Recipes › Mediterranean

Mediterranean recipes

750 Mediterranean recipes, from Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey. Each one says which country it belongs to and where the recipe came from.

• 'Nzuddi, sourced from Italy. Hard almond biscuits with orange zest, baked until the outside cracks and the middle stays chewy. Egg, vegetarian.
• 'O Pere e 'o Musso, sourced from Italy. Trotter and muzzle simmered soft, cooled, sliced thin and dressed with nothing but lemon and salt. Pork, Veal.
• Abbacchio, sourced from Italy. Young lamb roasted hard with rosemary and garlic, finished with anchovy melted into the pan juices. Lamb, Fish.
• Aboukir Almonds, sourced from Egypt. A whole roasted almond is wrapped in marzipan, shaped back into an almond, and dipped in hot syrup. Egg, vegetarian.
• Açma, sourced from Turkey. Rolled out, oiled and coiled before shaping, so it tears into layers instead of breaking like bread. Egg, vegetarian.
• Acqua Pazza, sourced from Italy. Whole fish poached in a thin broth of water, wine and tomato, which becomes the sauce. Fish.
• Acquacotta, sourced from Italy. A long-cooked vegetable broth poured over stale bread, with an egg poached in it at the end. Egg.
• Acquasale, sourced from Italy. Stale bread wetted at the tap and dressed raw, with nothing cooked at any point. vegan.
• Adana Kebabı, sourced from Turkey. Pressed onto a wide flat skewer with the palm, never threaded, and the tail fat is what holds it there. Lamb.
• Afelia, sourced from Cyprus. The coriander seed cracked and not ground, so it stays as whole pieces in the sauce instead of turning it muddy. Pork.
• Affogato, sourced from Italy. A shot of espresso poured over cold ice cream, eaten in the minute it survives. vegetarian.
• Agliata, sourced from Italy. A raw garlic sauce thickened with bread rather than egg, pounded rather than blended. vegan.
• Agnolini, sourced from Italy. Mantuan stuffed pasta with amaretti in the filling, served in broth. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• Agnolotti, sourced from Italy. Piedmontese stuffed pasta pinched along a strip and dressed with the roasting juices. Pork, Veal, Egg.
• 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.
• Aish as-Saraya, sourced from Lebanon. There is no egg and no butter in it at all — the body is breadcrumbs soaked in caramel syrup. vegetarian.
• Aligot, sourced from France. Mashed potato beaten with young unsalted cheese until it ropes, which only one kind of cheese will do.
• Alinazik Kebab, sourced from Turkey. The smoked aubergine and yoghurt bed is the dish, and the meat is what goes on top of it. Lamb.
• Amaretti di Saronno, sourced from Italy. Crisp almond macaroons with a bitter note, dried before baking so the tops craze. Egg, vegetarian.
• Amatriciana, sourced from Italy. A sauce built in rendered guanciale fat, with the tomato cooked into it and pecorino stirred in off the heat. Pork.
• Amygdalopita, sourced from Greece. An almond and semolina syrup cake soaked in two goes rather than one, because semolina takes syrup more slowly than breadcrumb does. Egg, vegetarian.
• Amygdalota, sourced from Greece. Almond sweets shaped and dried rather than baked, where the only cooking is a brief set in a low oven. Egg, vegetarian.
• Analı Kızlı, sourced from Turkey. Two different dumplings go into one bowl — bulgur-shelled meatballs and whole chickpeas. Lamb, Egg.
• 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.
• Andouillette, sourced from France. A coarse tripe sausage cooked gently and never pricked, because what is inside it is what you came for. Pork.
• Anelletti al Forno, sourced from Italy. Ring pasta baked in a crumbed tin so it turns out as a single browned dome. Beef.
• Angel Wings, sourced from Italy. Pastry rolled until you can see through it, knotted and fried for seconds. Egg, vegetarian.
• Apohtin, sourced from Cyprus. Kept submerged under wine rather than dried, so it never hardens and stays damp enough to slice thick. Pork.
• Arancini, sourced from Italy. Saffron rice cooked the day before, moulded round a filling and fried. Beef, Egg.
• Arnavut Ciğeri, sourced from Turkey. Tiny floured cubes fried hard and then dressed cold, served as a meze rather than hot off the pan. Lamb.
• Arrabbiata Sauce, sourced from Italy. Tomato, garlic and chilli cooked fast in oil, with no meat and no cheese anywhere in it. vegan.
• Arrosticini, sourced from Italy. Small cubes of mutton on skewers, grilled over a narrow trough of coals and seasoned with nothing but salt. Lamb.
• Assidat Zgougou, sourced from Tunisia. The pine seed is ground and then strained through muslin, because the husk will never soften. vegetarian.
• Aşure, sourced from Turkey. Every grain and pulse is cooked separately before they meet, because none of them cooks at the same rate. vegan.
• Avgolemono, sourced from Greece. A soup thickened with egg and lemon alone, which curdles the instant it boils and is therefore never allowed to. Egg.
• Ayva Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The seeds and cores go into the pan with the fruit, because that is where the pectin is that sets the syrup. vegetarian.
• Ayvalık Tostu, sourced from Turkey. Pressed flat in a hot press until the cheese leaks out and fries against the plates. Egg.
• Babà al Rum, sourced from Italy. A very wet yeasted sponge, soaked cool in warm syrup until it stops taking any more. Egg, vegetarian.
• Baba au Rhum, sourced from France. A dry yeast cake soaked in warm syrup while it is completely cold, because that temperature difference is what makes it drink. Egg, vegetarian.
• Baba Ghanoush, sourced from Lebanon. Charred whole over a bare flame until the skin blisters black, then bound smooth with tahini. vegan.
• Baccalà, sourced from Italy. How to soak and poach salt cod, which every baccalà dish begins with. Fish.
• Baccalà all'Abruzzese, sourced from Italy. Salt cod stewed in tomato with peppers and olives, the fish added last so it stays whole. Fish.
• Baccalà alla Lucana, sourced from Italy. Salt cod floured and fried, finished with dried sweet peppers crisped in the same oil. Fish.
• Baccalà alla Vicentina, sourced from Italy. Cod cooked in milk and onion for six hours without being stirred once. Fish.
• Baccalà Mantecato, sourced from Italy. Poached cod beaten with oil until it turns white and holds its shape on a spoon. Fish.
• Baci di Dama, sourced from Italy. Two hazelnut domes joined with chocolate, baked flat-side down so they stay round. vegetarian.
• Baeckeoffe, sourced from France. Three meats marinated overnight and layered raw with potatoes under a pot sealed with a rope of dough, which is not opened. Pork, Beef, Lamb.
• Bağaça, sourced from Turkey. Leavened with a chickpea ferment started half a day ahead, not with yeast. vegetarian.
• Baghrir, sourced from Morocco. Pancakes cooked on one side only, where the holes open across the surface and are the point of the whole thing. vegetarian.
• Bagna Càuda, sourced from Italy. Anchovy and garlic melted into warm oil and kept warm at the table, never allowed to fry. Fish.
• Bagnun, sourced from Italy. A thin anchovy and tomato soup poured over hard biscuit, cooked in the time it takes to soften an onion. Fish.
• Baguette, sourced from France. Four ingredients and a cold overnight rise, baked with steam in the first ten minutes and none after. vegan.
• Baharat, sourced from Lebanon. Allspice leads it, and the whole spices are toasted and ground together rather than blended from jars. vegan.
• Baicoli, sourced from Italy. Venetian biscuits baked as a loaf, chilled a day, then sliced thin and dried out. Egg, vegetarian.
• Baklava, sourced from Greece. Layered filo and nuts where cold syrup meets hot pastry, which is the only combination that does not go soggy. vegetarian.
• Balık Çorbası, sourced from Turkey. The heads and bones make the soup and the fillet goes in for the last four minutes. Fish, Egg.
• Balık Ekmek, sourced from Turkey. The mackerel is grilled on the bone and boned at the last moment, so it never dries out. Fish.
• Bambalouni, sourced from Tunisia. A hole is pushed through with the thumb and widened by spinning it on the finger, so the ring is thin and uneven. vegetarian.
• Barazek, sourced from Lebanon. Sesame on one face and pistachios on the other, put on by pressing each side into its own tray before baking. Egg, vegetarian.
• Barbunya Pilaki, sourced from Turkey. It is cooled in its own liquid, which sets to a light jelly around the beans. vegan.
• Basbousa, sourced from Egypt. Desiccated coconut goes into the batter, and it is cut only after all the syrup has gone in. vegetarian.
• Batata Harra, sourced from Lebanon. The garlic and coriander go in off the heat, after the potatoes are already crisp. 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.
• Beef Bourguignon, sourced from France. Beef braised in red wine for three hours, where the meat is dried and browned in small batches and the wine is reduced before it goes in. Beef.
• Bensone, sourced from Italy. A dense S-shaped ring cake made deliberately dry, because it exists to be dipped in wine. Egg, vegetarian.
• Berkoukes, sourced from Tunisia. The semolina is rolled into pellets the size of peppercorns, several times larger than couscous. Lamb.
• Berlingozzo, sourced from Italy. A light ring cake raised on whipped eggs and scented with anise, soft enough to tear. Egg, vegetarian.
• Beyran, sourced from Turkey. Built bowl by bowl over a fierce flame, from lamb that was cooked the night before. Lamb.
• Bici Bici, sourced from Turkey. A plain starch block is cut into cubes and served over ice shaved fine enough to melt on the tongue. vegan.
• Biga Peynir Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The balls are baked rather than fried, and they must not break apart once the syrup goes on. Egg.
• Bigoli in Salsa, sourced from Italy. Thick wholemeal pasta with a sauce of onions cooked to nothing and anchovies melted into them. Fish.
• Bisciola, sourced from Italy. A dark rye loaf packed with nuts and dried fruit, nearer bread than cake. Egg, vegetarian.
• Biscotti, sourced from Italy. Tuscan almond biscuits with no fat at all, baked as a log and cut on the diagonal. Egg, vegetarian.
• Biscotti Regina, sourced from Italy. Plain little logs rolled wet and then in sesame, which toasts in the oven and is the whole point. Egg.
• Bissara, sourced from Morocco. Split dried broad beans cooked to a thick purée with nothing in it but garlic, eaten with more oil than seems reasonable. vegan.
• Bistecca alla Fiorentina, sourced from Italy. A very thick T-bone seared over coals, stood on its bone, and served rare whatever anyone says. Beef.
• Blunkett Salad, sourced from Tunisia. The bread is torn and soaked in the dressing rather than fried, so it goes soft on purpose. Fish, Egg.
• Bocconotto, sourced from Italy. Small shortcrust cases filled with jam and ground almond, sealed and baked in moulds. Egg.
• Bollito Misto, sourced from Italy. Several cuts boiled separately so each is right, then brought together in one broth. Chicken, Pork, Beef, Veal, Fish.
• Bolognese Sauce, sourced from Italy. A meat sauce cooked three hours with milk and very little tomato. Pork, Beef.
• Bombolone, sourced from Italy. An enriched yeast doughnut with no hole, filled after frying so the crumb stays dry. Egg, vegetarian.
• Borlengo, sourced from Italy. A batter spread paper-thin in a hot pan and cooked until it is a crisp sheet. Pork, Egg.
• Bougatsa, sourced from Greece. A semolina custard in filo with no syrup anywhere, cut into squares with a blade and dusted at the moment it is served. Egg, vegetarian.
• Bouillabaisse, sourced from France. A strained fish broth served separately from the fish, with a garlic and chilli rouille stirred into each bowl. Fish, Egg.
• Boule, sourced from France. A round loaf where the shaping is the whole job, dragged against the surface until the skin is tight enough to hold a dome. vegan.
