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VarangaCrisp shredded beef

Varanga belongs to the big occasions of the Merina Highlands: family reunions, famadihana gatherings and long lunches outside Antananarivo, where a mound of it sits beside rice and a bowl of greens. Beef, traditionally zebu, is simmered with garlic, ginger and onion until it can be pulled apart with two forks, then the strands are fried in the fat and juices left in the pot until crisp and mahogany at the edges but still tender inside. The flavour is deeply beefy and salty-sweet, a little like the best bits stuck to a roasting tin. Cooks in a hurry shred the meat before it is truly tender, and the strands then fry up tough and stringy instead of crisp. Chef's tip: choose a cut with some fat and connective tissue, like chuck or brisket; lean steak gives dry, hard varanga.

150 min

Malagasy Meat

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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.

45 min

Paraguayan Sides

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LasopyBlended vegetable soup

Highland evenings in Antananarivo can turn surprisingly cold, and that is when lasopy comes out, a smooth, pale-orange soup of carrot, leek, potato, turnip and green beans blended until velvety. Market cooks and grandmothers usually simmer it with beef bones; this version keeps it fully vegetarian, with the vegetables browned lightly first and a bay leaf and thyme for depth, so the water turns into a sweet, savoury broth on its own. It is often eaten with a handful of thin vermicelli cooked in it, or simply with bread, and a dab of sakay stirred in at the table. Leave the vegetables in big chunks: chopping them tiny makes them boil to mush before the flavour comes out. Chef's tip: hold back a ladle of cooking liquid and blend the rest, then thin to taste, because once lasopy is too watery there is no fixing it.

60 min

Malagasy Soups

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TsaramasoWhite beans with pork

Sunday lunch in a Highland family home often means a big pot of tsaramaso sy henakisoa, white beans stewed slowly with pork until the beans are creamy and the meat falls apart, ladled over a mound of plain rice. Pork belly or shoulder is browned first so its fat flavours the whole pot, then onion, tomato, garlic and ginger cook down into a thick, savoury, gently sweet sauce that the beans soak up. A spoon of sakay and a tangle of lasary achards on the side cut the richness. Adding salt or tomato before the beans are tender is the mistake that keeps them hard, so season only once they crush easily. The pork should reach at least 71 °C, though by the end it will be far past that and spoon-tender. Chef's tip: soak the beans overnight and simmer them separately first; it keeps the stew from burning while the beans take their time.

140 min

Malagasy Curries

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Vary sosoa for babiesSoft rice with greens for babies

Vary sosoa, rice cooked with lots of water until soft and soupy, is the classic Malagasy breakfast, eaten in Antananarivo and the highland villages before the day's work starts, and the food given to the sick and the very young. For babies from about nine months it is cooked with diced pumpkin and finished with a handful of mild greens, then mashed. It is gentle, sweet and creamy. Skip brède mafane (paracress), the tingling green used for grown-ups' romazava, as it numbs the mouth; spinach or sweet potato leaves are kinder. It is free of the major allergens: no milk, egg, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: use a short, starchy rice such as vary gasy or any broken rice; it releases more starch and makes the creamiest sosoa.

40 min

Malagasy Rice & Grains

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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.

30 min

Paraguayan Snacks & Starters

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Vary sosoaRice soup with greens

In Antananarivo and across the highlands, the day starts with a bowl of vary sosoa: rice cooked with plenty of water until the grains are soft and loose in their milky cooking liquid, wetter than plain rice but not as smooth as congee. Stalls serve it with kitoza (dried meat), eggs or a spoon of fiery sakay; this vegan version tops it with garlicky greens and homemade sakay chilli paste. The common mistake is stirring it like risotto, which makes it gluey; stir only now and then. Chef's tip: make the sakay the day before; the ginger and chilli mellow overnight in the oil.

40 min

Malagasy Rice & Grains

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KitozaSmoked dried beef strips

Butchers in the Highland markets of Antananarivo and Ambositra hang long, dark strips of kitoza above smoky fires, and households grill a few pieces each morning to eat with a bowl of soft rice. The meat is lean, cut with the grain, seasoned with salt, garlic, ginger and pepper, then dried until it is chewy and concentrated; a quick grill before serving gives it a smoky, salty crust. This home version uses beef in place of zebu and, for safety, cooks the strips to 71 °C in the oven before drying them slowly at a low heat. It is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. The common mistake is cutting the strips too thick, which leaves them leathery outside and damp inside. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for an hour so you can slice it in even 5 mm strips.

