta & Noodles

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Kuwai no nimono (simmered arrowhead)

Kuwai, the arrowhead tuber with its proud little sprout, appears in osechi boxes in Kansai and across Japan because it says 'me ga deru': a bud comes out, a wish for success and for children to grow and thrive. It tastes like a cross between chestnut and potato, with a faint pleasant bitterness, and simmering it slowly in sweet dashi gives it a smooth, dense texture. This version is vegan, using kombu dashi, and the seasoning includes mirin, a sweet rice wine (for no alcohol, swap the mirin for 2 tbsp water plus 2 tsp sugar). Serve it at room temperature among the other osechi dishes, or with grilled fish and rice. Chef's tip: leave the tubers to cool completely in their liquid; that is when they soak up the flavour.

45 min

Japanese Sides

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Hishi mochi (diamond rice cakes)

Hishi mochi sit on the tiered doll display for Hinamatsuri, Girls' Day on 3 March, and their colours are a little poem about early spring: green for new grass pushing through, white for the last snow, pink for peach blossom (some families also read them as health, purity and protection from evil). The diamond shape is said to echo the water chestnut and a wish for growth and many children. This home version is made from glutinous rice flour set in a square tin, so the cake is soft, bouncy and only gently sweet, with a grassy hint from matcha. Serve small pieces with green tea, or beside chirashizushi and clam soup at the festival table. Mochi is very sticky: cut it small for young children and older people, and see that they chew well and eat sitting down. Chef's tip: press each layer on while the one below is still warm and tacky, so the three bond into one cake.

120 min

Japanese Desserts

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