Recipes › Pastes, sauces and basics

Pastes, sauces and basics recipes

230 recipes from 19 countries, none of it adapted from anybody else.

By country

• China (1)
• Cyprus (7)
• Egypt (9)
• Ethiopia (2)
• France (19)
• Greece (7)
• India (34)
• Iran (16)
• Italy (22)
• Japan (10)
• Lebanon (4)
• Mexico (28)
• Morocco (6)
• Peru (3)
• Philippines (20)
• South Korea (12)
• Thailand (6)
• Tunisia (7)
• Turkey (17)

Every pastes, sauces and basics recipe

• Açma, sourced from Turkey. Rolled out, oiled and coiled before shaping, so it tears into layers instead of breaking like bread. Egg, vegetarian.
• Advieh, sourced from Iran. It is two different blends, and the one for rice goes on after the rice is cooked. vegan.
• Aïoli, sourced from France. Garlic pounded to a cream before any oil goes near it, in a mortar rather than a bowl, with olive oil that must go in slower than usual. Egg, vegetarian.
• Ají Amarillo Paste, sourced from Peru. Yellow chillies deveined and boiled in three changes of water, which is what takes the heat out and leaves the fruit behind. vegan.
• Akhuni, sourced from India. Soybeans boiled soft but left whole, then fermented until they smell. vegan.
• Akuri, sourced from India. Eggs taken off almost runny, with fried onion as the flavouring rather than spice. Egg, vegetarian.
• Anari, sourced from Cyprus. Made from the whey the halloumi was lifted out of, which is why the two cheeses are made in one afternoon or not at all.
• Anchovy and Kelp Stock, sourced from South Korea. The stock most Korean soups and stews are built on, where the kelp comes out before the water boils and the anchovies go in after. Fish.
• Anishi, sourced from India. Taro leaves fermented in a sack for days, then pressed into cakes and smoked. vegan.
• Apohtin, sourced from Cyprus. Kept submerged under wine rather than dried, so it never hardens and stays damp enough to slice thick. Pork.
• Appam, sourced from India. Coconut milk goes into the batter and it is cooked in a bowl-shaped pan, so it is thick in the middle and lacy at the rim. vegan.
• Atchara, sourced from the Philippines. Shredded green papaya salted and squeezed before it ever meets the vinegar. vegan.
• Awaze, sourced from Ethiopia. It is fermented, which is what makes it a paste rather than a blend. vegan.
• Baccalà, sourced from Italy. How to soak and poach salt cod, which every baccalà dish begins with. Fish.
• Baek-kimchi, sourced from South Korea. Kimchi with no chilli in it at all, stuffed with pear and radish and left in a pale brine. vegetarian.
• Baharat, sourced from Lebanon. Allspice leads it, and the whole spices are toasted and ground together rather than blended from jars. vegan.
• Balao-balao, sourced from the Philippines. Whole small shrimp fermented in salted rice for a week, then cooked before eating. Shellfish.
• Barbari Bread, sourced from Iran. It is glazed with a flour-and-water mixture before baking, which gives it a skin like a pretzel. vegan.
• Bataw, sourced from Egypt. Barley and maize rather than wheat, so it will not stretch at all and is patted out between the palms. vegan.
• Bazlama, sourced from Turkey. A dough wet enough to spread with the fingers rather than roll, cooked on a dry griddle. vegetarian.
• Béchamel, sourced from France. A white sauce whose roux is cooked for flavour but not for colour, and which is then simmered far longer than most recipes admit. vegetarian.
• Béchamel, sourced from Greece. A thick white sauce set with egg yolks, made stiffer than a sauce because it is a lid rather than a dressing. Egg.
• Benne Dose, sourced from India. Butter goes into the batter itself, not only onto the finished dosa. vegetarian.
• Bhatura, sourced from India. The dough is soured and fermented overnight with yogurt, so it is a sourdough rather than a quick bread. vegetarian.
• Bolillos, sourced from Mexico. A lean roll slashed deep down its length and baked with steam, which is what opens the slash into a ridge. vegan.