• Boulfaf, sourced from Morocco. Lamb liver wrapped in caul fat and grilled over coals, where the fat melts away and bastes it as it goes. Lamb.
• Bourdeto, sourced from Greece. Fish cooked in a fierce red onion sauce where the paprika goes in off the heat, and the fish is never turned. Fish.
• 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.
• Braciola, sourced from Italy. Thin slices of beef rolled round cheese and herbs and braised in tomato, several to a pan. Beef.
• Braciolone, sourced from Italy. One large joint stuffed with egg and salami, tied and braised whole for three hours. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• Brandade, sourced from France. Salt cod soaked for thirty-six hours with the water changed six times, then beaten with oil and milk into a warm emulsion. Fish.
• Breadsticks, sourced from Italy. Thin sticks stretched rather than rolled, baked until they snap. vegan.
• Brik, sourced from Tunisia. A whole raw egg goes in and must still be runny when it is eaten, which gives about three minutes in the pan. Fish, Egg.
• Brik Danouni, sourced from Tunisia. A semolina dough rather than filo, so it is soft and substantial where the filo one shatters. Fish, Egg.
• Brioche, sourced from France. A dough with its own weight in butter, beaten until it leaves the bowl before any butter goes in, and chilled overnight. Egg, vegetarian.
• Briouat, sourced from Morocco. Small triangular pastries folded like a flag and fried, where the last fold is sealed with flour paste rather than water. Beef, Lamb, Egg.
• Brodetto, sourced from Italy. Mixed fish stewed with vinegar, each kind added in its own time so none of it overcooks. Fish, Shellfish.
• Bruschetta, sourced from Italy. Bread grilled over fire, rubbed with raw garlic while hot, and oiled before anything else. vegan.
• Brutti ma Buoni, sourced from Italy. A nut meringue cooked in the pan before it is baked, which is what makes it chewy rather than crisp. 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.
• Buccellato, sourced from Italy. A yeasted sweet ring with anise and raisins, proved twice and barely sweet. Egg, vegetarian.
• Bûche de Noël, sourced from France. A fatless sponge rolled while it is still hot inside a cloth, then unrolled to fill, which is what stops it cracking. Egg, vegetarian.
• Budino, sourced from Italy. A stirred custard set with egg alone, cooked just to the point where it coats a spoon. Egg, vegetarian.
• Buğu Kebabı, sourced from Turkey. Steamed in a sealed pot with no added liquid and no flame — the name means steam. Lamb.
• Bülbül Yuvası, sourced from Turkey. The sheet is wrapped round a thin rod and pushed together to pleat before it is coiled, with the centre left hollow. vegetarian.
• Burdur Şiş, sourced from Turkey. Marinated in plain milk rather than anything acid, which tenderises without firming the surface. Lamb.
• Buridda, sourced from Italy. A fish stew built on dried mushrooms and their soaking water, with pine nuts through it. Fish.
• Bustrengo, sourced from Italy. A dense wet cake of leftover bread, cornmeal and fruit, with nothing to raise it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Cacciatora, sourced from Italy. Chicken browned hard and braised in wine with rosemary, finished with olives rather than tomato. Chicken, Fish.
• Cacciucco, sourced from Italy. A red-wine fish stew with its own broth made from the heads, ladled over garlic toast. Fish, Shellfish.
• Cacio e Pepe, sourced from Italy. Three ingredients, where the sauce is made by emulsifying cheese into starchy water off the heat.
• Cağ Kebabı, sourced from Turkey. Grilled horizontally on a turning spit, then carved and re-threaded onto a small skewer to be served. Lamb.
• Calamarata, sourced from Italy. Wide pasta rings cooked with squid rings cut to the same size. Shellfish.
• Caldume, sourced from Italy. Tripe simmered for hours in a clear broth and served in its own liquid with lemon. Beef.
• Calissons, sourced from France. Almond and candied melon paste on rice paper, where the melon is dried until it is barely tacky before it is ground. Egg, vegetarian.
• Calzone, sourced from Italy. A folded pizza whose filling must be dry, because steam has nowhere to go. Pork.
• Camporelli, sourced from Italy. Ring biscuits bound with wine and oil instead of egg and butter, so they stay crisp for weeks. vegan.
• Canestrelli, sourced from Italy. Flower-shaped shortbread made short with potato starch and yolks only. Egg, vegetarian.
• Cannelloni, sourced from Italy. Pasta tubes piped full and baked under béchamel until the top blisters. Egg.
• Cannoli, sourced from Italy. Shells fried round metal tubes and filled only at the moment of serving. Egg.
• Caponata, sourced from Italy. Aubergine and celery fried separately and brought together in a sweet-sour sauce, eaten cold. vegan.
• Cappelletti, sourced from Italy. Little hats folded round a finger and cooked in the broth they are served in. Pork, Egg.
• Cappon Magro, sourced from Italy. A Genoese pyramid of fish and vegetables built on soaked biscuit, each layer dressed separately. Fish, Shellfish, Egg.
• Capra e Fagioli, sourced from Italy. Goat and beans cooked long and separately, then brought together at the end. Goat.
• Caprese Salad, sourced from Italy. Three ingredients at room temperature, assembled and dressed at the last minute.
• Carbonara, sourced from Italy. Pasta in a sauce of egg and cheese thickened by residual heat alone, with no cream and no pan. Pork, Egg.
• Carciofi alla Giudia, sourced from Italy. Whole artichokes fried twice until the leaves open and crisp like petals. vegan.
• Carciofi alla Romana, sourced from Italy. Artichokes stuffed with mint and garlic and braised standing up in oil and water. vegan.
• Carne Pizzaiola, sourced from Italy. Thin beef cooked in minutes in a tomato and oregano sauce made first. Beef.
• Carpaccio, sourced from Italy. Raw beef frozen briefly so it can be sliced almost to transparency, dressed only at the table. Beef.
• Casoncelli, sourced from Italy. Sweet-wrapper parcels with amaretti in the filling, dressed with butter, sage and pancetta. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• Cassata, sourced from Italy. A ricotta-filled sponge lined with green marzipan and set in a sloped mould. Egg.
• Cassatella di Sant'Agata, sourced from Italy. Small domed cakes covered in white icing with a cherry on top. Egg.
• Cassoeula, sourced from Italy. The cheap cuts of the pig cooked down with savoy cabbage added late. Pork.
• Cassoulet, sourced from France. Beans and preserved meat baked for hours, where the crust that forms on top is broken back into the dish several times. Pork, Duck.
• Castagnaccio, sourced from Italy. Chestnut flour and water with rosemary on top, and no sugar, egg or raising agent. vegan.
• Casunziei, sourced from Italy. Beetroot half-moons that bleed pink through the pasta, finished with poppy seeds. Egg.
• Cavallucci, sourced from Italy. Sienese spiced biscuits built on a sugar syrup, baked once and left soft inside. vegetarian.
• Cavatelli, sourced from Italy. Eggless pasta dragged into shells with a thumb, two ingredients and no machine. vegan.
• Cevizli İrmik Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The walnuts go into the batter rather than on top, and the syrup is spiced with cloves and orange zest. Egg, vegetarian.
• Cezerye, sourced from Turkey. Grated carrot is boiled and then roasted dry with sugar until the paste comes away from the pan in one mass. vegan.
• Chausson aux Pommes, sourced from France. Puff turnovers filled with a thick cold apple compote, scored in curves and sealed with water rather than egg. Egg, vegetarian.
• Chebakia, sourced from Morocco. Dough cut and threaded into a rose, fried, and dropped straight from the oil into warm honey where it hisses. Egg, vegetarian.
• Cheese Soufflé, sourced from France. A thick cheese base lightened with whipped whites, where the dish is buttered in upward strokes so the mixture can climb. Egg.
• 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.
• 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.
• Chicken Marengo, sourced from France. A tomato and mushroom chicken braise whose fried eggs and crayfish go on top at the end and are never cooked in the sauce. Chicken, Shellfish, Egg.
• Chocolate Mousse, sourced from France. Chocolate and eggs with no cream in it at all, where the chocolate must be warm when the whites go in or it seizes into grains. Egg, vegetarian.
• Chorba Frik, sourced from Tunisia. Green roasted freekeh is the body of it, and it is added late because it swells to three times its volume. Lamb.
• Choucroute Garnie, sourced from France. Rinsed and squeezed sauerkraut braised in wine, with each meat added at its own time rather than all at once. 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.
• Chraime, sourced from Tunisia. The name comes from the word for hot, and the chilli is the dish rather than a seasoning in it. Fish.
• Ciabatta, sourced from Italy. A very wet dough folded rather than kneaded, handled as little as possible. vegan.
• Ciambella, sourced from Italy. A plain ring cake raised with baking powder, mixed in one bowl in five minutes. Egg, vegetarian.
• Ciambotta, sourced from Italy. Summer vegetables fried apart and stewed together, so each keeps its own character. vegan.
• Ciarduna, sourced from Italy. A fried pastry shell piped full of ricotta only when it is about to be eaten.
• Ciceri e Tria, sourced from Italy. Chickpeas with pasta of which a third is fried rather than boiled. vegan.
• Çiğ Köfte, sourced from Turkey. Nothing is cooked and nothing is heated — the bulgur is worked by hand for half an hour until it binds. vegan.
• Ciğer Kebabı, sourced from Turkey. A cube of tail fat between every piece of liver, because liver has none of its own and dries in ninety seconds. Lamb.
• 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.
• Coda alla Vaccinara, sourced from Italy. Oxtail braised four hours, with a great deal of celery added at the end. Pork, Beef.
• Çökertme Kebabı, sourced from Turkey. Built on straw potatoes fried twice, which is the actual work of the dish. Beef.
• Colomba Pasquale, sourced from Italy. A two-day enriched dough baked in a dove mould under a raw almond crust. Egg, vegetarian.
• Coniglio alla Sanremese, sourced from Italy. Rabbit braised in white wine with Ligurian olives and pine nuts. Rabbit.
• Çöp Şiş, sourced from Turkey. Tiny pieces on soaked wooden twigs, cut small enough to cook in two minutes before the wood can burn. Lamb.
• Coppia Ferrarese, sourced from Italy. A stiff lard dough rolled into ropes and twisted, baked until the arms snap.
• Coq au Vin, sourced from France. Chicken marinated in wine overnight and braised in it, with the garnish cooked separately and added at the end. Chicken.
• Çorbalık Kesme, sourced from Turkey. Cut into small squares rather than strips, because it has to sit on a spoon. Egg, vegetarian.
• Cornetto, sourced from Italy. A laminated breakfast pastry, softer and sweeter than a croissant, folded three times. Egg, vegetarian.
• Corzetti, sourced from Italy. Coin-shaped pasta stamped with a carved wooden press, dressed with butter and marjoram. Egg.
• Cotoletta alla Bolognese, sourced from Italy. A crumbed cutlet covered with ham and parmesan and finished in broth in the oven. Pork, Beef, Veal, Egg.
• Cotoletta alla Milanese, sourced from Italy. A bone-in veal chop crumbed and fried in butter, served with nothing but lemon. Veal, Egg.
• Cotoletta alla Palermitana, sourced from Italy. Cutlets oiled rather than egged, crumbed with herbs and cheese, and grilled. Veal.
• 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.
• Cozze allo Zafferano, sourced from Italy. Mussels opened in wine, with saffron steeped in their own liquor rather than added dry. Shellfish.
• Crackling Bread, sourced from France. A savoury loaf whose crackling is rendered and cooled hard before it goes anywhere near the dough. Pork.
• Crème Brûlée, sourced from France. A baked yolk custard chilled hard and burnt under sugar at the last minute, where the contrast only exists for about twenty minutes. Egg, vegetarian.
• 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.
• Crescentina Modenese, sourced from Italy. Small discs of lard dough fried until they puff hollow, split and filled at the table.
