European

The classic Hungarian dish relies on sour cream both to thicken the sauce and to balance the heat of the paprika.

(Zucchini Meatballs) This dish, like stuffed artichokes and many others of this kind, is one of the many ingredients that go into a couscous. However, like the others, it is so tasty and delightful that it can be served as a main dish, and nobody will miss the couscous.

Try jazzing up the shortbread with chopped toasted nuts. We particularly like pecans, hazelnuts, and almonds. Use your favorite fine-quality butter for the best-tasting cookies.

Irish bacon, sliced and packaged, is increasingly available at supermarkets. If you find it at the butcher counter, ask the butcher to slice it into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Sweet Butter Pastries This recipe is based on the version of the Breton classic found in Anne Willan's L'Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne. The butter-rich dough gives a result akin to Danish pastry but more rustic.

Candida Sportiello writes: "As owner and chef of Il Giardino restaurant, on the tiny island of Ventotene off the coast of Naples, I've been cooking professionally for twenty-five years — but I've been cooking for pleasure for a good fifty years. As is the Italian way, most of my favorite recipes were handed down from my mother and grandmother, so they date from the early 1900s." This rich dessert is called a semifreddo ("half frozen") in Italian.

This beautiful tart features a pastry the Italians call pasta frolla — the texture of the dough is more like cookie dough than traditional French-style pastry. The lattice crust is surprisingly easy to make because it doesn't require weaving the strips. Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 5 hr

The Hotel Le Maquis and its restaurant, L'Arbousier, are the labor of love of one remarkable woman, Catherine Salini. She bought the land many decades ago and built this charming inn very close to where she grew up in Porticcio. The rooms are decorated with antiques (personally selected and purchased by Salini), and the walls are hung with paintings by local artists. It's a true pleasure to dine on L'Arbousier's terrace just above the beach, with its wonderful views of the bay. Here you can taste the famous sardines stuffed with Swiss chard and brocciu (a local cheese), prepared by chef Gérard Lorenzoni Salini, Catherine's son. Another favorite dish is this lobster fricassee, which evokes the sunny splendor of this island treasure.

Giant beans in some form or another are never absent from Greek meze menus. The key to making this dish taste as good as possible is to use high-quality roasted sweet peppers preserved in extra virgin olive oil. I usually make my own oil, and have them on hand. All you need to do is roast the peppers whole under the broiler, let them cool, peel them, and store them in a container in the fridge covered with good olive oil. You can pour a few tablespoons of the pepper-infused oil into the baking dish for added flavor. As for the beans themselves, the trick is to get the texture right. Giant beans need first to be soaked, then boiled, and finally baked. Once done, they should be soft, almost buttery, without being baked to the point that they fall apart.

Savory tarts and quiches are traditional in Alsace cooking. The tart and the<epi:recipelink id="102385">Salade Vigneronne epi:recipelinkcan be enjoyed as separate courses, or together.</epi:recipelink></epi:recipelink>

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. In France many swear by cooking these carrots in the pure water of Vichy, said to best bring out the vegetable's delicate flavor, but in truth the dish is delicious made with good water of any origin.

The classic — and amazingly easy — French sauce made with butter and wine gets a glamorous makeover with Champagne. Feel free to use less-expensive sparkling wine for cooking, but keep the blanc de blancs flowing as an accompaniment.

Purée de Carottes et Pommes de Terre Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr

These are favorites in Mexico and Russia.

There is probably nothing more dramatic — or better to eat — than a whole veal shank. It's a showstopper; when we bring this out from the kitchen prior to carving it tableside, every head turns, and for good reason. The succulent meat and the delicious marrow are truly impressive.