Herbs & Spices

These unusual inside-out tacos have an avocado filling and a meat sauce.

Here, tomatillos become a brilliant green sauce for baked fish.

The sauce would also taste great with pork tenderloin.

Serve cooled, leftover salsa with chips.

These easy enchiladas have a bright, lively flavor thanks to lots of tomatillos, fresh herbs, and two kinds of chiles.

Silky zabaglione, warm from cooking but also imbued with deep heat from the wine, cloaks the vanilla-scented fruit with a heady richness. Though it's normally made with Marsala, this more subtle version gives the season's first apricots a chance to shine.

Veal in Switzerland often presupposes sauerkraut, but we prefer a lighter take. With crunchy radishes and bitter frisée, this salad brings its vinegar note in the form of a spicy mustard dressing.

Tarragon leaves and meaty morel caps shoot up all over the Jura mountains in the spring. Here, tossed with juicy green and white asparagus — Europeans are particularly mad for the latter — they're a genuine sampling of the season.

These crisp golden crêpes, filled with shrimp, pork, and vegetables, are both delicious and fun to eat. Simply wrap each crêpe in a lettuce leaf, tuck in fresh herbs like mint and basil, and dip it in the sweet-and-sour sauce.

Char Kway Teow These slightly sweet, salty rice noodles, with lots of garlic and a hint of heat, are a popular street food in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. There's a bit of chopping involved, but the ingredients are remarkably easy to put together.

Moroccan hospitality, always gracious, begins with mezes, the enticing little dishes set out to welcome guests before the meal. Cumin and mint are a classic combination, and they work particularly well with roasted beets — the cumin underlines their earthiness, and the mint freshens their undeniable sweetness.

Aligot gratin with horseradish cream Peasant ingenuity triumphs in this simple, soul-satisfying dish from France's mountainous Auvergne region. It's the perfect foil for grilled or roasted meat.

Chuchi e palmito Bites of chayote are a burst of refreshment here. A slight acidity from the hearts of palm and the lime juice, along with chopped herbs, makes this one of the brightest salads you've ever tasted.

We usually encounter only one version of Brazil's signature dish in this country — the one from Bahia, rich and almost currylike with coconut milk and dendê oil. This lighter one, from Espírito Santo, reflects that state's long coastline: Its bright broth results from the fish, tomatoes, lime juice, and vegetables, which meld beautifully. And it couldn't be easier. You simply layer the marinated seafood with the other ingredients in a cold pan and turn up the heat, simmering for just 20 minutes.

Brik The old joke is that brik turns into a brick if the pastry (in Tunisia, malsuqa) is not thin enough. We found spring-roll wrappers had just what the dish required — they are delicate but sturdy enough for the eggy stuffing.

You can barely take a step in the markets of Marrakech without tripping over fresh mint, or at least without being offered a glass of hot, sweet mint tea.

Dried fruits and nuts are common in Moroccan pastries, but this tart is something special — the richness of the dough and the pop of the sesame seeds bring out that honeyed quality you normally associate with fresh figs. The cardamom cream is whisper-light, and the fresh orange segments are refreshingly cool.

In this confit, called tfaya, all the ingredients blend together, taking on a melting softness as well as the distinct notes of honey. Added to savory dishes like the couscous or even the lamb, it provides an unexpected brightness along with the sweetness.

Scallops halved horizontally cook fast and make a meaty, substantial meal — especially when accompanied by this rich white-wine sauce studded with peas and chopped chives.