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May produce

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Hot Cajun Potato Salad

Hot Cajun Potato Salad

A fiery Cajun-spiced potato salad, the kind of side dish that lifts a barbecue plate from good to memorable. You boil potatoes until just tender, then toss them while still warm in a mayo-based dressing built around Cajun heat: cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, garlic and a measured spoon of garam masala for a deeper round-out. Hard-boiled eggs go in halved or quartered, sliced spring onions add a fresh allium note, and diced green chilli runs the heat across the back of the palate. Fresh herbs (parsley, dill or coriander) lift the lot. The salad sits best after an hour in the fridge for the flavours to settle. Eaten alongside grilled meat, fried chicken or a bowl of gumbo, with cold beer on the side.

Sides 35 minutes Serves6
Nga Hpe (Burmese Fish Cakes)

Nga Hpe (Burmese Fish Cakes)

The Burmese fish cakes that arrive at lahpet-thoke salad tables and street snack stalls alike, bright with lime and curry leaf. You cube skinless firm fish fillets and pulse them in a food processor with shallot, garlic, ginger, lime, fish sauce and a small egg into a sticky paste. A spoon of beaten cornflour binds it. Curry leaves, sliced spring onion, chopped cilantro and a fresh chilli go in for fragrance and bite. Patties form by hand (keep your hands slightly damp so the mixture doesn't stick), then shallow-fry in batches at 170°C for two or three minutes per side until they're deep gold and crisp at the edges. Eaten warm with a sour-sweet tamarind dipping sauce.

Sides 45 minutes Serves6
Noodle Kugel

Noodle Kugel

Wide egg noodles cooked just past al dente, drained and tossed in butter so they don't clump. A custard of cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, sugar and cinnamon is whisked smooth and folded through the noodles with golden raisins. The mixture goes into a buttered baking dish, gets a generous topping of crushed cornflakes (or cinnamon-sugar crumbs) and a dot of butter, then bakes low and slow until the custard sets and the top is mahogany-brown. Cut into squares while warm.

Sides 1 hour 20 minutes Serves8
Papas Mayo

Papas Mayo

A Chilean potato salad, the Sunday-lunch staple that sits next to grilled meat and an ensalada chilena at any asado worth the name. You boil floury potatoes whole in their skins, peel and dice them while still warm so they soak up the dressing properly. Hard-boiled egg goes in halved or quartered, sliced spring onion adds bite, Dijon and mayonnaise bind, and a splash of white wine vinegar lifts the lot. Toss gently so the egg doesn't pulverise, with chopped parsley scattered over. Best slightly warm - the mayo grips the potato and the egg breaks into soft creamy crumbles. Eaten with grilled meat or as part of a wider lunch spread.

Sides 40 minutes Serves4
Patatas Bravas

Patatas Bravas

Maris Piper or floury potatoes peel and cube 2 ½ cm. Double-cook for shatter-crisp shell + fluffy interior: blanch / boil for 8 minutes till just tender, drain, cool slightly. Brava sauce: olive oil heats with garlic and a touch of flour; smoked paprika + cayenne stir in 30 seconds; tomato passata, sherry vinegar, salt, sugar; simmer for 15 minutes; blend if you want a smooth sauce or leave rustic. Optional garlic aioli: garlic-and-egg-yolk mayonnaise. Potatoes fry in hot oil 6-8 minutes till deep gold. Plate with sauce zigzagged over; aioli alongside.

Sides 50 minutes Serves4
Pesto Babka

Pesto Babka

Babka - at its sweet best as the chocolate version - turns out to be a wonderful vehicle for savoury fillings. The dough is the same enriched milk-and-butter base: pillow-soft, gold-yellow, kneaded long until it pulls smooth. The filling here is pesto (basil or, in season, ramp/wild garlic) and a generous grating of sharp cheddar. The dough rolls into a long log, gets sliced lengthways down the middle so the cut sides face up, then twisted into a rope and curled into a wreath on the tray. Risen, egg-washed, baked. The cut faces of the twist open as it bakes, exposing layered green-and-yellow swirls.

Sides 4 hours 20 minutes Serves8
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