Most often cooked with
Garlic
Onion
Butter
Sugar
Egg
Bay leaf
Lemon
FlourRecipes with water
Apple and Almond Tart
A shortcrust case blind baked, filled with almond frangipane and fanned apple, so the base stays crisp under a wet filling.
Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
A dense baked cheesecake on a biscuit base, cooled slowly in the switched-off oven and chilled overnight so the top does not crack.
Beef and Ale Stew with Herb Dumplings
Chuck steak simmered in dark ale until it gives, with suet dumplings steamed on the surface of the pot for the last half hour.
Beef Chow Mein
Beef coated in cornflour and seared in batches in a pan hot enough to smoke, with the sauce going in only at the very end.
Borodinsky Rye Bread
Dark sourdough rye scalded with red rye malt, sweetened with molasses and finished with a crust of coriander seed.
Borscht
Beetroot and cabbage soup built on beef broth, with the grated beetroot added late and with acid so it stays red.
Braised Red Cabbage
Shredded red cabbage cooked slowly with apple, vinegar and spice, the acid going in early so the colour stays bright.
Braised White Beans with Sage
Dried beans soaked in salted water and held at a bare simmer, so the skins stay whole and the liquor turns silky.
Brown Stew Fish
Fried whole fish simmered briefly in a dark sweet-savoury gravy built on browning, onion and thyme, and served with the sauce spooned over.
Buckwheat Kasha with Mushrooms
Buckwheat toasted dry, then cooked pilaf-style with onion and mushrooms so the grains stay separate.
Buttery Mashed Potato
Potatoes steam-dried in the pan and pushed through a ricer, then beaten with butter before the hot milk goes in.
Cacio e Pepe
Spaghetti in a sauce of nothing but pecorino, black pepper and starchy pasta water, emulsified off the heat so it stays smooth.
Cherries Jubilee
Cherries in a light syrup flamed with kirsch and spooned burning over vanilla ice cream, which is a dish and a performance at once.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Poached chicken and vegetables in a clear stock, with the noodles cooked apart so the broth stays clean rather than thick and starchy.
Chicken Stock
Stock from a roast carcass, held at a bare simmer for hours so it stays clear, and what the onion and tomato soups both ask for.
Chickpea and Spinach Stew
Dried chickpeas cooked from scratch and thickened with fried bread pounded to a paste, which is how Seville gets body without cream.
Classic Margherita Pizza
Three toppings, nothing hidden — this is the pizza that shows whether your dough is any good.
Creamy Oat Porridge
Rolled oats cooked in milk and water and stirred throughout, which draws out the starch that separates creamy from watery.
Crème Caramel
A baked custard turned out under its own caramel, cooked in a water bath at a low temperature so it sets smooth rather than pitted.
Crisp Hash Browns
Grated potato rinsed of its loose starch and wrung genuinely dry, then pressed into hot fat so it fries crisp instead of steaming.
Crisp Roast Potatoes
Floury potatoes parboiled with bicarbonate of soda, roughed up in the pan, then roasted in fat that is already smoking hot.
Crumpets
A wet yeasted batter cooked in rings on a low griddle, with bicarbonate stirred in at the end so the holes open right through.
Crushed Roast Potatoes
Floury potatoes parboiled, crushed flat and roasted in hot fat, so the broken surfaces crisp into edges a whole roast potato never gets.
Curry Goat
Goat shoulder burned into curry powder and then cooked for two hours, until the meat gives and the sauce is thick enough to coat rice.
Double-Crust Apple Pie
Two kinds of apple under a vented pastry lid, thickened with cornflour so the filling holds together when the pie is cut.
Egg Curry
Hard-boiled eggs, scored and browned in spice, simmered in an onion and tomato masala.
Everyday White Tin Loaf
A straight-dough sandwich loaf made with commercial yeast and no starter, baked in a tin so it slices square for toast.
Gazpacho
A chilled Andalusian soup of raw tomatoes, cucumber and pepper blended with bread and olive oil, which is what turns it creamy rather than watery.
Green Beans with Brown Butter and Almonds
Beans blanched hard in salted water and chilled in ice, then reheated in butter browned with flaked almonds.
Grilled Pineapple with Rum Syrup
Pineapple wedges charred over high heat and spooned with a dark rum, lime and brown sugar syrup reduced until it just coats.
Guryev Kasha
Semolina baked in layers between the skins lifted from scalded cream, with nuts, preserved fruit and caramel.
Hand-Rolled Bagels
A stiff low-hydration dough rolled by hand, retarded overnight and boiled before baking, which is what sets the chewy glossy crust.
Herbed Farro Salad
Farro boiled loose in salted water like pasta, dressed while it is still hot, then packed with three soft herbs.
Holodets
Pork trotters and beef simmered for hours until the broth sets to a firm savoury jelly around the shredded meat.
Hot and Sour Soup
A brothy Sichuan-style soup thickened with a cornflour slurry and finished with vinegar and beaten egg off the heat, so both stay sharp.
Kissel
Fruit cooked with sugar and thickened with potato starch, served thin enough to drink or thick enough to eat with a spoon.
Kotlety
Everyday Soviet-era mince patties bound with milk-soaked bread, which keeps them tender rather than springy.
Kulebyaka
An enriched pastry loaf layered with salmon, rice, egg and dill, baked until the crust sounds hollow.
Kulich
Tall enriched Easter bread coloured with saffron and studded with raisins, finished with a white glaze that runs down the sides.
Kvass
A lightly fermented drink made from dried dark rye bread, sugar and yeast, sour and faintly sweet.
Lemon Tart
A sharp lemon cream baked low and slow in a blind-baked sweet pastry case, so it sets to a smooth cut rather than curdling.