• Crescia, sourced from Italy. A peppery egg flatbread cooked dry on a hot stone and folded round a filling. Egg.
• Crocchè, sourced from Italy. Potato croquettes made from dry riced potato, chilled hard before frying. Egg.
• Croissants, sourced from France. A laminated dough folded three times with long chilled rests, where everything depends on the butter staying solid and separate. Egg, vegetarian.
• Croquembouche, sourced from France. Filled choux buns built into a cone with caramel as the only glue, which gives you about ninety seconds a batch. Egg, vegetarian.
• Crostata, sourced from Italy. Pasta frolla handled cold and as little as possible, under a lattice of jam. Egg, vegetarian.
• Crostini, sourced from Italy. Tuscan chicken liver paste on bread toasted dry, not oiled. Chicken, Fish.
• Cuccìa, sourced from Italy. Whole wheat grains boiled soft and folded through sweetened ricotta.
• Cuccidati, sourced from Italy. Sicilian biscuits enclosing a dark fig and nut paste, left to mature before baking. Egg, vegetarian.
• Culurgiones, sourced from Italy. Potato and mint parcels closed with a braided seam across the top.
• Cupeta, sourced from Italy. A hard almond brittle poured between wafers or onto lemon leaves while still molten. vegetarian.
• Çılbır, sourced from Turkey. The eggs are poached and laid on yoghurt warmed to blood heat, with foaming pepper butter poured over. Egg, vegetarian.
• Dafina, sourced from Morocco. A pot left on the lowest possible heat overnight, with eggs buried in it whole that come out brown and dense. Beef, Egg.
• Dakos, sourced from Greece. A hard barley rusk softened only by grated tomato and oil, assembled in an order that decides whether it goes soggy.
• Daktyla, sourced from Cyprus. The ends pinched shut before frying, because the filling boils and will push its way out of an open one. vegetarian.
• Daube, sourced from France. Beef marinated raw in wine and orange peel then layered into the pot unbrowned, with the wine going in exactly as it came off the meat. Pork, Beef.
• Deep-Fried Pizza, sourced from Italy. A filled dough parcel fried rather than baked, sealed completely so the oil stays out. Pork.
• Dibile, sourced from Turkey. The strips are folded in the hot oil itself and then dipped in syrup, where the dry version is only dusted. Egg, vegetarian.
• Diples, sourced from Greece. Unleavened dough rolled until it is translucent and folded in the hot oil with two forks, then dipped in honey. Egg, vegetarian.
• Dolmades, sourced from Greece. Vine leaves rolled around rice that is only half cooked, weighted down with a plate so they cannot unroll. vegan.
• Domates Mücveri, sourced from Turkey. You cannot wring out a tomato, so the tomatoes are crushed into the batter and flour does the drying instead of the hands. Egg, vegetarian.
• Dondurma, sourced from Turkey. Salep and mastic make it chewy enough to pull, and it is beaten rather than churned. vegetarian.
• Döner Kebab, sourced from Turkey. A vertical stack carved from the outside in, so only the outside is ever cooked and the inside waits its turn. Lamb.
• Duchess Potatoes, sourced from France. Piped rosettes of mash dried in the oven before the egg goes in, so they hold their ridges instead of slumping. Egg, vegetarian.
• Duck à l'Orange, sourced from France. Roast duck with a sauce built on a caramel taken dark and then stopped with vinegar, which is what keeps it from being merely sweet. Duck.
• 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.
• Düğün Çorbası, sourced from Turkey. Thickened twice over — flour browned in butter first, then egg yolk and lemon off the heat. Lamb, Egg.
• Duqqa, sourced from Egypt. It stays dry and crumbly, because bread is dipped in oil first and then pressed into it. vegan.
• Dürüm, sourced from Turkey. The filling goes in a line down the middle and the bread is rolled tight and then toasted shut on the seam. Lamb.
• Éclairs, sourced from France. Choux fingers pierced the instant they leave the oven, filled cold and dipped rather than spooned. Egg, vegetarian.
• Eggah, sourced from Egypt. The egg is there to bind the filling rather than the filling to fill the egg — it is far firmer than an omelette. Egg, vegetarian.
• 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.
• Ekmek Kadayıfı, sourced from Turkey. Made from a dried bread round and no threads at all, soaked until it swells to twice its thickness. vegetarian.
• Escargots, sourced from France. Tinned snails returned to shells under a garlic butter that is piped in behind them, so it melts down over the snail rather than under it. Shellfish.
• Etli Ekmek, sourced from Turkey. Rolled out to half a metre long and baked directly on the oven floor, so it is all edge and no middle. Lamb.
• Etli Makarna, sourced from Turkey. The pasta is finished in the meat and broth with the lid on, so it swells taking up the liquid rather than water. Beef.
• Ezogelin Çorbası, sourced from Turkey. Three starches at once — red lentils, bulgur and rice — each breaking down to a different degree. vegetarian.
• Fagottini, sourced from Italy. Little purses gathered and twisted at the top so they stand upright. Egg.
• Falafel, sourced from Lebanon. The chickpeas are soaked raw and never cooked before grinding, which is the one rule that cannot be broken. vegan.
• Fanouropita, sourced from Greece. A spiced cake with no egg, butter or milk in it, where orange juice and bicarbonate do the lifting. vegan.
• Far Breton, sourced from France. A batter rather than a custard, poured cold over soaked prunes, which sets dense and slightly chewy instead of wobbling. Egg, vegetarian.
• Farinata, sourced from Italy. A chickpea batter rested for hours and baked in a fierce oven in a pan of hot oil. vegan.
• Farsu Magru, sourced from Italy. A stuffed beef roll whose name says it is lean and whose cross-section says otherwise. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• Fasolada, sourced from Greece. A bean soup whose body comes from a quantity of olive oil that looks like a mistake, and from beans salted only at the end. vegan.
• Fatayer, sourced from Lebanon. Folded into a three-cornered pyramid and sealed on three seams, so it is closed where the open pie is not. vegan.
• Fatteh, sourced from Lebanon. Three layers built in the dish and never stirred together, so each spoonful goes down through all of them. vegetarian.
• Fattoush, sourced from Lebanon. The bread is fried and goes in at the last second, so it is still crisp when it reaches the table. Lamb.
• Fava, sourced from Turkey. It sets firm in a tray and is cut into cubes, not served as a dip. vegan.
• Feteer, sourced from Egypt. Always filled or topped, and the filling goes between two stretched sheets rather than into a parcel. Beef.
• Feteer Meshaltet, sourced from Egypt. Served plain, and nothing is ever baked inside it — the layers are the whole dish. vegetarian.
• Fettuccine Alfredo, sourced from Italy. Fresh fettuccine emulsified with butter and parmesan and nothing else at all. Egg.
• Ficelle Picarde, sourced from France. Savoury crêpes rolled round mushrooms and ham, baked under cream, where the mushrooms are cooked until the pan is dry. Pork, Egg.
• Fileja, sourced from Italy. Eggless pasta rolled round a thin rod into a spiral tube, dressed with nduja. Pork.
• Filone, sourced from Italy. A long plain loaf shaped by rolling, slashed once down its length. vegan.
• Flamiche, sourced from France. A leek tart whose whole difficulty is the water inside the leeks, squeezed out in a cloth before they go in. Egg, vegetarian.
• Flaouna, sourced from Cyprus. The corners folded in to leave the top open, so the filling browns instead of steaming. Egg.
• Florentine Biscuits, sourced from Italy. Lace biscuits of caramel and nuts with a chocolate base combed into waves. vegetarian.
• Focaccia, sourced from Italy. A wet oily dough dimpled under salted water, so the holes stay open. vegan.
• Focaccia Pugliese, sourced from Italy. A focaccia with boiled potato in the dough, topped with raw tomatoes and olives. vegan.
• Fondant Potatoes, sourced from France. Cylinders browned cut side down in butter and then braised in stock poured to exactly half their depth, never over them. Chicken.
• Fondue, sourced from France. Cheese emulsified into wine, where the cornflour is tossed through the dry cheese and the pot is never allowed to boil.
• Fougasse, sourced from France. A flat olive-oil bread cut right through to the tray and then pulled open, so the slits stay open and every edge crisps. vegan.
• Fregula, sourced from Italy. Semolina rolled into beads by hand and toasted before it is cooked. Shellfish.
• French Onion Soup, sourced from France. Onions cooked down for an hour and a half before any liquid goes near them, with the bread floated rather than submerged.
• French Toast, sourced from France. Stale bread soaked right through rather than dipped, fried in butter and oil together so the butter cannot burn. Egg, vegetarian.
• Fricassé, sourced from Tunisia. The roll is deep-fried rather than baked, so the crumb stays dense and takes the filling without falling apart. Fish, Egg.
• Frico, sourced from Italy. Cheese and potato pressed into a pan until the underside forms a crust you can lift whole.
• Fried Small Fish, sourced from Greece. Small whole fish floured and nothing else, fried in small batches so the pan never cools, and eaten whole. Fish.
• Frittata, sourced from Italy. Eggs cooked slowly flat in a pan and finished under a grill, never folded. Egg.
• Frittelle, sourced from Italy. Fritters built on rice cooked soft in milk, with no yeast and no rolling. Egg, vegetarian.
• Fritto Misto, sourced from Italy. Mixed seafood floured in semolina and fried in batches, each thing timed on its own. Fish, Shellfish.
• Frittola, sourced from Italy. Butcher's trimmings simmered then fried in lard and kept warm in a cloth-lined basket. Beef, Veal.
• Frog Legs, sourced from France. Legs soaked in milk and then cooked for four minutes only, in butter that is already foaming.
• Frutta Martorana, sourced from Italy. Almond paste modelled and painted as fruit, cooked on the hob rather than mixed cold.
• Ful Medames, sourced from Egypt. The beans cook overnight in a narrow-necked pot, so almost nothing evaporates and they collapse in their own liquid. Egg, vegetarian.
• Ful Nabet, sourced from Egypt. The beans are sprouted for two days before they are cooked at all, which changes them into something else entirely. vegan.
• Galaktoboureko, sourced from Greece. A hot semolina custard poured into filo and baked, so the pastry sets around a filling that is already thick. Egg, vegetarian.
• Galette, sourced from France. A savoury pancake of buckwheat and water with no milk and no egg in the batter, rested overnight and folded square round its filling. Pork, Egg.
• Ganache, sourced from France. Chocolate and cream emulsified from the middle outwards, where stirring the whole bowl at once is what splits it. vegetarian.
• Garbure, sourced from France. A soup thick enough to stand a spoon in, where the ham bone goes in at the start and the cabbage at the very end. Pork, Duck.
• Garganelli, sourced from Italy. Egg pasta squares rolled on a ridged comb into quills, one at a time. Egg.
• Garmugia, sourced from Italy. A spring soup of young vegetables added in order of toughness, with beef browned first. Pork, Beef.
• Gazelle Ankles, sourced from Morocco. Almond paste in pastry rolled thin enough to see through, baked pale and pricked so the crescents do not split. Egg, vegetarian.
• Gelato, sourced from Italy. A churned custard with more milk than cream and less air than ice cream. Egg, vegetarian.
• Gelo di Melone, sourced from Italy. Watermelon juice thickened with starch and set in the fridge, never frozen. vegan.
• Genovese Sauce, sourced from Italy. A Neapolitan sauce of beef and far more onion than beef, cooked until the onion collapses. Pork, Beef.
• Gianduiotto, sourced from Italy. A hazelnut and chocolate paste set in an ingot shape, with no added cocoa butter. vegan.
• Giardiniera, sourced from Italy. Vegetables blanched in the vinegar itself, not in water, then jarred. vegan.