• Boyoz, sourced from Turkey. The oiled dough rests overnight before it is stretched, which is the only thing that lets it go thin enough. Egg, vegetarian.
• Bsisa, sourced from Tunisia. Everything is roasted and then milled together to a flour, so it keeps for months and needs no cooking at all. vegetarian.
• Buckwheat tea, sourced from Japan. Roasted groats brewed with genuinely boiling water, and then eaten as well as drunk. vegan.
• Burong isda, sourced from the Philippines. Fish fillet salted and buried in rice to ferment for a week, then fried before it is eaten. Fish.
• Burong mangga, sourced from the Philippines. Green mango left in brine for a week, which ferments rather than pickles. vegan.
• Cajeta, sourced from Mexico. The bicarbonate goes in at the start, because goat's milk curdles as it reduces and will not brown without it. vegetarian.
• Cajeta de Celaya, sourced from Mexico. Taken past the pourable stage to where a drop holds its shape on a cold plate, so it sets firm enough to spread. vegetarian.
• Cajeta de Piña y Plátano, sourced from Mexico. The fruit goes in only once the milk has already reduced, because pineapple acid and plantain water both split the pan. vegetarian.
• Cancha, sourced from Peru. Dried corn toasted in a covered pan and shaken constantly, which splits it open without popping it. vegan.
• Chamoy, sourced from Mexico. The dried fruit simmered in its own soaking water until it falls apart, so nothing is thrown away and nothing needs thickening. vegan.
• Chapati, sourced from India. It is finished off the griddle, straight on the flame, where it balloons. vegetarian.
• Chermoula, sourced from Morocco. A herb and spice paste made fresh each time, where the spices are toasted whole and ground but the herbs are never cooked. vegan.
• Chhena, sourced from India. The milk is boiled, cooled to 75 to 80 degrees before the acid goes in, and there is no rennet in it at all. vegetarian.
• Chiboust Cream, sourced from France. Pastry cream lightened with hot meringue rather than cream, folded while the custard is still warm so the two can combine at all. Egg.
• Chicharrón, sourced from Mexico. Dried a day and then fried twice at two temperatures — low to render, hot to puff. Pork.
• Chochoyotes, sourced from Mexico. Each dumpling dimpled with a fingertip, so broth gets inside it instead of running off a smooth ball.
• Chorizo, sourced from Mexico. A fresh sausage, not a cured one — and the meat and fat are kept cold enough that the fat never smears. Pork.
• Choux Pastry, sourced from France. A paste cooked on the hob before it is cooked in the oven, which is why it rises on steam with no raising agent in it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Cimcik Erişte, sourced from Turkey. Each piece is pinched at the middle between finger and thumb, one at a time, into a bow. Egg, vegetarian.
• Coconut jam, sourced from the Philippines. Two ingredients and two hours, and the only skill is not walking away near the end. vegan.
• Conchas, sourced from Mexico. A separate paste of sugar, flour and fat pressed on and scored, which cracks into a shell as the bun rises beneath it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Çorbalık Kesme, sourced from Turkey. Cut into small squares rather than strips, because it has to sit on a spoon. Egg, vegetarian.
• Corn Tortillas, sourced from Mexico. Masa pressed thin and cooked on a dry griddle, turned three times, the third turn being the one that makes it puff. vegan.
• Court-bouillon, sourced from France. A poaching liquid simmered and then COOLED before the fish goes in, which is the step that stops the skin tearing. vegan.
• Couscous, sourced from Morocco. Grain steamed three times over the broth it will be eaten with, never boiled and never soaked in a kettle. Lamb.
• Crème Pâtissière, sourced from France. A custard that must be boiled rather than coddled, because the thing that thickens it and the thing that would thin it are both in the yolks. Egg, vegetarian.
• Crêpes, sourced from France. A thin batter rested an hour so the flour swells, where the first one is always wrong and is meant to be. Egg, vegetarian.
• Dahi, sourced from India. Milk soured by its own bacteria, and the starter can be a dried chilli stem. vegetarian.
