Recipes

Spaghetti in a punchy tomato sauce with sardines, the thrifty pantry puttanesca.

Flame-grilled piri-piri chicken with a crisp slaw, the Nando's plate at home.

A pale-green pistachio cake: nutty, moist and pretty.

A knafeh-inspired cake: pistachio, white chocolate and crisp pastry.

Spanish pisto: fried vegetables with eggs on top.

The restaurant-copycat, a crisp yeasted base with passata, mozzarella and basil.

Plantain rolls: fried green plantain rolled around saltfish.

A Polish chocolate-walnut cake: dense, nutty and dark.

Polish pączki: rich yeast doughnuts filled with jam, fried for Fat Thursday.

Polish mince patties bound with soaked bread, the weeknight staple.

Spanish chicken in a saffron-almond sauce, a medieval court dish.

Cuban chicken in a spiced tomato sauce, the weeknight braise.

Thin Polish crepes, filled with jam or cheese, rolled and served warm.

A bright salad with pomegranate, thyme and honey.

Sauerkraut goulash: pork braised in a paprika-rich kraut.

The French cassoulet: pork and beans slow-baked under crumbs.

A rib-borsch: pork ribs and beans in a beet-dark broth.

Chilean porotos: beans and squash in a rustic summer stew.

Paprika-and-wine marinated pork chops off the grill, Portuguese barbecue febras.

Pastéis de nata, blistered custard in crisp pastry, cinnamon-dusted.

Portugal's caldeirada, layered fish, peppers and potato simmered in a coriander broth.

The Portuguese steak sandwich: garlic-rubbed beef in a roll.

Uruguay's chajá: sponge, meringue and cream layered into a cloud.

Chicken baked under creamy sliced potatoes, gratin and roast dinner in one dish.