Skip to content
Recipes

All recipes

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Set your diet once and we'll hide recipes that don't fit.

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.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

OsterpinzeEaster anise brioche

Osterpinze is the Easter bread of Styria, Carinthia and the area around Trieste, a soft, golden brioche dome with three deep cuts on top for the Holy Trinity, so that it opens into a crown as it bakes. The dough is rich with egg yolks and butter and flavoured with anise and lemon; old recipes add a splash of white wine, left out here. It is blessed in the Easter basket on Holy Saturday and eaten on Easter morning with ham, horseradish and eggs, or with butter and jam. Chef's tip: make the three cuts with scissors just before baking, deep enough to reach halfway down, so the crown opens wide.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Śledzie w śmietanieHerring in soured cream

Herring is a must at the Polish Wigilia, the meatless Christmas Eve supper, and śledzie w śmietanie, salted herring fillets in soured cream with crisp apple, onion and dill, is the favourite way to serve it, with boiled potatoes or rye bread. The herring is cured, not cooked: use good-quality salted or matjes fillets from a shop, which have been frozen to kill parasites, and keep the dish chilled. Cured fish is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; for them, make the safer version in the last step with hot-smoked mackerel or herring fillets baked until opaque. Chef's tip: dress the herring a few hours ahead so the cream picks up the flavour.

20 minPolishFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Biała kiełbasa z cebuląWhite sausage baked with onions

Biała kiełbasa is a fresh, unsmoked white sausage of pork seasoned with garlic and marjoram, and on Easter Sunday morning in Poland it is the star of the breakfast after the blessed basket (święconka) is shared. It is also the sausage that goes into żurek, the sour rye soup. Buy it raw from a Polish butcher, then poach it gently and bake it with onions until golden. Serve with horseradish, mustard, rye bread and Easter eggs. Chef's tip: never boil it, as the casing bursts; keep the water just below a simmer.

60 minPolishMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karp w galarecieCarp in aspic

Carp in aspic is one of the cold dishes of the Polish Wigilia. Carp steaks are poached gently in a stock of root vegetables and the fish's own bones, then laid in a dish with carrot slices, lemon and parsley and covered in the clarified stock, which sets into a clear, shimmering jelly overnight. Serve it chilled with lemon and horseradish. A little powdered gelatine helps the aspic set reliably at home. Chef's tip: simmer the fish bones and vegetables slowly and never boil the stock hard; boiling makes it cloudy.

120 minPolishFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

AllerheiligenstriezelBraided sweet loaf

In Bavaria and Austria, godparents give their godchildren an Allerheiligenstriezel on All Saints' Day, 1 November: a large braided loaf of sweet yeast dough, brushed with egg and scattered with almonds or pearl sugar. The braid is said to recall the old custom of cutting a plait of hair in mourning, and the size of the loaf once showed how generous the godparent was. It is lightly sweet, with lemon and vanilla, and is eaten sliced with butter or jam. Some recipes add rum-soaked raisins; these are soaked in warm water instead. Chef's tip: braid four strands for an impressive, high loaf.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

OponkiQuark ring doughnuts

On Tłusty Czwartek, Fat Thursday, Poles queue at bakeries for pączki, but at home many families make oponki instead: little ring doughnuts from a quick twaróg (curd cheese) dough with no yeast and no waiting. They fry in minutes into light, tender 'tyres' that are rolled in sugar or glazed and eaten warm by the plateful. The common mistake is kneading the dough too much, which makes them tough; mix only until it holds together. Chef's tip: press the twaróg through a sieve first, or blend it, so the dough is smooth and the rings puff evenly.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Śliwki w czekoladzie (chocolate-coated prunes with walnuts)

