Regional Cuisine Recipes

When I have abundant seasonal vegetables, I love making this vegetable casserole, and most of the time I just enjoy it with a loaf of good bread. That is all you need for a good meal.

Smoky roasted eggplant mashed with fresh tomato, garlic, and a splash of red wine vinegar. This Odessa-style eggplant caviar is a rustic Russian appetizer that's just as good spread on pita as it is on dark rye bread.

Usal is a spiced Indian mung bean curry with cumin, turmeric, coriander, ginger, and garlic simmered in tomato. Vegetarian, high-protein, and ready in 40 minutes. Serve with rice or flatbread.

Homemade strudel dough from scratch with just five basic ingredients. Kneaded until elastic, rested, then hand-stretched tissue-paper thin the traditional way.

Mock haggis: an easy, accessible version made with beef and beef liver, toasted oatmeal, and suet, steamed in a basin with no stomach casing needed. Serve it with neeps and tatties, or slice and pan-fry the leftovers.

Czarnina is a traditional Polish duck soup: a dark, sweet-and-sour broth of duck or goose with pork ribs, dried prunes and cherries, soured with vinegar and enriched with cream. Served with egg noodles or dumplings.

This very old recipe is famous for the artistic, decorative sculpture arranged on top. The picture in the cookbook has the upper outer edge circled with a braid of dough and cut-outs of ducks arranged flat on the top.

A touch of Irish Cream teams up with chocolate for a mouth-watering change of pace.

Grasmere gingerbread: the famous Lake District gingerbread biscuit made with oatmeal, butter, ginger and golden syrup. Cross between a flapjack and a gingerbread, with origins in 1850s Cumbria.

Pork, potatoes and mushrooms flavored with crushed coriander seed.

Homemade Tibetan momo wrappers from scratch with just flour, water, salt, and a pinch of baking powder. Roll thin, pleat, and steam for authentic momos with a tender, slightly chewy bite.

Briami is a Greek oven-roasted vegetable casserole with eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, and peppers in a garlicky tomato sauce. Vegetarian, naturally vegan, and packed with Mediterranean flavor.

The classic Italian tomato sauce, great for any pasta dish or to add flavor any Italian style dish.

Three-layer no-bake bars with a cocoa-coconut-almond base, cherry buttercream filling studded with maraschino cherries, and a semi-sweet chocolate drizzle on top.

Traditional kolache fillings: ground walnut, dried apricot, coconut-pecan, and poppyseed. Four classic Czech and Eastern European pastry fillings for cookies and yeast buns.

Tomatoey tabouli: a hearty Middle Eastern grain salad with bulgur and pearl barley soaked in tomato juice, finished with lemon, olive oil, parsley, and scallions.