• Dashi, sourced from Japan. A stock made in twenty minutes without boiling, where every temperature is deliberate. Fish.
• Delal Sauce, sourced from Iran. It is herbs preserved by being heavily salted, and it is eaten on raw fruit. vegan.
• Dongchimi, sourced from South Korea. Whole small radishes left in a clear brine that is itself the thing being made, and is drunk cold. vegan.
• Doogh, sourced from Iran. It is fermented for three or four days after the salt goes in, so it is not diluted yogurt. vegetarian.
• Dosa, sourced from India. The batter is rice and black gram at three or four to one, ground fine and fermented overnight. vegan.
• Duck Confit, sourced from France. Duck legs salted overnight and cooked slowly submerged in fat, then stored under it, where the salt is rinsed off before cooking. Duck.
• Duqqa, sourced from Egypt. It stays dry and crumbly, because bread is dipped in oil first and then pressed into it. vegan.
• Eish Baladi, sourced from Egypt. Dusted with bran rather than flour, and baked hot enough that it puffs into a hollow pocket. vegan.
• Eish Fino, sourced from Egypt. A soft enriched roll with a thin crust, shaped long and narrow so it can be split and filled. Egg, vegetarian.
• Eish Merahrah, sourced from Egypt. Ground fenugreek goes into the dough, and the loaves are spread out wide and thin with the hands. vegan.
• Eish Shamsi, sourced from Egypt. The dough is left to rise in the sun, which is what the name means and what gives the sour, open crumb. vegan.
• Feteer Meshaltet, sourced from Egypt. Served plain, and nothing is ever baked inside it — the layers are the whole dish. vegetarian.
• Flaouna, sourced from Cyprus. The corners folded in to leave the top open, so the filling browns instead of steaming. Egg.
• Flour Tortillas, sourced from Mexico. A wheat dough made with fat and water hot from the kettle, rested, then rolled thin — nothing like the pressed masa it sits beside.
• Frijoles Negros, sourced from Mexico. The plain pot — nothing goes in but onion and epazote, and the salt waits until they are soft. vegan.
• Ganache, sourced from France. Chocolate and cream emulsified from the middle outwards, where stirring the whole bowl at once is what splits it. vegetarian.
• Garaetteok, sourced from South Korea. Steamed rice flour pounded hot until it stops tearing, then rolled into the cylinders tteokbokki and tteokguk are cut from. vegan.
• Garam masala, sourced from India. Whole spices roasted and then ground, and no composition is more correct than another. vegan.
• Ghandi Bread, sourced from Iran. There is no yeast in it at all: it is raised with baking powder, barely kneaded, and pricked with holes an inch apart. Egg, vegetarian.
• Ghee, sourced from India. Butter simmered until the solids settle, and only the clear fat is kept. vegetarian.
• Giardiniera, sourced from Italy. Vegetables blanched in the vinegar itself, not in water, then jarred. vegan.
• Gremolata, sourced from Italy. Raw lemon zest, parsley and garlic chopped together and added at the end. Beef, Veal, Fish.
• Guacamole, sourced from Mexico. The onion, chilli and salt ground to a wet paste before the avocado goes anywhere near them. vegan.
• Halloumi, sourced from Cyprus. The curd cooked in its own whey until it floats, which is what makes it squeak and stops it melting.
• Harissa, sourced from Tunisia. The peppers are roasted and peeled before they are ground, and caraway is what makes it taste of this and not of chilli sauce. vegan.
• Hellimli, sourced from Cyprus. The halloumi goes in cubed and cold, so it holds its shape in the crumb instead of melting out into the tin. Egg.
• Hentak, sourced from India. The fish is dried and crushed to a powder before it ferments, and the aroid stems are sunned for a day first. Fish.
• Hrous, sourced from Tunisia. The onions are salt-pickled for weeks first, so this is a ferment and a preserve rather than a fresh paste. vegan.
• Idiyappam, sourced from India. The dough is pressed through a press into noodles and then steamed. vegan.
