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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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SchinkennudelnPan-fried noodles with ham and egg

Schinkennudeln is the frying-pan supper of Bavaria and Austria: yesterday's cooked noodles fried in butter with onion and diced cooked ham (pork) until crisp in places, then bound with beaten egg and finished with chives. It is not the same as the oven-baked Austrian Schinkenfleckerl; this one is made on the hob in 20 minutes, and children everywhere love it with a green salad or a spoon of ketchup. The common mistake is stirring the noodles constantly, which stops them browning, so leave them alone long enough to crisp. Keep leftover pasta in the fridge and use it within 2 days. Chef's tip: let the eggs set only until just creamy before you take the pan off the heat; they keep cooking on the plate.

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Spinat mit Spiegelei und KartoffelnCreamed spinach with fried egg

Spinat mit Spiegelei und Kartoffeln is the Thursday-night supper many Germans remember from childhood, and still a school-canteen favourite: soft creamed spinach, a sunny fried egg and boiled potatoes, with the yolk running into the green sauce. It is gentle, filling and cheap, and on Maundy Thursday (Gründonnerstag) many families eat it as their green meal. For pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people, fry the eggs until the yolks are firm. The most common mistake is adding raw spinach to the sauce without squeezing it, which floods it with water; wilt and squeeze it first. Chef's tip: start the potatoes in cold salted water so they cook evenly through to the centre.

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MandelhörnchenMarzipan almond crescents

Look along the glass counter of almost any German bakery and you will find these: fat crescents of almond paste, crusted in toasted flaked almonds, with both horns dipped in dark chocolate. Inside they stay soft and chewy, almost like a macaroon, while the outside crunches. People buy one to eat with a coffee on the way home rather than keeping them for a festival, though they turn up on Christmas plates too. They need no flour, so they are naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: take them out when the almond flakes are golden but the crescents still feel soft; overbaking is the common mistake, and they set hard as they cool.

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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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German party pasta salad (Nudelsalat)

In Germany a big bowl of Nudelsalat is the backbone of a Kindergeburtstag, a summer barbecue or a school outing: short pasta, ham, peas, sweetcorn and chopped gherkins bound in a mayonnaise and yoghurt dressing, made the evening before so the flavours settle. This version lightens the dressing with yoghurt and gherkin brine. It contains gluten, egg (mayonnaise) and milk. Chef's tip: dress the pasta while it is still slightly warm, then add a splash more dressing just before serving, because the pasta drinks it overnight.

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AmerikanerIced soft cakes

Amerikaner are a fixture of German bakery counters and children's birthday parties: soft, domed little cakes baked flat-side up, then turned over and iced on the smooth base, half in white lemon icing and half in chocolate. A pinch of custard powder in the dough gives their tender, slightly vanilla crumb. Children can ice them themselves at a party. They contain milk, egg and gluten. Chef's tip: ice the flat bottom of the cakes, not the domed tops; that's what gives the shiny, even finish.

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Russischer ZupfkuchenChocolate shortcrust cheesecake

Despite the name, Russischer Zupfkuchen is a West German invention, a 1990s café-counter hit that spread from a baking-powder company's recipe card into every coffee-and-cake afternoon from Hamburg to Munich. A crisp cocoa shortcrust holds a pale, creamy quark cheesecake, and torn pieces ('gezupft', plucked) of the same dark dough are scattered on top, where they bake into crunchy chocolate islands. Serve it cold, in tall wedges, with filter coffee. Cutting it warm is the common mistake: the filling slumps and the base cracks, so chill it for several hours first. Chef's tip: keep a third of the dough frozen for 15 minutes before tearing it; firm pieces hold their rough shape and don't sink into the filling.

105 minGermanBaking
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Gemüse-Kartoffel-Fleisch-Brei (vegetable, potato and beef mash)

In Germany the first proper lunch for a baby of about six months is the Gemüse-Kartoffel-Fleisch-Brei, a smooth purée of carrot or parsnip with potato and a little lean beef, finished with a spoonful of rapeseed oil. Many parents stir in a little unsweetened fruit juice or purée too, as vitamin C helps the body take up the iron from the meat. It tastes sweet and mild and is made with no salt. It contains none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: add the oil to each portion after reheating rather than before freezing, so it stays fresh-tasting.