• Gigandes Plaki, sourced from Greece. Big flat beans baked uncovered in tomato until the top ones go leathery and the sauce goes sticky. vegan.
• Ginestrata, sourced from Italy. A thin egg-yolk soup with marsala, whisked over heat and never allowed to boil. Egg.
• Giouvetsi, sourced from Greece. Lamb braised until it is nearly done and then finished in the oven with raw orzo, which cooks in the braising liquid. Lamb.
• Giurgiulena, sourced from Italy. Toasted sesame set in cooked honey and cut into strips while still warm. vegetarian.
• Gnocchi, sourced from Italy. Potato dumplings with as little flour as will hold them together. Egg, vegetarian.
• Gnocchi alla Romana, sourced from Italy. Semolina cooked like polenta, cut into discs and baked under butter and cheese. Egg.
• Gnudi, sourced from Italy. A ravioli filling rolled and cooked with the pasta left off, which is what the name means. Egg.
• Gollash, sourced from Egypt. The filo is layered flat in a tray with the meat as a filling between, never wrapped round it. Beef, Egg.
• Gougères, sourced from France. Savoury choux with the cheese beaten in cold after the eggs, baked drier and hollower than a sweet one. Egg.
• Gözleme, sourced from Turkey. Unleavened and rolled paper-thin, filled, folded flat and cooked on a dry griddle. Lamb.
• Graffe, sourced from Italy. Yeasted potato dough in rings, fried and rolled in sugar. Egg, vegetarian.
• Granita, sourced from Italy. A syrup frozen without a machine and raked with a fork into coarse crystals. vegan.
• Gratin Dauphinois, sourced from France. Potatoes baked in cream with no cheese and no egg, where the slices are not rinsed because the starch is what thickens it. vegetarian.
• Grattachecca, sourced from Italy. A solid block of ice scraped by hand, with syrup poured over the shavings. vegan.
• Greek Salad, sourced from Greece. Tomato, cucumber and a whole slab of feta with no leaves in it at all, dressed with oil and oregano and nothing else.
• Gremolata, sourced from Italy. Raw lemon zest, parsley and garlic chopped together and added at the end. Beef, Veal, Fish.
• Güllaç, sourced from Turkey. Nothing is cooked — the starch sheets soften in warm sweetened milk in the dish they are served from. vegetarian.
• Gyros, sourced from Greece. Thin slices of marinated pork stacked, pressed and roasted as one block, then shaved off the outside. Pork.
• Hachis Parmentier, sourced from France. A potato-topped mince where the mash is made stiffer than you would ever eat on its own, so it can hold a fork-raked surface. Beef, Egg.
• Halloumi, sourced from Cyprus. The curd cooked in its own whey until it floats, which is what makes it squeak and stops it melting.
• Halva, sourced from Greece. Semolina toasted in oil until it smells of biscuits, then flooded with hot syrup in one go and turned out of a mould. vegan.
• Hamam Mahshi, sourced from Egypt. The cavity is filled only two-thirds, because green freekeh swells and will split a bird that is packed.
• Harcha, sourced from Morocco. A semolina pan bread with no yeast and almost no kneading, where the semolina is left to drink the milk before it is shaped. vegetarian.
• Harira, sourced from Morocco. A thick soup finished with a flour and water slurry poured in slowly at the very end, which is what gives it its body. Lamb.
• 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.
• Hawawshi, sourced from Egypt. The raw meat goes inside the bread and they bake together, so the bread crisps in the meat's own fat. Beef.
• Haydari, sourced from Turkey. Strained until it holds a ridge, and no cucumber goes in — which is what separates it from the thinner yoghurt dishes.
• 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.
• Hoşmerim, sourced from Turkey. Fresh unsalted cheese is cooked until it stops behaving like cheese and turns to a stringy paste.
• Hrisseh, sourced from Lebanon. Cooked until it pours from the spoon like thick cream, with no grain left whole. Chicken, Lamb.
• 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.
• Hummus, sourced from Egypt. The chickpeas are peeled, which is the only thing that makes it genuinely smooth. vegan.
• İçli Pide, sourced from Turkey. The long edges pinched up and closed over the filling into a boat, and an egg cracked into the middle near the end. Lamb, Egg.
• İmam Bayıldı, sourced from Turkey. No meat at all, an extravagant amount of olive oil, and it is cooled completely before it is eaten. vegan.
• İnegöl Köfte, sourced from Turkey. Worked with a pinch of bicarbonate and rested overnight, which is what makes it soft instead of springy. Beef, Lamb.
• Insalata di Arance, sourced from Italy. Peeled orange rounds with fennel and olives, dressed without vinegar. vegan.
• Insalata di Riso, sourced from Italy. Rice rinsed cold to stop it clumping, dressed while slightly warm. Fish, Egg.
• Insalata Pantesca, sourced from Italy. Warm potato with salted capers, tomato and oregano, and no mayonnaise anywhere. vegan.
• İskender Kebap, sourced from Turkey. Assembled rather than cooked — the dish is foaming butter poured over it at the table. Lamb.
• İskilip Dolması, sourced from Turkey. Nothing is stuffed — the rice steams in a cloth bag above the meat and the pot is sealed shut with dough. Lamb.
• Ispanaklı Yumurta, sourced from Turkey. The eggs are broken into wells pressed into the cooked-down spinach and left whole. Egg, vegetarian.
• İzmir Bombası, sourced from Turkey. The filling goes in frozen, which is the only way the outside bakes crisp while the centre stays liquid. Egg, vegetarian.
• İzmir Köfte, sourced from Turkey. Browned and then simmered in tomato, the only köfte here that goes into a sauce at all. Beef, Egg.
• Kabak Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. Layered with sugar overnight, then cooked in nothing but the liquid that draws out of it. vegetarian.
• Kabkabou, sourced from Tunisia. Capers, olives and preserved lemon are the dish, and they go in at the end so they stay sharp. Fish.
• 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.
• Kadın Göbeği, sourced from Turkey. A dimple is pressed into each ball with a wet finger before frying, and it survives the oil. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kağıt Kebabı, sourced from Turkey. Each portion cooked in its own sealed paper parcel, opened in front of the person eating it. Lamb.
• Kahk, sourced from Egypt. The filling is agameya, a cooked paste of honey, ghee and nuts, made and set before the dough is touched. vegetarian.
• Kakavia, sourced from Greece. A fish soup where the first fish are cooked to pieces to make the broth and a second lot goes in whole at the end. Fish.
• Kalburabastı, sourced from Turkey. The dough is pressed against a sieve to take the riddled pattern, then folded round the walnuts. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kalitsounia, sourced from Greece. Small open pastries with their own dough rather than filo, pinched into points so the cheese sits proud in the middle. Egg.
• Kamounia, sourced from Egypt. Cumin by the tablespoon, which is what the name is built on and what makes the liver edible in quantity. Beef.
• Kandil Simidi, sourced from Turkey. A biscuit and not a bread despite the name — there is no yeast and it is meant to snap. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kapuska, sourced from Turkey. The cabbage is cooked until it loses its structure completely, which takes about three times as long as feels right. Beef.
• Kar' Assaly, sourced from Egypt. A béchamel goes over the top, which is unexpected in a pumpkin dessert and is the whole point of this one. vegetarian.
• Karides Güveç, sourced from Turkey. Cooked and served in the same small earthenware pot, with cheese melted over the top under a fierce heat. Shellfish.
• Karnıyarık, sourced from Turkey. The lamb is cooked before it goes in and the dish is baked in sauce and eaten hot, with a pepper laid on each one. Lamb.
• Karydopita, sourced from Greece. A syrup cake built on walnuts and dry breadcrumbs instead of flour, which is what lets it take up syrup without collapsing. Egg, 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.
• Kaware', sourced from Egypt. Cooked until the broth sets to a jelly when a spoonful is cooled, which is the only test that matters.
• Kazandibi, sourced from Turkey. The pudding is deliberately burnt against the base of the pan, and that burnt layer is turned out to become the top. vegetarian.
• Kemalpaşa Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The balls are fried and then simmered in the syrup itself, which is what makes them swell. Egg.
• Kersha, sourced from Egypt. Soaked in vinegar and salt and then parboiled twice, with both waters thrown away. Beef.
• Keşkek, sourced from Turkey. The grain and the meat are beaten together with a mallet until they become one stringy mass. Lamb.
• Keşkül, sourced from Turkey. The almonds are ground and steeped in the milk, then strained out — so it tastes of almond without being gritty. Egg, vegetarian.
• 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.
• 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.
• Kibbeh, sourced from Lebanon. Shaped into a pointed torpedo between wet palms and deep-fried, so the shell goes crisp and the filling stays loose. Lamb.
• Kibbeh Nayyeh, sourced from Lebanon. Pounded with ice rather than water and never allowed out of the cold, because it is eaten raw. Lamb.
• Kleftiko, sourced from Greece. Lamb sealed so completely that nothing escapes for four hours, which is a different cooking method from roasting it. Lamb.
• Knafeh, sourced from Lebanon. Filled with cheese and eaten hot the moment it leaves the tin, so the cheese pulls into threads.
• Koftet el Hati, sourced from Egypt. Laid straight onto the grill bars with no skewer at all, which is why it is shaped short and fat. Beef, Lamb.
• Koftet Rozz, sourced from Egypt. The rice is crushed into granules rather than ground to powder, which is what holds the meatballs together. Beef.
• Kokoretsi, sourced from Greece. Lamb offal threaded on a spit and bound in intestine wound round it like thread, cooked slowly until the casing crisps. Lamb.
• Kol Böreği, sourced from Turkey. One long arm-shaped roll baked at a low temperature, so the inside sets before the outside colours. Egg.
• Kolkas, sourced from Egypt. The taro is peeled under running water and never handled dry, because raw taro irritates the skin. Beef.
• Kolokasi with Lamb, sourced from Cyprus. The taro broken against the knife and never washed after peeling, because water turns the cut surface to slime. Lamb.
• Kolokythopita, sourced from Greece. A courgette pie where the courgette is salted and squeezed twice, because it holds more water than spinach does. Egg.
• Koshary, sourced from Egypt. Four starches cooked separately and layered, never cooked together, under three separate sauces. vegan.
• Kouglof, sourced from France. A yeasted sweet loaf whose mould is buttered and lined with almonds before any dough goes in, because that is the only decoration it has. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kouign Amann, sourced from France. A laminated dough with the sugar folded between the layers rather than mixed in, so it caramelises into the pastry as it bakes. vegetarian.
• Koulourakia, sourced from Greece. Twisted butter biscuits that must be shaped from cold dough, baked until deep gold rather than pale. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kourabiedes, sourced from Greece. Almond shortbread buried in icing sugar while still warm, where the butter is beaten far longer than seems reasonable. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kousa Mahshi, sourced from Lebanon. The rice goes in raw and half-fills the shell, because it doubles as it cooks in the tomato. Lamb.
• Köylü Pastası, sourced from Turkey. Four ingredients and no sugar in the dough — it is sweetened only by what goes on top. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kreatopita, sourced from Greece. A meat pie whose filling is braised and then cooled completely, because hot filling steams the pastry from the inside. Lamb.
• Kumpir, sourced from Turkey. The inside is mashed with butter and cheese inside its own skin, to a smooth paste, before anything else is added. Egg.
• Kuru Fasulye, sourced from Turkey. The beans start in cold unsalted water and the salt goes in only once they are soft. Lamb.
• Kuymak, sourced from Turkey. The cheese is beaten into the hot cornmeal until the whole pan pulls in strings.
• Kuzu Haşlama, sourced from Turkey. The broth is skimmed obsessively and served first as its own course, before the meat it came from. Lamb.
• Kuzu Şiş, sourced from Turkey. Cubes cut to one size with the fat left on, marinated in onion juice rather than anything acid. Lamb.