• Idli, sourced from India. The lentils are ground fine and the rice coarse, separately, and then it is steamed rather than fried. vegan.
• Injipuli, sourced from India. The ginger is fried brown before anything else, which is what takes its rawness out. vegan.
• Jocoque, sourced from Mexico. Left to sour at room temperature before it is strained, because the souring and the draining are two separate jobs. vegetarian.
• Jumiles, sourced from Mexico. Ground into the salsa raw in a molcajete, because heat destroys the only thing they contribute.
• Kabkab, sourced from the Philippines. A large thin cassava cracker dried to a board and fried flat in seconds. vegan.
• Kadayıf, sourced from Turkey. A thin batter dribbled through a perforated plate onto a hot griddle, so it sets as separate threads rather than a sheet. vegan.
• Kapeng barako, sourced from the Philippines. Ground coarse and boiled in the pot rather than dripped, then left to settle. vegan.
• Kashk, sourced from Iran. The yogurt is boiled first and fermented afterwards, which is the reverse of how yogurt is made. vegetarian.
• Kateh, sourced from Iran. The water is absorbed rather than drained, which is why it is sticky and has no tahdig. vegetarian.
• Kavurma, sourced from Turkey. Cooked in its own fat and then sealed under a layer of it, which is a confit rather than a cure. Lamb.
• Kelp tea, sourced from Japan. Powdered kelp dissolved in hot water rather than brewed, and drunk as a savoury cup. vegan.
• Kesme, sourced from Turkey. The sheet is floured, folded accordion-style and sliced into strips, then dried for a day before it is used. Egg.
• Khakhra, sourced from India. It is pressed against the griddle as it roasts, until it is completely dry and brittle. vegan.
• Khanom chin, sourced from Thailand. Rice soaked until it sours, ground, and extruded straight into boiling water. vegan.
• Khlea, sourced from Morocco. Strips of beef dried in the sun for days and then cooked and stored under their own fat, which is what seals them. Beef, Lamb.
• Khoa, sourced from India. Milk reduced to a fifth of its volume in a shallow pan, which is what most Indian sweets are made of. vegetarian.
• Kimchi, sourced from South Korea. Salted cabbage dressed in chilli and left to ferment, where the brining is judged by bending a leaf rather than by the clock.
• Kiping, sourced from the Philippines. A coloured rice-paste wafer pressed onto a real leaf, steamed, dried, and eaten fried.
• Kongbap, sourced from South Korea. Rice cooked with beans soaked overnight, where the water is reduced to allow for what the beans already hold. vegan.
• Kongnamul, sourced from South Korea. Soybean sprouts cooked under a lid that goes on before the heat and does not come off, then dressed cold. vegan.
• Kulcha, sourced from India. The dough is fermented in earthen pots before it goes anywhere near the tandoor. vegetarian.
• Lalanga, sourced from Turkey. An unfilled yeast dough dropped straight into deep fat, then taken either sweet with honey or savoury with cheese.
• Lamian, sourced from China. Wheat noodles pulled out by hand rather than rolled and cut, where each rest is what makes the next pull possible. vegan.
• Landang, sourced from the Philippines. Starch scalded and worked into pearls by hand, which is the entire preparation. vegan.
• Latik, sourced from the Philippines. Coconut cream cooked until it splits, giving crisp curds and clear oil. vegan.
• Lavash, sourced from Iran. It is rolled paper-thin and slapped onto the inside wall of the oven, where it cooks in under a minute. vegan.
• Leblebi, sourced from Turkey. Roasted in stages over several days with rests between, which is what loosens the skins and makes them crisp through. vegan.
• Lechon Sauce, sourced from the Philippines. A dark sweet-sour liver sauce, thickened with breadcrumbs rather than flour. Pork.
• Lighvan Cheese, sourced from Iran. The curd is drained in triangular cloth bags and then ripened in brine for three or four months.
• Limoncello, sourced from Italy. Zest only, steeped in spirit, with the syrup added cold at the end. vegan.
