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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 minCzechMeat
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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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Chłodnik litewskiChilled beet leaf soup

In Podlasie and the lake country of north-east Poland, chłodnik is the soup of hot June and July days, when young beets are pulled with their leaves still tender. The beet greens and baby beets are cooked briefly, chilled, then stirred into kefir with cucumber, radish, spring onion and lots of dill, so the soup turns shocking pink, tangy and cold. It is served as a starter or a light lunch with half a hard-boiled egg in each bowl. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 170 kcal and 13 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is mixing the kefir into warm beets, which makes it split and dulls the colour, so chill them completely first. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lemon to the cooking beets; the acid keeps the colour a vivid pink instead of brownish.

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Zupa szczawiowaSorrel soup

Zupa szczawiowa is a spring and early summer soup all over Poland, made when sorrel grows thickly in gardens and meadows from May onwards, and it is a favourite Sunday-lunch starter. Fresh sorrel melts into a vegetable broth with carrot and celeriac, giving a bright, lemony sourness, and a spoon of sour cream softens it before halved hard-boiled eggs go into each bowl. Many cooks add potatoes; this version uses just a small one to keep the starch low. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 190 kcal and 11 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is stirring sour cream straight into the boiling soup, where it curdles. Chef's tip: wilt the sorrel in a little butter first; it turns khaki in seconds, which is normal, and the flavour stays bright.

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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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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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Kale chane ka salanBlack chickpea curry

Across Pakistani Punjab, from Faisalabad homes to roadside tandoors near Gujranwala, black chickpeas in a thin, peppery gravy are winter food and a Friday staple, eaten with fresh roti or rice. The small brown chana keep their bite and give a nutty, earthy broth flavoured with cinnamon, black cardamom, cloves and bay. It is cooked in one pot, on the stove or in a slow cooker, and tastes even better the next day. The usual mistake is skipping the overnight soak: unsoaked black chana stay hard however long you cook them. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of the cooked chana against the side of the pot at the end; it thickens the gravy without any flour.

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Shikarpuri acharMixed mango and lime pickle

Shikarpur, the old trading town in upper Sindh, is famous across Pakistan for one thing in a jar: a dark, oily mixed pickle that families say keeps for a year. It is made in May and June when green mangoes are sour and limes are cheap, cured in the hot Sindhi sun, and eaten all year with daal chawal, aloo paratha at breakfast, Sindhi biryani and plain roti with yoghurt. The flavour is sour, salty and fiery, with the bittersweet crunch of fenugreek, anise-sweet fennel and the onion note of kalonji, all carried in pungent mustard oil; the mango stays firm, the lime rind turns soft and chewy and the chickpeas stay nutty. Its long life comes from salt, sour fruit, vinegar and a thick layer of oil, so keep every piece under the oil. Common mistake: any water at all — wet fruit, a damp jar or a wet spoon — which brings mould within days. Dry everything in the sun or a low oven. It is ready after 2–3 weeks, when the lime skins are tender and the oil has turned red and fragrant. Chef's tip: heat the mustard oil until it just smokes and let it cool; this softens its raw bite.

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Kawa zbożowaRoasted grain coffee

In Polish kindergartens, school canteens and grandmothers' kitchens, kawa zbożowa is the breakfast "coffee" everyone can drink: a blend of roasted rye, barley, chicory and sometimes sugar beet that tastes toasty and malty with no caffeine at all. It is usually drunk milky and a little sweet alongside bread and butter. The common mistake is brewing ground grain coffee like espresso: it needs a few minutes of simmering to give up its flavour, or it tastes like weak tea. Chef's tip: let the pot stand off the heat for 2 minutes after simmering so the grounds sink, then pour gently and you won't need a filter at all.

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Pasta jajecznaEgg spread

In Poland pasta jajeczna is the everyday breakfast and kanapki spread, piled thickly on rye bread or a crusty roll and topped with radish slices, and it is always on the table at Easter breakfast. Hard-boiled eggs are chopped finely or mashed with mayonnaise, a little mustard and a lot of chives into a creamy, savoury spread. The common mistake is boiling the eggs too long: overcooked yolks turn grey-green and taste sulphurous, so stop at 10 minutes and chill them at once. Chef's tip: grate the eggs on the coarse side of a box grater instead of chopping; you get a fluffy, even spread in seconds without mashing it to paste.

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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.

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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.

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Keema naan (Lahore style)

Along Lahore's Fort Road food street, in sight of the Badshahi Mosque, tandoors work late into the night baking naan with a thin layer of spiced mince pressed inside. The bread puffs and chars in the oven and comes out glossy with butter, with juicy, peppery meat in every bite. At home a very hot oven and a preheated tray stand in for the tandoor. Contains wheat and dairy. Chef's tip: cook the mince first and let it cool fully; warm filling softens the dough and it tears when you roll it.

