Dried Fruit

Sophisticated yet incredibly easy, this dish brings the flavors of Sicily to your table.

Using roast chicken from the grocery store makes this recipe super-easy. Improv: Add sweet and crunchy accents by mixing a few chopped toasted pecans and some dried cranberries into the chicken salad. Instead of rolls, use crusty French bread or thick slices of sourdough bread.

Be sure not to overblend — the little bits of fruit add a pleasant textural contrast. The pitted dates available in supermarkets work well.

This would be a hot contender for South Africa's national dish! The recipe was selected for an international recipe book published in 1951 by the United Nations Organisation. Bobotie is a Cape-Malay creation, and they spice it up even more with cumin, coriander and cloves. A similar dish was known in Europe in the middle ages after the Crusaders had brought turmeric from the East. When our first Dutch settlers arrived, Holland was largely influenced by Italian cooks, and a favorite dish was a hashed meat backed with curried sauce, spiked with red pepper and 'sweetened with blanched almonds.' There are many local variations, but the idea is that the mince should be tender and creamy in texture, which means long, slow cooking. Early cooks added a little tamarind water; lemon rind and juice is a more modern adaptation.

This recipe originally accompanied bobotie. Before we learned to make our own chutney from ingredients as diverse as apricots, dates, quinces and raisins, blatjang was imported from Java, made from sun-dried prawns and shrimps, which were pounded with a wooden pestle and mortar; and shaped into masses resembling large cheeses. Blatjang is the pride of Cape Malay-cuisine, and the recipe is one of the oldest around. The name comes from one of the constituents of the Javanese sambal blachang. Early food writer; C Louis Leipoldt, described it as 'bitingly spicy, pungently aromatic, moderately smooth and a very intimately mixed association of ingredients.' There is nothing quite like blatjang to add zest to curries or braaied meat. Adjust the amount of chilli to suit your preference. Blatjang may be stored for up to a year; but refrigerate once the bottle has been opened.

Geelrys (yellow rice) is great with bobotie and curry. Its other name, begrafnisrys (funeral rice) comes from the fact that it was always part of the meal served after funerals, a tradition of both the Dutch and the Cape Malays.

The simplicity and speed of this dish belie its deep, complex flavor — sweet, sour, spiced, and savory. Although the plums that once grew all over Epirus have been lost to more profitable crops, plums and prunes still appear in many of the region's dishes.

Unlike many store-bought granolas, this luxurious blend of oats, green pumpkin seeds, and exotic dried fruit is preservative-free and not overly sweet. Sprinkle it on yogurt, pancakes, or waffles—or simply enjoy eating it out of hand.

Look for 1-quart cordial bottles, carafes, or mason jars with necks wide enough for adding the fruit (and removing it, if desired, after the liqueur has matured). You may need slightly more or less fruit, vodka, and rock candy, depending on the size of the containers.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein's book, Raw.

Utensils needed: Mixing bowl; whisk; wooden spoon; large bowl; three 6-inch loaf pans, lightly buttered and dusted with Wondra flour; wire rack
Baking time: Approximately 25 minutes
Storage: Wrap tightly. Keep at room temperature up to 1 day; refrigerated, up to 1 week; frozen, up to 3 months.

Mango Chutney is the one we think of as the "original" and most traditional of all chutneys. It goes well with curries, chicken, pork, lamb, and game.

I first met Katy Sparks in the flesh at New York City's French Culinary Institute. We were both there to teach on a mentorship program, and since I was already wild about the food at her restaurant, Quilty's, I made a beeline for her and insisted we become friends and spend lots of time eating together. For fun, Katy and I have given several cooking classes working as a duet; she made these dates at our first class together. They are just the kind of thing I find irresistible — sweet, crunchy, juicy, spicy — you name it, they've got it. Once you have the ingredients, they're very easy to put together.

(Topfenstrudel) Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Rick Rodgers's book Kaffeehaus: The Best Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. Rodgers also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Austrian cooking, click here. Not every café has a full-time baker. At many, it's just Mama in the kitchen and often Mama doesn't feel like (or doesn't have enough counter space for) hand-pulling strudel dough. This classic recipe layers store-bought filo dough with a Topfen filling in a pan to make a deep-dish dessert. Thanks to Gerda Hofer for this recipe.

This dish features cabbage and cauliflower prepared simply, to preserve the purity of their flavors. The dates bring out the inherent sweetness of both vegetables perfectly. Make the purées first, then roast the cabbage and cook the chops.

This recipe is an accompaniment for Rack of Lamb and Roasted Cabbage with Cauliflower and Date Purées .

For Kill Bill, Uma Thurman had 10 weeks to lose 50 post-baby pounds. "I was being trained from every angle. Nine to five, five days a week. Every part of me hurt," she says. Easier to take: no-deprivation diet changes that Jackie Keller, founder of L.A. food-delivery service NutriFit, masterminded. Her dried-fruit nougats satisfied Thurman's chocolate yen.