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Eighteen recipes, each cooked side by side against the usual alternatives until one version clearly won. Look a dish up by name, or start from what is already in your fridge.
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Baking & sweets · ItalianChocolate Olive Oil Cake
Cocoa bloomed in hot coffee, eggs whisked to ribbons, and fruity olive oil for a moist, fudgy crumb that improves for days.
1 hrV -
Baking & sweets · ItalianOvernight Olive Oil Focaccia
A no-knead wet dough left in the fridge overnight, then dimpled in a well-oiled tin for a crisp, golden base.
OvernightVG -
Soups · FrenchFrench Onion Soup
An hour of patient browning, deglazed with splashes of water, under a lid of toasted bread and bubbling Gruyère.
1 hr 50 min -
Mains · ThaiThai Basil Chicken with Crispy Egg
Hand-chopped chicken thigh, a pounded garlic-chilli paste, and a fried egg with lacy, crisp edges.
20 min -
Salads & sides · ChineseSmashed Cucumber Salad
Cucumbers cracked with the flat of a knife, salted, then tossed in black vinegar, garlic and chilli oil.
30 minVG -
Mains · GreekLemon-Oregano Chicken and Potatoes
One tray: thighs roasted on top of potatoes that soak up lemony stock, then crisp at the edges as it cooks away.
1 hr 20 minGF -
Mains · JapaneseMiso-Glazed Salmon
A short miso marinade, wiped back before grilling, and a fresh coat of glaze so it blisters instead of burning.
52 min -
Soups · SpanishGazpacho, Blended and Sieved
Salted vegetables rested before blending, olive oil streamed in until it turns creamy, then a long chill.
2 hr 25 minVG -
Mains · MexicanCrispy Black Bean Tacos
Half-mashed smoky beans folded into corn tortillas and pan-fried until crisp, with quick-pickled onion and lots of lime.
35 minVGGF -
Mains · FilipinoChicken Adobo with Crisp Skin
Thighs braised in vinegar, soy and garlic, then crisped under the grill while the sauce reduces to a glaze.
1 hr -
Mains · ItalianMushroom Risotto with Porcini
Fresh mushrooms browned hard on their own, porcini soaking liquid in the stock, and a squeeze of lemon at the end.
55 minVGF -
Dips & small plates · Middle EasternSilky Hummus from Canned Chickpeas
Canned chickpeas boiled until falling apart, tahini whipped with ice water, and a long blend.
35 minVGGF -
Mains · ItalianSpaghetti Carbonara
Guanciale rendered slowly, a yolk-rich sauce, and the one step that matters most: letting the pan cool before the eggs go in.
25 min -
Breakfast & brunch · North AfricanShakshuka with Charred Peppers and Feta
Blistered peppers, a sauce reduced until a spoon leaves a trail, and eggs set under a lid so the yolks stay soft.
40 minVGF -
Mains · IndianRed Lentil Dal with Cumin Tadka
Lentils simmered until they collapse, whisked smooth, then finished with a two-stage tempering of seeds, onion and garlic.
45 minVGGF -
Salads & sides · GreekGreek Village Salad
No lettuce. Salted ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumber, olives, and a whole slab of feta with oregano on top.
20 minVGF -
Breakfast & brunch · AmericanFluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
A thick, barely mixed batter rested for ten minutes, then cooked low and slow for tall, tender pancakes.
35 minV -
Baking & sweets · AmericanBrown Sugar Banana Bread
Bananas weighed rather than counted, a spoon of yogurt for moisture, and a crackly demerara top.
1 hr 15 minV
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How a version earns its place
Pick the contenders
We list where popular versions of a dish genuinely differ — a technique, a ratio, one key ingredient — and cook those, not forty near-copies.
Cook them side by side
Same shop, same pan, one change per round. Tasters say which one they would make again, without knowing which is which.
Write down what won
The winner is repeated on different days, then written up with the losing versions noted underneath, so you can choose differently.