Maast-o Khiar (Persian cucumber yogurt dressing)

For ➍
20 cl plain yogurt
¾ seedless cucumber, peeled & grated
¼ clove garlic, minced
¼ shallot, finely chopped
2 tbs dried dill weed
2 ts salt
¼ ts pepper

In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, and shallot. Season with dill, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 h, preferably overnight, to blend flavors.
Serve with cold, grilled meat or fish. Or simply on good flat bread.

This recipe, contrary to Persian cucumber & fresh dill salad, is truly Persian, though it is served all over the Middle East, Turkey and Greece under several names such as 'tzaziki', after Muslim troops took it all over the Eastern Mediterranean. Persian culture and refinement is a decent forebear of Muslim and Arab culture, with which it is often confused.
Read the Arabian cucumber soup recipe and a variation on this recipe.
Picture from Pasolini's Tales of 1001 Nights, a homage to Persian culture.

Frosty cappucino

For ➋
24 cl low-fatmilk
1 tbs chocolate syrup
1 ts instant espresso coffee powder
2 ice cubes
sugar *
¼ ts ground cinnamon

Use an electrical blender to combine milk, chocolate syrup, espresso powder and ice until the mixture is smooth and frothy. Add sugar to taste.

Pour into 2 chilled glasses. Sprinkle with cinnamon for garnish.

*Optional.

Sour-cherry lambic sorbet

For ➏
100 g sugar
50 g honey
15 cl water
300 g pitted black sour cherries
25 cl good kriek lambic like Lindemans

Heat the sugar, honey, and water in a small saucepan just until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cool the syrup completely.

Purée the cherries in the blender until smooth. Mix in the syrup and the lambic.

Pour the sorbet base slowly into your actively churning ice cream maker. After about 30 m, it would be thoroughly mixed.

Pack the sorbet into the chilled container. Freeze until firm, about 4 h.

Belgian kriek-beer is created by adding sour cherries to gueuze or unblended lambic. Avoid cheaper and sweeter brands. Read the anglerfish in gueuze recipe for more information on gueuze.
The sour cherries used in the beer are typical for the borough of Schaarbeek, near Brussels, where a feast of the cherry is organised every year.
Belgian lambic is available with several different fruits added, you could use raspberry lambic with real raspberries, as a variation.

La sallada nissarda (salade niçoise)

For ➏
10 tomatoes, quartered
1 cucumber, sliced
200 g small broad beans, boiled
12 small artichokes, thinly sliced
2 green peppers, thinly sliced
6 small onions or scallions, thinly sliced
6 basil leaves, chopped
1 clove of garlic
3 hard boiled eggs, quartered
12 anchovies
100 g black olives
6 tbs olive oil
pepper & salt

Slice the garlic, rub a large salad bowl with it.

Put tomatoes, beans, artichokes, peppers, onions, anchovies and eggs in the bowl.

Make a dressing with 6 tbs of olive oil and the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper.

Put in the refrigerator for at least 1 h.

Add the cucumber just before serving, otherwise it will make the mixture too moist.

Serve as an entrée with some good bread, or as a side dish for grilled fish (or white meat or chicken).

The 'original' version of the salade niçoise, or at least a recently established agreement between Nice restaurants on historic ingredients and preparation, cutting the potatoes and green beans of the widely popular recipe, as it was written down by Escoffier.
Picture shows a fragment of a Berthe Morisot painting of the late 19th century Nice beach, accommodating tourists.
Read more Provençal recipes: fresh tuna & salade niçoise, salade niçoise dressing, Provençal garlic sauce, Saint-Tropez (Provençal) chicken.

Japanese rare cheesecake

For ➏
filling:
200 g cream cheese, softened*
20 cl plain yogurt
70 g/5 tbs sugar
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs gelatin powder
5 cl water
crust:
100 g crushed digestive biscuits or graham crackers
3 tbs melted butter
1 tbs sugar

Mix gelatin powder and water in a small cup. Set aside.

