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254 recipes

Atol shucoSour black corn drink

In San Salvador's Plaza Libertad and outside churches on cool mornings, atol shuco is ladled from steaming clay pots into gourd bowls. Shuco means 'dirty', for its dusky purple-grey colour: it is made from fermented black corn, so it tastes slightly sour and earthy, topped with ground toasted pumpkin seeds, a few whole black beans and a pinch of chilli salt. It is savoury and filling rather than sweet. The usual mistake is leaving the masa to ferment too long in a hot kitchen; check it after a day and use it as soon as it smells pleasantly tangy. Throw it away if you see mould or it smells unpleasant. Chef's tip: if you can't wait for fermentation, a squeeze of lime at the end gives a similar tang.

40 minCentral American Drinks

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ChirmolCharred tomato and mint salsa

Wherever Guatemalans light a grill for Sunday carne asada, a bowl of chirmol sits beside it. The tomatoes are blackened on a comal until their skins split, then crushed with raw onion, lime and fresh mint, which is the herb that sets it apart from Mexican salsas. It is smoky, sharp and loose, meant to be spooned over grilled meat, black beans, eggs or plain rice. A common mistake is blending it smooth; chirmol should be chunky and juicy, crushed by hand or with a fork. Chef's tip: leave some of the charred skin in; those black flecks carry most of the smoky flavour.

20 minCentral American Chutneys & Dips

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SchmorgurkenBraised cucumbers

Schmorgurken are a late-summer dish of Berlin and the Spreewald, the market-garden country south-east of the city, where big, thick braising cucumbers are piled up in August. Peeled and seeded, they are braised with onion and a little stock until tender and juicy, then finished with dill, mustard and a spoon of sour cream. Many families add minced meat or bacon; this is the vegetarian version, good with boiled new potatoes or a fried egg. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, it is a low-starch vegetable dish: about 110 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is braising them for too long until they collapse into mush; they are ready when just translucent. Chef's tip: scrape out the seeds thoroughly, or the dish turns watery.

30 min

German Vegetarian

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Arroz con palmitoBaked rice with hearts of palm

Hearts of palm grow commercially in Costa Rica's northern lowlands, and arroz con palmito is the creamy, cheesy rice bake that turns up at family birthdays, first communions and Christmas buffets across the country. Cooked rice is folded with sliced palmito, sweet corn and a light white sauce, then baked under melted cheese until bubbling. Overcooking the rice at the start is the usual mistake; it keeps softening in the oven, so cook it just tender. Costa Rica's Turrialba cheese and most mozzarella use animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian melting cheese if needed. Chef's tip: slice the palm hearts into coins rather than chopping them; they keep their delicate, artichoke-like bite.

45 minCentral American Rice & Grains

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Café chorreadoCloth-filtered coffee

Every Costa Rican grandmother has a chorreador: a small wooden stand holding a cloth bag, the bolsita, over a cup or jug. Hot water is poured through the grounds by hand, a little at a time, and the result is the coffee drunk at breakfast with gallo pinto and again at the afternoon cafecito around three, with a tamal, a slice of pan casero or a rosquilla. The cloth catches the oils and fine grounds, so the cup is clean, bright and smooth, with the soft acidity and caramel sweetness of Tarrazú and Central Valley beans. In the countryside the water is sometimes sweetened with tapa de dulce before it goes through. It is strong coffee, so mind the caffeine late in the day. The common mistake is pouring all the water in at once, which floods the bag and leaves weak, uneven coffee; pour in slow circles, in four or five goes. It is ready when the drips slow to a trickle and the coffee is dark reddish-brown and smells of toasted caramel. Never wash the bag with soap; rinse it in hot water and hang it to dry. Chef's tip: boil a new bag once with a spoonful of coffee before using it, to season the cloth.