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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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Arvi ka salanColocasia in tangy gravy

Arvi ka salan is a Lahore and Karachi home curry, cooked on weekday evenings when the vegetable seller has a basket of small, hairy colocasia roots. The roots are boiled, peeled and simmered in a loose, sour gravy of onion, tomato, ajwain and a squeeze of lemon, so the slightly slippery arvi soaks up the spice and turns creamy at the centre. Eat it with hot roti or plain rice and a little raw onion. The usual mistake is undercooking the arvi: half-cooked colocasia leaves an itchy, scratchy feeling in the throat, so it must be soft all the way through. Chef's tip: once the boiled arvi is peeled, press each piece flat with your palm before it goes into the gravy, so the rough edges thicken the sauce.

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Kachnar ki sabziBauhinia bud stir-fry

For a few weeks each March, the kachnar trees of Lahore, Rawalpindi and the Punjab plains are covered in buds, and families pick them to cook this seasonal sabzi, often eaten with fresh roti at Sunday lunch. The buds are boiled briefly, then cooked down with onion, tomato and dry spices until they turn soft with a pleasant, slightly astringent bite, a little like green beans and artichoke. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, it is fibre-rich and low in starch: about 140 kcal and 12 g carbohydrate per portion; a wholewheat or millet roti suits it. The usual mistake is skipping the blanch, which leaves the buds bitter and tough. Chef's tip: pick tight, unopened buds; open flowers turn mushy.

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Chikar cholayThick chickpea curry

'Chikar' is Punjabi for mud, a fond joke about how thick these chickpeas are. In the old walled city of Lahore, around Lohari Gate and Gawalmandi, breakfast shops simmer huge pots from before dawn, mashing part of the chickpeas into the ghee and tomato until the whole lot clings like a paste; on Sunday mornings families eat them with fresh kulcha or puri, raw onion and lemon. Contains dairy (ghee). Chef's tip: boil the chickpeas until they squash with no resistance at all; firm ones never thicken into proper chikar.

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Lahori kulfaKulfi with falooda

On hot Lahore nights, families stroll to Gawalmandi food street and the old shops near Anarkali for kulfa: a whole cone of dense, cardamom-scented kulfi is sliced into fat discs, laid over soft falooda noodles and spooned over with rabri, the thick sweetened milk. It is cold, chewy and creamy in every mouthful. Contains milk and tree nuts (pistachio and almond); the falooda noodles may contain wheat. Chef's tip: scrape the bottom and sides of the pan constantly as the milk reduces; one scorched patch flavours the whole batch.

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Herbata z sokiem malinowymTea with raspberry syrup

In Polish homes a bottle of sok malinowy, the raspberry syrup made each July from garden or forest raspberries, waits in the pantry for winter. When someone comes in from the frost, or lies in bed with a cold, it goes into a glass of hot black tea, sometimes with a slice of lemon; grandmothers insist it makes you sweat the chill out, and the drink is traditionally given at the first sign of a sniffle. It also appears simply after a winter walk or with a slice of cake. The tea turns ruby, tastes of summer berries with a light tannic edge, and is sweet enough without sugar. The usual mistake is pouring syrup into boiling tea straight from the kettle: the fresh raspberry aroma cooks off and only sweetness is left. Let the tea cool for a minute or two first. It is ready when the tea is deep amber, the syrup has fully swirled through and it smells clearly of raspberries. No homemade syrup? Use a good shop-bought raspberry syrup, or make the quick one in the optional steps. Chef's tip: brew the tea weaker than usual, about two minutes, so the fruit stays in front.

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Kasza jaglana na mlekuMillet porridge with milk

Millet, jagły, has been eaten in Poland for centuries, and kasza jaglana na mleku is the warming winter breakfast many Polish children grew up on, now back in fashion as a gentle, gluten-free porridge. The grains are cooked in water first, then simmered in milk until soft and creamy, and topped with sautéed apple, cinnamon and a little honey. The mistake that puts people off millet is skipping the rinse: the grains carry a bitter coating that has to be washed off and scalded away with boiling water. Chef's tip: toast the rinsed millet in the dry pan for 2 minutes before adding water, and the porridge tastes nutty instead of grassy.

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MaślankaChilled buttermilk

Maślanka, the tangy liquid left after churning butter, is sold in cartons all over Poland and drunk ice-cold with breakfast, with boiled new potatoes in summer, or blended with fruit for children. On its own it is thin, sour and refreshing; with strawberries and a spoon of sugar it becomes a light pink breakfast smoothie. The mistake is buying "buttermilk" that is really thickened yoghurt drink with added flavourings; look for plain cultured buttermilk with nothing else on the label. Chef's tip: chill the glasses as well as the buttermilk, and blend for no more than 20 seconds so it stays light and doesn't separate.

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ParówkiBreakfast frankfurters

In Warsaw, Kraków and pretty much every Polish home, parówki are the quick weekday breakfast children grow up on: thin, mild pork frankfurters, warmed in hot water and eaten with a squeeze of mustard or ketchup, a slice of rye or a roll, and a few slices of tomato or cucumber. The common mistake is boiling them hard, which splits the skins and leaches out the flavour; they're already cooked, so they only need gentle hot water until piping hot in the middle. Choose parówki with a high meat content. Chef's tip: poke one with a knife to check: it should be hot right through, at least 71 °C, but never bubbling in the pan.

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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.

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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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