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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.

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Omelet-e gojeh farangiTomato and egg omelette

In Iran the word omelet means something quite different from a folded French one: ripe tomatoes are cooked down in oil with a little onion and turmeric until jammy, then eggs are stirred through so they set in soft streaks of red and gold. It is the classic quick dinner of Tehran apartments and student dorms, eaten from the pan with lavash and a plate of herbs. The mistake that makes it watery is adding the eggs before the tomato juices have cooked away; wait until the sauce is thick and the oil sizzles again. Chef's tip: grate the tomatoes on a box grater and throw away the skins, so the base melts down in minutes.

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Jamaican ginger cake

Jamaica grows some of the world's most pungent ginger in the hills of Clarendon and St Mary, and island ginger cake shows it off: a dark, sticky loaf made with molasses, a big knob of freshly grated root, and allspice (pimento), another Jamaican crop. Corner shops sell it in wrapped slabs for school lunches and road trips, and at home it comes out with afternoon tea or a cup of hot cocoa. The heat is real but warm, not harsh. Overbaking is the easy mistake: a few minutes too long and it loses its stickiness, so take it out once a skewer comes out clean even if the top still feels slightly tacky. Chef's tip: wrap the cooled cake and leave it a day before slicing; the top turns properly sticky and the ginger mellows.

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Dopiazeh alooPotatoes fried with onion and tomato

Dopiazeh means 'two onions', and in Shiraz this potato dish lives up to the name: cubed potatoes are fried with a generous heap of golden onions, turmeric and tomato paste until the edges catch and the sauce clings to every piece. Shirazi families eat it as a side with rice and kebab or, on busy evenings, as the main dish rolled up in flatbread with yogurt or fresh herbs. The usual mistake is crowding the pan, so the potatoes steam and break up instead of browning; use your widest pan. Chef's tip: fry the tomato paste in the oil for a full minute before adding water, so it turns brick red and loses its raw edge.

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Torta de ricotaLemon ricotta tart

Italian families brought ricotta tarts to Buenos Aires and Rosario, and torta de ricota is now as Argentinian as mate: every panadería has one in the window, with a lattice of sweet, crumbly masa frola over a pale, lemon-scented ricotta filling. It is cut into wedges for the merienda, the late-afternoon snack, or for a birthday where nobody wants a heavy cake. The texture is light and slightly grainy rather than silky, and the pastry tastes of butter and vanilla. Wet ricotta is the biggest risk, giving a weeping, soggy tart. Chef's tip: drain the ricotta overnight in the fridge in a sieve lined with a cloth, and add a few raisins only if they have been soaked, or they draw moisture from the filling.

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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.

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Fideos con mantecaButtered noodles with cheese

Ask anyone from Buenos Aires to Córdoba what they ate when they came home late or felt poorly as a child, and the answer is often fideos con manteca: short pasta tossed with butter and a snowfall of grated queso rallado. It is the plainest dish in the Argentine home kitchen and the one people cook for themselves on a tired weeknight. The mistake that ruins it is draining the pasta bone-dry and adding cold cheese to a hot empty pan, which leaves greasy strands and clumps; a splash of cooking water makes a light, creamy coating instead. Argentine reggianito and Parmesan are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese if needed. Chef's tip: grate the cheese very finely, like dust, so it melts on contact.

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TopfengolatschenSweet quark puff pastry squares

A Topfengolatsche is what Viennese office workers grab from the bakery on the way in, and what grandparents order with a Melange in a coffee house on a Sunday afternoon. The corners of a puff pastry square are folded over a lemony, vanilla-scented filling of Topfen (Austrian quark) with plump raisins, and the top gets a thin white glaze. It is flaky, light and not too sweet. Raisins are sometimes soaked in rum; warm water or orange juice works just as well, and the recipe below is alcohol-free. Wet quark is the classic problem, because it turns the filling runny and it leaks out in the oven. Chef's tip: hang the quark in a sieve lined with a clean cloth for an hour, or squeeze it, until it is as thick as soft cream cheese.

