“Dirty chai is a chai with a shot of espresso, and it’s what kept me going through grad school. The combination of chai spices, milky black tea, and bitter coffee is stellar. You can make this semi-homemade if you’re short on time by using boxed brownie mix. I promise I won’t judge…”

“This tart-ified version of a carrot cake might not be an obvious classic, but it belongs in this chapter as a great foundational recipe for the tarts in our ‘Not Your Average Tarts’ chapter. The cream cheese glaze is what makes this one special – it’s designed to taste the same as a typical cream cheese frosting and to sit perfectly flat across the top of the tart…”

“Being a travelling monk in sixteenth-century Sicily couldn’t have been easy. During Lent, the season of austerity preceding Easter, monks were expected to hike on foot day after day for forty days, ministering to the faithful across the land. Although they were able to stop at monasteries for sustenance, eating meat was prohibited…”

“Being a travelling monk in sixteenth-century Sicily couldn’t have been easy. During Lent, the season of austerity preceding Easter, monks were expected to hike on foot day after day for forty days, ministering to the faithful across the land. Although they were able to stop at monasteries for sustenance, eating meat was prohibited…”

“There’s an excellent Sicilian pasticceria in my neighborhood in Brooklyn called Monteleone, owned by a man who was born and raised in Sicily. His pastries taste as authentic as any you’ll find in Sicily and, lucky for all of us, he makes cuccidati year-round, not just at Christmas time. (That’s when he makes a larger, ring-shaped version called buccellati, or bracelets.)…”

“Pistachios are super tasty, vibrantly colourful and chock-full of healthy fats. In addition to being highly nutritious, they’re also very forgiving to the baker – the high fat content provides incredible moisture and makes it almost impossible to overbake this cake. We tend to use whole pistachios and grind them fresh, as they oxidise quickly once ground. A top tip is to…” – Michael & Pippa James

“The wow-factor of a clafoutis is inversely proportional to the ease of making one. Just before dinner, make a quick batter, lay some beautiful seasonal fruit into a baking dish and pour the batter over the top. Pop it in the oven while you eat your meal and enjoy a satisfyingly creamy, fruit-based, baked custard pudding to follow. No pastry, no fuss…” – Michael & Pippa James

“When most people think of laksa, a bowl of brothy slurpy noodles comes first to mind, so a dry laksa might sound like a curious thing. I first had dry laksa at a friend’s place. Her father would politely interrupt every maths revision session with a plate of food, because ‘you can’t study on an empty stomach’. I vividly remember Uncle’s dry laksa; he had tried it at a trendy new café and recreated it for us…

“There are many versions of egg curry; this is one I learnt from a Singaporean Indian friend, who in turn learnt and adapted it from her mum. The fennel seeds give an aniseed fragrance that’s common to many Tamil curries, tomatoes and tamarind lend a sweet-sour tang, while the coconut milk (just a tiny drizzle!) adds a touch of creaminess…

“This is one of my favourite ways to enjoy eggs. It was part of Ottoman palace banquets and a favourite of Mehmed the Conqueror. At home, Çılbır is generally enjoyed as a hot meze; I also like serving it as part of a leisurely weekend breakfast, lunch or a light mid-week supper…

“This dish has a special place in my heart – I’ve eaten it a lot over the years and absolutely delicious. Take the time to follow a few easy prep steps for spot-on rice. First, rinse your rice well under cold, running water before you cook it; this washes off excess starch that can make it clump…

Fellow members of the chili crisp fan club will revel in these umami-packed cookies where sweet and savory battle deliciously for attention. These are gooey, mottled with melty pools of dark chocolate, and wrinkled with crunchy golden ridges. Brown butter makes them toasty, nutty, and extra chewy…

Coconut and pandan might as well be soulmates. They belong together. It’s a partnership revered across Southeast Asia and one I re-create again and again throughout this book…

When the pandemic officially began, I took refuge at my childhood home in the Southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. In a matter of weeks, banana bread was in the midst of a resurgence. Everyone was baking it and everyone was talking about it…

“If you ever see me at the supermarket, chances are I’ll have a caramel mud cake in my basket. It is my favourite massproduced treat and resolutely non-guilty pleasure. Alas, so many attempts to re-create it left me disheartened – until I dabbled with chicory, a caffeine-free coffee substitute…

“Brownies are like socks. Stay with me here … They are mostly functional, but when you get a really, really good one, you really, really know it and you become deeply loyal to those socks/that brownie. Brownies are also a deeply personal bake – no nuts, fudgy, cakey, edge piece or centre piece…

A popular dish from the cookbook Bao Family by Céline Chung. Granny Smith apples are a great choice, as they’re firm and slightly tart, which balances out the sweet sugar coating…

We couldn’t do a cookbook without one of our all-time fave dinners in it. We have this at least once a week. It is utterly divine — soul food at its best. The mac is a great way to use up any random bits of cheese in the door of the fridge. We usually serve this with a tangy garden salad (for balance)…

These delectable crunch-parcels are one of the most popular toppings for udon and soba in Japan, and it’s easy to understand why. They start off crunchy and sweet, and over time the batter absorbs the broth to make for fabulously juicy mouthfuls…

I came up with the idea for this dish after listening to two friends talk about instant noodles – a subject that is dear to my stomach. Peter reminisced about eating instant noodles, sprinkled with the seasoning mix, straight out of the packet, without cooking them first. Carol said that she hadn’t ever tasted one of my favourite instant noodles, Nongshim Shin Ramyun…