• Longganisa, sourced from the Philippines. A sweet pork sausage that needs two days before it tastes of anything. Pork.
• Lountza, sourced from Cyprus. Rolled in cracked coriander after the wine and before the smoke, so the crust is coriander and not salt. Pork.
• Luchi, sourced from India. It is maida rather than atta, and the oil is spooned over each one so it fills with air. vegetarian.
• Machaca, sourced from Mexico. Beef salted, dried hard, and then pounded until the fibres separate into fluff. Beef.
• Mahyawa, sourced from Iran. Whole dried anchovies are ground to a powder and then fermented with the toasted spices. Fish.
• Mandu, sourced from South Korea. Dumplings whose filling is squeezed dry in a cloth before it goes near a wrapper, because water is what bursts them. Pork, Egg, Tofu.
• Masala omelette, sourced from India. The pan is cold when the egg goes in, and the heat comes on after. Egg, vegetarian.
• Mascarpone, sourced from Italy. Cream acidulated at 85C and drained, with no rennet and no culture. vegetarian.
• Mayonnaise, sourced from France. An emulsion of egg yolk and oil where the only difficulty is the first thirty millilitres, and the cure for a split one is another yolk. Egg, vegetarian.
• Meringue, sourced from France. Whites and sugar where the only reliable test is rubbing the mixture between finger and thumb, because grittiness means it will weep. Egg, vegetarian.
• Michetta, sourced from Italy. A Milanese roll built to be hollow, from a stiff overnight starter.
• Mish, sourced from Egypt. It ferments in its own salted whey for months, and the older the jar the better it is thought to be.
• Mochi, sourced from Japan. Glutinous rice steamed whole and pounded until no grain is left, from one ingredient. vegan.
• Moroccan Mint Tea, sourced from Morocco. Green tea whose first infusion is thrown away, boiled with the sugar rather than sweetened after, and poured from a height. vegan.
• Naan, sourced from India. It is leavened with yeast and slapped onto the wall of the oven, not laid on a griddle. vegetarian.
• Nabak-kimchi, sourced from South Korea. A pink water kimchi cut into thin squares, where the chilli is steeped in muslin so the brine colours without going gritty. vegan.
• Nam phrik kapi, sourced from Thailand. A thin salty dip built on shrimp paste toasted first, with everything else pounded in raw.
• Nam phrik long ruea, sourced from Thailand. A dip served as a composed plate, with the accompaniments part of the dish rather than beside it. Pork, Duck, Fish, Egg.
• Nam phrik num, sourced from Thailand. Green chillies grilled whole and skinned before they are pounded, so the dip tastes of smoke.
• Nam phrik ong, sourced from Thailand. A simmered dip rather than a pounded one, cooked down with pork and tomato until the oil separates. Pork.
• Ngari, sourced from India. The pot is sealed with fish paste, leaves and mud, and left at room temperature for months. Fish.
• Niter kibbeh, sourced from Ethiopia. The spices go into the butter before it is strained, not after. vegetarian.
• Nixtamalised Masa, sourced from Mexico. Dried corn simmered with a little lime, steeped overnight and ground wet, which is what turns hard grain into a dough that holds together. vegan.
• Nocino, sourced from Italy. Unripe walnuts steeped whole in spirit, picked while the shell has not formed. vegan.
• Nokul, sourced from Turkey. A yeast dough rather than pastry sheets, cut into portions before it is baked rather than after. Egg.
• Nopalitos, sourced from Mexico. Cactus paddles diced, salted to draw the slime out, rinsed and then griddled dry — three separate goes at the same problem. vegan.
• Nurungji, sourced from South Korea. Cooked rice pressed into a pan and left completely alone until it lifts off in one crisp disc. vegan.
• Onsen tamago, sourced from Japan. An egg held at 68C so the white stays loose and the yolk sets — the opposite of a soft-boiled egg. Fish, Egg.
• Oondees, sourced from India. Four-inch spheres of cooked semolina, steamed rather than fried. vegan.
• Ou khatta, sourced from India. Elephant apple cooked down in jaggery, sweet and sour at once. vegan.