Malai Kofta
Potato and paneer dumplings fried until crisp, sitting in a mild cashew and tomato sauce enriched with cream.
Mayonnaise
Egg yolk, oil and acid whisked by hand into a thick emulsion, with the drop-by-drop start that decides whether it holds or splits.
Mujaddara
Lentils and rice cooked in one pot under a mound of onions fried well past golden, which is where the whole flavour comes from.
Mushroom and Barley Soup
Dried mushrooms soaked and their soaking liquor used as the stock, with pearl barley cooked in it until the pot turns thick.
No-Knead Sourdough Focaccia
A slow sourdough focaccia fermented overnight in the fridge, dimpled deep so the pockets fill with olive oil and flaky salt.
Pelmeni
Small meat dumplings in thin dough, boiled until they float and served with smetana or with butter and vinegar.
Plov
Rice steamed over lamb, carrot and cumin in a heavy pot, left unstirred so the grains stay separate.
Poached Eggs
Eggs slid into barely moving water, with an honest account of what the vinegar and the whirlpool do and do not fix.
Pork Vindaloo
Pork marinated in vinegar, garlic and dried chillies, then cooked slowly until sharp, dark and much more sour than hot.
Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter
Baked potatoes riced while hot and bound with as little flour as they will take, which is the difference between light gnocchi and bullets.
Pryaniki
Spiced honey biscuits with a soft crumb and a thin white sugar glaze that dries to a matt shell as they cool.
Ptichye Moloko
An agar-set soufflé of whipped egg white, sugar syrup and butter on thin sponge, sealed under dark chocolate.
Quick Pickled Red Onions
Thin red onion slices covered in warm sweet-sharp brine, bright magenta and ready to eat in half an hour.
Quick Salted Cucumbers
Small cucumbers held a day or two in a dill and garlic brine, salted right through but still raw and crunchy.
Raspberry Sorbet
Sieved raspberry puree frozen with a measured sugar syrup and beaten every forty-five minutes, which is what keeps it scoopable.
Rassolnik
Barley and pickled cucumber soup, sharpened at the end with the pickle brine itself rather than with vinegar.
Red-Braised Pork Belly
Pork belly caramelised in sugar and braised in soy and wine until the fat turns to jelly and the sauce to lacquer.
Rice and Peas
Rice cooked in coconut milk with kidney beans, thyme and a whole scotch bonnet left in the pot and never broken.
Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini
Cauliflower roasted hot in wedges so the cut faces brown, served under a tahini sauce loosened to a pouring cream with water.
Salat Mimosa
Tinned fish, egg, cheese and onion layered with mayonnaise and topped with sieved yolk that looks like mimosa blossom.
Sauerkraut
Cabbage and carrot salted, packed down and left to ferment under its own brine until it turns sour and keeps.
Seeded Rye Loaf
A dense oval of dark rye and seeds, mixed rather than kneaded because rye forms almost no gluten to work with.
Semolina Kasha
Manka, a milk semolina porridge cooked by raining the grain into moving liquid so that it thickens without lumps.
Shashlik
Cubed lamb marinated in grated onion and vinegar, then grilled on flat skewers over embers until charred at the edges.
Shchi
Cabbage soup simmered in meat broth, made sour with sauerkraut in winter and with fresh cabbage in summer.
Silky Miso Mushroom Ramen
A shiitake and kombu broth that starts with a half-hour soak, finished with white miso and topped with seven-minute eggs.
Slow-Cooked Beef Ragu
Coarse beef mince browned in batches then held at a bare simmer for three hours, finished in the pan with the pasta.
Slow-Cooked Black Dal
Whole urad soaked overnight and simmered for hours until it turns black and glossy, then finished with butter and a little cream.
Smoked Haddock Chowder
Undyed smoked haddock poached in milk, with that milk becoming the soup and floury potato doing the thickening in place of flour.
Smoked Haddock Kedgeree
Smoked haddock poached in milk, the rice then cooked in that same liquid, folded together with boiled eggs and curry spices.
Sourdough Boule
A lean loaf raised on starter alone, folded rather than kneaded, retarded overnight and baked covered so it steams itself.
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
A store-cupboard sauce of anchovies, olives, capers and chilli melted into tomato, salty enough that it needs no cheese and barely any salt.
Spaghetti Carbonara
Guanciale, egg yolk and pecorino brought together off the heat into a glossy sauce, with no cream anywhere near the pan.
Split Pea and Ham Hock Soup
Yellow split peas simmered with a smoked ham hock until they collapse into the broth, thickening the soup with nothing but themselves.
Steamed Basmati Rice
Basmati rinsed until the water runs clear and cooked by absorption, then rested off the heat with the lid on so the grains separate.
Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Spring Onion
A whole fish steamed plain, dressed with soy, and finished by pouring smoking oil over raw ginger and spring onion.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
A dark date sponge skewered and soaked with hot toffee sauce the moment it leaves the oven, then served with the rest of the sauce.
Ukha
Clear freshwater fish broth, never thickened and barely seasoned, so what you taste is the fish and the water it cooked in.
Vareniki
Larger Ukrainian dumplings filled with potato and fried onion or with sweetened curd, boiled and dressed in butter.
Vegetable Stock
A light stock of leek, carrot, celery and onion simmered for only forty minutes, because long cooking turns vegetable stock bitter.
Warm Farro and Roast Squash Bowl
Farro boiled like pasta and dressed while it is still hot, under roast squash, crisped kale and feta, so it eats as a meal.
Wet Brine for Chicken and Pork
A five per cent salt brine for lean chicken and pork, chilled hard before the meat goes in, with the timings that stop it going spongy.