175 min

Malagasy Meat

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Mofo akondroBanana fritters

Wherever bananas pile up on market tables, from Toamasina on the east coast to the roadside stalls near Moramanga, someone is frying mofo akondro to sell warm in twists of paper. Ripe banana is cut into thick slices, dipped in a soft, vanilla-scented batter of flour, egg and milk, and fried until the coating puffs and crisps while the fruit inside turns jammy and sweet. Children love them after school, and they make an easy dessert with a dusting of sugar. Underripe bananas are the common mistake: they stay starchy and sour, so wait until the skins are well freckled with brown. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes before you dip, so the flour hydrates and the coating clings evenly instead of sliding off in the oil.

25 min

Malagasy Desserts

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SakayChilli and ginger paste

No table in Madagascar is fully set without a saucer of sakay, from a Fianarantsoa family lunch to a coastal fish shack in Mahajanga. Fresh red chillies are pounded with ginger, garlic and salt, then loosened with hot oil, so the paste is bright, sharp and searingly hot, with a warm ginger finish rather than the sourness of a vinegar sauce. A dab is stirred into broth, smeared over rice or eaten with grilled zebu skewers; a little goes a long way. Wear gloves when you chop the chillies, and wash the board straight away: rubbing your eyes after handling them is the classic beginner's mistake. Chef's tip: pour the oil in while it is hot but not smoking, which cooks the raw edge off the garlic and helps the paste keep for a week in the fridge.

15 min

Malagasy Chutneys & Dips

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Pomazánkové másloChive butter spread

Pomazánkové máslo is a Czech fridge staple, a soft, mild dairy spread that is lighter than butter and is spread thickly on fresh rye bread for breakfast and school snacks, usually topped with chives or sliced radish. Shops sell it ready-made, but at home it is easily made by beating butter with soft quark and a splash of milk. The common mistake is using butter straight from the fridge, which leaves greasy lumps; it must be soft enough to whip. Chef's tip: beat for a full 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy, and the spread stays soft even when chilled.

10 min

Czech Breakfast & Brunch

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Vary amin'ananaRice with greens

Before the sun clears the hills of Antananarivo, steam is already rising from pots of vary amin'anana at the hotely, the little roadside cafés where office workers and taxi-brousse drivers stop for breakfast. Rice simmers with a heap of chopped greens, a little tomato and fresh ginger until the grains swell and soften into something between a pilaf and a loose porridge, green-flecked and gently savoury. Locals spoon sakay or a sharp lasary relish on top, and anyone with more appetite adds a few beans on the side. The greens matter most: brèdes mafana (paracress) give a faint tingle, but watercress, spinach or mustard greens from the shop all work well. Chef's tip: add the tender leaves only for the last 8 minutes; boiled from the start, they turn grey-brown and bitter, which is the commonest way this simple dish goes wrong.

40 min

Malagasy Breakfast & Brunch

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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.

40 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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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.

35 min

Paraguayan Pasta & Noodles

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Králík na smetaněRabbit in cream sauce

Králík na smetaně is a Sunday lunch in the Czech countryside, especially in Moravia and South Bohemia, where many families once kept rabbits in the yard. Rabbit pieces are braised with carrot, celeriac, parsley root and onion, then the vegetables are blended into a velvety cream sauce brightened with lemon and a pinch of sugar, much like the famous svíčková. It is served with sliced bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky) and a spoon of cranberry sauce. The usual mistake is boiling the sauce after the cream goes in, which can split it; keep it at a bare simmer. Rabbit is lean, so cook it gently and check that the meat comes easily off the bone. Chef's tip: blend the vegetables until completely smooth and pass them through a sieve for the silky sauce Czech cooks are proud of.

120 min

Czech Meat

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Tvarohová pomazánkaQuark spread

Tvarohová pomazánka is the savoury quark spread made in Czech and Slovak kitchens for breakfast, snacks and the evening bread plate: tvaroh beaten with a little butter, finely chopped onion, sweet paprika and chives, then spread on dark rye bread. It is fresh, tangy and pale orange. The mistake is using raw onion cut too coarsely, which overpowers the mild quark and makes the spread watery; chop it very finely or grate it. Chef's tip: make it 30 minutes ahead and chill it, so the paprika colours the spread and the onion mellows.

10 min

Czech Breakfast & Brunch

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Akoho sy sakamalaoGinger and garlic chicken

Sakamalao means ginger, and Malagasy cooks are generous with it: this everyday braise from family kitchens across the island uses a whole fist of the root, along with a full head of garlic and soft onions. Bone-in chicken is browned, then simmered gently in its own juices until the meat slides off the bone and the sauce turns golden, sticky and warming, with ginger heat that lingers rather than burns. Serve it with a big plate of rice, a dish of romazava greens or lasary, and sakay for anyone who wants more fire. Many people rush the onions; give them time to turn soft and golden, because they become the body of the sauce. Chef's tip: pound the ginger and garlic together into a coarse paste rather than slicing them, so they melt into the sauce and coat every piece of chicken.

