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Pan con butifarraHam roll with onion salsa

Pan con butifarra is Lima's evening sandwich, sold in old-school sangucherías and made at home for a light dinner with coffee: a crusty roll filled with jamón del país, a spiced Peruvian pork ham, under a heap of salsa criolla, red onion sliced thin and soaked in lime with chilli. Outside Peru, use a good cooked pork ham. The common mistake is leaving the onion harsh; give it a quick rinse in salted water before dressing it. Chef's tip: a leaf of lettuce under the ham stops the lime juice soaking straight into the bread.

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Su su xào tỏiGarlic stir-fried chayote

Su su xào tỏi is one of the cheapest, quickest vegetable dishes on the Vietnamese family table, especially in Hanoi and the cool highlands around Đà Lạt where chayote grows on every fence. Thin slices of the pale-green squash are stir-fried with crushed garlic until glossy and just tender, keeping a fresh crunch, and eaten with rice, a soup and a braised dish. Some cooks season it with fish sauce; salt and a pinch of sugar keep it vegan. The common mistake is cutting thick slices, which stay raw in the middle by the time the outside softens; slice no thicker than 3 mm. Chef's tip: peel chayote under running water or with gloves, because the sap makes hands sticky and tingly.

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Bắp cải luộc chấm trứngBoiled cabbage with egg dip

In northern Vietnam, especially in Hanoi family homes, boiled cabbage with egg-mashed fish sauce turns up on the everyday dinner tray, most of all in the cooler months when cabbage is sweet. The cabbage is boiled until just tender, the cooking water becomes a light soup to drink with rice, and hard-boiled egg is crushed into fish sauce with lime and chilli for dipping. It contains fish sauce, so it isn't vegetarian. The common mistake is boiling the cabbage too long, until it goes limp and smells of sulphur; take it out while the ribs still have a little bite. Chef's tip: mash the yolks into the fish sauce first so they dissolve into a creamy dip, then stir in the chopped whites.

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Bánh mì chảoSkillet eggs, pâté and baguette

Bánh mì chảo, 'pan bread', is served at Saigon breakfast stalls in small black skillets still spitting from the stove, and more and more people eat it for a quick dinner too. Eggs are fried with sliced onion beside pork liver pâté and pork sausages, then you tear a crisp baguette and mop everything up with chilli sauce and a little soy. It's rich, so serve cucumber and tomato beside it. This dish contains pork. The common mistake is crowding the pan, so the eggs steam instead of frying with crisp, lacy edges. Chef's tip: get the pan really hot before the eggs go in, and warm the baguette in the oven so the crust shatters.

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TripleAvocado, tomato and egg sandwich

The triple is the soft, layered sandwich of Lima's cafés and bakeries, eaten at lonche, the Peruvian late-afternoon meal, or as a light supper: three slices of crustless white bread layered with avocado, tomato and sliced hard-boiled egg, all held together with mayonnaise. It looks neat, tastes fresh and is loved by children. Shop-bought mayonnaise is made with pasteurised egg, so it is safe for everyone. The common mistake is letting wet tomato touch the bread, which turns it soggy within minutes. Chef's tip: pat the tomato dry and sit it between the avocado and egg, then press the sandwich under a board for a minute before cutting.

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PastelsFish-filled pastries

Pastels are the party pastries of Dakar and Saint-Louis, half-moons of soft dough filled with spiced fish, parsley and onion and fried until puffed and golden. They are made by the trayful for Korité, the Senegalese Eid al-Fitr, and for baptisms and family gatherings, and come with a peppery tomato-onion sauce for dipping. Tuna or mackerel are classic fillings. Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely and squeeze it dry before filling; wet, warm filling makes the dough tear and leak in the oil.

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RabarbrikookRhubarb crumble cake

By Jaanipäev, Estonian Midsummer on 24 June, the rhubarb in every country garden is tall and red, and Estonians take rhubarb cake to the Jaaniõhtu bonfire evening along with grilled sausages, cheese and the beer for the grown-ups. Rabarbrikook is a simple, soft butter cake packed with sharp rhubarb under a thick, sweet crumble that soaks up the juices. Serve it warm with vanilla sauce or cold in squares. Chef's tip: toss the rhubarb in a spoonful of sugar and flour first; the flour thickens the juice so the cake below does not go soggy.

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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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SkābputraSoured barley porridge drink

Skābputra, 'sour porridge', is one of the oldest Latvian foods, and at Jāņi, Midsummer on 23–24 June, it is served cold alongside caraway cheese, pīrāgi and wreaths of flowers. Pearl barley is cooked soft, then soured with buttermilk or kefir for a day or two until it is tangy and fresh-tasting, and it is thinned with milk into a thick, cooling drink sipped or eaten with a spoon on hot summer days. This home version uses bought live buttermilk to start the souring safely. Chef's tip: use clean jars and utensils, and taste it each day; once it is pleasantly sour, chill it so it stops souring.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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KinkélibaKinkéliba leaf tea with mint

Kinkéliba is an herbal tea brewed from the dried leaves of a West African shrub, and in Senegal it is the drink families reach for at the moment of breaking the fast in Ramadan, served hot with bread or dates. The brew is amber, gently bitter and woody, softened with sugar and lifted with fresh mint. Many households also drink it at breakfast all year. Chef's tip: simmer it gently rather than boiling it hard; a fierce boil brings out too much bitterness.

