Breakfast & Brunch
From avocado toast to American pancakes. The best way to start the day.
Traditional Mexican Guacamole
Traditional Mexican guacamole is made in a molcajete and eaten immediately: ripe avocados crushed by hand with serrano chili, very finely diced tomato, white onion, fresh cilantro, and lime juice. No blender, no mayonnaise, no lemon. The texture should be chunky, with visible pieces of avocado. Ready in ten minutes and better than any packaged version.
Catalan Cream
A creamy custard made with egg yolks and whole milk, topped with a layer of caramelized sugar using a blowtorch or iron. This quintessential Catalan dessert is lighter than French crème brûlée and delicately flavored with lemon and cinnamon.
Quinoa Bowl with Vegetables
A simple and nutritious quinoa bowl with roasted and fresh vegetables, creamy avocado, and a lemon-tahini dressing. A complete and balanced meal ready in under 25 minutes, suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
California Sushi Rolls
Sushi rolls filled with crab or imitation crab, creamy avocado, and fresh cucumber, rolled in seasoned sushi rice. The perfect California roll for getting started with homemade sushi using simple inside-out maki technique.
Classic Walnut Brownie
Classic brownie with 70% dark chocolate, crunchy walnuts and a perfectly moist, fudgy interior. The perfect balance between crispy outside and melt-in-the-mouth inside for chocolate lovers who want a bit of extra texture.
Galician Santiago Cake
Tarta de Santiago is Galicia's emblematic dessert and one of Spain's oldest, with documented recipes dating to the sixteenth century. Its base is ground almond, sugar, and egg — no flour, no added fat — which gives it a dense, moist texture close to a baked marzipan. It is dusted with icing sugar and the cut-out Cross of Saint James before serving. Simple, direct, and perfectly balanced.
Baked Salmon with Lemon
Fresh salmon baked with dill, lemon, and garlic. The simplest and healthiest recipe to prepare fish: tender, juicy, and full of omega-3. Ready in 15 minutes with minimal cleanup afterwards.
Porcini Mushroom Risotto
Porcini mushroom risotto is northern Italy's definitive autumn dish. Dried porcini are first rehydrated in warm water — don't discard that liquid — then combined with Arborio rice cooked ladle by ladle in warm vegetable stock. The final mantecatura, beating in cold butter and Parmesan off the heat, is what gives the dish its characteristic silky wave when the plate is shaken.
Authentic Pad Thai
Authentic pad thai is Thailand's most famous noodle dish: rice noodles stir-fried in a wok with prawns, firm tofu, scrambled egg, bean sprouts, and spring onion, brought together with tamarind paste, fish sauce, and a touch of sugar. What sets street-style pad thai apart from fusion versions is the precise balance of sour, salty, sweet, and umami, finished with crushed peanuts and a squeeze of fresh lime.
Homemade Ham Croquettes
Ham croquettes are one of the most popular bites in Spanish tavern cooking: dense, creamy béchamel with finely chopped Iberian ham, chilled until firm, shaped into small ovals and breadcrumbed before frying. The béchamel is everything: it has to be very thick, almost elastic, so that frying leaves the inside creamy rather than runny. Take your time with it and they come out perfect; rush it and they fall apart.
Thai Green Curry
Thai green curry is the freshest and most floral of the Thai curries. The green paste combines lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and fresh green chillies to create a sauce that is simultaneously spicy, fragrant, and cooling. Served over jasmine rice, it is ready in under 30 minutes.
Madrid-Style Stew
Madrid-style cocido is the most hearty stew in the capital's culinary tradition: chickpeas soaked overnight, then slow-cooked for hours with beef morcillo, Iberian bacon, chorizo, blood sausage, marrow bone, potatoes, carrot, and cabbage. It is served in three courses — first the noodle broth, then the chickpeas with vegetables, and finally the meats. The quintessential winter dish of central Spain.
Authentic Asturian Fabada
Asturian beans with ham, blood sausage, and smoked chorizo. The heartiest and most flavorful dish from Asturias, slowly simmered until the beans are tender but intact and the broth turns creamy.
