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Crema volteadaBaked caramel custard

In Lima, crema volteada is the dessert that appears at Sunday lunch in Miraflores and Barranco homes and at every birthday where an aunt is in charge of the sweets. It is firmer and richer than a Spanish flan because it is made with both evaporated and condensed milk, so it slices cleanly and tastes of toffee. The usual mistake is baking it in an oven that is too hot: the custard boils, fills with tiny holes and weeps. Keep the water bath at a bare simmer and take it out while the centre still wobbles slightly. Chef's tip: chill it overnight before turning it out; a cold custard releases in one piece and the caramel has time to melt into a pourable sauce.

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Arroz con mariscosSeafood rice

Arroz con mariscos is the weekend dish of Callao and the beach towns south of Lima, served in cevicherías as the hot partner to a cold ceviche. It is moister than a paella, closer to a risotto, coloured with ají panca and ají amarillo and finished with peas and a little Parmesan-style cheese, as many Lima cooks do. The common mistake is adding all the seafood at the start: the squid turns rubbery and the prawns shrink to nothing. Cook the rice first and add the shellfish only for the final minutes. Discard any mussels that are open before cooking and do not close when tapped, and any that stay shut after cooking. The cheese is often made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian hard cheese if you prefer. Chef's tip: simmer the prawn shells in the stock for 10 minutes; they give the rice its deep seafood taste.

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Ceviche peruanoLime-cured white fish

Ceviche is Peru's national dish, eaten at lunchtime in the cevicherías of Lima's Surquillo and Chorrillos markets, because the fish must be fresh off the morning boats and cevicherías traditionally close in the afternoon. The classic is raw white fish 'cooked' in lime juice with red onion, chilli and coriander, served with sweet potato and corn. Lime juice does not kill bacteria or parasites, so this version first poaches the fish for a minute until just opaque, then dresses it, which keeps the classic flavour and texture far safer. Even so, it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. The usual mistake is leaving the fish in the lime for an hour: it turns chalky and the juice goes bitter. Chef's tip: squeeze the limes gently by hand and stop before the pith; over-squeezed limes make bitter leche de tigre.

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Lomo saltadoBeef stir-fry with chips

Lomo saltado was born in the chifas of central Lima, where Chinese cooks met Peruvian ingredients, and today it is the lunch every Peruvian family makes when they want something fast and a little indulgent. Strips of beef are seared in a smoking-hot wok with red onion, tomato and yellow chilli, splashed with soy sauce and vinegar, then tossed with chips and served beside white rice, so you get both starches on one plate. The common mistake is crowding the wok: the beef stews in its juices and turns grey and chewy instead of charring. Cook it in two batches over the highest heat you have. Chef's tip: add the chips at the very last second, or serve them on the side, so they soak up a little sauce but stay crisp.

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Tamales peruanosChicken corn tamales in banana leaf

In Lima, tamales are a Sunday breakfast, bought warm from street vendors calling 'tamaleeeeros' or made at home for Christmas, and eaten with crusty bread and a pile of salsa criolla. Peruvian tamales are larger and softer than Mexican ones, made from corn dough coloured with ají and wrapped in banana leaves, hiding chicken, a black olive, a slice of egg and a peanut. Peanuts are an allergen, so leave them out if needed. The usual mistake is a dry dough: the tamales turn crumbly. Beat in enough warm stock to make a soft paste that just holds its shape. The chicken must reach 74 °C before it goes in. Chef's tip: fat makes the dough tender; beat the oil and dough for a full 5 minutes until light, as Lima cooks do with pork lard.

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Pescado a lo machoFried fish in spicy seafood sauce

Pescado a lo macho is a classic of Lima's seafood restaurants, the dish people order for a long Sunday lunch near the sea in Chorrillos: a fillet of fried white fish smothered in a thick, spicy sauce of ají panca and ají amarillo packed with prawns, squid and mussels. The name boasts that you need to be brave for the chilli, but you can turn it down. The common mistake is overcooking the seafood while the sauce reduces; add it only when the sauce is already thick. Discard mussels that are open and do not close when tapped, and any that stay shut after cooking. Chef's tip: dust the fish in flour seasoned with cumin and fry it last, so it reaches the table crisp under the sauce.