40 minGermanMeatGluten free
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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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Quarkbällchen (German quark doughnut balls)

Quarkbällchen fill the trays of German bakeries all year and reach their peak at Fasching, the carnival season, and families in Berlin, Saxony and beyond make them at home for children's afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen. The quark dough needs no yeast, so they are quick: crisp and golden outside, soft and cake-like inside, with a light tang. They are rolled in sugar rather than drenched. They contain milk, egg and gluten. Chef's tip: keep the oil at 170 °C so they cook through; hotter oil browns them before the centre is done.

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Fliegenpilz-Eier (toadstool eggs)

German children's birthday parties and Easter tables often feature a little forest of Fliegenpilz-Eier: hard-boiled eggs standing on cress, each wearing a red tomato cap dotted with mayonnaise like a fly agaric toadstool. Children love making them as much as eating them. They are meant for school-age children: for younger ones, cut the eggs and tomatoes into small pieces rather than serving them whole. Contains egg (also in the mayonnaise); free of gluten and milk. Chef's tip: slice a thin piece off the bottom of each egg so it stands steady.

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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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Kärntner ReindlingCinnamon raisin yeast cake

Carinthia's Easter loaf takes its name from the Reindl, the round, deep pan it is baked in, and in southern Austria no Easter basket goes to church without one. Inside the golden yeast crust is a spiral of butter, cinnamon sugar and plump raisins, so every slice shows a dark swirl. Locals eat it two ways: sweet with coffee on Easter morning, or alongside the savoury Easter platter with horseradish. Many bakers soak the raisins in rum overnight; warm water or tea works just as well and keeps it alcohol-free. A dry, crumbly Reindling usually means too much flour went in during kneading, so keep the dough soft and only lightly floured. Chef's tip: butter the pan well and dust it with sugar, which caramelises into a thin crunchy shell.

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Fruit and cereal mash (Obst-Getreide-Brei)

German weaning follows a well-known plan: a vegetable lunch first, then a milk and cereal evening meal, and finally an afternoon Obst-Getreide-Brei, a dairy-free mash of cooked cereal flakes and fruit, usually from around seven months. Fine oat or millet flakes are simmered in water, then stirred into stewed apple or pear with a spoon of rapeseed oil, which German paediatric advice recommends for healthy fats. It is fruity, smooth and naturally sweet. It contains gluten if made with oats (use millet flakes for gluten free); there is no milk, egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: stew the fruit in a little water rather than using juice, which adds sugar.

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MohnkuchenPoppy seed crumble cake

Bavarian and Austrian bakeries, Saxon ones especially, cut Mohnkuchen from huge trays into thick, dark slabs that are eaten at the Sunday Kaffee und Kuchen table and at village fêtes. Under a sandy butter crumble sits a deep layer of ground poppy seeds cooked in milk with semolina and lemon, nutty and slightly bitter-sweet, on a thin shortcrust base. Some families add a splash of rum to the filling; it is written here without, and you can stir in 2 tablespoons with the lemon zest if you like. Whole seeds are the most common slip: they stay hard and gritty and never thicken the filling, so buy ready-ground poppy seed or grind it in a spice grinder. Chef's tip: let the filling cool before spreading it; hot filling melts the base and the cake splits from it when cut.

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StielmusTurnip greens mash

Stielmus, also called Rübstiel, is the young stalks and leaves of turnips, sold in bunches at markets in Cologne, Düsseldorf and the Münsterland only in spring and early autumn. Rhinelanders chop them and cook them with potatoes, then mash everything together with butter and nutmeg into a green, slightly peppery mash. It is traditionally eaten with bacon or sausage, but works as a vegetarian main with a fried egg. A common mistake is chopping the stalks too coarsely, which leaves stringy pieces. Chef's tip: if you cannot find Stielmus, a mix of turnip tops and chard gives a similar mild bitterness.

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BrennsuppeBrowned flour soup

Farmhouse kitchens in Upper Bavaria and the Swabian Allgäu once started the day with Brennsuppe, a soup built from almost nothing: flour browned slowly in butter until it smells of hazelnuts, then whisked into water or stock with caraway and onion. Grandmothers still make it on cold evenings or for anyone feeling poorly, with cubes of stale bread toasted in the pan and a heap of chives on top. It tastes far richer than its ingredients suggest. The usual mistake is rushing the roux on a high heat, so it scorches and turns bitter instead of nutty. Chef's tip: whisk the stock in a little at a time while it is cold or lukewarm, and the soup stays perfectly smooth.

