Main

3 viral, validated main recipes — each tested by a named editor in a real kitchen.

• Mexican · 310 min · Medium

  Tacos al Pastor — Marinated Pork Tacos

  Mexico City's most iconic taco: thin slices of pork marinated in dried chillies, achiote and pineapple, traditionally stacked on a vertical trompo and shaved off crisp. This home version uses the oven or grill to get the same sweet-smoky, slightly charred pork, served on warm corn tortillas with pineapple, onion and cilantro.

• Moroccan · 150 min · Medium

  Couscous with Seven Vegetables

  The Friday dish of the Maghreb: fluffy steamed semolina crowned with a saffron-and-ginger-scented broth of tender lamb (or chicken) and seven vegetables. Traditionally the couscous is steamed three times over the simmering stew so each grain stays light and separate — a ritual of patience that rewards you with the real thing.

• Georgian · 105 min · Hard

  Khinkali — Georgian Soup Dumplings

  Georgia's mountain dumplings: a twist of pleated dough holding spiced minced meat and — the whole point — a mouthful of hot broth that forms as they boil. You eat them by hand, holding the topknot, biting a small window to sip the soup, then devouring the rest. The little dough knot (kუდი) is left on the plate to count how many you've eaten.