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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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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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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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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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Belgian frangipane tartlets

Look in the glass counter of a Flemish bakery and between the rice tarts and cream puffs sit rows of frangipanetaartjes: small shortcrust cases with a hidden layer of apricot jam, filled with almond frangipane and glazed with a thin, crackly white icing. Belgians pick them up on Saturday mornings or for a birthday at the office and eat them with coffee. They are buttery, nutty and moist, with a sharp fruity note from the jam. Too much jam is the mistake to watch: it bubbles up through the frangipane and glues the tartlets to the tin. Chef's tip: brush the warm tartlets with hot apricot jam first and let it set before the icing goes on; the jam seals the surface so the glaze stays white and shiny.

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CraquelinBrioche with sugar cube pockets

Sugar cubes, of all things, are the secret of the Belgian craquelin. Bakers in Ghent, Bruges and Brussels wrap broken cubes inside rich brioche, and as the loaf bakes they melt into little wells of syrup that set crunchy, while pearl sugar crackles on the crust (hence the name). It is a Sunday breakfast and weekend bakery loaf, sliced thick and eaten plain or with butter and a bowl of café au lait; Flemish bakers sometimes add orange zest. Leaving sugar pieces exposed on the outside, especially the base, is the usual pitfall: they caramelise, burn and glue the loaf to the tin. Chef's tip: chill the kneaded brioche for at least an hour before you fold in the sugar, so the butter firms and the dough is easy to wrap around the cubes.

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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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Fish in coconut milk

Ika vakalolo is the Sunday and everyday fish dish of iTaukei Fijian homes, from the fishing villages of the Coral Coast to the outer islands of Lau. Fresh reef fish is gently simmered in lolo, fresh coconut milk, with onion, tomato, chilli and a squeeze of lemon, then served with boiled cassava, taro or rice. It is mild, creamy and ready in half an hour. A common mistake is stirring once the fish is in, which breaks the fillets; just spoon the sauce over. Chef's tip: lemon goes in at the very end so the coconut milk doesn't split.

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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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Buñuelos de algasSea lettuce fritters

On the beaches of Rocha, from La Paloma to Punta del Diablo, vendors walk the sand with baskets of hot buñuelos de algas: puffy, salty fritters speckled green with sea lettuce, eaten with a squeeze of lemon. Use dried sea lettuce or mixed seaweed flakes from a shop, or fresh sea lettuce only from a seller who harvests clean water; never pick it from a harbour or near drains. The usual mistake is frying in oil that isn't hot enough, so the fritters soak it up and turn greasy. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 15 minutes so the seaweed softens and the fritters puff more.

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TitiyasCoconut milk flatbread

Titiyas are the soft, slightly sweet flatbreads of Guam and the Marianas, cooked on a griddle and eaten warm at breakfast, with fiesta food or rolled round a piece of grilled meat. Flour titiyas are made with coconut milk, which keeps them tender and gives a faint coconut taste; there is also a corn version (titiyas mai'es). A common mistake is rolling them too thick; 5 mm cooks through without burning. Chef's tip: cook on a dry, medium-hot pan and wrap each one in a towel as it comes off so they stay soft.

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Escabeche de polloChicken in vinegar and carrot

Pollo en escabeche is a home classic in Córdoba and Buenos Aires, a legacy of Spanish preserving that Argentines make on a Saturday to eat cold all week. It comes out of the fridge for a picada before the asado, as a summer lunch with a green salad and crusty bread, or packed for a day in the sierras. Chicken is browned, then gently cooked in oil and vinegar with carrot, onion, red pepper, garlic, bay and black peppercorns, and left to rest at least a day. The meat turns tender and lightly tangy, the carrots keep a little crunch, and the oil carries the flavour of bay and pepper. Because garlic sits in oil, safety matters: the liquid is half strong vinegar (at least 5% acidity, never diluted beyond what the recipe says), and the jar always lives in the fridge, never on the shelf. Eat it within 5 days. The common mistake is letting it boil hard, which makes the chicken dry and stringy; it should barely tremble. It is ready the next day, when the chicken tastes seasoned right through and the oil has turned golden. Chef's tip: take it out 20 minutes before serving so the oil melts back to liquid.

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Tarta de zapallitosCourgette and cheese tart

In Buenos Aires every rotisería sells tartas by the slice, and at home a tarta de zapallitos is baked on Sunday evening so that a wedge can go into the vianda (packed lunch) for school and work all week. Zapallitos are round green courgettes; ordinary courgettes work just as well. The common mistake is adding the courgette raw, which floods the pastry; sauté it until the liquid has cooked away. Argentine queso rallado and many hard cheeses are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese. Chef's tip: bake the tart on a preheated baking tray so the base crisps before the filling soaks in.

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Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice

In Hawaii, a breakfast plate at a diner in Honolulu or Hilo, or at a drive-in on Maui, often means slices of smoky, garlicky, paprika-red Portuguese pork sausage (brought to the islands by Madeiran and Azorean immigrants in the 1800s) fried until caramelised, two eggs, and two scoops of short-grain rice. A splash of shoyu on the rice is optional. The common mistake is frying the sausage over a high heat so the sugar in it burns before it heats through; fry it steadily over a medium heat until sizzling and piping hot (71 °C if your sausage is uncooked rather than smoked). Cook the eggs fully set for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people. Chef's tip: fry the eggs in the red fat the sausage leaves behind; they come out lacy and full of flavour.