• Pan de monja, sourced from the Philippines. A plain, close-crumbed milk bread, creased deeply down the middle before it proves. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pan de Muerto, sourced from Mexico. No topping paste at all — the bone strips are rolled from the same dough with a knuckled finger, and the scent is in the crumb. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pandesal, sourced from the Philippines. Soft rolls cut from a log and rolled in breadcrumbs before proving. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pane Carasau, sourced from Italy. Sardinian flatbread baked until it inflates, split in two, then dried crisp. vegan.
• Pane di Altamura, sourced from Italy. A tall durum loaf on a natural leaven, folded over itself rather than shaped round. vegan.
• Pane Sciocco, sourced from Italy. The Tuscan loaf made with no salt whatsoever. vegan.
• Paneer, sourced from India. The drained curds are soaked in chilled water for hours before they go under a weight. vegetarian.
• Panigaccio, sourced from Italy. An unleavened batter cooked between stacked terracotta discs. vegan.
• Paratha, sourced from India. The dough is folded and rolled with ghee between the folds, which is where the layers come from. vegetarian.
• Pastırma, sourced from Turkey. Pressed under weight and then coated in çemen, a fenugreek paste that is most of what it tastes of. Beef.
• Pâte Brisée, sourced from France. Shortcrust rubbed rather than creamed, where visible pieces of butter are what you are aiming for and a smooth dough is the failure. Egg, vegetarian.
• Paximathia, sourced from Greece. Bread baked once as a loaf and a second time as slices, until it is hard enough to keep for months. vegan.
• Pearà, sourced from Italy. A Veronese sauce of breadcrumbs and marrow simmered for hours, eaten with boiled meat. Beef.
• Persillade, sourced from France. Parsley and garlic chopped together and nothing else, with no oil in it and nothing pounded. vegan.
• Pesarattu, sourced from India. It is whole green gram with no black gram in it, and it is not fermented overnight. vegan.
• Pestil, sourced from Turkey. The pulp is spread thin on cloth and dried until the sheet peels off without tearing. vegan.
• Pesto alla Trapanese, sourced from Italy. A pesto of almonds and raw tomato, pounded coarser than the Genoese.
• Pesto Genovese, sourced from Italy. Basil pounded rather than cut, with nothing cooked and nothing heated.
• Piadina Romagnola, sourced from Italy. A lard flatbread cooked dry on a hot plate and kept pliable, never crisp.
• Pico de Gallo, sourced from Mexico. Everything cut to the same small dice by hand, because a processor bruises it into a wet purée in four seconds. vegan.
• Pinzimonio, sourced from Italy. Raw vegetables and a dip of nothing but oil, salt and pepper. vegan.
• Pistou, sourced from France. Basil, garlic and oil with no nuts in it, and the cheese handed round at the table rather than pounded in.
• Pizza di Pasqua, sourced from Italy. A tall savoury cheese bread risen in a mould, which is not a pizza at all. Egg.
• Polenta, sourced from Italy. Coarse maize rained into salted water and stirred for the better part of an hour.
• Praline, sourced from France. Caramelised nuts ground in short bursts and stopped before the oil comes out, because five seconds past that it is a paste. vegan.
• Preserved Lemons, sourced from Morocco. Lemons packed in nothing but their own juice and salt for a month, where the salt is the only thing keeping them safe. vegan.
• Puff Pastry, sourced from France. A block of butter folded into dough until there are hundreds of layers, where both must be the same firmness at every fold. vegetarian.
• Puri, sourced from India. The dough is made deliberately stiff, at about 48 per cent water, which is why it puffs instead of soaking. vegan.
• Puttu, sourced from India. Coarse rice and grated coconut are layered and steamed in a cylinder, never mixed into a dough. vegan.
• Qâlat Daqqa, sourced from Tunisia. Five warm spices and no chilli at all, with grains of paradise doing the work pepper usually does. vegan.
• Qishta, sourced from Egypt. The skin that forms on scalded milk is lifted off and layered, over and over, until there is a slab of it. vegetarian.
