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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Quinotos en almíbar (Argentine kumquats in syrup)

In Buenos Aires and the river provinces of the Litoral, kumquat trees ripen in the middle of winter, between June and August, and the fruit goes straight into jars of syrup. Grandmothers' pantries held quinotos for the whole year, brought out for birthdays and long Sunday lunches. Each little fruit turns glossy orange and translucent, with a soft, bittersweet skin and a sharp, juicy centre. Spoon them over vanilla ice cream, serve them with a slice of fresh cheese in the style of postre vigilante, or eat them straight from the jar. Many bar menus offer them steeped in spirits; this version keeps only the syrup. Naturally egg-free, the quinotos rely on sugar syrup to preserve them, while pectin from the peel gives the syrup a light, jammy body. Chef's tip: blanch the fruit three times from cold water; the common mistake is skipping this, which leaves the skins tough and bitter.

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Khao chae (jasmine-scented chilled rice)

Khao chae came to Central Thailand with the Mon people and became the classic Songkran lunch for the hottest days of April: rice served in iced, flower-scented water to cool the body and honour the New Year with something cool and fresh. The rice sits in its fragrant water, surrounded by little savoury bites eaten in turn: fried shrimp-paste balls (luk kapi), battered stuffed shallots and moo foi, sweet shredded pork fried until it is dry and caramelised. Each mouthful is a bite of salty-sweet side followed by a spoon of cold, clean rice. Scent the water with food-safe, unsprayed jasmine flowers or a few drops of food-grade jasmine extract, never florist's flowers. Chef's tip: rinse the cooked rice to wash off its starch so the water stays clear and the grains stay firm.

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Puhul dosi (Sri Lankan candied ash pumpkin)

Puhul dosi is one of the sweets that crowd the Sri Lankan Avurudu table in April, when Sinhala and Tamil households mark the New Year with kokis, kavum and trays of homemade confectionery for visiting neighbours. Cubes of ash pumpkin, the pale winter melon with a waxy skin, are soaked overnight in lime water, then simmered in a cardamom and clove syrup until the syrup turns back to sugar and frosts each piece. The result is a thin, crunchy shell around a translucent, juicy middle that tastes faintly of spice. Serve a few pieces with plain tea or as part of a sweet platter. It is naturally egg-free: the calcium in the lime water firms the outer layer of the pumpkin so it keeps its shape, and crystallised sugar does the rest of the setting. Chef's tip: rinse the cubes in at least four changes of water after the soak; the common mistake is rushing this, which leaves a chalky, bitter aftertaste.

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Krathong thong (crispy golden cups with chicken)

Krathong thong, "golden baskets", are named after the little floating krathong set on the rivers at Loy Krathong in Central Thailand, and their golden colour makes them a party bite for wishing wealth at festivals and New Year gatherings. A thin rice-flour batter is fried on a hot flower-shaped mould into crisp, delicate cups that shatter at the first bite. The filling is minced chicken cooked with sweetcorn, carrot, garlic and a little sugar, so it is gently sweet and savoury, which children love. Serve them as a starter with a sweet chilli dip, filling the cups just before serving so they stay crisp. Chef's tip: the cups keep for a week in an airtight tin, so fry them a day ahead and only cook the filling on the day.

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Khao niao daeng (Thai red sticky rice)

Khao niao daeng, "red sticky rice", is made in Central Thailand in the days before Songkran and carried to the temple as an offering, its sticky grains a wish that family ties hold fast through the year. The rice is steamed first, then folded into a long-reduced coconut and palm sugar caramel until it turns a glossy red-brown and every grain is sweet, chewy and fragrant. Pressed into a tray, it slices neatly and keeps for a few days, so it is a good make-ahead sweet for a crowd. Serve squares with a sprinkle of toasted sesame and a cup of tea. Chef's tip: reduce the caramel until it is thick and bubbling slowly before the rice goes in, or the rice turns mushy instead of chewy.

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Kalamae (Thai coconut caramel sticky rice sweet)

Kalamae is the Songkran sweet of Central Thailand: in villages, neighbours take turns at a huge wok for hours, and the finished trays go to monks and elders at the New Year, the long shared stirring standing for a community pulling together and the sweetness for a sweet year ahead. Glutinous rice flour, coconut milk and palm sugar slowly turn from milky beige to a deep mahogany paste that is chewy, a little smoky and rich with coconut. Cut it into small squares and serve with jasmine tea, or wrap the pieces in banana leaf to give away. A home batch takes about two and a half hours at the stove, so put on some music and keep a wooden spoon moving. Chef's tip: use the widest heavy pan you own; more surface means faster thickening and less risk of scorching.

