Chef Thomas
A Proper Roast Chicken
A whole bird rubbed with butter, stuffed with lemon and thyme, roasted until the skin crackles and the kitchen smells like the kind of evening you want to sit down and stay in.
Recipe Archive
Main Dishes
Main dishes anchor the meal. This category gathers poultry, seafood, meat, pasta, grains, and plant-forward recipes with clear methods and satisfying structure.
1844 recipes
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Recipes
Chef Makoa
ʻAʻama (Hawaiian Black Rock Crab with Paʻakai)
Hawaiʻi's reef-gathered ʻaʻama, the small black rock crab from the shoreline stones, boiled quick in salty water and picked whole at the lūʻau table beside ʻopihi.
Chef Joost
Aardappelschotel met Gehakt
A plain name for a quietly clever dish: fresh mince, sweet fried onion, nutmeg, and mashed potato baked until the top goes golden and the table goes silent.
Chef Graziella
Abbacchio a Scottadito
Roman lamb chops grilled over scorching heat, seasoned with nothing but salt, rosemary, and fire. You eat them with your hands, straight from the grill, burning your fingers because you cannot wait.
Chef Graziella
Abbacchio alla Romana
Roman milk-fed lamb cut like a chicken, braised with wine, rosemary, and anchovy until the meat surrenders to the fork. The anchovy disappears. The flavor does not.
Chef Juliana
Açaí com Camarão do Pará
You think açaí belongs with banana and granola because that's the version that traveled. In Pará, thick unsweetened açaí sits beside shrimp, rice, and farinha. Anota aí: same fruit, different meal.
Chef Juliana
Açaí com Peixe Frito
You think savory açaí is not for you. I understand. Then you taste the cold, dark bowl beside hot fried fish, rice, greens, and farinha, and dinner gets very quiet.
Chef Margarida
Açorda de Camarão
The peasant bread soup of Alentejo dressed for company, sweet pink prawns swimming in a broth of garlic, coentros, and golden azeite. Humble origins, elegant result. This is who we are.
Chef Lupita
Acúmara Tatemada al Comal
Michoacán's Lake Pátzcuaro acúmara, a whole kurucha from the lago tatemada on a comal de leña and served with chile perón atápakua, corn tortillas, and P'urhépecha discipline.
Chef Lupita
Adobo de Puerco Poblano
Puebla's weekday adobo of pork shoulder braised in a thick guajillo and ancho sauce sharpened with vinegar, cumin, and clove. The deep red of a market spice stall, the dish a poblana cooks without thinking.
Chef Dimitra
Aegean Island Chtapodi me Kritharaki (Χταπόδι με Κριθαράκι)
Aegean island octopus, tomato, red wine, and toasted kritharaki share one pot, so the pasta drinks the briny sauce and stays glossy instead of turning heavy.
Chef Dimitra
Aegean Coast Psari Plaki (Ψάρι Πλακί)
Aegean coast psari plaki is the quiet whole-fish bake: onions and tomato softened first, fish laid on top, and olive oil doing its slow work until the bones release cleanly.
Chef Dimitra
Aegean Island Astakomakaronada (Αστακομακαρονάδα Αιγαίου)
Astakomakaronada is the Aegean islands' celebration pasta: spiny lobster, tomato, olive oil, and long noodles cooked in the shell broth, never drowned in cream or cheese.
Chef Dimitra
Aegean Island Katsiki sti Souvla (Κατσίκι στη Σούβλα)
Aegean Easter goat on the spit, lean and full-flavored, turned slowly over charcoal and basted with lemon, oregano, garlic, and good olive oil.
Chef Dimitra
Aegean Islands Chtapodi sti Schara (Χταπόδι στη Σχάρα)
Aegean island octopus, simmered tender in its own juices, then marked hard on the grill and finished with oil, vinegar, oregano, and lemon.
Chef Dimitra
Aegean Islands Chtapodi Xidato (Χταπόδι Ξιδάτο)
From the Aegean islands, this is the Lenten octopus: simmered slowly without added water, sliced while tender, and steeped in vinegar, oregano, and its own dark cooking liquor.
Chef Graziella
Agnello al Forno con Patate
The Sunday lamb of Puglia, roasted with potatoes until they absorb every precious drop of rendered fat. In this dish, the potatoes become the reason you came to the table.
Chef Graziella
Agnolotti del Plin
The pinched pasta of Piedmont, each tiny parcel sealed with thumb and forefinger, filled with braised meat that has surrendered to hours of slow cooking. Butter or broth. Nothing more.
Chef Graziella
Agnolotti del Plin
The tiny pinched parcels of Piedmont, filled with braised meat and sealed with a gesture that has passed from grandmother to granddaughter for centuries. The pinch is both technique and signature.
Chef Jeong-sun
Agwi-jjim (Braised Monkfish with Bean Sprouts)
Firm monkfish buried under crisp soybean sprouts, minari, and a red gochugaru sauce thickened at the end; Masan's market dish asks for heat, timing, and a steady hand.
Chef Makoa
Ahimaʻa Puaʻa (Tahitian Earth-Oven Pork)
Tahitian puaʻa cooked in the spirit of the ahimaʻa, the earth oven of maʻa Tahiti, wrapped in banana leaf and held low and slow until the meat gives in two fingers.
Chef Joost
Ajam Besengek
Ajam Besengek is the golden chicken stew of the Indo-Dutch table: coconut milk, turmeric, and candlenut cooked down until the sauce clings to the meat like memory.
Chef Joost
Ajam Betawi (Chicken from Batavia)
The old Dutch spelling says ajam, the city says Batavia, and the pot says exactly what the rijsttafel always was: memory, trade, and dinner in one dish.
Chef Joost
Ajam Goreng (Indo-Dutch Fried Chicken)
The name means simply fried chicken, but the Dutch spelling carries a whole Indies kitchen: turmeric, coriander, garlic, and a golden crust that remembers the boemboe.
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary Explorer