Boxes of chocolate prunes are a classic Polish gift: brought to grandmothers at Christmas, set out on the Wigilia table among the twelve dishes, and passed round on name days. Plump smoked or soft prunes from the south of the country are best. Each one hides a walnut half, so you get chewy, slightly tart fruit, a crunchy bitter nut and a snap of dark chocolate in one bite. Serve them with coffee or tea after a big meal. Nothing here ever needed egg: the prune itself holds the nut, and chocolate sets around it as it cools. Older recipes soak the prunes in spirits; here they are alcohol-free, plumped in warm orange juice instead, which also brightens the flavour. Use a dark chocolate made without milk and the sweets are vegan. Chef's tip: dry the soaked prunes very well before dipping; the common mistake is leaving them damp, and even a few drops of juice will make melted chocolate seize and turn grainy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Piernik staropolskiHoney spice cake with plum jam

Piernik staropolski is the grand Polish Christmas gingerbread, and the old tradition is to mix the honey dough in November (once even at a child's birth) and leave it to mature for weeks in a cool place, which deepens the spice and makes the cake tender. It is baked a few weeks before Christmas, split into layers with powidła (thick plum butter), glazed with chocolate and left to soften again. This home version rests the dough for at least 3 days. Chef's tip: wrap the baked layers and let them sit for 3 days before filling; fresh piernik is hard, and it softens as it absorbs moisture from the jam.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Grilled mullet roe (wuyuzi)

Wuyuzi, dried salted mullet roe, is one of the treasures of a Taiwanese New Year banquet, made in Kaohsiung and Tainan from grey mullet caught off the southwest coast in the winter run. The flat amber slabs are nicknamed 'black gold' and look like gold bars, so they are served and given as gifts for wealth in the coming year. Lightly seared, the roe is chewy, salty and rich, like a sea-flavoured cheese, and it is eaten in thin slices sandwiched with crisp daikon and pungent garlic leaves. Many cooks brush or flame it with Kaoliang sorghum spirit or rice spirit; that step is optional, and simply searing it in a dry pan gives an alcohol-free version that is just as good. Serve as a starter with the New Year spread. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and the searing brief; the inside should stay soft and slightly sticky.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dan huang su (egg yolk pastry)Salted egg yolk pastry

Dan huang su is Taiwan's favourite Mid-Autumn pastry, given in gift boxes across the island in the weeks before the festival. The whole golden yolk hidden in the centre stands for the full moon, and the round, glossy pastries look like little moons themselves when you share them at the family reunion. Under a shell of dozens of flaky layers sits sweet red bean paste and a salty, rich, slightly crumbly duck egg yolk. Bakeries traditionally use lard in the pastry; this version uses butter, so it is vegetarian. Serve with oolong tea under the moon, cut in half to show the yolk. Chef's tip: roast the salted yolks first until they look oily and set, which takes away any eggy smell and gives the best flavour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Krówki (Polish milk fudge)

Krówki, 'little cows', are the sweets Polish children grow up with: wrapped in paper with a cow on it, handed out at name days and school parties, and bought by the bag all year round. Fresh ones have a thin, sugary crust that crumbles at the edges while the middle stays soft and almost runny, with a deep taste of cooked milk and butter, close to dulce de leche. Eat them with black tea or coffee, or chop them into ice cream. They are naturally egg-free: milk and cream are boiled with sugar until the milk solids caramelise and the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage, then beating it as it cools starts fine sugar crystals that set the fudge and give that crumbly crust. A spoonful of honey adds its own flavour and keeps the centre soft. Chef's tip: stop beating as soon as the mixture loses its shine and starts to thicken; beating too long is the common mistake, and the fudge then sets in the pan before you can pour it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Uszka z grzybamiMushroom dumplings

Wigilia, the Polish Christmas Eve supper, starts when the first star appears and is traditionally meatless, and its first course is clear red barszcz with uszka floating in it. These are tiny dumplings folded into 'little ears' and filled with dried forest mushrooms (usually ceps) and fried onion. They are fiddly, so families make them together in the days before and freeze them. Serve 6–8 in each bowl of hot beetroot broth. Chef's tip: save the mushroom soaking water and add it to the barszcz, as it carries much of the forest flavour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ma lao (puffed rice sticks)