• Ragù di Salsiccia, sourced from Italy. A ragù from sausage meat, done in forty-five minutes because it is already seasoned. Pork.
• Ramazan Pidesi, sourced from Turkey. Dimpled all over with the fingertips before it bakes, which is what stops it doming into a balloon. Egg, vegetarian.
• Recado Rojo, sourced from Mexico. Annatto seeds soaked overnight before grinding, because nothing will break them down dry, then pressed into a brick. vegan.
• Refried Beans, sourced from Mexico. Cooked beans tipped into hot fat and crushed in the pan as they fry, never mashed beforehand.
• Rémoulade, sourced from France. Mayonnaise built stiffer than usual because every single thing added to it afterwards is wet. Egg, vegetarian.
• Rigouta, sourced from Tunisia. It is made from the whey left over from another cheese, not from milk — which is why it must be used within days. vegetarian.
• Risotto, sourced from Italy. The method the variants assume: hot stock a ladle at a time, then butter off the heat.
• Rosca de Reyes, sourced from Mexico. The hole made far wider than looks right, because a ring closes as it proves and bakes into an oval loaf. Egg, vegetarian.
• Salabat, sourced from the Philippines. Ginger sliced and simmered long, not steeped, which is what makes it hot at the back. vegan.
• Salsa, sourced from Mexico. Tomatoes, chillies and garlic charred dry on the griddle until blackened in patches, then blended with their skins on. vegan.
• Salsa alla Marinara, sourced from Italy. Tomato, garlic and oregano cooked twenty minutes, with no onion in it. vegan.
• Salsa Criolla, sourced from Peru. Sliced red onion soaked in cold water to take the harshness out, then dressed at the last minute so it stays crisp. vegan.
• Salsa Macha, sourced from Mexico. The oil taken off the heat before the chillies go in, so they steep rather than fry. vegan.
• Salsa Verde, sourced from Mexico. Tomatillos boiled only until their colour turns from bright green to olive, which is the signal and the whole timing of the sauce. vegan.
• Salted duck egg, sourced from the Philippines. Three weeks in brine, and the only way to know they are ready is to open one. Duck, Egg.
• Sangak, sourced from Iran. It is baked straight onto a bed of hot river pebbles and then thrown down hard to knock them off. vegan.
• Sangkhaya, sourced from Thailand. The custard itself rather than a finished sweet, steamed in a bowl and spooned over other things. Duck, Egg.
• Saucisse de Toulouse, sourced from France. A coarse pork sausage with almost nothing in it but pork, salt and pepper, coiled rather than linked. Pork.
• Sencha, sourced from Japan. Brewed well below boiling and poured out in rotation so every cup is the same strength. vegan.
• Shanklish, sourced from Lebanon. The curd balls are left to grow a mould, then washed, dried and rolled in za'atar — the mould is the method, not a mistake. vegetarian.
• Sharbat, sourced from Iran. It is made as a concentrate thick enough to eat with a spoon, and diluted at the glass. vegan.
• Sheermal, sourced from Iran. Warm sweetened milk replaces the water in the dough entirely, with saffron and cardamom in it. vegetarian.
• Simit, sourced from Turkey. Dipped in thinned grape molasses before the sesame, which is what makes it stick and what turns the ring mahogany. vegan.
• Sinangag, sourced from the Philippines. Yesterday's cold rice fried in garlic oil, with the garlic fried twice. vegan.
• Skordalia, sourced from Greece. Garlic pounded into potato with oil beaten in, where the potato must be worked by hand or it turns to glue. vegan.
• Soba, sourced from Japan. A buckwheat dough with no gluten of its own, hydrated in three pours and worked fast. vegan.
• Solkadhi, sourced from India. It is a drink, and the pink comes from kokum skins. vegan.
• Ssamjang, sourced from South Korea. Two parts fermented soybean paste to one of chilli paste, mixed cold, for wrapping grilled meat in a lettuce leaf. vegetarian.