• Kuzu Tandır, sourced from Turkey. Cooked on a rack above a tray for five hours so the fat drips away, and uncovered at the end so the skin crisps. Lamb.
• Kısır, sourced from Turkey. The bulgur is soaked in tomato paste and hot water and never boiled, which is where the colour comes from. vegan.
• Lablabi, sourced from Tunisia. The bowl is built at the table on torn bread, and the broth is ladled over it to order. Egg, vegetarian.
• Lagana, sourced from Greece. A flat sesame-covered loaf dimpled all over with the fingers, so it stays flat instead of rising into a loaf. vegan.
• Lagane e Ceci, sourced from Italy. Wide flat ribbons finished in the water the chickpeas cooked in. vegan.
• Lahmacun, sourced from Turkey. The topping goes on raw, spread paper-thin, and everything cooks in three minutes in a very hot oven. Lamb.
• Lakerda, sourced from Turkey. Thick steaks of bonito cured in brine for days and then kept under oil, never cooked. Fish.
• Lalanga, sourced from Turkey. An unfilled yeast dough dropped straight into deep fat, then taken either sweet with honey or savoury with cheese.
• Lampredotto, sourced from Italy. The fourth stomach simmered in broth and served in a roll dipped in its own liquid. Beef, Fish.
• Lâpa, sourced from Cyprus. Cooked far past the point where rice is done, because the collapse is the dish and not a fault.
• Lasagna, sourced from Italy. Egg sheets layered with a long-cooked meat sauce and besciamella, not ricotta. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• Layali Lubnan, sourced from Lebanon. Two distinct layers that must not merge — a set semolina pudding, chilled firm, and only then the cream. vegetarian.
• 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.
• Limoncello, sourced from Italy. Zest only, steeped in spirit, with the syrup added cold at the end. vegan.
• Lokma, sourced from Turkey. A wet yeasted batter squeezed out between thumb and forefinger, so each one tears off round. vegan.
• Lokum, sourced from Turkey. The starch and sugar are cooked together for an hour until a drop in cold water holds a thread. vegetarian.
• Lorighittas, sourced from Italy. A thread of dough looped twice and twisted into a ring between the fingers. vegan.
• Loukaniko, sourced from Greece. A coarse pork sausage scented with orange peel and fennel, where everything including the mincer is kept cold. Pork.
• Loukoumades, sourced from Greece. A wet yeast batter dropped into hot oil, where the batter is too loose to handle and that is exactly right. vegetarian.
• Lountza, sourced from Cyprus. Rolled in cracked coriander after the wine and before the smoke, so the crust is coriander and not salt. Pork.
• Ma'amoul, sourced from Lebanon. Each one is pressed into a carved wooden mould and knocked out, which is what prints the pattern and what sets the size. vegetarian.
• Maakouda, sourced from Morocco. Potato cakes dipped in beaten egg immediately before frying, which is what holds them together in the oil. Egg, vegetarian.
• Macarona bil-Bechamel, sourced from Egypt. The béchamel is thinned so it sinks through the pasta instead of sitting on top as a lid. Beef, Egg.
• Macarons, sourced from France. Almond meringue shells folded to exactly the right slackness and rested until they skin over before baking. Egg, vegetarian.
• Maccheroni alla Molinara, sourced from Italy. One enormous hand-pulled strand, tossed with pecorino in front of whoever is eating.
• Maccheroni alla Pastora, sourced from Italy. Pasta dressed with raw ricotta loosened in its own cooking water, with crumbled sausage. Pork.
• Maccu, sourced from Italy. Dried split broad beans cooked until they collapse into a purée of their own accord. vegan.
• Macun, sourced from Turkey. Five flavours are cooked as five separate pastes and never mixed — they are wound onto the stick side by side. vegan.
• Madeleines, sourced from France. A rested cold batter put into a hot oven, where the shock between the two is the only thing that makes the bump. Egg, vegetarian.
• Magiritsa, sourced from Greece. A lamb offal soup thickened with egg and lemon, where the offal is blanched twice before it is allowed near the broth. Lamb, Egg.
• Makanek, sourced from Lebanon. Fried whole and then the pan deglazed with pomegranate molasses, so the glaze is made in their own fat. Beef, Lamb.
• Makdous, sourced from Lebanon. Boiled first, then salted and left upside down overnight to drain, because any water left in them will spoil the jar. vegan.
• Makroudh, sourced from Tunisia. The filled rope is cut on the diagonal, which is where the diamond shape and the name come from. vegetarian.
• Malfouf Salad, sourced from Lebanon. The cabbage is shredded hair-fine and salted so it softens without ever being cooked. vegan.
• Malloreddus, sourced from Italy. Saffron semolina dragged down a ridged board into small ridged shells. vegan.
• Manakish, sourced from Lebanon. The za'atar is slaked with oil into a spreadable paste first, never scattered on dry. vegan.
• Mantı, sourced from Turkey. The dumplings are tiny — forty or more to a plate — and the smallness is the whole achievement. Lamb, Egg.
• Maqluba, sourced from Lebanon. The whole pot is inverted onto a platter and lifted away, so what was the bottom arrives as the top. Lamb.
• Maritozzo, sourced from Italy. A sweet enriched bun split and overfilled with unsweetened whipped cream. Egg, vegetarian.
• Marron Glacé, sourced from Italy. Chestnuts candied over several days, the syrup strengthened a little at a time. vegan.
• Mascarpone, sourced from Italy. Cream acidulated at 85C and drained, with no rennet and no culture. vegetarian.
• Matbucha, sourced from Tunisia. Cooked down for three hours until the oil separates and the colour goes from red to brick. vegan.
• 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.
• Mazzarelle, sourced from Italy. Lamb offal and herbs bound in chard leaves and braised in parcels. Lamb.
• Méchoui, sourced from Morocco. Lamb rubbed with spiced butter and cooked for five hours until it is pulled apart by hand and dipped in cumin salt. Lamb.
• Mechouia Salad, sourced from Tunisia. Everything is grilled over a flame and then ground together, so it is a coarse paste rather than a salad of pieces. Fish, Egg.
• Melanzane al Cioccolato, sourced from Italy. Fried aubergine layered with chocolate sauce and served as a pudding. vegetarian.
• Melomakarona, sourced from Greece. Oil-based biscuits dunked hot into cold syrup, where the temperature difference is the only thing that gets the honey inside them. vegetarian.
• Menemen, sourced from Turkey. The eggs are stirred through the tomato and taken off while still visibly wet. Egg.
• Mercimek Köftesi, sourced from Turkey. The bulgur goes into the hot lentils off the heat and swells in the residual heat, never on the stove. vegan.
• Merguez, sourced from Morocco. A thin red lamb sausage with no pork fat in it, where the fat is lamb and must be kept cold throughout. Lamb.
• 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.
• Mesaqa'ah, sourced from Egypt. No béchamel and no meat, and it is as good cold as hot — which is the opposite of the dish it shares a name with. vegan.
• Mesfouf, sourced from Tunisia. Steamed three times with the grains rubbed between the hands in between, and finished sweet rather than savoury. vegetarian.
• Mesir Macunu, sourced from Turkey. The spices are infused into the syrup and then strained out again, so what sets is clear of grit. vegetarian.
• Mfarakeh, sourced from Lebanon. The egg is broken up through the crisp potatoes rather than set around them, which is what the name means. Egg, vegetarian.
• Michetta, sourced from Italy. A Milanese roll built to be hollow, from a stiff overnight starter.
• Midye Dolma, sourced from Turkey. The rice goes in raw and the shells are packed so tightly against each other that they hold themselves shut. Shellfish.
• Mille-feuilles, sourced from France. Puff pastry deliberately held down under a weight so it stays flat and dense, then caramelised under a fierce heat. Egg, vegetarian.
• Minestra di Ceci, sourced from Italy. Chickpea soup thickened by puréeing half of itself, with rosemary infused in oil. vegan.
• Minestra Maritata, sourced from Italy. Bitter greens married to a long pork broth, each cooked apart first. Pork.
• Minestrone, sourced from Italy. Many vegetables added in order of toughness, with a parmesan rind in the pot.
• 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.
• Mombar, sourced from Egypt. Stuffed with rice rather than meat, boiled first and then deep-fried, so the casing blisters. Beef.
• Mondeghili, sourced from Italy. Milanese meatballs made from meat that has already been cooked once. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• 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.
• Moules-frites, sourced from France. Mussels steamed open in two batches so the pan never cools, with the chips fried as on the steak frites page. Shellfish.
• Moussaka, sourced from Greece. Aubergine, a dry spiced mince and a thick béchamel in layers, where every layer is cooked dry before it is built. Lamb, Egg.
• Moustalevria, sourced from Cyprus. Set with flour and nothing else — no gelatine, no cornflour, no egg. vegan.
• Mozzarella in Carrozza, sourced from Italy. Mozzarella sealed between bread, dipped in egg and fried so nothing escapes. Egg.
• Mrouzia, sourced from Morocco. Lamb cooked down with honey and raisins until the sauce is a glaze, sweet enough that it once kept without refrigeration. Lamb.
• Msabbaha, sourced from Lebanon. The chickpeas are left whole and warm, swimming in the tahini rather than mashed into it. vegetarian.
• Msemen, sourced from Morocco. Square laminated flatbreads folded around oil and semolina, stretched on an oiled surface until the dough is translucent. vegetarian.
• Msoki, sourced from Tunisia. Matzah is crumbled into it at the end, and the vegetables are whatever the spring has given — a dozen of them. Lamb.
• Mücver, sourced from Turkey. The grated courgette is squeezed dry by hand, hard, and the water thrown away. Egg.
• Muğla Halkası, sourced from Turkey. The fat is olive oil rather than butter, and lemon juice is what brings the dough together. Egg, vegetarian.
• Muhallebi, sourced from Lebanon. Set with starch alone and flavoured with nothing but blossom water, so any fault in it has nowhere to hide. vegetarian.
• Mujaddara, sourced from Lebanon. The onions are fried until they are almost burnt, and half of them go in while half stay on top. vegetarian.
• Mulukhiyah, sourced from Lebanon. It is never allowed to boil once the leaves are in, or it turns to slime. Chicken.
• Mustacciuoli, sourced from Italy. Spiced honey diamonds glazed in dark chocolate, rested before baking. vegetarian.
• Necci, sourced from Italy. Chestnut flour batter pressed between hot iron plates and rolled round ricotta.
• Nevzine Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The syrup is grape molasses rather than sugar, and a splash of vinegar sets the bicarbonate working. Egg, vegetarian.
• Nocciolini di Chivasso, sourced from Italy. Hazelnut meringues the size of a peppercorn, dried rather than baked. Egg, vegetarian.
• 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.
• Nougat, sourced from France. Whipped whites taken to a hard set by honey and sugar syrup poured in one after the other, never together. Egg, vegetarian.
• Oeufs en Meurette, sourced from France. Eggs poached in red wine rather than water, which colours them and then becomes the sauce they sit in. Beef, Egg.
• Olive all'Ascolana, sourced from Italy. Big green olives stoned in a spiral and stuffed with three meats before frying. Chicken, Pork, Beef, Egg.
• Om Ali, sourced from Egypt. The pastry is baked dry and broken up before any milk touches it, so it swells rather than dissolving. vegetarian.
• Orecchiette, sourced from Italy. Dragged flat with a knife and turned inside out over the thumb. vegan.
• Orecchiette alla Materana, sourced from Italy. Orecchiette baked under lamb ragu, egg and pecorino until the top sets. Lamb, Egg.
• Orzotto, sourced from Italy. Barley cooked risotto-style, which takes twice as long and needs no resting.
• Ossobuco alla Milanese, sourced from Italy. Veal shin braised whole with no tomato, finished with raw gremolata. Beef, Veal.