Combine crushed biscuits, melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Press the crumbs into the bottom of a round cake pan (20 cm).

Stir cream cheese in a bowl until soften. Put water and gelatin mixture into microwave. Heat for 1 m. Add yogurt, sugar, lemon juice and gelatin into softened cream cheese. Mix well. Pour the filling into the crust. Spread evenly. Refrigerate the cake for 3 h.

Serve with your favorite fruits, fruit sauce, or jam.

*Use mascarpone instead.

Japanese eat mostly fruit after dinner, but in recent decades western-type desserts have become popular, such as cheesecakes, from the baked kind to this no bake type. This no bake kind is called rare cheesecake even in Japanese.
This late 19th century Japanese print shows a herd boy with a cow.
read a French go at Japanese cheesecake.
Read more cheesecake recipes: Belgian cheesecake

Banh xeo (Vietnamese savoury crepes)

For ➍
200 g boneless pork loin
16 medium shrimps
8 fresh coriander stems
8 fresh basil sprigs
8 fresh mint sprigs
90 g rice flour
12,5 cl water
10 cl coconut milk
½ ts turmeric (or curry powder)
1 ts sugar
½ ts salt
1 green onion, chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
60 g bean sprouts
½ ts sesame oil
1 tbs vegetable oil
red leaf lettuce
4 small bowls of nuoc cham dipping sauce*

Place pork loin in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer until cooked through, about 20 m.

Allow pork to cool. Cut into tiny strips.

Shell and devein shrimps. Slice each one in half lengthwise.

Rinse herbs and drain. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, prepare batter by mixing rice flour, water, coconut milk, turmeric or curry powder, salt, and green onion until smooth.

Divide pork, shrimp, onion, and bean sprouts into 5 separate little piles for easy access during cooking.

Heat a little sesame oil in non-stick frying pan until hot.

Cook pork, shrimp and onion until it starts to sizzle.

Pour a little vegetable oil in a pan. When almost smoking, add 2 tbs of batter and bake for 2-3 m. Put a small pile of the cooked mixture on one half of the crepe. Place one pile of bean sprouts towards the center of the crepe. Fold the other half of the crepe over the first.

Transfer the crepe to a serving platter.

Repeat process with rest of batter and ingredients.

Do not cover the cooked crepes or stack them, or they will lose their crispness.

To serve, place one crepe on a plate with some lettuce leaves, herbs and a small bowl of nuoc cham. The person cuts a portion of crepe, wraps it in a leaf of lettuce with some herbs, and dips it in the sauce. Serve with a cold blond lager beer.

*Use soy sauce instead.

Banh xeo are very popular in South East Asia. Depending on the region, the recipe might vary a little bit, even in Vietnam. This recipe is the southern variant. The Kampuchean version is called banh chiao. Banh is a whole category of small food items, some of them steamed cakes, but always filled in some way or another, even resulting in some (very American) Viet style pork sandwiches.

Nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce)

For ➍
1 part lime or lemon juice, or vinegar
1 part fish sauce, nuoc mam
1 part sugar
2 parts water (or 1 part water, 1 part lime or lemon juice)
optionally minced garlic, chopped or minced serrano peppers
shredded carrot, to taste

Mix water or juice with sugar. Heat to melt the sugar.

Then cool it.

Adjust the taste by adding lime juice, then add the fish sauce, then other ingredients.

The taste of nuoc cham depends on the ingredients, but should mix sweet and sour, a little hot and tasty, sometimes hot. You can vary the taste by lightly changing quantities of ingredients. It can be served with several Vietnamese dishes like banh xeo, or used as a rather sharp condiment. This preparation will hold for a week, when refrigerated.