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Morcipán (blood sausage roll)

At any Buenos Aires asado, and at the street grills outside football grounds like La Bombonera in La Boca, the choripán has a twin: the morcipán, a soft, rich morcilla split and laid in crusty bread. Argentine morcilla is a pork blood sausage with pork fat, onion and spices, sometimes with nuts or raisins, and it grills to a crisp skin around a soft, spoonable centre that tastes deep and slightly sweet. A sharp chimichurri cuts through it. Chef's tip: grill it over a gentle heat and turn it carefully with tongs; on a fierce grill the casing splits and the filling runs out.

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BabakauFried dough balls

Babakau are the fluffy fried dough balls sold at Fijian market stalls and village canteens at breakfast time, eaten with a mug of milky tea or hot koko before school or work in Suva and Nadi. The dough is lightly sweet and the balls puff up as they fry, golden outside and soft as a bun inside. A common mistake is oil that's too hot, which leaves raw centres; 170 °C is right. Chef's tip: wet your fingers to drop spoonfuls of dough into the oil so it slips off cleanly.

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Capeletis a la CarusoStuffed pasta in cream sauce

Capeletis a la Caruso were created in a Montevideo restaurant in the 1950s and named after the great tenor, and they are still a Sunday lunch favourite in Uruguayan homes: little stuffed pasta hats in a rich sauce of cream, cooked ham (pork), mushrooms and onion, finished with grated cheese. Buy good fresh capeletis or tortellini; the sauce is what you make. The usual mistake is boiling the cream sauce hard, which makes it oily and grainy. Chef's tip: cook the mushrooms in a dry hot pan first until they squeak and brown, before any butter goes in, for a deeper taste.

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LampreadoCassava starch cheese fritters

Paraguayan grandmothers fry lampreado on Sunday evenings to eat with a mug of cocido, the toasted yerba mate drink: small pan-fried cakes of cassava starch, egg, milk and grated cheese with a little onion, crisp at the edges and stretchy inside. Some families also make it with leftover meat, but this version is all cheese. Queso Paraguay is set with animal rennet; a vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese plus mozzarella works well. The trap is a batter that is too thick, which gives heavy, gluey cakes. Chef's tip: the batter should drop slowly off a spoon like thick pancake batter; add milk a spoonful at a time until it does.

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Ka'i ladrilloPeanut molasses bricks

Ka'i ladrillo — 'monkey brick' in Guaraní — is the sweet sold by vendors on Asunción buses and at country fiestas: roasted peanuts bound in boiled cane molasses and set in brick-shaped blocks, crunchy and dark with a slightly smoky toffee taste. It contains peanuts, so keep it away from anyone with a peanut allergy. The common mistake is taking the syrup off too soon, so the bricks stay sticky and never set. Chef's tip: test the syrup by dropping a little into cold water; it is ready when it sets into a brittle thread that snaps.

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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.

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Guiso de fideosBeef and pasta stew

Guiso de fideos is the winter weeknight stew of Argentina, cooked in Buenos Aires flats and on estancias alike, and as loved by children as by grandparents. Beef, potatoes and vegetables simmer in a light tomato and sweet-paprika broth, then short pasta cooks straight in the pot and thickens it into something between a soup and a stew. Serve it in deep plates with crusty bread and grated cheese for those who want it. The usual mistake is adding the pasta too early, so it swells and turns mushy; it goes in only for the last 10–12 minutes. Chef's tip: cut the beef into small cubes, about 2 cm, so it is tender in under an hour.

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Portuguese bean soup

Portuguese bean soup came to Hawai'i with Madeiran and Azorean plantation workers in the late 1800s and is now an island staple, ladled out at church fundraisers, school lunch counters and Honolulu diners, especially when the trade winds turn cool. Kidney beans, a smoked pork ham hock and spicy Portuguese pork sausage (linguiça) simmer with potato, carrot, cabbage and tomato into a thick, smoky soup. Dried kidney beans must be soaked and then boiled hard for 10 minutes before the long simmer; never put them raw into a slow cooker. The usual mistake is adding the cabbage too early, so it turns grey; it goes in for the last 15 minutes. Slow-cooker option: after the hard boil, cook everything except the cabbage on low for 8 hours. Chef's tip: the soup thickens overnight, so make it a day ahead and loosen with a little water.

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Fiji goat curry

Goat curry is the dish of Indo-Fijian weddings, Diwali gatherings and Sunday family lunches from Lautoka to Labasa, brought by indentured labourers from India in the 1800s and shaped by Fiji's own curry powder blend. Bone-in goat is browned with onion, garlic, ginger and masala, then braised slowly with potatoes until tender, and eaten with roti or rice and dhal. A common mistake is rushing the onion and masala; they need to fry until the oil separates. Chef's tip: marinate the goat overnight in the fridge with the masala for deeper flavour.

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Chamorro red riceAchiote rice

Red rice, hineksa' agaga', is on the table at every Chamorro fiesta, christening and Sunday barbecue in Guam and the Northern Marianas, its sunset colour coming from achiote (annatto) seeds soaked in water. The rice is cooked with onion and garlic and sometimes peas; it is soft, savoury and mild, the perfect side for grilled chicken, kelaguen and finadene. A common mistake is leaving the seeds in the rice; they're tough and bitter, so soak and strain them. Chef's tip: rub the soaking seeds between your fingers to release more colour.

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