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Nộm su hào (kohlrabi and carrot salad)

When the Tết table in northern Vietnam fills with sticky rice cakes, pork in aspic and boiled chicken, a plate of nộm su hào brings freshness and balance, and its bright colours are a cheerful sign for the new year. Kohlrabi is at its sweetest in the northern winter, so it is shredded with carrot, salted to draw out water and dressed with fish sauce, lime, sugar, garlic and chilli, then finished with roasted peanuts and Vietnamese herbs. It is crisp, juicy and tangy; serve it beside rich meats or bánh chưng. For a vegetarian version, a soy dressing is given in the last step. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted vegetables really dry, or the dressing turns watery and dull.

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Xôi vò (mung bean coated sticky rice)

Xôi vò is a Hanoi sticky rice offered at the altar for Vu Lan, the Buddhist full moon of the seventh lunar month when people honour their parents and ancestors, and again on the first days of Tết. Unlike most xôi, it is not a sticky mass: 'vò' means rubbed, and the soaked rice is rubbed with crumbled mung bean so each grain steams up separate, glossy and pale gold. It tastes mild, nutty and lightly salty, and is eaten with chè (sweet soup), a little sugar, or toasted sesame salt. Chef's tip: crumble the warm mung bean paste through a coarse sieve; fine, dry crumbs are what keep the grains apart.

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Thịt đông (pork in aspic)

Thịt đông is a dish of the cold northern Tết, when families once left bowls of simmered pork outside overnight to set; today the fridge does the job. Pork hock and pork skin are cooked gently with shallots, fish sauce and black pepper until the meat is tender and the broth is rich in natural gelatine, then wood ear mushrooms are added for crunch and everything sets into a clear, wobbly jelly. It is eaten cold, cut into wedges, with hot rice, bánh chưng and a bowl of pickled shallots to cut the richness. No gelatine powder is needed. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a bare simmer and skim often; a rolling boil clouds the jelly.

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Bánh phồng tôm (prawn crackers)

In the Mekong Delta, and above all in Sa Đéc, whole streets lay out trays of prawn crackers to dry in the sun before Tết; a cracker that puffs big in the hot oil is a cheerful sign that the family's fortunes will grow too. Home-made ones taste far more of prawn than packet crackers: light, airy, crisp and a little sweet, perfect for guests with drinks or beside a salad. The dough is steamed, chilled, sliced thin and dried for a day in the sun or a few hours in a very low oven, so plan ahead; if you buy dried crackers, just do the frying step. Chef's tip: slice the chilled logs as thin as a coin; thick slices stay hard in the middle instead of puffing.

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Bánh tổ (Hội An New Year cake)

In Hội An and the rest of Quảng Nam, families steam bánh tổ for Tết and place it on the ancestors' altar; its name echoes 'tổ', the ancestors, and its slow-cooked sweetness is a wish for a smooth, sweet year. The cake is like a darker, ginger-scented cousin of Chinese nian gao: dense, chewy and glossy, with toasted sesame on top. Eat it in thin slices at room temperature, or fry slices until crisp outside and molten within, and serve with tea or sandwiched in rice crackers as locals do. Chef's tip: keep the water at a steady simmer and top it up with boiling water; a steamer that boils dry is the only real way to ruin this cake.

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Thịt heo ngâm mắm (fish-sauce cured pork)

In southern Vietnam a jar of thịt heo ngâm mắm is prepared a week before Tết so that hosts always have something ready when relatives drop by; the jar full of pork is a sign of a well-stocked home in the new year. Pork belly is boiled until fully cooked, then submerged in a boiled and cooled brine of fish sauce, sugar, garlic and chilli, where it turns amber, savoury-sweet and firm enough to slice paper thin. Serve it with steamed rice, pickled mustard greens or củ kiệu, and fresh herbs. Chef's tip: make sure the belly and the brine are both completely cold before they meet, and keep the jar in the fridge throughout.

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Bánh thuẫn (Tết sponge cakes)

In Huế and across the south, bánh thuẫn are baked in small flower-shaped moulds for the Tết table and ancestor offerings; the top splits open like a blossom as it bakes, and a well-cracked cake is said to bring a year that blooms. They are dairy-free, made only of eggs, sugar and flour, so the texture is springy inside with a golden, crisp rim, a little like a madeleine but airier. Children love them, and they keep in a tin for days, ready for visitors with tea. Chef's tip: heat the oiled moulds in the oven before filling; the batter hitting hot metal is what makes the tops crack into petals.

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