• Steamed Short-Grain Rice, sourced from South Korea. Rice and water and nothing else, soaked before it cooks and left under the lid for a full ten minutes after the heat goes off. vegan.
• Sucuk, sourced from Turkey. Pressed flat between boards while it dries, which is why a slice is an oval and not a circle. Beef, Lamb.
• Sushi Rice, sourced from Japan. Short-grain rice dressed while hot, where the dressing is cut through with a slicing motion and never stirred. vegan.
• Tabil, sourced from Tunisia. Coriander leads it, and the garlic goes in dried and ground rather than fresh. vegan.
• Tabouna Bread, sourced from Tunisia. It is slapped onto the inside wall of the oven and bakes stuck to it, so one face is smooth and the other blistered. vegan.
• Taftan, sourced from Iran. The dough is enriched with milk, yoghurt and eggs, which is what sets it apart from the plain flatbreads. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tahdig, sourced from Iran. The fat goes into the empty pot first and a separate layer is laid on it, so that layer crisps instead of the rice. Lamb, Egg.
• Tahini, sourced from Lebanon. The seeds are ground while still warm from the pan, which is the only way they release their own oil. vegan.
• Tapa, sourced from the Philippines. The cure itself, two days in soy and calamansi, and not the breakfast plate. Beef.
• Tapenade, sourced from France. Olives pounded to a coarse paste rather than blitzed smooth, with the capers that give it its name kept in. Fish.
• Taramasalata, sourced from Greece. An emulsion built like a mayonnaise, where the oil goes in drop by drop and the colour is ivory rather than pink. Fish.
• Tfaya, sourced from Morocco. Onions and raisins cooked down for an hour until they are dark and jammy, spooned over couscous rather than eaten alone. vegetarian.
• Thepla, sourced from India. Fenugreek leaves and gram flour go into the dough itself, not onto the finished bread. vegetarian.
• Tinapa, sourced from the Philippines. Fish brined, dried to a tacky skin, then hot-smoked until it is cooked and keeps. Fish.
• Tirokafteri, sourced from Greece. Feta whipped with a roasted pepper and chilli, which is not an emulsion and is the only dip here a machine actually helps.
• Tortilla Chips, sourced from Mexico. Yesterday's tortillas cut in wedges and fried — and they have to be yesterday's, because a fresh one fries limp. vegan.
• Totopos, sourced from Mexico. Thick masa discs pierced all over and baked twice, which is why they keep for weeks when a fried chip does not. vegan.
• Trahanas, sourced from Greece. Flour and soured milk cooked to a paste, dried hard over several days and broken into grains that keep for a year. vegetarian.
• Tsamarella, sourced from Cyprus. Goat sun-dried until it rattles, and the only one of the cured meats you must soak before you can eat it. Goat.
• Tuyo, sourced from the Philippines. Salted hard and dried in the sun for two days, then fried fast in very hot oil. Fish.
• Tzatziki, sourced from Greece. Strained yoghurt with cucumber squeezed dry, where every step is about taking water out before it can thin the bowl. vegetarian.
• Udon, sourced from Japan. A very stiff salted dough kneaded underfoot, rested twice and cut thick. vegan.
• Umeboshi, sourced from Japan. Unripe plums salted under a weight for a month, then dried in the sun for three days. vegan.
• Uovo Sbattuto, sourced from Italy. A yolk and sugar beaten raw to a pale foam, with no heat at all. Egg, vegetarian.
• Upma, sourced from India. Dry-roasted semolina made into a thick porridge, and the name is salt plus meal. vegetarian.
• Uttapam, sourced from India. It is poured thick and the toppings are pressed into the wet batter. vegan.
• Vakfıkebir Bread, sourced from Turkey. A single loaf of two kilos or more, which is why it keeps a week where a small one is stale in a day. vegan.
• Yazdi Coffee, sourced from Iran. A hot coal is dropped into the pot, and the coffee is then strained through silk. vegan.
• Za'atar, sourced from Lebanon. The sumac is nearly a third of the blend, which is what makes the Lebanese version sour rather than merely herbal. vegan.

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