10 minCentral American Drinks

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ChileroPickled vegetable and chilli relish

Sit down in any soda in Costa Rica, from San José to the Caribbean coast at Limón, and next to the napkins you will find a jar of chilero: small dice of carrot, cauliflower, onion and green beans with hot chile panameño, swimming in vinegar. Costa Ricans shake the spicy vinegar over gallo pinto at breakfast, spoon the crunchy vegetables onto a lunchtime casado of rice, black beans, plantain and salad, and add a splash to olla de carne on a rainy afternoon. It is more vinegar than vegetable, sharp and clean, with crunchy, sour bites and a fruity heat that grows the longer the jar sits. Unlike Guatemalan escabeche, nothing is blanched; the hot vinegar alone softens the vegetables slightly. The usual mistake is cutting the vegetables too big, so they will not come out of the bottle and do not pickle through; dice them no larger than 5 mm. It is ready after three days, when the vinegar has turned faintly yellow and tastes hot and the cauliflower is sour all the way through. Chef's tip: add a few strips of the vinegar-softened chile to your rice, but warn your guests.

35 minCentral American Chutneys & Dips

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KetwurstSausage in a hollowed roll

Ketwurst, from ketchup plus Wurst, was invented in 1977 in East Berlin as the GDR's own fast food, served from state-run snack counters around Alexanderplatz. A long roll was speared onto a heated metal spike to hollow and toast it at the same time, the hole was filled with a spicy ketchup and a hot boiled sausage, usually pork, was pushed inside. It vanished after reunification but is back at a few kiosks in Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain, eaten on the go at lunchtime by Berliners who grew up with it. Chef's tip: heat the sausages in water just below a simmer; boiling hard splits the skins.

15 min

German Fast Food

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Saure KartoffelrädlePotato slices in vinegar sauce

Saure Rädle, 'sour little wheels', are old Swabian farmhouse food from the villages around Stuttgart and the Swabian Alb, cooked on Fridays or at the end of the month when there was no meat. Potato slices simmer in a nutty brown roux sauce sharpened with vinegar and scented with bay and clove, so the slices turn tender and the sauce glossy and tangy. Some families add a few pieces of bacon; this version is meat-free. Eat with a green salad or pickled gherkins. The usual mistake is rushing the roux: pale flour gives a floury, grey sauce, so brown it slowly to the colour of hazelnuts. Chef's tip: add the vinegar at the end, a splash at a time, and taste; the sauce should be pleasantly sour, not sharp.

40 min

German Vegetarian

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MoshOat and milk drink

In Guatemalan homes, mosh is what a mother hands a child on a chilly highland morning in Quetzaltenango or Huehuetenango: rolled oats cooked long and thin with water, milk, cinnamon and sugar, so it's drunk from a mug rather than eaten with a spoon. The common mistake is making it too thick like porridge; it should pour easily, so keep adding hot milk or water as the oats swell. Chef's tip: whisk it hard for a minute at the end; it breaks up the oats and makes the drink smooth and frothy.

15 minCentral American Drinks

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Atol de plátanoWarm plantain and milk drink

In Guatemalan markets, steaming pots of atol are sold from early morning: thick, sweet, drinkable porridges made from corn, rice, oats or, in this case, very ripe plantain blended with milk and cinnamon. Atol de plátano is creamy and fruity, a filling breakfast in a mug. The common mistake is boiling it hard after the milk goes in, which catches and burns on the bottom; keep it at a gentle bubble and stir. Chef's tip: simmer the plantain with the cinnamon in water first, then blend; this cooks the starch fully and gives a silky drink without any raw-banana taste.

30 minCentral American Drinks

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Ayote en mielSquash in spiced syrup

Nicaraguan grandmothers set a pot of ayote en miel on the stove on Holy Wednesday, so there is something sweet to share with neighbours right through Easter week, often alongside sweet green mango and coconut. Chunks of squash simmer in dark panela syrup with cinnamon, cloves and allspice until they are glossy and tender and the syrup tastes of caramel and spice. Stirring is the common mistake: a spoon breaks the soft squash into mush, so shake the pot instead. Chef's tip: leave the skin on the squash; it holds each piece together and turns soft enough to eat.

75 minCentral American Desserts

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BahoSteamed beef, plantain and cassava

Baho, also spelled vaho, is the dish Nicaraguan families plan a Sunday around, especially in Granada and Managua: beef marinated overnight in sour orange and garlic, then steamed for hours in a big pot lined with banana leaves on a bed of green plantain, ripe plantain and cassava. Everything comes out tender and fragrant with the leaves, and it is served with a crunchy, vinegary cabbage salad to cut through the richness. Marinate the beef in the fridge, never at room temperature. The mistake that ruins it is letting the pot boil dry, which scorches the leaves and the plantain at the bottom; top up the water every hour. Chef's tip: keep a few banana leaves back to tuck over the top, so the steam stays trapped inside the parcel.