Crostata con crema al limone (Italian lemon tart)

For ➑
crust:
180 g flour*
90 g butter
80 g sugar
2 egg yolks
salt
(50 g almonds, shaved)*
filling:
grated rind of 3 untreated lemons
8 tbs (12 cl) (2-3 lemons) lemon juice
3 egg yolks
2 eggs
200 g sugar
250 g yogurt or cream

Mix all ingredients for the crust. Cover in plastic foil and refrigerate for 30 m.
Roll out till 0,5 cm thick. Grease 24 cm tin with butter, put baking paper in, put dough in, cover with baking paper and blind-baking peas. Blind bake for 20 m at 180°C.
Beat the eggs with the sugar, the rind and the lemon juice. Carefully add cream or yogurt.
Remove top baking paper and peas. Pour in the mixture. Bake 30 m at 170°C.
Serve cold with a sweet wine or iced limoncello.

*Replace ⅓ with ground almonds or sprinkle half-baked crust with 50 g shaved almonds before pouring in the mixture.

Spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with oil & garlic)

For ➍
250 g spaghetti
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped*
parsley
peperoncino (dried Italian pepper)**
sea salt

Cook spaghetti, until undercooked.

Meanwhile, heat the oil, (sauté the onions)*, sauté the garlic in a skillet with oil and peperoncino until golden brown.

Mix cooked spaghetti briskly in the same skillet, sprinkle over some (sea)salt, add a generous tablespoon of finely chopped parsley, toss and serve.

*Optional.
**Use fresh pepper instead, thinly sliced & seeded.

One of the oldest ways to dress pasta was with raw oil and garlic. Later ingredients like peperoncino were added. Spaghetti aglio e olio (in fact it is spaghetti all´aglio, olio e peperoncino) is a traditional Italian pasta dish from the Abruzzo region.
The sauce consists mainly of garlic fried in oil, plus peperoncino (dried red chili peppers). Parsley is also added.
See the variations in the oil & garlic sauce post. Also see the related sugo alla puttanesca. Read more spaghetti & linguine recipes: a quick spaghetti, spaghetti with scallops & tomatoes, scallops & rucola spaghetti, spaghetti alla carbonara, spaghetti with vegetables, shrimps fra diavolo, raw tomato spaghetti, spaghetti with clams, spaghetti with small clams, Palermo spaghetti with tomatoes & mint, American-Italian spaghetti with meatballs, vermicelli with parsley sauce, shrimps & Brie linguine, butter & tomato pasta sauce, lemon pasta with sea spinach.

Aglio e olio (oil & garlic sauce variations)

The basic sauce for spaghetti aglio e olio can be made in several ways.

A few of them:

Variation 1: add some anchovies (6 salted fillets, washed and cut into pieces) to the garlic and oil, add a handful of black or green olives cut into pieces, and sauté together until golden brown.

Variation 2 (Southern Italy): brown 3-4 tbs of bread crumbs in oil and garlic, add some more peperoncino to taste just before sautéing with the pasta.

Variation 3: add a couple of fresh tomatoes to the boiling oil after frying the garlic.

Clafoutis aux cerises (French cherry custard)

For ➏
500 g fresh cherries, pitted*
1 tbs + 50 g sugar**
1 ts cornstarch
50 g flour
50 g almonds, toasted***
4 large eggs
pinch of salt
20 cl milk
50 g unsalted butter, melted
1 ts grated lemon peel
1 ts vanilla extract
½ ts almond extract
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 160°C.
Butter shallow glass baking dish. Combine cherries, 1 tbs sugar and cornstarch in bowl. Toss to coat.
Arrange cherries in bottom of prepared dish.
Blend flour and almonds in processor until nuts are finely chopped. Whisk eggs, salt and remaining sugar in large bow. Whisk in flour mixture. Add milk, butter, lemon peel, and vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk until smooth. Pour custard over cherries.
Bake clafoutis until golden on top, about 55 m. Cool slightly.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

*Use bottled or frozen unsweetened pitted dark sweet cherries, thawed, drained. Always use dark, rather sour cherries, never the sweet variety. When using cherries on syrup, use less sugar.
**Use 100 g to make it sweeter.
***Use hazelnuts for an even nuttier taste.