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Arroz tapadoRice dome with beef filling

Arroz tapado means covered rice, and it is the thrifty weekday lunch of Lima homes and school canteens: garlic rice pressed into a bowl, filled with a sweet-savoury beef mince and turned out like a dome. The filling of minced beef with onion, ají panca, raisins, black olives and hard-boiled egg is the same picadillo that goes into papas rellenas. The usual mistake is leaving the filling wet: the dome collapses and the rice turns soggy. Simmer it until the pan is almost dry. Minced beef must reach 71 °C, so cook it until no pink remains. Serve with a spoonful of salsa criolla. Chef's tip: brush the bowl with a little oil and pack the rice firmly with the back of a spoon; a well-pressed dome holds its shape on the plate.

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Sopa criollaCreamy beef noodle soup

Sopa criolla is the soup Lima turns to on grey winter evenings, when the garúa mist hangs over the city: a beef broth reddened with ají panca, full of thin noodles and strips of beef, enriched with evaporated milk and finished with a poached egg. It arrives with toasted bread for dunking. The common mistake is boiling the soup after adding the milk; it splits into specks. Lower the heat first and stir it in gently. The beef strips are thin, so they cook through in a few minutes. Chef's tip: crack the eggs straight into the barely simmering soup and leave them alone for three minutes; the whites set into soft ribbons that thicken the broth.

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Pan con butifarraHam roll with onion salsa

Pan con butifarra is Lima's evening sandwich, sold in old-school sangucherías and made at home for a light dinner with coffee: a crusty roll filled with jamón del país, a spiced Peruvian pork ham, under a heap of salsa criolla, red onion sliced thin and soaked in lime with chilli. Outside Peru, use a good cooked pork ham. The common mistake is leaving the onion harsh; give it a quick rinse in salted water before dressing it. Chef's tip: a leaf of lettuce under the ham stops the lime juice soaking straight into the bread.

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TripleAvocado, tomato and egg sandwich

The triple is the soft, layered sandwich of Lima's cafés and bakeries, eaten at lonche, the Peruvian late-afternoon meal, or as a light supper: three slices of crustless white bread layered with avocado, tomato and sliced hard-boiled egg, all held together with mayonnaise. It looks neat, tastes fresh and is loved by children. Shop-bought mayonnaise is made with pasteurised egg, so it is safe for everyone. The common mistake is letting wet tomato touch the bread, which turns it soggy within minutes. Chef's tip: pat the tomato dry and sit it between the avocado and egg, then press the sandwich under a board for a minute before cutting.

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GarbaCassava couscous with fried tuna

Garba is the cheap, filling lunch and evening meal of Abidjan's street stalls, the garbadromes, where students and taxi drivers queue for a heap of steamed attiéké (fermented cassava couscous) with chunks of fried tuna, raw onion, tomato and a fierce dose of chilli, all eaten with the fingers. Using ready frozen or packaged attiéké makes it a 15-minute dinner at home. The common mistake is frying the tuna in small batches in barely any oil, so it steams grey instead of browning. Chef's tip: pour a spoon of the hot frying oil over the attiéké before serving, as the garba sellers do; it is what makes it taste right.

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Platte kaas met radijsjesQuark and radish on brown bread

In Flanders the evening meal is often a boterham, a plate of open bread slices, and one of the most loved toppings in Ghent and Antwerp is platte kaas: fresh, soft quark seasoned with chives, salt and pepper, spread thickly on brown bread and covered with crunchy radish slices. It is cool, light and ready in five minutes, a good supper after a big lunch. Some quark and fresh cheeses are set with a little animal rennet, so check the label for a vegetarian one. The common mistake is using thin, low-fat quark straight from the tub, which is watery and slides off the bread; stir it well and drain off any liquid first. Chef's tip: slice the radishes paper-thin and salt them only at the moment you serve, so they stay crisp.

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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.