250 minCentral American Meat

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ChichemeCold cracked corn drink

Chicheme comes from La Chorrera, just west of Panama City, where it is sold by the glass at the town's fairs alongside bollos and chorizo, and it is now drunk all over the country on hot afternoons. Cracked white corn is cooked until soft and swollen, then mixed with sweetened milk, cinnamon and vanilla and served very cold, so every sip has chewy grains in it. Undercooked corn is the classic mistake; the kernels must be soft right through or the drink feels gritty. Chef's tip: soak the corn overnight, and it cooks in under an hour instead of two.

60 minCentral American Drinks

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ChifrijoRice, beans and crisp pork bowl

Chifrijo was born in a San José bar in the 1990s and is now on every Costa Rican cantina menu as the snack to share over a cold drink: a bowl layered with rice, saucy red beans, crunchy pork chicharrón, pico de gallo and avocado, with tortilla chips stuck in for scooping. The name joins chicharrón and frijoles. The pork is belly, simmered and then fried in its own fat until crisp. Soggy chips are the common mistake: add them at the very last moment, never before serving. Chef's tip: squeeze lime over the pork right before it goes on top; the acid cuts the richness and wakes up the beans.

50 minCentral American Snacks & Starters

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EiskaffeeIced coffee with ice cream

On a hot July afternoon in any German or Austrian Eiscafé, from a Hamburg promenade to a Viennese Gastgarten, the tall glass with the long spoon is Eiskaffee. It is not iced coffee in the American sense: strong coffee, chilled, is poured over two scoops of vanilla ice cream and crowned with sweetened whipped cream, sometimes a wafer and a dusting of cocoa or grated chocolate. You drink the cold coffee through a straw while the ice cream slowly melts into it, then spoon up the creamy, half-frozen rest, so it is part drink, part dessert, eaten at the café in the afternoon rather than with a meal. The usual mistake is pouring hot or even warm coffee straight onto the ice cream: it melts at once into a thin, lukewarm, milky soup. Brew it earlier and chill it properly. It is ready when the coffee is fridge-cold, the scoops sit just proud of the surface and the cream holds soft peaks on top. It is moderately caffeinated, so keep it for adults and older teens. Chef's tip: freeze leftover coffee in ice-cube trays and add a couple to the glass so nothing gets diluted with water.

15 min

German Drinks

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Grünkohl mit PinkelBraised kale with smoked sausage

In Bremen and Oldenburg, Grünkohl mit Pinkel is the dish of the winter Kohlfahrt, when groups walk out into the frosty countryside and finish at an inn for kale, smoked pork and Pinkel, a smoked sausage of pork, bacon and oats. The kale is braised for hours with onions, lard and smoked pork until dark, soft and almost creamy, then the sausages warm through on top. Serve with boiled potatoes or small caramelised ones and mustard. The usual mistake is cooking the kale briefly like a vegetable side; it needs the long braise to lose its bitterness. Chef's tip: kale is best after the first frost, which makes the leaves sweeter; frozen chopped kale is a good shortcut.

160 min

German Meat

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MohnschneckePoppy seed rolls

Every German bakery counter has a tray of Mohnschnecken next to the cinnamon and nut snails, and they are bought by the bag for Saturday breakfast and afternoon coffee. A soft, buttery yeast dough is spread with a thick filling of ground poppy seeds cooked in milk with sugar and lemon, rolled up, sliced and baked, then brushed with a thin lemon glaze. The usual mistake is using whole poppy seeds straight from the jar: they must be ground (or bought ground, as "Mohn gemahlen") or the filling stays gritty and bland. Chef's tip: cool the poppy filling completely before spreading it, because a warm filling melts the butter in the dough and the spirals unroll in the oven.

65 min

German Baking

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QuarkbrötchenQuark bread rolls

In German homes Quarkbrötchen are the Sunday-morning answer to an empty bread bin: no yeast, no rising, just quark, egg, flour and baking powder, shaped and in the oven while the coffee brews. They come out with a thin golden crust and a soft, slightly tangy crumb, best split warm with butter and jam or a slice of cheese. The usual mistake is kneading the dough like bread, which makes the rolls tough and flat; mix only until it comes together. Chef's tip: if your quark is very wet, drain it in a sieve for 10 minutes first, or the dough turns sticky and you end up adding so much flour that the rolls go dry.