• Pagliata, sourced from Italy. Unopened intestine braised in tomato, the milk inside setting to a curd. Pork.
• Pain au Chocolat, sourced from France. Laminated dough folded round two chocolate batons rather than chips, so the chocolate sits at the folds and cannot leak out. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pain aux Raisins, sourced from France. A spiral of laminated dough rolled round pastry cream, cut with a thread rather than a knife. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pain d'Épices, sourced from France. Rye flour and honey with no butter and no egg in it at all, raised with bicarbonate and left three days before cutting. vegetarian.
• Pain de Campagne, sourced from France. A country loaf built on a poolish fermented overnight with a third of the flour, which is where its sourness and its keeping come from. vegan.
• Pan Meino, sourced from Italy. Small Lombard maize-flour buns scented with dried elderflower. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pan-bagnat, sourced from France. The niçoise salad shut inside a loaf and pressed under a weight for two hours, which is the entire recipe. Fish, Egg.
• Panada, sourced from Italy. A Sardinian standing pie built by hand, filled raw and sealed with a pleated lid. Lamb.
• Pancotto, sourced from Italy. Stale bread boiled to collapse with potatoes and bitter greens. vegan.
• Pandoro, sourced from Italy. A Veronese star-moulded sweet bread with no fruit in it at all. 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 Frattau, sourced from Italy. Sheets of carasau softened in broth and layered with tomato, under a poached egg. Egg.
• Pane Sciocco, sourced from Italy. The Tuscan loaf made with no salt whatsoever. vegan.
• Panelle, sourced from Italy. Chickpea batter cooked to a paste, set thin and cut into squares to fry. vegan.
• Panettone, sourced from Italy. A Milanese fruited sweet bread hung upside down to cool so the crumb survives. Egg, vegetarian.
• Panforte, sourced from Italy. Nuts and candied fruit bound by cooked honey, with barely any flour and a lot of pepper. vegetarian.
• Pani câ Meusa, sourced from Italy. Spleen and lung simmered then held in hot lard, served in a roll plain or with cheese. Veal.
• Panigaccio, sourced from Italy. An unleavened batter cooked between stacked terracotta discs. vegan.
• Panna Cotta, sourced from Italy. Set cream with the least gelatine that will hold it, so it barely stands.
• Panzanella, sourced from Italy. Bread soaked and squeezed dry, dressed with the juice the tomatoes give up. vegan.
• Panzerotti Pugliesi, sourced from Italy. Small filled dough pockets deep fried, not baked like a calzone.
• Pappa al Pomodoro, sourced from Italy. Bread cooked into tomato until it is a thick porridge, eaten warm. vegan.
• Parmigiana di Melanzane, sourced from Italy. Fried aubergine layered with tomato and cheese, with no breadcrumbs and no flour.
• Parrozzo, sourced from Italy. An Abruzzese almond dome baked in a bowl and coated in dark chocolate. Egg, vegetarian.
• Passatelli, sourced from Italy. A dough of breadcrumbs and parmesan with no flour, pressed into broth. Beef, Egg.
• Pasta 'ncasciata, sourced from Italy. Baked pasta lined with fried aubergine and turned out whole to be cut in wedges. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• Pasta â Paolina, sourced from Italy. A Lenten Neapolitan pasta with no meat, fish or cheese in it at all. vegan.
• Pasta al Forno, sourced from Italy. Short pasta baked in an open dish for the crust on top, with no besciamella.
• Pasta al Pomodoro, sourced from Italy. The sauce finished in the pan with the pasta and its water, not ladled over it. vegan.
• Pasta alla Gricia, sourced from Italy. Guanciale and pecorino with no egg and no tomato, which is what makes it gricia. Pork.
• Pasta alla Norma, sourced from Italy. Fried aubergine in tomato with hard ricotta grated over, not crumbled.
• Pasta allo Scarpariello, sourced from Italy. A sauce of cherry tomatoes carrying far more cheese than it looks able to.
• Pasta chi Vrocculi Arriminati, sourced from Italy. Cauliflower mashed into the sauce, with saffron, raisins and pine nuts. Fish.
• Pasta con i Peperoni Cruschi, sourced from Italy. Dried sweet peppers fried for five seconds and crumbled over at the end.
• Pasta con le Sarde, sourced from Italy. Sardines with wild fennel, raisins and saffron, the pasta cooked in the fennel water. Fish.
• Pasta e ceci, sourced from Italy. Half the chickpeas blended, and the pasta cooked in the soup so its starch thickens it. Fish.
• Pasta e Fagioli, sourced from Italy. Half the beans sieved for body, with the pasta cooked in the soup itself. Pork.
• Pasta Mollicata, sourced from Italy. Toasted breadcrumbs standing in for cheese, with no vegetable in it at all. Fish.
• Pastafrola, sourced from Greece. A soft biscuit-dough tart with a lattice on top, where the dough is handled as little as possible and the jam is boiled down first. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pasteli, sourced from Greece. Two ingredients boiled to a precise temperature and cut while hot, where the thermometer is the whole recipe. vegetarian.
• Pasticciotto Leccese, sourced from Italy. Small lard-pastry shells of crema, eaten warm from the oven. Egg.
• Pastiera Napoletana, sourced from Italy. A wheat-and-ricotta tart under a lattice, left three days before it is cut. Egg.
• Pastilla, sourced from Morocco. A savoury pie dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon, where the eggs are cooked into the cooking liquid until almost nothing is left. Chicken, Egg.
• Pastitsada, sourced from Greece. A long braise carrying far more clove and cinnamon than seems sensible, served over thick hollow pasta cooked separately. Beef.
• Pastitsio, sourced from Greece. Long tubes laid the same way in a dish under a spiced mince and a set béchamel, with no vegetable in it anywhere. Beef, Egg.
• Pastırma, sourced from Turkey. Pressed under weight and then coated in çemen, a fenugreek paste that is most of what it tastes of. Beef.
• Pâté, sourced from France. A coarse pork terrine pressed under a weight overnight and not eaten until the third day, because it has not finished until then. Pork, Egg.
• 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.
• Peach Melba, sourced from France. Poached peaches cooled in their own syrup with a raspberry sauce that is never cooked. vegetarian.
• Pearà, sourced from Italy. A Veronese sauce of breadcrumbs and marrow simmered for hours, eaten with boiled meat. Beef.
• Pecora alla Callara, sourced from Italy. Mutton cooked for hours in a copper cauldron with nothing but herbs and wine. Lamb.
• Penne alla Vodka, sourced from Italy. Tomato and cream brought together with vodka, which has to be cooked off.
• Peperonata, sourced from Italy. Peppers stewed down slowly in their own liquid, finished with a little vinegar. vegan.
• Persillade, sourced from France. Parsley and garlic chopped together and nothing else, with no oil in it and nothing pounded. 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.
• Pevarini, sourced from Italy. Stiff honey and pepper biscuits, rolled and cut rather than pressed. vegetarian.
• Piada dei Morti, sourced from Italy. A flat enriched bread studded with nuts and dried fruit, rolled thin and baked quickly. vegan.
• Piadina Romagnola, sourced from Italy. A lard flatbread cooked dry on a hot plate and kept pliable, never crisp.
• Piccata, sourced from Italy. Thin escalopes cooked in two minutes, with the sauce built in the pan afterwards. Veal.
• Pici, sourced from Italy. Thick uneven strands rolled under the palms, with no egg in the dough. vegan.
• Pideli Köfte, sourced from Turkey. Served on bread that has already drunk the broth, so the bread is a component and not a plate. Beef.
• Pignolata, sourced from Italy. Small fried dough knots turned in warm honey and piled into a cone. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pilaki, sourced from Turkey. Pilaki is a way of cooking rather than a dish — the fish is laid on vegetables already cooked and goes in for the last ten minutes. Fish.
• Pinolate, sourced from Italy. Almond paste rolled in pine nuts and baked soft, with no flour at all. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pinza Bolognese, sourced from Italy. A short pastry roll enclosing dark quince and apple jam, slashed along the top. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pinzimonio, sourced from Italy. Raw vegetables and a dip of nothing but oil, salt and pepper. vegan.
• Pipérade, sourced from France. Peppers cooked down for forty minutes until they are a jam, with the eggs stirred in off the heat so they stay loose. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pisarei e Fasò, sourced from Italy. Breadcrumb dumplings pressed with the thumb, in a borlotti and tomato sauce. Pork.
• Pissaladière, sourced from France. A thick proved bread base under onions cooked down for an hour and cooled, with the anchovies laid on at the end. Fish.
• 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.
• Pita, sourced from Greece. A soft flatbread with no pocket in it, cooked in a dry pan rather than an oven so it stays foldable. vegetarian.
• Piyaz, sourced from Turkey. The onion is salted and rinsed before it goes in, and the dressing is a tahini tarator rather than oil and lemon. Egg, vegetarian.
• Piyaziye, sourced from Turkey. The onion is the container, boiled whole until its layers come apart as unbroken cups. Lamb.
• Pizza ai Frutti di Mare, sourced from Italy. Seafood kept out of the oven almost entirely, and no cheese. Shellfish.
• Pizza al Taglio, sourced from Italy. A wet tray dough proved cold for two days, baked in steel and cut with scissors. vegetarian.
• Pizza Capricciosa, sourced from Italy. The same four toppings scattered across the whole base, with the ham added after. Pork.
• Pizza di Pasqua, sourced from Italy. A tall savoury cheese bread risen in a mould, which is not a pizza at all. Egg.
• Pizza Margherita, sourced from Italy. Three toppings on a napoletana base, with the basil tucked under the cheese. vegetarian.
• Pizza Marinara, sourced from Italy. The pizza with no cheese on it, which changes how it bakes. vegan.
• Pizza Napoletana, sourced from Italy. A slack 24-hour dough baked in about a minute, with almost nothing on it. vegetarian.
• Pizza Quattro Formaggi, sourced from Italy. Four cheeses with four melting points, so they go on in an order.
• Pizza Quattro Stagioni, sourced from Italy. Four toppings in four separate quadrants, which is the whole dish. Pork.
• Pizza Rossini, sourced from Italy. A baked margherita finished with chopped egg and mayonnaise off the heat. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pizzelle, sourced from Italy. A thin batter pressed flat in a hot patterned iron, a few at a time. Egg, vegetarian.
• Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese, sourced from Italy. Buckwheat ribbons boiled with cabbage and potato, layered with cheese and burnt butter.
• Polenta, sourced from Italy. Coarse maize rained into salted water and stirred for the better part of an hour.
• Polpettone di Melanzane, sourced from Italy. Aubergine and potato bound into a single baked loaf, with nothing layered. Egg.
• Pommes Dauphine, sourced from France. Equal weights of choux paste and very dry mashed potato, deep fried, which is what makes them hollow rather than solid. Egg, vegetarian.
• Porchetta, sourced from Italy. Belly rolled around loin with fennel, cooked low then blasted for the crackling. Pork.
• Portokalopita, sourced from Greece. A cake with no flour in it at all, built from filo dried out and torn into shreds, then soaked in orange syrup. Egg, vegetarian.
• Potjevleesch, sourced from France. Four meats packed raw in layers and set in their own jelly, which comes from the bones rather than from gelatine. Chicken, Pork, Veal, Rabbit.
• 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.
• Prosciutto e Melone, sourced from Italy. Two ingredients, where everything depends on choosing and slicing them. Pork.
• Psarosoupa, sourced from Greece. One large fish poached whole and lifted out intact, with the broth it leaves behind finished with egg and lemon. Fish, Egg.
• Puf Böreği, sourced from Turkey. Deep-fried rather than baked, and it puffs hollow — which only happens if the oil is hot enough to set the outside instantly. Beef, Egg.
• 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.
