Easy

True Ceviche (page 21) “cooks” fish by marinating it in an acidic dressing. But there is a similar dish in which the fish is simmered in boiling water first; it’s used most frequently with seafood that is tough when raw, but it’s also used—at least in this country—as a form of reassurance. It’s a bit of a cheat, but so what? There is little difference between the texture or quality of fish that has been marinated in lime and that of fish that has been cooked quickly (which is why marinating in lime is perfectly acceptable in the first place). Like all ceviche, this is a great starter.

These are the Platonic ideal of our packaged cheese puffs, with the texture of macaroons and the flavors of fresh cheese and fragrant spices. Serve as a snack or stand-up food. You can prepare the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake or make the biscuits themselves ahead of time and store them in an airtight container for up to a day.

Unlike common deviled eggs, these, usually served as a tapa, have both texture and more flavor. The shrimp and olives bring a nice saltiness to the dish, which is ideal for a picnic.

I first had this appetizer as street food, near a market in Bangkok. The combination of raw ingredients normally used as flavoring agents for cooked dishes was intriguing and refreshing. The betel leaf used to hold everything together gave an additional bite to the dish. Betel leaves are impossible to find here, but the dish remains delicious with spinach leaves or even lettuce. If you’re not familiar with Thai fish sauce (nam pla), see page 500. You put it all together at the table, so it’s kind of fun. Serve this as the start to any meal featuring other food from Southeast Asia.

Compare this recipe, which is usually served cold as a panchan (small appetizer or side dish), with the Japanese version on page 184, and you’ll have a vision of the difference between Japanese and Korean cooking, which are closely linked and starkly different at the same time.

This stuff is great, and I have never tasted it in this country except in my own kitchen. I first had it in Turkey, where it was quite spicy, but have since learned that it’s equally acceptable milder. Dried urpa or aleppo pepper, or hot paprika, is the ideal seasoning—a bit of bite but not overwhelming—but judicious use of hot red pepper flakes is also good. You can also omit the heat entirely. This spread can be made hours or even a day in advance. Always, however, serve it at room temperature, never cold. Serve with bread or vegetable sticks; it makes a great sandwich ingredient too.

This brilliantly colored starter is an unusual and extremely elegant way of using beets. Serve it with chips, bread, or toast or as an accompaniment to any roast poultry dish. Make this ahead of time if you can; it’s best after marinating overnight.

Its flavor bears no resemblance to real caviar, its ingredients (except for the salt) have nothing to do with caviar, but its texture—supposedly—is akin to that of caviar. If there are enough seeds in your eggplant—not necessarily a good thing—I suppose you could argue that its graininess is like that of caviar. In any case, it’s a wonderful spread for Crostini (page 41), as a dip for fresh vegetables, or as a stuffing for roasted peppers or tomatoes (pages 492).

You are served this everywhere in Istanbul and everywhere told this story: the dish is so delicious that the imam or priest to whom it was served simply fainted—“bayildi.” (Some people say he was so very thrifty that he fainted at the profligate amount of olive oil used, but since olive oil is no longer especially expensive—and a half cup is not that much, after all—you can enjoy this dish without guilt.) As is almost always the case, the small, light-skinned “Japanese” eggplants work best because they lack the bitterness common to larger eggplants. If you cannot get those, use the smallest eggplants you can find. This dish is always served at room temperature (or cold), so make it ahead of time.

Like most other bean preparations, this is far better with beans you cook yourself than with canned (frozen beans, now available at many supermarkets, fall somewhere in the middle). But even with canned beans, it is so much better than commercially made bean dip you may never go back. If you cook the beans yourself, start with the recipe for Black Beans with Garlic and Cumin (you can cook red beans this way too), page 438, and cook them until they are quite soft. Reserve the cooking liquid. Serve with tortilla chips, toasted pita bread (not a traditional combination but a good one), or raw vegetables.

This delicious snack from Trinidad and Guyana is the perfect accompaniment to any cold cocktail, and if you think of it while you’re cooking chickpeas for another recipe, it’s incredibly easy. If you’re curious about Old World origins of New World foods, you’ll be interested to know that, in India, one of the many words for chickpeas is chana.

This is a standard at tapas bars in Spain and a perfect addition to any cocktail party. The salt will adhere to the nuts better if you grind it for a few moments in a food processor or spice or coffee grinder; this gives it a more irregular surface than it usually has.

Salted nuts are made wherever they’re grown and are infinitely better than nuts from a jar or can. Note that these are not fried—there is no additional oil—but roasted. This basic, easy recipe can also be used for whole almonds or hazelnuts.

Fried peanuts will amaze your guests with their crunch and fresh, distinctive flavor. Add different kinds of nuts if you like, as long as they are “raw” to begin with (the industrial shelling process uses enough heat to cook the nuts, at least a little bit). The best raw peanuts are usually found in the fall (peanuts are an exception; the best season for other nuts is spring), when they are fresh and tender. Like any nuts, these are great with drinks, especially beer.

Especially when made with lamb, this is incomparably delicious; serve it with good bread or toast. There was a time when this meat was chopped, then pounded and kneaded by hand, for longer than you or I have the patience to do. The food processor makes quick work of the process, and if you buy good fresh meat from a reliable source and handle it carefully, it’s as safe as a rare hamburger.

Carpaccio, now a staple at many high-end restaurants, even non-Italian ones, is a glorified version of this Piemontese specialty (in Tuscany and other parts of central Italy, an even simpler plate of cured meats is served routinely), which will provide a vibrant beginning to any dinner party. This dish depends on the flavor of olive oil, so break out the good stuff. The meat will be easier to cut into small pieces if you put it in the freezer for about half an hour first to firm it up a bit.

This creamy dip is made from tarama, the salted (and sometimes smoked) roe of mullet or other fish (we usually see it made from cod or salmon roe). Serve it with strips of fresh vegetables, like cucumber, red pepper, carrot, and celery, toasted pita bread, or both.

One of the simplest and most impressive cured dishes and certainly the king of cured fish. Speaking of king, if you can find wild Pacific salmon (usually spring through fall), especially king or sockeye, use it; if not, farm-raised salmon is quite good when treated this way. In fact, farm-raised salmon is a pretty good option—because it is harvested and shipped to stores daily it’s usually perfectly fresh, a requisite for all salmon you’d consider using for gravlax. Generally, gravlax is ready within 24 hours, but it’s better after a little longer than that, and you can hold it for another couple of days before serving if you like; it will become increasingly dry and strong flavored, not a bad thing. In any case, treat finished gravlax as a fresh food and use it within a few days.

A popular snack in the Caribbean, these wafer-thin crisps are best eaten right away, and though this amount technically makes 4 servings, you may be tempted to eat all of them alone. The plantains’ inherent sweetness is countered nicely with a little heat from the cayenne. These are best as an accompaniment to mojitos or other Caribbean cocktails, or use as a garnish for any Caribbean dish. They will stay crisp for a few hours if you store them in an airtight container as soon as they cool.

In Mexico, guacamole is traditionally made in a molcajete, a mortar made from volcanic rock. It’s a lovely tradition, but since you probably don’t have a molcajete, use a bowl and fork or a potato masher. The admittedly more complicated variation that follows is superior but not nearly as quick.