“Cardenales are an interesting bit of European pastry history. These delicious pastries originated in Vienna as “cardinal slices” but then somehow made their way to a town at the foot of the Tramuntana mountains in Mallorca, where they are known and loved as cardenales de Lloseta, the “cardinals of...” 

I love to slow-cook this on a Sunday, ready for the week ahead. My babushka Liana often pairs meat with prunes, a common combination influenced by the Yiddish community that lived in Ukraine. Use any sort of beef or bone stock; I have made this plenty of times with just water…

Spend an afternoon with a friend making a large batch of these holubtsi. For the filling, a mix of beef and pork mince works well, but I sometimes make these with just beef – I use a really hearty beef mince mixture from one of my butchers that includes liver, heart and other parts. I love to add cayenne pepper, fresh herbs and lots of smetana…

For these stuffed pancakes, try to buy pork mince with a really high fat content or make your own using high-quality pork belly which has a good meat-to-fat ratio. There are a lot of potatoes to grate here, but if you have a food processor with a grater attachment, it does the job in minutes. Enjoy with soured cream or the Aubergine Ikra (page 160).