Çok Tacos need very little explanation. What matters is the filling and the shell, and the shell part is easy — any supermarket carries them. Warm them before filling, and do not leave them in long enough to dry out. Serves 4 Ingredients 1 lb ground beef 8 taco shells 1 medium onion, diced 2 […]
Muhallebi is the plainest kind of dessert — milk, starch, sugar — and mastic is what lifts it out of plain. The resin comes from trees on the Greek island of Chios, and it gives the pudding a faintly pine, faintly floral aroma that nothing else can imitate. You can find it in Greek and […]
Coffee, cream and almond biscuits, set into a chilled mousse. It looks like more work than it is — everything is assembled cold and the refrigerator does the rest. Serves 8 Chilling time: 4 hours minimum Ingredients 7 oz amaretti biscuits 2 tablespoons milk 7 oz Greek yogurt 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 4–5 sheets […]
Tom yum is built on aromatics — lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime — infused into broth and then lifted right at the end with lime juice. This is the vegetarian version, made with mushrooms. Use one variety or a mix. Oyster, shiitake and straw mushrooms all work, and a combination is better than any one of […]
Piti comes from Azerbaijan, where it is traditionally cooked and served in individual clay pots. Lamb, chickpeas and dried fruit in a saffron broth — a dish built for cold weather. It is usually eaten in two stages: the broth first, poured over torn bread, then the meat and chickpeas mashed together as a second […]
If you like putting something unfamiliar on the table, this Moroccan dish earns its place. Lamb or beef with rice, pine nuts, raisins and cinnamon — sweet and savory in the same bite, which is the signature of North African cooking. Serves 4 Ingredients 2 medium eggplants 14 oz beef or lamb, cubed 1 medium […]
If you want something other than the usual börek on the table, this is it. Yufka rolled around a beef and vegetable filling, dipped in milk, coated in breadcrumbs and baked until crisp. The name in Turkish is Çin böreği — “Chinese börek” — presumably for the spring-roll shape rather than any real connection. Makes […]
İmam bayıldı sits at the head of the Turkish olive oil dishes. The name translates as “the imam fainted” — depending on which story you believe, from pleasure or from the amount of olive oil involved. Eaten cold, never hot. That is what makes these dishes what they are, and it is also why they […]
Meatballs are as good as the sauce they finish in, and this Umbrian version is built around that idea. The meatballs are only briefly browned, then simmered in a tomato sauce made from scratch — they finish cooking in it and give up their flavor to it. Two details set it apart: soppressata worked into […]
Chili con carne is one of those dishes that improves with time in the pot and again overnight in the refrigerator. Nothing about it is difficult — it is mostly a matter of not rushing it. Serves 4 to 6 Ingredients 1 medium onion 1 carrot 1 red bell pepper 1 jalapeño 2–3 cloves garlic […]