180 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
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Turrón de maníPeanut nougat

On an Argentine Christmas Eve, after midnight toasts, the 'mesa dulce' appears with pan dulce, garrapiñadas and turrón de maní: a chewy white nougat of honey, sugar, whipped egg white and roasted peanuts, often set between two sheets of rice paper. Families make it in the days before Nochebuena. The egg white is cooked by the hot syrup. It is gluten free if you use gluten-free wafer paper or none. Chef's tip: work fast once the syrup is in, as the nougat stiffens as it cools and gets hard to spread.

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Kluay tak (Thai dried bananas, oven method)

In Bang Krathum, a district of Phitsanulok in lower northern Thailand, small nam wa bananas are peeled and laid out under the sun in glass-roofed drying boxes for several days, then pressed flat to make kluay tak. The district is famous for them, and bags are bought as a gift on the road home and nibbled with tea or coffee in the afternoon. They are dense and chewy like a soft toffee, dark amber, with a deep caramel and honey flavour that comes only from the fruit. As sun-drying takes days and needs steady heat, this version uses a very low oven overnight, then a rest in a jar so the moisture evens out. They are naturally egg-free and need nothing to bind them: the banana's own sugars concentrate and hold it together. Chef's tip: keep the oven low and prop the door open with a wooden spoon; the common mistake is a hot oven, which cooks and blackens the outside while the centre stays wet.

1340 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
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Wandu appa (වංඩු ආප්ප, fermented rice cakes steamed in leaf cones)Steamed rice treacle cakes

Wandu appa are sold in morning markets and at roadside kades all over the island, and they are one of the sweets that appear on the table for Avurudu. A batter of rice flour, coconut milk and kithul treacle is left to ferment for a few hours, then poured into small cones of kenda or jak leaf and steamed. They puff into tender, spongy domes with a gentle sourness, a caramel note from the treacle and the leafy aroma of their wrappers. Eat them warm for breakfast or with afternoon tea. They are naturally egg-free: yeast does the lifting that whisked eggs would do in a sponge, and the rice starch sets the bubbles in place as it steams. Banana-leaf cones or small paper-lined cups work too. Chef's tip: the common mistake is filling the cones to the brim; fill them two-thirds full so they rise into a dome instead of spilling over.

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Lavariya (ලැවරියා, string-hopper parcels with coconut treacle filling)

Lavariya turns up on the Sinhala and Tamil New Year table in mid-April, when households across Sri Lanka lay out a spread of sweets after the auspicious hour. It starts as string-hopper dough: roasted rice flour scalded with boiling water and pressed through a mould into fine noodles. Here the noodles are piped in a coil, filled with pani pol, grated coconut cooked down in kithul treacle with cardamom, then folded into a half-moon and steamed. The result is soft, lacy and springy outside, with a sticky, smoky-sweet centre. Serve warm with plain tea or as part of an Avurudu platter with kokis and kavum. It is naturally egg-free: the boiling water cooks and swells the rice starch so the dough holds its shape, and the thick treacle binds the coconut. Chef's tip: the common mistake is using warm rather than boiling water; the dough then crumbles in the press, so pour it straight off the boil and mix with a spoon until cool enough to knead.

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ซาหริ่ม (Sarim, mung bean noodles in coconut syrup)

Sarim is an old dessert of central Thailand, served at temple fairs and in market dessert shops on sweltering afternoons: thin, slippery strands in pastel green, blue and white, floating in a pale coconut syrup over a mound of crushed ice. The strands are almost flavourless and very soft, so the syrup does the work; in Thailand it is scented with jasmine flowers or the smoke of a scented candle, and here with pandan and optional fresh jasmine. It is naturally egg-free: the strands are pure mung bean starch cooked with water into a clear, thick paste, which sets into a soft gel the moment it hits ice water. Pandan juice and butterfly pea flowers give the colours, so there is no need for dyes. Serve it straight away, as a light end to a spicy meal. Chef's tip: cook the paste until it turns fully glossy and see-through; the common mistake is stopping while it is still milky, which gives strands that break and taste floury.

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Kluay chuam (Thai bananas in palm-sugar syrup)

Kluay chuam is a market dessert of central Thailand, cooked in big brass pans and sold by the bag year round, and it is a common sweet to offer monks at merit-making. Small, starchy nam wa bananas are simmered slowly in palm-sugar syrup until they turn translucent and amber, soft and chewy rather than mushy, then served with thick, salty coconut cream poured over. The flavour is deep caramel and banana, cut by the salt. Serve at room temperature in small bowls. Being egg-free by nature, it relies on the long simmer in syrup firms the bananas and a little rice flour thickens the coconut topping. Chef's tip: keep the syrup at the gentlest simmer and don't stir; the common mistake is a fast boil and a spoon, which break the bananas before they have time to turn glassy.