Originally from the French Limousin region, this custard-like dessert spread all over France in the 19th century. The name comes from the Occitan verb for 'filling up', and that is exactly what happened with the recipe, which gradually was made with other fruits than cherries, called flognarde then, and even with cherry tomatoes. The original recipe is made with unpitted cherries, making it a little bit less sweet and adding a nutty flavour, but rather uncomfortable to eat. In this recipe, almonds are added to have this effect.

Asperges à la flamande (Flemish asparagus)

For ➊
6 white asparagus stalks* (500 g)
1 egg***
25 g butter
2 ts parsley, chopped

Cook the eggs for 10 m. Let them cool. Peel.
Peel the stalks**. Cut the hard end. Steam the asparagus for about 10-15 m.****
Meanwhile crumble the eggs with a fork. Mix with the parsley.
Melt the butter. Gently discard the solids and save the clarified butter.******
Put the asparagus on a plate and nap with the melted butter and eggs.
Serve with bread and a dry mineral white wine, like Riesling.

*Or 3 as an entrée (300 g).
**Use the cleaned and chopped peels in an asparagus broth or soup.

****Alternatively, put the asparagus in cold, salted water. Bring to the boil. Cook for 1 m. Put the heat off and let cook until done (10-15 m).
*****To clarify butter, put butter on low heat for 10 m until solids separate from the fat. Let stand for a few m. Skim off the foam. In a microwave, cook covered for 30 s (for 40 g). Let stand until solids sink. Save the fat.

This is a Flemish traditional dish, made with local white asparagus. White asparagus are covered with soil, sand in this case, to preserve their pristine colour.
Try a more contemporary fusion version.
Read tip on cooking asparagus.

Fresh mint syrup

For 25 cl syrup
200 g sugar*
25 cl hot water*
bunch of mint leaves, freshly chopped*

Put chopped mint leaves in hot water. Add sugar.

Let stand for 30 m.

Squeeze and remove the leaves.

Cool for 1 h.

*Use same proportions for more or less syrup. The syrup will be good for several days when put in a closed container in the refrigerator.
It can be used in drinks or on ice-cream.

Schiacciata con l'uva (Etruscan grape-filled bread)

For ➏
1 kg blue grapes (or blueberries)
500 g flour
1 package dry yeast
100 g sugar
4 tbs olive oil
1 branch rosemary
25 cl warm water
honey
grape juice

Heat the rosemary branch in olive oil. Let it cool.
Dissolve the yeast in 25 cl of warm water.
Place the flour in a large bowl. Pour yeast mixture into the center and stir.
Remove the rosemary from the oil. Add the cooled oil to the dough.
Add 4 tbs of sugar and knead until smooth, for 10 m.
Put in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch down the dough and divide in half.
Roll out half of the dough to fit in a round or rectangular pan.
Cover with half the grapes, removed from their stems.
Sprinkle with half the remaining sugar and drizzle with olive oil.
Roll out the other half of the dough to fit. Cover the grapes, sealing the edges with the bottom layer of dough. Push down to crush the grapes. Cover top layer of dough with remaining grapes and repeat the process. Sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with olive oil, and crush the grapes.
Sprinkle with sugar and drizzle with olive oil. For an Etruscan touch, drizzle with honey.
Bake at 180°C until golden. Baste with some grape juice while it's baking. Bake for 45 m.

Nowadays, this is traditionally served as a dessert bread, or a nice comfort bread, and some special treat during the Tuscany wine harvest season. As is often the case in Tuscany, it is said to have already been popular with the Etruscans, well known for their lust of life. Schiacciata comes from the Italian verb 'schiacciare' meaning 'flattened' or 'crushed'. The recipe is related to the American pizza bianco and to the schiacciata alla Fiorentina.
Image shows dancing Etruscans with a wine flask on a tomb wall in Tarquinia.
Read more on 'Etruscan' food: Etruscan tuna fish.

Pizza e fichi (pizza with figs)

For ➋
It's also a Roman style, to top the pizza bianco with figs, served on a bed of some gorgonzola dolce cheese and decorated with some thinly sliced prosciutto.