32 min

German Breads & Parathas

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RinderrouladenStuffed beef rolls

Rinderrouladen are the Sunday and holiday roast of Germany, made by grandmothers from the Rhineland to Saxony and served at Christmas with red cabbage and potato dumplings. Thin slices of beef are spread with mustard and rolled round smoked bacon (pork), onion and gherkin, then browned and braised for two hours in red wine and stock until tender, giving a deep, glossy gravy. For an alcohol-free version use extra stock with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. The usual mistake is rolls that unravel in the pot; tie them firmly or pin with two cocktail sticks. Slow-cooker: after browning, cook on low for 7 hours, then thicken the sauce in a pan. Chef's tip: ask the butcher for topside sliced 5 mm thick and beat it a little thinner, so it rolls easily without tearing.

165 min

German Meat

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ZwiebelfleischBeef braised with onions

Zwiebelfleisch is an old Viennese Beisl dish, the kind of hearty lunch an inn serves on a cold weekday, with boiled or fried potatoes alongside. Thin slices of beef braise slowly with a mountain of onions, a splash of vinegar, caraway and marjoram until the onions melt into a sweet, tangy gravy. The usual mistake is browning the onions too fast: they turn bitter, so let them colour slowly to a deep gold. Pressure-cooker: 25 minutes at high pressure after browning. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of mustard stirred in at the end rounds out the sauce and brightens the vinegar.

125 min

German Meat

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Indio viejoShredded beef in corn masa sauce

Masaya and Granada both claim indio viejo, a thick, tangy stew of shredded beef cooked into a sauce of corn masa, tomato, sweet pepper and achiote, sharpened with sour orange and scented with mint. It has the texture of a savoury porridge and is eaten for lunch with white rice and fried ripe plantain. The mistake that ruins it is tipping masa straight into the hot pot, where it forms lumps; whisk it into broth first. Chef's tip: add the sour orange juice only in the last few minutes, so it stays bright and fresh rather than flat.

120 minCentral American Meat

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PuliqueChicken stew in chile sauce

Pulique is a ceremonial stew of the Kaqchikel Maya around Chimaltenango and Sacatepéquez in the Guatemalan highlands, made for weddings, saints' days and cofradía feasts, and now cooked at home for Sunday lunch. Chicken simmers with potatoes, güisquil (chayote) and green beans, then a blended sauce of tomatoes, tomatillos, guaque chiles and toasted bread or masa thickens the broth into a smooth, brick-red caldo. Serve with rice and tamalitos or corn tortillas. The usual mistake is adding the masa straight in, which makes lumps; whisk it into some cool broth first. Chicken is done at 74 °C, when the juices run clear. Chef's tip: char the tomatoes and tomatillos in a dry pan until blackened in spots for the gentle smoky flavour of the highlands.

90 minCentral American Chicken

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ButterbrotRye bread with cheese and vegetables

Every German schoolchild knows the Pausenbrot: two slices of rye or mixed-grain bread spread with good butter, closed around a slice of cheese, wrapped in paper and eaten in the mid-morning break, with a few cucumber or apple slices on the side. Adults take the same Butterbrot to work. The common mistake is spreading cold, hard butter, which tears the bread and leaves bare patches that let any wet filling soak in. Many Gouda-style cheeses use animal rennet, so choose one marked vegetarian. Chef's tip: butter right to the crust on both slices; the butter is a waterproof layer that keeps the bread fresh until lunchtime.

10 min

German Breakfast & Brunch

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ChorreadasSweet corn pancakes

In the Costa Rican countryside, from the Central Valley to Guanacaste, chorreadas are made when the corn is fresh and milky: kernels are blended into a thick batter with a little sugar and butter and "poured" (chorrear) onto a hot griddle, then eaten with a dollop of natilla, Costa Rica's soured cream, and a cup of coffee. They are soft, sweet and taste purely of corn. The common mistake is a thin batter that spreads and tears; it should drop thickly from a spoon, so add masa harina if your corn is very juicy. Chef's tip: leave a few kernels only half-blended so the pancakes have little pops of whole corn.

30 minCentral American Breakfast & Brunch

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