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Nan-o panir-o sabziBread, white cheese and fresh herbs

Nan-o panir-o sabzi, 'bread, cheese and herbs', is laid out on Iranian tablecloths from Tabriz to Mashhad for breakfast, for a light summer supper and before dawn during Ramadan: warm flatbread, salty white cheese, a big plate of fresh herbs, walnuts and crisp radishes, all wrapped into little bites. There is no cooking beyond warming the bread, so it is ready in ten minutes. The common mistake is serving herbs that are still damp from washing, which wilt and make the bread soggy; wash them earlier and let them dry fully. Iranian white cheese (lighvan) and most feta are made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian feta-style cheese if needed. Chef's tip: soak the walnuts in cold water for 10 minutes; it softens their bitterness the way Iranian cooks like.

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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.

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NimrooHalf-set fried eggs

Nimroo, literally 'half-done', is what Iranian students in Tehran and families in every city cook when there is no time: eggs fried gently in a small pan until the whites set and the yolks stay soft, sprinkled with salt, pepper and sometimes a pinch of turmeric. It is eaten straight from the pan with torn lavash or sangak, fresh herbs and sweet black tea, for breakfast or a late supper. The common mistake is a fierce heat that burns the edges of the white while a raw film stays round the yolk; a lid for the last minute sets the top gently. For anyone pregnant, very young, older or with a weakened immune system, cook the yolks until firm. Chef's tip: serve it in the pan it was cooked in, on a board, so it stays hot.

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Stamp and goCrisp saltfish fritters

Stamp and go are the thin, lacy saltfish fritters sold from roadside stalls and bus-stop cookshops across Jamaica, and fried at home for breakfast or an evening snack with hard dough bread and a cold drink; the name is said to come from hurrying customers who would 'stamp and go'. Flaked salt cod is beaten into a loose flour batter with scallion, thyme and Scotch bonnet and fried in spoonfuls until crisp. The salt cod has to be desalted first, which is why this isn't a true 30-minute recipe: soak it overnight in the fridge, or use the quick double-boil method below. The common mistake is skipping the desalting, which makes fritters too salty to eat. Chef's tip: keep the batter loose enough to spread in the pan; thin fritters are the crisp ones.

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Okra and saltfish

Okra and saltfish is a Jamaican home breakfast and quick dinner, cooked in kitchens from Kingston to Montego Bay and eaten with boiled green bananas, fried dumplings, yam or white rice. Rounds of okra are sautéed with onion, garlic, tomato, thyme and Scotch bonnet, then the flaked salt cod is folded through. The cod needs desalting first, so allow overnight soaking or the quick double-boil method; that is why the total time is honestly over half an hour. The usual mistake is stirring the okra too much and covering the pan, which turns it slimy; cook it in an open pan and keep stirring gentle. Chef's tip: a squeeze of lime at the end cuts through the okra and brightens the whole pan.

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Salpicón de aveCold chicken salad

Salpicón de ave is the cold supper of Argentine summers, made in Buenos Aires flats and on estancias alike when it is too hot to cook much, and a favourite way to use the chicken from a puchero or Sunday roast. Shredded chicken is mixed with diced pepper, tomato, spring onion, sweetcorn and boiled egg, bound with mayonnaise sharpened with lemon and mustard, and served chilled with crusty bread or on lettuce. The common mistake is dressing it while the chicken is still hot, which melts the mayonnaise into an oily puddle; let everything cool first. Chef's tip: dress the chicken with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt before the mayonnaise goes in, so the meat itself is seasoned, not just its coating.

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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.

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Tallarines rojosSpaghetti in red sauce with chicken

Tallarines rojos is the Sunday-lunch and weeknight pasta of homes all over Peru, from Lima to Arequipa: spaghetti in a sweet, deep-red sauce of blended tomato, onion and garlic with a little ají panca and oregano, often with pieces of chicken cooked right in it. Children love it, and it is served with a sprinkle of grated cheese and sometimes a spoon of huancaína on the side. The usual mistake is cooking the sauce too briefly, so it tastes of raw onion; let the blended tomato fry until it darkens and the oil shows at the edges. Chef's tip: a bay leaf and a spoon of ají panca paste give the sauce its Peruvian character; paprika will do if you can't find the paste.

