Starter

31 recipes in this course

starterAIGazpacho AndaluzA cold, blended soup of ripe summer tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, and sherry vinegar — the drink and the dish of Andalusia. No cooking required, just a blender and the ripest vegetables you can find. Serve ice-cold.
  • Vegan
  • Lactose-free
15 min15+04 servingsstarterAIBanitsaCoiled filo with a filling of brined white cheese, egg and yoghurt, baked until the outer spiral shatters and the inside stays soft. Best eaten warm, in the hand, with a glass of ayran.
  • Vegetarian
70 min25+458 servingsstarterAIBob Chorba Bean SoupBulgaria's everyday bean soup: dried beans simmered soft, then finished with a paprika-and-savory frying and a good deal of dried mint.
  • Vegan
  • Lactose-free
115 min15+1004 servingsstarterAICaesar SaladRomaine, a proper anchovy-and-egg dressing, parmesan and croutons, with chicken on top. The dressing is the recipe; everything else is assembly.35 min20+154 servingsstarterAIDolma — Stuffed Vine LeavesVine leaves rolled around rice, sweet onion and a great deal of herbs, simmered slowly under a weighted plate and served cold with lemon. Patience at the rolling table is the only difficulty.
  • Vegan
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
95 min45+506 servingsstarterAIGreek SaladHoriatiki: tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and a whole slab of feta, dressed with nothing but good oil and oregano. No lettuce, and that is not an omission.
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten-free
15 min15+04 servingsstarterAIMushroom SoupMushrooms browned hard in butter, then simmered with potato and onion into a clear, dark broth and served with sour cream and dill.
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten-free
50 min15+354 servingsstarterAIIrish Salmon ChowderA gentle cream soup of leek, potato and salmon, thickened only by the potatoes breaking down. The fish goes in at the very end and poaches in the residual heat, which is what keeps it in flakes rather than threads.
  • Gluten-free
50 min20+304 servingsstarterAIKharchoGeorgian beef soup thickened with ground walnuts and soured with tkemali plum sauce, with rice, a great deal of garlic and a forest of coriander.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
115 min20+954 servingsstarterAILentil Cream SoupRed lentils cooked down with onion, carrot and cumin, blended smooth and finished with lemon. Thirty minutes, one pot, and no cream in it at all.
  • Vegan
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
40 min10+304 servingsstarterAIVegetable Cream SoupLeek, celery, carrot and potato softened in butter and simmered in stock, then blended smooth and loosened with cream.
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten-free
45 min15+304 servingsstarterAIOvcharska SaladThe shepherd's salad: a shopska with ham, yellow cheese, mushrooms and egg piled on. A whole meal in a bowl, and the reason nobody orders a main course after it.
  • Gluten-free
30 min20+104 servingsstarterAICrab Stick SaladCrab sticks, rice, sweetcorn and egg bound with mayonnaise. The salad that appears on every Ukrainian table between New Year and Easter, and disappears fastest.
  • Lactose-free
40 min20+206 servingsstarterAIShopska SaladTomato, cucumber, pepper and onion under a drift of grated white cheese. Fifteen minutes, no cooking, and it stands or falls entirely on the tomatoes.
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten-free
15 min15+04 servingsstarterAISweet Chilli Chicken Wings, Air FryerCrisp wings without deep frying, tossed in a sweet chilli glaze sharpened with lime and ginger. Twenty-five minutes from fridge to plate, and the glaze goes on at the very end so it never burns.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
40 min15+254 servingsstarterAIUkha Fish SoupA clear river-fish broth with potato and onion, the fish poached in it at the very end and the bowl finished with butter, lemon and a fistful of dill.
  • Gluten-free
45 min15+304 servingsstarterAIBadrijaniFried aubergine slices rolled around a thick walnut-and-garlic paste, finished with pomegranate seeds — a cold starter from the Georgian feast table.
  • Vegan
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
45 min30+154 servingsstarterAISatsivi ChickenPoached chicken served cold under a thick, golden walnut-and-garlic sauce sharpened with vinegar — a fixture of the Georgian New Year table.
  • Lactose-free
75 min20+554 servingsstarterAIFlakiPolish beef tripe soup in a rich, paprika-warmed broth, thickened with a light butter-and-flour roux and lifted with ginger, nutmeg and marjoram.165 min30+1354 servingsstarterAIŻurekPolish sour rye soup built on a soured rye starter, simmered with smoky sausage and potatoes, finished with cream and halved boiled eggs — a tang no other soup quite reaches.75 min20+554 servingsstarterAICevicheFresh white fish "cooked" entirely by lime juice, tossed with red onion, chilli and coriander, and served cold — no stove involved anywhere in the process.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
25 min25+04 servingsstarterAISteak TartareHand-chopped raw beef mixed with capers, cornichons, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, mounded into a nest with a raw egg yolk on top — the dish that made a knife's edge as important as any heat source.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
30 min30+04 servingsstarterAISalmon TartareRaw salmon diced small and dressed with lemon, olive oil, capers and dill, served cool over avocado — nothing here is cooked, so every ingredient has to earn its place on its own.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
25 min25+04 servingsstarterAITuna TartareSashimi-grade raw tuna diced small and tossed with tamari, toasted sesame oil and lime, served over avocado with a scattering of sesame seeds.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
20 min20+04 servingsstarterAICalamares a la RomanaSquid rings dredged in nothing but seasoned flour and deep-fried until pale gold and crisp, served hot with a squeeze of lemon — the tapas bar standard that a heavier batter only gets in the way of.
  • Lactose-free
25 min15+104 servingsstarterAISalmorejo CaseroA thick, chilled Córdoban soup of blended tomato, bread, garlic and olive oil, topped with chopped hard-boiled egg and diced cured ham — thicker and richer than gazpacho, and meant to be eaten with a spoon rather than drunk from a glass.
  • Lactose-free
15 min15+04 servingsstarterAITom Yum KungA fiery, sour Thai prawn soup built on a broth of lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime, sharpened with lime juice and roasted chilli paste until it hits sour, spicy, salty and sweet all at once.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
35 min15+204 servingsstarterAITrout YukolaWind-dried salted trout — the Cossacks' way of keeping fish without a fridge, today a favourite snack with a cold beer.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
30 min30+06 servingsstarterAIMeatball SoupA light, clear Ukrainian home soup of tender pork-and-beef meatballs, potatoes, carrot and rice, finished with fresh dill and parsley.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
60 min25+354 servingsstarterAIBaked Salo with GarlicA slab of pork fatback with the skin on, cured with salt, garlic and paprika, then slow-baked until silky and sliced thin on rye bread.
  • Gluten-free
  • Lactose-free
180 min30+15012 servingsstarterAISolyankaA hearty Slavic soup built on beef broth, three kinds of smoked and cured meat, pickled cucumbers, olives and capers: sour, salty, smoky and very filling, finished with sour cream and dill.
  • Gluten-free
160 min30+1306 servings