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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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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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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.

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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.

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KipingLeaf-shaped rice wafers

Every 15 May, the town of Lucban in Quezon province celebrates San Isidro Labrador, patron of farmers, with the Pahiyas festival, when houses are covered in rice, vegetables and kiping: bright, translucent wafers of ground rice dough pressed onto leaves so they take the leaf's shape and veins, then dried. After the procession, the kiping are taken down and grilled or fried and eaten crisp, sometimes with sugar. This home version presses the dough thinly onto baking paper with a leaf-shaped cutter and the back of a clean banana leaf for texture. It is vegan and gluten free. Chef's tip: spread the dough as thin as you can, almost see-through, so it dries 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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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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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.

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Rellenong manokStuffed deboned chicken

Rellenong manok is a showpiece of the Filipino Noche Buena, the Christmas Eve feast after midnight Mass. A whole chicken is boned out, leaving the skin in one piece, then stuffed with a mixture of minced pork, sausage, raisins, carrot, cheese and whole hard-boiled eggs, sewn up and roasted. Sliced, every round shows the egg in the middle. Ask your butcher to bone the chicken if you prefer. Because the pork stuffing is inside, check that its centre reaches 74 °C. Chef's tip: chill the stuffed chicken for an hour before roasting so it keeps its shape.

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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.

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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.

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Lengua a la vinagretaBeef tongue with vinaigrette

Argentina's Nochebuena is a hot summer night, so the table is full of cold dishes, and lengua a la vinagreta is one of the classics: beef tongue simmered until tender, peeled, sliced and covered with a sharp vinaigrette of parsley, garlic, red pepper, onion and chopped hard-boiled egg. It is made a day ahead and served chilled with vitel toné and Russian salad. Chef's tip: peel the tongue while it is still hot, as the skin comes away easily then and clings once it cools.

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Panutsa (Batangas peanut and cane-sugar candy)

In Batangas and Laguna, south of Manila, panutsa is the rustic peanut candy made from roasted peanuts and dark, unrefined cane sugar, traditionally poured into halved coconut shells to set into domes. It is sold at roadside stalls and town markets and eaten as a snack with the strong local barako coffee, often in the morning or mid-afternoon. It is hard and crunchy, with a deep molasses flavour and lots of nuts. Break it into pieces to serve, or grate it over rice cakes as a sweetener. Panutsa is naturally egg-free: the cane sugar, boiled to the soft-crack stage, sets hard as it cools and holds the peanuts in place. Chef's tip: have the moulds oiled and ready before the syrup goes on. The common mistake is pulling the syrup too early, which gives a sticky, bendy candy that never sets properly.

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MechadoLarded beef braised in tomato

Mechado takes its name from the Spanish mecha, a wick, because large pieces of beef are threaded with strips of pork back fat before they go into the pot; as the beef braises the pork fat melts into the meat and keeps it moist. It is a fixture of Luzon town fiestas, often ladled from huge pots in the host family's yard, and its tomato, soy and calamansi sauce is tangy, savoury and slightly sweet. The beef should be tender enough to cut with a spoon, the potatoes soft and soaked in sauce. Serve with rice and atchara. Chef's tip: freeze the pork fat for 20 minutes before cutting; firm strips are much easier to push through the beef.

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Dinuguan (pork blood stew)

Dinuguan is cooked all over the Philippines whenever a pig is prepared for a town fiesta, a way of honouring the animal by using every part; here it is made with diced pork shoulder and belly. The pork is simmered with garlic and vinegar, then finished with fresh pig's blood, which turns the sauce smooth, almost black and rich, with a sharp, savoury tang and the heat of long green chillies. It is eaten with soft white puto (steamed rice cakes) or rice, and children are sometimes told it is 'chocolate meat'. Chef's tip: buy fresh pig's blood from a butcher on the day you cook, keep it cold in the fridge and use it the same day.

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Pastillas de leche (Bulacan milk candy)

San Miguel in Bulacan, north of Manila, has made pastillas de leche from the rich milk of carabao, the water buffalo, for generations, and the town celebrates it every May with a festival. The candies are slow-cooked from little more than milk and sugar, rolled into fingers, coated in sugar and wrapped in coloured paper, often with fringed, cut-paper wrappers for fiestas and Christmas. They taste like a soft, milky fudge that melts on the tongue. Hand them round with coffee or tuck them into gift boxes. Carabao milk is hard to find, so this version uses whole cow's milk boosted with a little milk powder for the same richness. It is naturally egg-free: the milk solids, reduced with sugar, set into a firm paste on their own. Chef's tip: keep the heat at medium-low and scrape the base often. The common mistake is turning the heat up to save time, which scorches the milk and makes the paste grainy.