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RužiceWalnut pastry roses in syrup

Ružice, meaning 'little roses', are baked for Bajram in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Eid holidays when trays of syrup-soaked sweets are set out for every guest. Thin sheets of pastry are brushed with butter, scattered with walnuts and rolled up, then sliced so each piece opens like a rose in the oven. The baked roses drink up a cold lemon syrup and turn sticky, crisp on top and soft underneath. Chef's tip: pour cold syrup over hot pastry (or hot over cold), never both the same temperature, or the roses go soggy.

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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.

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Malai (Romanian-Jewish cornmeal cake)

Romanian Jews brought malai to Israel, and it is a much-loved bake for Shavuot, the early-summer festival when dairy foods fill the table. Coarse cornmeal is mixed with sour cream, soft cheese, eggs and a little sugar, then baked into a golden cake that is moist and slightly crumbly, somewhere between cornbread and cheesecake. Eat it warm with a spoonful of sour cream or jam. Traditional soft white cheeses are sometimes set with animal rennet; choose a cheese labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. The common mistake is using fine polenta that hasn't soaked, which leaves the cake gritty. Chef's tip: let the batter stand for 15 minutes before baking so the cornmeal softens.

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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.

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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 minMoroccanMeatGluten free
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Siete cielos (seven heavens bread)

Pan de siete cielos, 'seven heavens bread', is a Sephardic Shavuot tradition from Thessaloniki and Turkey, kept alive by Ladino-speaking families in Israel. A large round loaf of soft, slightly sweet bread is topped with a spiral and small dough shapes, often a ladder, tablets, birds and a hand, each a symbol from the festival story, then glazed and baked. It is the centrepiece of the dairy holiday meal and is broken and shared at the table. The common mistake is attaching the shapes with no water, so they lift off in the oven; brush underneath each one. Chef's tip: keep a fifth of the dough back for the decorations and keep it covered so it doesn't dry out while you shape.

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PincaEaster sweet bread

Pinca (or sirnica in Dubrovnik) is the Easter bread of Dalmatia and Istria in Croatia. It is a tall, golden round of rich yeast dough with egg yolks, butter, lemon and orange zest and vanilla, cut with three slashes on top before baking so it opens into a three-pointed cross. It is blessed at church on Holy Saturday with the Easter eggs and ham, and eaten at Easter breakfast. Old recipes add a spoon of rum or prošek wine; this one doesn't. Chef's tip: let the dough rise slowly, even overnight in the fridge, as pinca gets its tender, fragrant crumb from a long rise.

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PečenicaRoast pork

Pečenica is the Christmas Day roast of Serbia and Montenegro: traditionally a whole young pig turned on a spit in the yard from early morning, so that it is ready when the family returns from church and greets each other with 'Hristos se rodi'. This home recipe follows our site's approach of using carved portions rather than a whole animal: bone-in pork shoulder pieces with the skin on are rubbed with salt and slow-roasted until the meat is tender and the skin crackles like the spit-roast. Serve with česnica bread, pickled vegetables and roasted potatoes. Chef's tip: baste the skin with beer, or with cold water for an alcohol-free version, near the end; it helps the crackling blister.

290 minBalkanMeatGluten free
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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.

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Boudin blanc aux pommesWhite sausage with apple compote

In Liège and across Wallonia, Christmas Eve supper often begins with boudin blanc: pale, delicate sausages of finely minced pork and milk, sometimes with a little chicken, gently fried in butter until golden and served with warm, chunky apple compote and bread. Butchers make piles of them in December. Buy them fresh from a good butcher, or poached and ready to fry. Chef's tip: prick nothing and cook gently; boudin blanc is fragile, and a hot pan splits the skins.

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Etrog marmaladeCitron preserve

After Sukkot ends, many Israeli families keep the fragrant etrog (citron) used during the festival and turn it into marmalade, so its scent lasts into the winter. The thick pith is bitter, so the sliced fruit is soaked overnight and blanched in fresh water before it is simmered with sugar into a golden, bitter-sweet preserve, lovely on challah or with soft cheese. If your etrog was treated with sprays because it was grown only for ritual use, buy an unwaxed one sold for eating. The common mistake is skipping the soaking and changes of water, which leaves the marmalade harsh. Chef's tip: add a lemon for pectin and brightness, since etrogs are dry and set softly on their own.

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