60 min

Malagasy Chicken

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GodrogodroCoconut rice flour sweet

Along the northern coast around Antsiranana, and down to Mahajanga, godrogodro is a festival and family-celebration sweet, cut into diamonds and passed round at weddings, circumcision ceremonies and the New Year. Coconut milk, rice flour and dark sugar are stirred for the best part of an hour until the mixture thickens, darkens and pulls away from the pan, then it sets into a dense, sliceable fudge-like block, fragrant with vanilla and cardamom. It is rich, so small squares with a cup of tea are plenty. Stopping too early is the mistake to avoid: undercooked godrogodro stays sticky and pale and will not hold a clean edge. Chef's tip: use a heavy, non-stick pan and a flat wooden spatula that scrapes the whole base, and keep stirring as it thickens, as the bottom scorches easily.

70 min

Malagasy Desserts

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MasikitaGrilled beef skewers

As the light fades in Mahajanga, Toliara and Antananarivo, the smoke from masikita grills drifts along the pavements, with vendors fanning glowing charcoal under rows of tiny skewers. In Madagascar they are made with zebu, the humped cattle that are central to life on the island; good beef rump or sirloin is the closest match at home. Small cubes are marinated with garlic, ginger, pepper and a little oil, threaded tightly and grilled fast, so the outside chars and the inside stays juicy. Eat them straight off the stick with sakay, a squeeze of lime and a cold drink, or with rice for dinner. Cutting the cubes too big is the common mistake: masikita should be bite-sized so they cook through in minutes. Chef's tip: soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes first so they don't burn before the beef is done.

30 min

Malagasy Meat

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Mi saoVegetable fried noodles

Chinese families who settled in Toamasina and Antananarivo a century ago brought mi sao with them, and it is now one of the most ordered plates at any hotely, often eaten at lunch with a bowl of clear soup on the side. This version is all vegetables: shredded cabbage, carrot, green beans and spring onion tossed with springy wheat noodles, garlic, ginger and soy sauce until glossy and a little smoky. Because of the soy sauce and wheat noodles it is not gluten free. Overcrowding the pan is the usual mistake; it steams everything into a limp tangle, so cook in two batches if your wok or pan is small. Chef's tip: rinse the boiled noodles in cold water and toss them with a few drops of oil, so they fry into separate strands instead of a sticky clump.

25 min

Malagasy Pasta & Noodles

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Mofo ananaGreens fritters

Stalls along Analakely market in central Antananarivo stack mofo anana in paper cones from mid-morning, and they rarely last past lunch. Each fritter is mostly leaves held together with a thin, savoury batter, so the outside fries lacy and crisp while the inside stays soft and grassy, with a lift from spring onion, garlic and chilli. Eat them hot as a snack with a cup of ginger tea, or set a plate of them beside a bowl of broth and some sakay for dipping. The usual mistake is a batter that is too thick: it should only just bind the greens, otherwise you end up with a heavy, doughy pancake. Chef's tip: squeeze the chopped leaves in a clean tea towel before mixing; wet greens spit in the oil and make the fritters soggy.

30 min

Malagasy Snacks & Starters

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Mofo menakelyRice flour doughnuts

Ring-shaped and no wider than a teacup, mofo menakely are fried in wide pans of oil at dawn on the street corners of Antananarivo and Antsirabe, then sold by the bagful to people heading for the bus. Rice flour gives them a crisp, slightly sandy shell and a chewy, faintly sour crumb from the slow rise, and they are only lightly sweet, which is why the Highlands dunk them in sugary coffee. Wheat flour helps the dough hold its shape; a few cooks go all rice and shape with wet hands. Expect the batter-like dough to feel too soft at first: adding more flour to make it handleable is a mistake that leaves them dense. Chef's tip: shape each ring straight into the hot oil from a wet palm, poking the hole with a wet finger, rather than trying to roll the dough on a board.

120 min

Malagasy Snacks & Starters

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HemenexHam and eggs

Hemenex, the Czech spelling of "ham and eggs", has been a breakfast in Prague cafés and pub kitchens since the First Republic and is still a weekend favourite at home: slices of cooked pork ham warmed in butter, eggs cracked right over them and fried until the whites set, then everything slid out together and eaten with bread and pickled gherkin. The common mistake is frying the ham until crisp; it should just warm and brown a little at the edges. Cook the yolks fully set for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people. Serve with rye bread, or gluten-free bread if needed. Chef's tip: lay the ham in overlapping slices so it forms a "plate" under the eggs and the whites can't stick to the pan.

10 min

Czech Breakfast & Brunch

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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.

185 min

Paraguayan Meat

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