Ma lao are a Lunar New Year sweet from Yilan on Taiwan's northeast coast, stacked on family altars as offerings and handed to guests through the holiday. The sticks swell to many times their size in the oil, a picture of a family and fortune growing bigger in the new year, and their sticky coating stands for staying close together. They are light and crunchy, almost hollow, with a sweet malt glaze and a nutty crust of toasted sesame or crisp puffed rice. Serve on the New Year candy tray with tea. Chef's tip: start frying in barely warm oil and raise the heat slowly; that gentle start is what makes the sticks puff.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Huasheng tang (peanut brittle)

Huasheng tang is a fixture on the Taiwanese New Year candy tray, set out for every visitor who comes to wish the family a happy new year. Peanuts are called 'long-life nuts' in Chinese, so the brittle carries a wish for long life and, with so many nuts in each piece, for many children and a full house. Taiwanese brittle is thinner and less sweet than many, packed with crackly roasted peanuts held together by malt sugar. Serve with oolong tea alongside dried fruit and melon seeds. Chef's tip: cut the slab while it is still warm and pliable; once cold it shatters.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

MoczkaGingerbread in dried fruit compote

Moczka is the Christmas Eve dessert of Upper Silesia in southern Poland, a thick, dark, spiced mixture of honey gingerbread dissolved in dried-fruit compote, then loaded with almonds, walnuts, raisins, figs and prunes. Each family has its own version; many add dark beer to the base, which this one leaves out, but adults may stir 100 ml dark beer into the compote while it simmers. It is eaten cold from small bowls and keeps for several days. Chef's tip: use dry, slightly stale gingerbread, which dissolves into a smooth sauce, while fresh cake turns to lumps.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Changnian cai (long-year greens soup)

Changnian cai, 'long-year greens', is a must on the Taiwanese New Year's Eve table. Whole heads of mustard greens are cooked with their leaves uncut, and each person eats a long leaf from end to end without biting it short, a wish for a long life for the parents and the whole family. The greens turn silky and tender, with a pleasant bitterness that mellows in the savoury broth. This version uses vegetable stock with dried shiitake and ginger, so it is vegan. Serve it alongside the reunion dinner's rich braises and fish, where its clean taste is welcome. Chef's tip: blanch the greens first; it takes away the sharp bitterness and keeps them bright.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bób z koperkiemBroad beans with butter and dill

All over Poland, from Kraków's market stalls to allotments outside Warsaw, the short broad bean season in June and July means bowls of bób z koperkiem: young beans boiled in their pale skins, tossed with melted butter, dill and salt, and eaten with your fingers on summer evenings. You squeeze each bean out of its skin with your teeth, or eat the skin too if the beans are very young. A generous bowl of 300 g beans gives about 22 g of protein, all from the broad beans. The most common mistake is overcooking: the skins burst and the beans turn grey and floury. Chef's tip: add a pinch of sugar to the cooking water along with the salt, as Polish cooks do; it keeps the beans sweet and bright.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Di gua yeStir-fried sweet potato leaves

Stir-fried sweet potato leaves are on the table at almost every Taiwanese home dinner and at every rechao stir-fry stall from Taipei to Kaohsiung, a cheap, dark-green side that once fed the island in lean years and is now loved for its silky texture. The tender leaves and tips are thrown into a smoking wok with plenty of garlic and a splash of water and cooked in about two minutes. It is vegan and light, with about 3 g of protein per portion. The common mistake is overloading the wok: the leaves stew and turn black-green and slimy, so cook in two batches if your pan is small. If you can't find sweet potato leaves, use water spinach or pea shoots. Chef's tip: add a tablespoon of water with the leaves; the burst of steam wilts them evenly without extra oil.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 24 of 313 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 1 of 14