• Qâlat Daqqa, sourced from Tunisia. Five warm spices and no chilli at all, with grains of paradise doing the work pepper usually does. vegan.
• Qatayef, sourced from Lebanon. Cooked on one side only, so the uncooked upper face is tacky enough to seal itself without egg or water. vegetarian.
• 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.
• Quiche Lorraine, sourced from France. A custard tart with no cheese in it, baked blind first and sealed with egg so the base stays crisp. Egg.
• Raclette, sourced from France. A cut face of cheese melted on its own and scraped straight onto the plate, with nothing mixed into it at all. Pork, Beef.
• Rafanata, sourced from Italy. A baked egg and potato cake built on grated fresh horseradish. Pork, Egg.
• Ragù di Salsiccia, sourced from Italy. A ragù from sausage meat, done in forty-five minutes because it is already seasoned. Pork.
• Ragù Napoletano, sourced from Italy. Whole pieces of meat cooked in tomato for most of a day, the sauce eaten first. Pork, Beef.
• Raheb, sourced from Lebanon. No tahini goes in at all, and the aubergine is torn into pieces rather than mashed — it is a salad, not a dip. vegan.
• 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.
• Ratatouille, sourced from France. Each vegetable fried separately and combined at the end, so the pieces stay distinct instead of collapsing into a paste. vegan.
• Raviola di Ricotta Nissena, sourced from Italy. A sweet fried ravioli of sheep's ricotta, dusted with cinnamon sugar.
• Ravioli, sourced from Italy. The method the filled pastas assume: sealing without air, and how thin is thin enough. Egg.
• Rémoulade, sourced from France. Mayonnaise built stiffer than usual because every single thing added to it afterwards is wet. Egg, vegetarian.
• Rfissa, sourced from Morocco. Chicken and lentils heavy with fenugreek, poured over torn flatbread that is steamed rather than fried. Chicken.
• Ribollita, sourced from Italy. A bean and cavolo nero soup with bread, boiled again the next day. vegan.
• Ricciarelli, sourced from Italy. Almond paste rested overnight and baked low, so the icing sugar crust cracks. 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.
• Risi e Bisi, sourced from Italy. Rice and peas kept soupy, with a broth made from the pods. Pork.
• Risotto, sourced from Italy. The method the variants assume: hot stock a ladle at a time, then butter off the heat.
• Risotto alla Milanese, sourced from Italy. The risotto method with saffron and marrow, cooked to serve beside ossobuco. Beef.
• Rosticciana, sourced from Italy. Pork ribs cut into singles and grilled over embers, dressed only after. Pork.
• Rozz Me'ammar, sourced from Egypt. The rice bakes in milk until a browned skin forms on top and the grains below set in cream.
• Rustico Leccese, sourced from Italy. Two puff pastry discs sealed round mozzarella and thick besciamella. Egg.
• Sabanekh, sourced from Egypt. The spinach goes in raw and finely chopped and cooks down into the tomato until it is a sauce rather than a vegetable. Beef.
• Saganaki, sourced from Greece. A slab of hard cheese floured and fried for ninety seconds a side, which is the entire window it has.
• Şakşuka, sourced from Turkey. There are no eggs in it, and the vegetables are fried separately and only then put under sauce. vegetarian.
• Salade Niçoise, sourced from France. A composed salad built in sections rather than tossed, with the eggs the only thing on the plate that has been cooked. Fish, Egg.
• Salata Baladi, sourced from Egypt. Everything is cut to the same small dice, and the dressing is lemon, oil and salt with nothing else in it. vegan.
• Salsa alla Marinara, sourced from Italy. Tomato, garlic and oregano cooked twenty minutes, with no onion in it. vegan.
• Salt Cod in Batter, sourced from Greece. Salt cod soaked for two days with the water changed six times, then fried in a beer batter and eaten with garlic sauce. Fish.
• Saltimbocca alla Romana, sourced from Italy. Veal, ham and sage cooked flat in four minutes, ham side down first. Pork, Veal.
• Şambali, sourced from Turkey. It is cut into diamonds before it bakes, not after, so the syrup runs down the cuts. vegetarian.
• Sanguinaccio Dolce, sourced from Italy. A dark chocolate cream set with pig's blood, which must never boil. Pork.
• Sarburma, sourced from Turkey. A stack of separate thin sheets is rolled into a turban, so the layers stay countable instead of fusing. Lamb, Egg.
• Sardenaira, sourced from Italy. A Ligurian tray flatbread with anchovies and no cheese at all. Fish.
• Sartù di Riso, sourced from Italy. Rice cooked in ragù and packed into a ring mould around meatballs and peas. Beef, Egg.
• Sarıyer Böreği, sourced from Turkey. Coiled flat into a round tray, cut across after baking and sold by weight — and currants and pine nuts go in the filling. Beef, 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.
• Sayadieh, sourced from Lebanon. The rice is cooked in the fish's own stock, darkened almost to coffee-brown with deeply fried onions. Fish.
• Scaccia, sourced from Italy. Dough rolled transparently thin and folded over its filling four times.
• Scapece alla Vastese, sourced from Italy. Fried fish layered with saffron breadcrumbs and left to marinate for days. Fish.
• Schlutzkrapfen, sourced from Italy. Half-moon ravioli on a rye dough, dressed with browned butter and chives. Egg.
• Sciusceddu, sourced from Italy. Meatballs in broth with a ricotta and egg mixture set on top in the oven. Beef, Egg.
• Seada, sourced from Italy. A fried semolina pastry round a disc of fresh cheese, eaten hot under honey.
• Seffa, sourced from Morocco. Fine couscous steamed with butter instead of broth and built into a mound with cinnamon drawn down the sides. vegetarian.
• Şekerpare, sourced from Turkey. Each ball is pressed with the thumb and an almond set in the hollow, which is also what stops it doming. Egg, vegetarian.
• Sellou, sourced from Morocco. Flour toasted in a dry oven until it is the colour of sand, then bound with butter and honey and never cooked again. vegetarian.
• Semifreddo, sourced from Italy. A frozen mousse that stays spoonable because the air goes in before the freezer. Egg, vegetarian.
• Şevketibostan Yemeği, sourced from Turkey. The peeled thistle stalks are held in lemon water or they blacken within minutes. Lamb, Egg.
• Sfenj, sourced from Morocco. Wet unsweetened dough shaped with a wet hand and pulled open with a finger, fried and eaten within the hour. vegetarian.
• Sfiha, sourced from Lebanon. The dough is pinched up at four corners into a small open square, so the meat sits in a boat rather than on a disc. Lamb.
• Sfincione, sourced from Italy. A thick spongy Palermo tray pizza topped with breadcrumbs instead of mozzarella. Fish.
• Sfogliatella, sourced from Italy. A paper-thin sheet rolled into a log, sliced, and pushed out into a cone of leaves. Egg.
• Sfouf, sourced from Lebanon. It is not soaked in syrup, which is what separates it from the semolina cakes that are. vegetarian.
• Sgabeo, sourced from Italy. Strips of bread dough deep fried and salted, eaten with cured meat. vegan.
• Shakshouka, sourced from Egypt. The sauce is cooked until the oil separates out of it before any egg goes near the pan. Egg, vegetarian.
• Shamishi, sourced from Cyprus. The custard set firm and chilled before it is wrapped, because a warm one tears the pastry from inside. vegetarian.
• 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.
• Shawarma, sourced from Lebanon. Pressed into a loaf tin and roasted as a block, then shaved — which is the honest way to do it without a vertical spit. Lamb.
• Sheftalia, sourced from Cyprus. Wrapped in caul fat, which bastes the meat and then all but disappears — there is no skin and no casing. Pork, Lamb.
• Sheikh al-Mahshi, sourced from Lebanon. The filling is meat and pine nuts with no rice in it at all, and it finishes in a yoghurt sauce. Lamb, Egg.
• Shish Taouk, sourced from Lebanon. Served with toum, a garlic sauce emulsified with oil like a mayonnaise but with no egg in it at all. Chicken.
• 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.
• 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.
• Sofrito, sourced from Greece. Thin veal slices in a pale garlic and vinegar sauce with no tomato in it at all, which is what makes it this rather than a stew. Beef, Veal.
• Soğan Kebabı, sourced from Turkey. The onions outnumber the meat and are the point, cooked until they are sweet rather than soft. Lamb.
• Soupe au Fromage, sourced from France. A soup layered like a lasagne and baked rather than stirred, so it comes out of the oven in slices. Chicken.
• Soutzoukos, sourced from Cyprus. The strung walnuts dipped and dried over and over, a dozen times, because one thick coat will not set. vegan.
• Souvla, sourced from Greece. Fist-sized pieces of lamb turned slowly over embers for hours, which is a different method from the small skewers it shares a root with. Lamb.
• Souvlaki, sourced from Greece. Cubes of pork on skewers with a marinade that has no acid in it until the end, so the meat does not go chalky before it reaches the fire. Pork.
• Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, sourced from Italy. Garlic brought slowly to blond in cold oil, emulsified with pasta water. vegan.
• Spaghetti all'Assassina, sourced from Italy. Raw spaghetti cooked in an iron pan in tomato water until it chars. vegan.
• Spaghetti alla carrettiera, sourced from Italy. Nothing is cooked but the pasta: garlic warmed in oil, pecorino emulsified off the heat.
• Spaghetti alla Chitarra, sourced from Italy. Square-section strands cut by pressing dough through strung wires. Beef, Lamb, Egg.
• Spaghetti alla Nerano, sourced from Italy. Fried courgettes rested for hours, then melted into an emulsion with aged provolone.
• Spaghetti alla Puttanesca, sourced from Italy. A sauce that cooks in the time the pasta takes, with no cheese on it. Fish.
• Spaghetti alla Siracusana, sourced from Italy. Charred and peeled peppers as the body of the sauce, not tomato. Fish.
• Spaghetti alle Vongole, sourced from Italy. Clams opened in the pan, their liquor emulsified with oil and pasta water. Shellfish.
• Spanakopita, sourced from Greece. A filo pie whose filling is wrung out in a cloth before it goes anywhere near the pastry. Egg.
• Spanakorizo, sourced from Greece. Spinach and rice cooked in one pan where the spinach water is the cooking liquid and nothing else is added. vegan.
• Spätzle, sourced from Italy. A soft green batter scraped into boiling water, finished with speck and cream. Pork, Egg.
• Spezzatino, sourced from Italy. Beef cut small and browned in batches, then left alone for three hours. Beef.
• Spumone, sourced from Italy. Three frozen layers set one at a time in a mould, then sliced to show them. Egg, vegetarian.
• St. Honoré Cake, sourced from France. A puff base ringed with caramel-dipped choux buns, where each bun is dipped before it is placed and not after. Egg.
• Steak Frites, sourced from France. Chips fried twice at two temperatures, with the steak cooked in the gap and rested while they go back in. Beef.
• Steak Tartare, sourced from France. Raw beef chopped by hand at the last minute, where everything depends on the meat and on how recently it was cut. Beef, Fish, Egg.
• Stifado, sourced from Greece. A beef stew carrying as much weight in whole small onions as in meat, with the onions left whole and never stirred. Beef.
• Stigghiola, sourced from Italy. Cleaned lamb intestine wound round a spring onion and grilled over embers. Lamb.
• Stracciatella Gelato, sourced from Italy. A milk gelato with warm chocolate trickled into the churn so it shatters. Egg, vegetarian.
• Stracciatella in Brodo, sourced from Italy. Egg and parmesan whisked into simmering broth so it shreds into rags. Beef, Egg.
• Strapatsada, sourced from Greece. Eggs scrambled INTO a reduced tomato rather than cooked beside it, so the whole pan is one colour. Egg.
• Stroncatura, sourced from Italy. A dark rough Calabrian pasta with anchovy, garlic and toasted crumbs. Fish.