Original Mole Poblano
Mole poblano with over 30 ingredients: dried chiles, dark chocolate, peanuts, spices, and herbs. Mexico's most complex sauce, requiring time and technique but rewarding with every bite.
Homemade Chicken Caesar Salad
Classic Caesar salad with grilled chicken, crispy croutons, shaved parmesan, and the original sauce made with anchovies, garlic, and lemon. The most elegant appetizer anyone can prepare at home.
Classic Italian Tiramisu
Classic Italian tiramisu is the most popular dessert in modern Italian cooking: layers of ladyfinger biscuits soaked in cold espresso (with a splash of amaretto if desired), alternated with a cream of mascarpone beaten with egg yolks and whipped egg whites. Finished with a generous dusting of bitter cocoa powder and chilled for several hours before serving. Born in the Veneto in the 1960s, it requires no oven and no gelatine.
Authentic Shepherd-Style Tacos
Tacos al pastor are one of the icons of Mexican street food, with roots in 20th-century Lebanese immigration: pork marinated in guajillo and ancho chiles, achiote, and vinegar, roasted on a vertical spit with pineapple on top to caramelize the meat. At home you can use the oven or a pan. Served on corn tortillas with onion, cilantro, and salsa verde.
Homemade Shoyu Ramen
Shoyu ramen is the most classic style of Japanese ramen: a clear dashi broth seasoned with soy sauce and mirin, served with springy ramen noodles, sliced chashu pork belly, a soft-boiled soy-cured egg, nori, spring onion and bamboo shoots. It takes time to make from scratch, but the depth of flavour is worlds away from the instant version.
New York-Style Cheesecake
New York-style cheesecake is the densest, creamiest baked cheesecake of all: a digestive biscuit and butter base topped with a compact filling of cream cheese, eggs, sugar, heavy cream, and lemon zest, baked in a bain-marie so it sets without cracking. No gelatine, no whipped cream — just the full weight of cream cheese and a texture that slices clean as a block. The result keeps perfectly in the fridge for four days.
Classic Bolognese Lasagna
Bolognese lasagne is the great baked pasta dish of Emilia-Romagna: layers of fresh pasta alternating between a slow-cooked meat ragù with tomato, onion, carrot and wine, and a creamy béchamel, all covered in Parmesan gratin. The ragù needs at least two hours for the meat to meld with the tomato and lose any rawness. A Sunday dish, the kind of effort that is always worth it.
Traditional Manchego Pisto
Manchegan garden vegetables: tomato, zucchini, bell pepper, and eggplant slowly cooked in olive oil. The most authentic La Mancha pisto, perfect served with fried eggs, meats, or enjoyed on its own with bread.
Lentejas con verduras de la abuela
Imagina un plato reconfortante y lleno de sabor, donde las lentejas tiernas se mezclan con verduras frescas y especias, creando un aroma que te transporta a la cocina de tu abuela. Cada bocado es una explosión de texturas y sabores que te dejan con ganas de más.
Korean Bibimbap
Korean bibimbap is a bowl of white rice topped with vegetables sautéed separately — carrot, zucchini, spinach, shiitake mushrooms — ground beef, and a soft-yolk fried egg. The key is the gochujang sauce stirred in at the table with sesame oil: glossy, spicy, and slightly sweet. Everything gets mixed together in the bowl before eating so the colors and flavors swirl into one another.
Homemade Miso Ramen
Miso ramen is the most umami-rich and robust variant of Japanese ramen: a long-cooked pork broth into which red miso paste is stirred at the very end to preserve its complexity, served with wheat noodles, chashu — pork belly braised in soy sauce — and a soft-boiled egg marinated until the yolk is jammy and savoury. Each component is prepared separately and assembled to order, making homemade ramen a cooking project well worth planning a day ahead.
Breakfast & Brunch: cooking guide
Breakfast sets the pace for the day. From the classic olive oil and tomato toast to Sunday American pancakes, via overnight oat porridge. Weekday breakfasts that are quick and energising, weekend ones worth the extra effort.