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Halape (හලපේ, finger-millet and jaggery parcels steamed in leaves)Finger millet and jaggery leaf parcels

In village homes in the south and the hill country, halape is an afternoon snack and a temple-day treat, steamed in the large, heart-shaped leaves of the kenda tree, which leave a faint grassy perfume. The dough is kurakkan, finger-millet flour, which is brick-brown, slightly bitter and very filling; it wraps a sweet layer of grated coconut and dark kithul jaggery. Once steamed, the parcels are dense, moist and fudgy, a little like a rustic steamed pudding, and they are best warm with a cup of plain tea. Nothing here was ever made with egg: steaming sets the millet starch and the jaggery melts into the coconut and holds it together. Banana leaves work well if you cannot find kenda. Chef's tip: the common mistake is spreading the dough too thick; keep it about 5 mm so the middle steams through before the outside turns hard.

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ไอติมกะทิ (Itim kathi, Thai coconut ice cream)

Itim kathi is the ice cream of Bangkok's pushcarts: a vendor lifts the lid of an insulated drum, scrapes up a scoop of snow-white coconut ice cream and piles it into a small cup over sticky rice, then adds whatever the customer points at, from roasted peanuts and sweet corn to chewy palm seeds. It is sold all afternoon in the hot months, outside schools and temples and in markets. Some vendors tuck the scoop into a soft bread roll; serve it in cups as here and it stays gluten free. It is naturally egg-free and dairy-free. Coconut milk carries the fat that makes it creamy, and a little cornflour cooked into it binds the water so crystals stay fine and the texture stays smooth without any custard, while a pinch of salt sharpens the coconut. Chef's tip: use full-fat coconut milk with no added water; the common mistake is using a light one, which freezes hard and icy.

300 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
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Kaeng khae with tofu and mushroomsHerb curry with tofu and mushrooms

Kaeng khae comes from the hills around Chiang Mai and Lampang, where it is cooked through the rainy season with whatever the garden and forest give: pea aubergines, long beans, pumpkin tips, acacia shoots and handfuls of leaves, in a brothy, coconut-free curry scented with lemongrass and the peppery prickly ash called makhwaen. In northern homes it is a lunch dish eaten with sticky rice. It is normally cooked with chicken, frog or fish and seasoned with fermented fish; this vegetarian version uses firm tofu, oyster mushrooms, soy sauce and a little salted soybean paste. With the tofu a portion has about 11 g of protein, so it is light rather than high protein. The common mistake is adding all the vegetables at once: the leaves are done in a minute while the beans and aubergines need five. Chef's tip: dry-fry the curry paste in a spoon of oil until it smells toasty before adding water; it gives the broth its depth without any fish.

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Fak thong kaeng buat (Thai pumpkin in coconut milk)

When the rains end and pumpkins pile up in the markets of central Thailand, kaeng buat is what cooks make with them: chunks of dense kabocha simmered in coconut milk sweetened with palm sugar and sharpened with a pinch of salt. It is a homely, everyday dessert, sold warm from big pots at markets in the afternoon and also cooked at Ok Phansa, the end of Buddhist Lent. The pumpkin turns velvety but keeps its shape, and the thin, creamy, caramel-scented broth is meant to be drunk from the spoon. Eat it warm or at room temperature, in small bowls. There is no egg in it and never was: nothing needs setting or binding, as the pumpkin's own starch gives the coconut milk a light body as it cooks. Chef's tip: pick a dry, orange-fleshed kabocha and keep the coconut milk at a bare simmer; letting it boil hard is the common mistake that splits the milk and breaks the pumpkin into mush.

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Helado de dulce de leche (Buenos Aires dulce de leche ice cream)

Dulce de leche is the flavour Buenos Aires heladerías are judged by, and on a summer night the queues at neighbourhood ice-cream shops stretch out onto the pavement well after dinner. Locals order it plain, with a ripple of extra dulce de leche (dulce de leche granizado adds chocolate flakes), often by the kilo to take home. It is dense, chewy and deeply caramel. This home version is egg-free with no custard: a little cornflour cooked into the milk thickens it the way yolks would, and the dulce de leche itself is milk and sugar cooked down, its sugar and milk solids keeping crystals tiny so it stays smooth and scoopable. Churn it, or still-freeze and stir it every 45 minutes. Chef's tip: chill the extra dulce de leche before rippling it in; the common mistake is folding in a warm one, which melts into the ice cream instead of leaving ribbons.

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