• Strozzapreti, sourced from Italy. Strips rolled between both palms into twisted ropes and snapped off. vegan.
• Struffoli, sourced from Italy. Pea-sized fried dough balls in citrus honey, built into a ring. Egg, vegetarian.
• Stuffed Dates, sourced from Lebanon. Savoury, not sweet — the dates are filled with spiced lamb and herbs and served over rice. Lamb.
• Stuffed Mallow, sourced from Lebanon. The leaves go into boiling water for seconds only, because mallow is far more fragile than a vine leaf. Lamb.
• Stuffed Peppers, sourced from Greece. Peppers and tomatoes filled with half-cooked rice and baked on potatoes that catch the juices. vegan.
• Stuffed Squid, sourced from Tunisia. The tubes are filled only half full and pinned shut, because squid shrinks hard and rice swells. Shellfish.
• Su Böreği, sourced from Turkey. The sheets are boiled in water before they are layered, which is what the name means and what gives the soft pasta-like body.
• 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.
• Sugolo, sourced from Italy. Grape juice thickened with flour and set in the fridge, made at the vintage. vegan.
• Sulu Köfte, sourced from Turkey. Finished with an egg and lemon liaison stirred in off the heat, which thickens it without flour. Beef, Egg.
• Supangle, sourced from Turkey. A layer of plain cake goes in the bottom of each glass and the hot chocolate pudding is poured straight onto it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Supplì, sourced from Italy. Cold risotto moulded round a mozzarella core and fried, so the cheese pulls into a thread. Egg.
• Sütlü Nuriye, sourced from Turkey. Hot milk is poured over it instead of syrup, which is what makes it pale. vegetarian.
• Şıllık, sourced from Turkey. Thin crepes rather than pastry, folded over ground walnuts and then soaked. Egg, vegetarian.
• Ta'ameya, sourced from Egypt. Fava beans and not chickpeas, which is why the inside is bright green rather than pale. vegan.
• Tabbouleh, sourced from Lebanon. A parsley salad with bulgur in it, not a bulgur salad with parsley on top — the proportion is the dish. 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.
• Tagine, sourced from Morocco. A lid-shaped pot that cooks almost dry, where the steam runs back down the cone instead of leaving. Lamb.
• 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.
• Tahinli Pide, sourced from Turkey. The tahini is swirled onto the shaped dough with the fingertips, never rolled up inside it. vegetarian.
• Tahinopita, sourced from Cyprus. Rolled thin, spread, and coiled flat like a snail so the layers separate rather than baking into one. vegan.
• Tahinopita, sourced from Greece. A coiled sweet bread with tahini rolled through it, made with no dairy and no egg at all. vegan.
• Taktouka, sourced from Morocco. Roasted green peppers and tomato cooked down together, where the peppers are charred and skinned rather than fried raw. vegan.
• Tamriyeh, sourced from Egypt. The semolina filling is set firm and chilled before it is wrapped, or it bursts out in the oil. vegetarian.
• Tangia, sourced from Morocco. Lamb sealed in a tall urn and left upright in low heat for six hours with nothing to stir and no vegetables in it at all. Lamb.
• Tantuni, sourced from Turkey. The beef is boiled first and then fried on a flat plate, and the bread is steamed on top of the cooking meat. Beef, Lamb.
• 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.
• Taralli, sourced from Italy. Wine-and-oil rings boiled before they are baked, which is what makes them snap. vegan.
• 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.
• Tarte à l'Oignon, sourced from France. An onion tart whose case is blind-baked and sealed before a wet custard goes anywhere near it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tarte aux Mirabelles, sourced from France. Small plums laid cut side up on a layer of ground almonds, which is there to drink the juice before the pastry can. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tarte Flambée, sourced from France. A dough rolled paper thin and never proved, baked as hot and as fast as the oven will go.
• Tarte Tropézienne, sourced from France. A sugar-crusted brioche split horizontally while completely cold and filled with pastry cream lightened with whipped cream. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tartiflette, sourced from France. Potatoes and bacon under half a cheese laid rind-up, where the potatoes are boiled first and the cheese is not grated.
• Tartufo di Pizzo, sourced from Italy. Two gelati shaped by hand round a molten chocolate centre and rolled in cocoa. vegetarian.
• Tatar Böreği, sourced from Cyprus. Boiled rather than fried or baked, which is what separates it from every other börek. Beef, Egg.
• Tavukgöğsü, sourced from Turkey. Chicken breast is the thickener, pounded to threads so fine they cannot be seen or tasted. Chicken.
• Tel Kadayıf, sourced from Turkey. The butter is rubbed through every strand by hand before any of it is laid in the tray. vegetarian.
• Testaroli, sourced from Italy. A thin batter cooked on terracotta, then cut into lozenges and boiled like pasta.
• 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.
• Tiella, sourced from Italy. Raw layers in an open dish, the rice cooking in the liquor the mussels release. Shellfish.
• Timballo di Maccheroni, sourced from Italy. Pasta and ragù baked inside a sweet shortcrust case and turned out whole. Chicken, Egg.
• Tiramisù, sourced from Italy. Savoiardi dipped for a second, under a cooked yolk and mascarpone cream. Egg.
• Tire Köfte, sourced from Turkey. Flattened thin between wet palms and grilled, never rolled into a ball at any stage. Beef, Lamb.
• Tirit, sourced from Turkey. Stale bread is the body of the dish, and the broth is poured over it at the table. Lamb.
• 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.
• Tiropita, sourced from Greece. A cheese pie whose filling is loosened with egg and milk, because feta alone bakes into a dry salty brick. Egg.
• Tomatokeftedes, sourced from Greece. Tomato fritters held together by flour alone, with no egg and no binder, where the batter is mixed at the last possible moment. vegan.
• Torly, sourced from Egypt. The vegetables are layered in order of how long they take, rather than piled in together. Beef, Lamb.
• Torrone, sourced from Italy. Honey and whipped whites cooked for hours to a white nougat, set between wafers. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torrone Nurzia, sourced from Italy. A soft chocolate nougat from L'Aquila, cut rather than snapped. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta 900, sourced from Italy. Two thin cocoa layers and one thick chocolate cream, chilled hard and cut cold. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta Barozzi, sourced from Italy. Flourless, shallow and deliberately underbaked, so it sets as it cools rather than in the oven. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta Caprese, sourced from Italy. A flourless almond and chocolate cake, deliberately damp in the middle. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta della Nonna, sourced from Italy. A double-crusted pastry case of lemon crema under toasted pine nuts. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta delle Rose, sourced from Italy. A brioche rolled, cut and stood on end so it bakes into a bunch of roses. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta Mimosa, sourced from Italy. Covered in crumbled sponge so the surface looks like mimosa blossom. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta Monferrina, sourced from Italy. Pumpkin and apple cooked down together before they ever meet the flour. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta Paesana, sourced from Italy. Stale bread soaked to a slurry in milk, baked into a dense dark cake. Egg, vegetarian.
• Torta Setteveli, sourced from Italy. Seven distinct layers assembled frozen and glazed in one pour.
• Tortelli Cremaschi, sourced from Italy. Stuffed pasta with a sweet biscuit filling and no meat in it at all. Egg.
• Tortellini, sourced from Italy. Small squares wrapped round a fingertip, filled with pork and cured meat, served in broth. Pork, Beef, Egg.
• 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.
• Trileçe, sourced from Turkey. Three different milks soak one sponge, and a caramel is poured over the top to set as a lid. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tripes à la Mode de Caen, sourced from France. Tripe blanched twice in fresh water before anything else happens, then cooked in cider for most of a day. Pork, Beef.
• Trippa alla Romana, sourced from Italy. Honeycomb tripe braised in tomato and finished with mint, not parsley. Beef.
• Trofie, sourced from Italy. Small spindles rolled under one palm, with a twist running the length. vegan.
• Truffade, sourced from France. Sliced potatoes fried with aged cheese and pressed into a cake with a crust, where nothing is mashed and nothing is beaten. Pork.
• 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.
• Tsoureki, sourced from Greece. An enriched braided bread that pulls apart in strands, risen three times and scented with two things nothing else uses. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tulumba, sourced from Turkey. The dough is piped straight into the oil and snipped to length with wet scissors. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tumact me Tulëz, sourced from Italy. Arbëreshë tagliatelle under pounded walnuts and toasted crumbs, with no cheese. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tunisian Tagine, sourced from Tunisia. A baked egg dish and not a stew — the pot gives it its name and nothing else is shared. Chicken, Egg.
• Türlü, sourced from Turkey. Everything goes in raw and all at once, and nothing is browned first. vegan.
• 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.
• U' Pastizz 'Rtunnar, sourced from Italy. A hand-raised Lucanian pasty filled raw with diced lamb and pork. Pork, Lamb.
• Ummak Huriyya, sourced from Tunisia. The carrots are boiled and then crushed with a fork, not grated raw — it is a warm salad, closer to a mash. Egg, vegetarian.
• Uovo Sbattuto, sourced from Italy. A yolk and sugar beaten raw to a pale foam, with no heat at all. Egg, vegetarian.
• Usban, sourced from Tunisia. Liver and heart are chopped in with the rice, and it is simmered in the couscous broth rather than cooked alone. Lamb.
• 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.
• Vasilopita, sourced from Greece. An orange butter cake with a wrapped coin baked into it, where the coin goes in from underneath after the batter is in the tin. Egg, vegetarian.
• Vincisgrassi, sourced from Italy. A Marche baked pasta with offal in the sauce and marsala in the dough. Chicken, Pork, Veal, Egg.
• Vitello Tonnato, sourced from Italy. Veal poached and cooled in its own broth, under a tuna and anchovy sauce. Veal, Fish, Egg.
• Yahni, sourced from Greece. Beans cooked in oil and tomato until they are soft right through, which is deliberate and is not overcooking. vegan.
• Yanıksı Dondurma, sourced from Turkey. The milk is deliberately scorched against the base of the pan, and the burnt layer is stirred back in. vegetarian.
• Yayla Çorbası, sourced from Turkey. Yoghurt is the whole soup rather than a swirl in it, so the tempering is the entire technique. Egg.
• 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.
• Zaalouk, sourced from Morocco. Aubergine and tomato cooked right down to a rough paste and then crushed in the pan, served cold rather than hot. vegan.
• Zabaione, sourced from Italy. Yolks, sugar and marsala whisked over water until they treble in volume. Egg, vegetarian.
• Zalabiyeh, sourced from Egypt. A poured batter rather than a dough, which is what separates it from the squeezed fritters it resembles. vegan.
• Zelten, sourced from Italy. A flat Trentino fruit loaf that is mostly fruit, with the dough as binding. vegetarian.
• Zeppole, sourced from Italy. Yeasted dough rings dropped into hot oil and rolled in sugar. vegan.
• Zerde, sourced from Turkey. Made with water and no milk at all, which is what lets the saffron colour show. vegan.
• Zuccotto, sourced from Italy. A dome lined with soaked sponge and filled with two ricotta creams. Egg.
• Zuppa Inglese, sourced from Italy. Sponge soaked in red alchermes under two cooked cremas, one vanilla and one chocolate. Egg.
• Zuppa Pavese, sourced from Italy. Hot broth poured over fried bread and a raw egg, which the broth alone cooks. Beef, Egg.

What counts as Mediterranean

A country with a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea.

This rule is ours. It is not borrowed from any standard, so it is a choice rather than an authority, and you may reasonably disagree with where it lands.

It excludes countries whose food is often called Mediterranean and which have no Mediterranean coast -- Portugal is the obvious one -- and it includes countries rarely described that way in a cookbook. No published definition of "Mediterranean cuisine" membership has been found to cite, so this page states its own rule rather than implying somebody else's.

Or widen it

All recipes