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Paksiw na lechonRoast pork in vinegar liver sauce

The day after a Luzon town fiesta, every household with leftover lechon makes paksiw: the roast pork, skin and all, is stewed in vinegar, garlic and the sweet liver-based lechon sauce until it falls apart into a dark, tangy-sweet stew. At home you can use any leftover roast pork, roast pork belly or lechon kawali. The skin softens and turns sticky, the meat soaks up the sauce, and many people think it is better than the roast itself. Serve with plenty of rice. Chef's tip: use roast pork that has been kept in the fridge and is no more than 2 days old, and reheat the stew until it is steaming hot right through, 75 °C.

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Pancit MalabonThick noodles with seafood

Pancit Malabon comes from Malabon, an old fishing town in Metro Manila, and at its fiestas and birthdays the long noodles carry the usual wish for a long life. It is not the same as pancit palabok: Malabon uses thick, chewy rice noodles that are tossed right through a thinner, prawn-rich annatto sauce, and the topping is a generous pile of seafood from the town's fish port, squid, oysters, prawns and smoked fish flakes, plus egg and crushed pork crackling. The result is savoury, briny and bright orange, with every strand coated. Squeeze calamansi over and eat it with puto or a simple soup. Chef's tip: make the prawn stock from the heads and shells; that is where the deep sea flavour of the sauce comes from.

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Tupig (grilled sticky rice rolls)

In Pangasinan and the Ilocos provinces, smoky tupig is the snack of Undas, the first days of November when families clean and decorate graves, keep vigil through the night and share food in the cemetery to remember their dead. Sticky rice, coconut milk, shreds of young coconut and dark brown sugar are rolled in banana leaf and grilled until the leaf blackens and the inside turns chewy, caramel-dark and fragrant with smoke. They travel well in a basket, so they are handed round to relatives and visitors, still warm, with coffee or hot ginger tea. Chef's tip: no charcoal? A heavy griddle pan over a medium heat gives a good char on the leaves; just turn the rolls more often.

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Lengua estofado (braised ox tongue)

Lengua estofado is a Spanish-era special-occasion dish that Luzon families still cook for town fiestas, when it sits beside the lechon as the dish for people who know their food. An ox (beef) tongue is first simmered slowly until it is silky and tender, then peeled, sliced and finished in a tomato sauce with mushrooms, olives and a touch of soy. The slices are soft, fine-grained and rich, almost buttery, and the sauce is glossy and savoury. Serve with rice or warm pandesal to mop up the sauce. Chef's tip: the tongue is done when a skewer slides into the thickest part with no resistance; under-cooked tongue is chewy however long you braise the slices afterwards.

180 minFilipinoMeat
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Atchara (pickled green papaya)

No town fiesta table in the Philippines is complete without a jar of atchara set beside the lechon, fried chicken and rich stews, because its sweet-sour crunch is what keeps people going back for another plate. Green papaya is grated, salted and squeezed, then packed with carrot, ginger, garlic and pepper under a hot brine of cane vinegar and sugar. Made a few days ahead and kept in the fridge, it is also the jar families bring as a small gift when they visit relatives for the fiesta. Serve it with any grilled or roast meat, fried fish or a plate of rice and eggs. Chef's tip: pick a papaya that is fully green and hard; even a little yellow means soft, sweet flesh that turns limp in the jar.

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Chicken afritadaChicken braised in tomato sauce

Afritada is one of the tomato stews of Luzon that are cooked in huge pots for town fiestas, and the gentlest of the family: chicken pieces simmered in a mild tomato sauce with potatoes, carrots and sweet peppers, with no liver or chilli. Its name points back to the Spanish word for frying, since the chicken is browned first. It is the stew children reach for at the fiesta table, red-orange, savoury and a little sweet, with tender chicken falling from the bone. Serve with steamed rice and a spoonful of atchara. Chef's tip: brown the chicken skin side down without moving it until it lifts easily from the pan; that colour flavours the whole sauce.

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Hamonado (pineapple-glazed pork)

Hamonado, from the Spanish word for ham, is how Pampanga cooks give pork a festive, ham-like sweetness for fiestas without curing it: thick slabs of pork belly braised in pineapple juice, brown sugar and soy until the sauce turns to a sticky, shining glaze. Kapampangans are famous for their sweet tooth and this is a celebration dish through and through, tender and fatty, sweet, salty and a little tangy from the pineapple. Serve it sliced with steamed rice and a sharp side like atchara or pickled cucumbers. Chef's tip: chill the braise and lift off the hardened fat before reducing the sauce; the glaze is cleaner and less greasy.

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Beef kalderetaBeef stew in tomato liver sauce

Kaldereta is the stew Luzon towns cook by the potful for fiestas, a dish with Spanish roots that Filipino cooks made their own with mashed liver to thicken and enrich the sauce. This version uses beef chuck, which is braised slowly in tomatoes until it is spoon-tender, then finished with potatoes, carrots and red and green peppers; goat is the other traditional choice. The sauce is deep red, savoury and slightly spicy if you add the chillies, with a velvety body from the liver. Serve with plenty of steamed rice. Chef's tip: canned liver spread is the classic shortcut; it works well, but check the label if you need the dish gluten free, since many contain wheat flour.

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