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Traditionally cooked in a tonir, a built-in underground clay oven, dzhash is a tomato-based stew that can be made with either meat or legumes, but always includes vegetables. The stew is often generously seasoned with a variety of spices.
There are numerous versions of this stew, some of them even popular in the neighboring Turkey, such as the signature dish from Gaziantep, made with meat, summer squash, mint, and lemon juice, or the wedding stew that's prepared in Marash, consisting of meat, pumpkin, and chickpeas as the main ingredients.
MOST ICONIC Dzhash
Gelatinous fish heads known as kokotxas are a key ingredient for this classic Basque dish. Kokotxas usually come from the flashy cheeks (lower part of chin) of hake or cod. The dish is sometimes served in a sauce consisting of white wine, garlic, flour, and olive oil.
A more traditional way of serving kokotxas is in salsa verde sauce, consisting of olive oil, flour, fish stock, garlic, and finely chopped parsley. The kokotxas are lightly fried in a clay casserole pot, then combined with the sauce. It's recommended to serve the dish with crusty bread on the side for mopping up the sauce.
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Machanka is a Belarusian and Ukrainian stew made with a combination of pork, sour cream, flour, and beef stock. The meat can include bacon, sausages, or ham, all cut into very small pieces. This soup-like stew is typically enriched with onions, mushrooms, and dill.
Quite commonly, machanka is served with draniki pancakes, consisting of potatoes, flour, lard, and salt, and some claim that the proper way to consume machanka is to roll up the potato pancakes and dip them into the stew.
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Cocido lebaniego is a traditional dish originating from the Liébana area in Cantabria. The stew consists of local chickpeas, potatoes, and cabbage with meat from the pig slaughter such as chorizo, bacon, and morcilla. Breadcrumbs, parsley, and cecina dried meat is often added to the stew as well.
Due to the fact that the stew is very hearty and nutritious, it's traditionally eaten as the main course. The consommé is enjoyed first, followed by the chickpeas and vegetables, while the meat is usually saved for last, although some like to eat the meat and the chickpeas together.
MOST ICONIC Cocido lebaniego
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Kόkoras krasάtos is a Greek variation on the famous French coq au vin. This Greek dish is made with rooster, Greek red wine, onions, garlic, Greek olive oil, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, tomatoes, and Florina peppers or Florina pepper paste.
The rooster is boiled in a delicious red wine sauce until the meat becomes extremely tender and aromatic. In the summer, the sauce is light, while in the winter it's usually much thicker. Traditionally, the dish is served with hollow, spaghetti-like pasta and grated Kefalotyri cheese.
MOST ICONIC Kokoras krasatos
Chicken tikka masala is a British dish influeneced by Indian cuisine, consisting of marinated, tandoor-cooked chicken pieces that are served in a spiced tomato-cream sauce. The origins are still debated – some claim that it was invented in Glasgow in the 1970s by a Pakistani chef Ali Ahmed Aslam who added his tomato-cream soup into chicken tikka in order to please a customer, and others claim that the dish is simply a variation on Indian butter chicken or chicken tikka that's adapted to suit the British tastes.
Nowadays, chicken tikka masala is even considered the country's national dish, and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook proclaimed chicken tikka masala a symbol of modern multicultural Britain in 2001.
MOST ICONIC Chicken Tikka Masala
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
Pörkölt is Hungary's national stew, its name derived from the word pörkölni, meaning to roast or singe. The stew is made from meat such as beef, lamb, pork, or chicken, simmered in a red sauce with lots of onions, garlic, and paprika powder.
It is traditionally served with dumplings, boiled potatoes, or pasta, and it is recommended to pair it with a Hungarian fruit brandy. Pörkölt's history is closely linked to the traditional Hungarian goulash, as both dishes were originally prepared as peasant meals that made hefty use of powdered paprika.
VARIATIONS OF Pörkölt
MOST ICONIC Pörkölt
View moreRabo de toro is a traditional dish originating from the region of Andalusia, although it's eaten throughout the country. Each restaurant and region has their own recipe, but it's usually made with a combination of oxtail, olive oil, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, paprika, tomatoes, red wine, dry sherry, bay leaves, and parsley.
Once cooked, this slow-braised stew is typically served with fried potatoes on the side. It is believed that rabo de toro dates back to Roman times, when the bull would be killed at a bullfight, and its tail would be braised and enjoyed in celebration.
MOST ICONIC Rabo de toro
View moreThis version of rojões is made with chunks of pork that were previously marinated in garlic and white wine. However, traditional Minho recipes often include roasted chestnuts, blood and flour cakes called belouras or bolachos, tripe, pork’s liver, and boiled blood.
Rojões Minho-style is typically enjoyed with potatoes, though it is not uncommon to serve it with a side of arroz de sarrabulho - rice with pork blood and bits of meat.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Chanakhi is a hearty Georgian stew made with lamb, eggplant, sweet peppers, and tomatoes. The stew is typically flavored and seasoned with coriander, basil, pepper, and salt. This flavorful dish is traditionally served in individual clay pots, called chanakhi, hence the name.
It is believed that chanakhi tastes even better if reheated the next day, when all of the flavors have been thoroughly combined.
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