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KräuterquarkHerb quark

On summer evenings across Germany, from Hamburg allotments to Swabian farmhouse kitchens, a bowl of herb quark sits in the middle of the Abendbrot table with rye bread, radishes and boiled new potatoes. Fresh low-fat quark is loosened with a little milk and linseed or sunflower oil, then packed with chopped chives, parsley and dill and a hint of garlic, so it tastes cool, tangy and green. It also goes on jacket potatoes at the fair and next to grilled vegetables at a barbecue. The usual mistake is chopping the herbs ahead and letting them sit, which turns them dark and bruised. Chef's tip: let the finished quark rest in the fridge for 20 minutes so the garlic mellows and the herbs flavour the whole bowl.

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DibbelabbesPotato and leek hash

Dibbelabbes takes its name from the Saarland words for a pot (Dibbe) and to lick out (abbes), because the crisp crust stuck to the cast-iron pan is the best part. Families around Saarlouis and Merzig make it on cold evenings: raw grated potatoes, leek and onion cooked slowly in a heavy pan and turned now and then until golden chunks form all through. Traditionally smoked bacon or Dörrfleisch goes in; this version keeps it vegetarian with a little smoked paprika. Apple sauce and a green salad go alongside. Stirring too often is the mistake; the crust needs time to form. Chef's tip: cook it in the oven in a cast-iron casserole for an even, deep crust with less work.

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Folienkartoffel mit KräuterquarkBaked potato with herb quark

Wrapped in foil and split open, Folienkartoffel is what queues form for at Christmas markets, village fairs and summer barbecues across Germany, and it is just as easy at home in the oven or in the embers of a grill. A large floury potato bakes until fluffy, then gets a big spoon of cold Kräuterquark with chives, parsley and garlic, sometimes with sweetcorn or grated cheese too. The contrast of hot potato and cool, tangy quark is the whole point. A common mistake is choosing waxy potatoes, which stay dense. Chef's tip: prick the potatoes and rub them with oil and coarse salt before wrapping, so the skin turns tender and seasoned.

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HochzeitssuppeWedding soup with meatballs

At weddings in Lower Saxony and Westphalia the meal begins with this soup, often served at village inns around Hanover and Münster long before the roast arrives. A clear beef broth carries three garnishes: tiny meatballs of beef and pork, cubes of Eierstich (a steamed egg custard) and pieces of asparagus or peas, so every spoonful has something different. It can be prepared in stages a day ahead, which is why it suits a crowd. A common mistake is boiling the meatballs hard, which clouds the broth. Chef's tip: poach the meatballs separately in salted water, then add them to the clear broth just before serving.

180 minGermanSoups
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EiersalatEgg salad

Every German bakery counter and many Sunday breakfast tables have a bowl of Eiersalat, spread thickly on halved Brötchen or rye bread at Abendbrot. This home version keeps it light: chopped hard-boiled eggs bound with a little mayonnaise and yoghurt, sharpened with mustard and gherkin and finished with lots of chives. It is also the usual way to use up dyed Easter eggs in the week after Easter. The classic mistake is overcooking the eggs, which leaves grey-green rims and a sulphur smell. Chef's tip: chop the eggs with a fork or an egg slicer, not a blender, so the salad keeps soft little pieces of white and yolk.

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KartoffelkrokettenPotato croquettes

Kartoffelkroketten belong to the German Sunday roast as surely as red cabbage, alongside Rinderrouladen in the Ruhr or venison in the Harz at Christmas. Dry mashed potato is bound with egg yolk, nutmeg and a little butter, rolled into small cylinders, breaded and fried until crunchy outside and fluffy within. Homemade ones taste far better than the frozen kind and can be shaped a day ahead. The usual mistake is a wet mash, which makes croquettes burst in the oil. Chef's tip: steam-dry the boiled potatoes in the hot pan for two minutes and press them through a ricer, never a blender, which turns them gluey.

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