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Chicharrón de pescadoCrisp fried fish chunks

Up and down the Peruvian coast, from Chorrillos in Lima to the beaches of Piura, chicharrón de pescado is the crunchy plate ordered alongside ceviche at a long seafood lunch: bite-size chunks of firm white fish marinated briefly in garlic and lime, dusted in flour and fried, then served with fried cassava, salsa criolla and tartar or rocoto sauce. Using frozen peeled cassava keeps it to half an hour. The common mistake is leaving the fish in the lime too long: after about ten minutes the acid starts to 'cook' the outside and the coating slips off. Chef's tip: toss the floured pieces in a sieve to shake off every bit of loose flour; a thin coat fries crisp, a thick one turns pasty.

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Pejerrey arrebozadoBattered fish fillets with onion salsa

Pejerrey arrebozado is a Lima classic from the cevicherías and home kitchens of the coast, eaten at lunch on a plate with white rice, a heap of sharp salsa criolla and sometimes boiled potato. The pejerrey, a small silverside, is opened into butterflied fillets, dipped in a light egg-and-flour batter and fried golden. Outside Peru, use small fillets of whiting, sole, haddock or tilapia. The batter here uses sparkling water, not beer, so it is alcohol free. The common mistake is frying in oil that isn't hot enough: the batter drinks the oil and turns greasy, so test with a drop of batter first. Chef's tip: make the salsa criolla first and let the onion sit in lime for ten minutes; it softens its bite and turns a pretty pink.

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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.

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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.

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Ash-e dandooni (Persian first-tooth soup)

When an Iranian baby's first tooth appears, the family cooks a big pot of ash-e dandooni and shares it with relatives and neighbours, who return the bowl with a small gift for the baby. It is a hearty, mild soup of whole wheat, chickpeas, beans and lentils, eaten by the whole family; in some homes the little one gets the soft, mashed grains without salt or toppings. It is free of milk, egg, nuts and soya and contains gluten (wheat). Chef's tip: soak the wheat and pulses together overnight, so everything cooks at the same speed.

120 minPersianSoupsVegan
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ChaplasHollow puffed Andean bread

Walk through Ayacucho's central market at seven in the morning and you will see women selling stacks of chaplas from cloth-lined baskets, still warm from the wood-fired ovens of the Andes. These round wheat breads puff up like pita in the fierce heat, leaving a hollow pocket inside a thin, soft, lightly floury crust. In Ayacucho and Huancavelica they are eaten with sweet coffee or hot emoliente for breakfast, or split and filled with queso fresco, avocado or a spoonful of rocoto sauce. Highland bakers traditionally work in a little lard; vegetable shortening gives the same tenderness and keeps the bread vegan. A cool baking tray is the reason chaplas stay flat, so preheat it thoroughly. Chef's tip: let the rolled rounds rest before baking and flip them upside down onto the tray, so the smooth, dry side meets the heat first and the pocket opens evenly.

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Pan chutaAniseed round bread

The small town of Oropesa, half an hour from Cusco, calls itself Peru's bread capital, and its wood-fired bakeries are famous for chuta: big, flat, round loaves as wide as a dinner plate, glossy on top, with a faint sweetness and the warmth of aniseed. Travellers on the road to Puno and Bolivia stop to buy them by the bagful, and families bring them home for All Saints' Day and for sharing with hot coca tea or coffee, fresh cheese and butter. The bakeries traditionally use lard; this version uses vegetable shortening and butter, so it is vegetarian. The make-or-break moment is the proof: chuta is large and flat, and if it goes in under-risen it bakes dense and splits at the rim. Chef's tip: toast the aniseed for a minute in a dry pan and crush it lightly before adding, for a rounder, sweeter perfume.

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Persian kotlet (beef and potato patties)

Kotlet is the dish Iranian families make in big batches for school lunches, road trips and Friday picnics in the park: minced beef mixed with grated potato, onion, egg and turmeric, shaped into flat ovals and fried until deep brown and crisp at the edges. They are eaten tucked into lavash or a soft roll with tomato, cucumber pickles and herbs, warm at home and cold the next day. They contain egg and gluten (breadcrumbs). Chef's tip: squeeze the grated onion and potato hard in a cloth; that water is what makes kotlet fall apart in the pan.

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