Gourmet

The stacking and Asian fusion of this dish is very 1990s. But don't worry about its trendiness: Heady wallops of curry and ginger make this beautiful preparation timeless.

Introduced to England at the beginning of the 20th century by the wife of the British viceroy of India, this soup, enhanced with cream and a touch of curry, was soon turning up in dining rooms across Europe.

We weren't sure what would result from pouring an egg-and-yogurt mixture over a gratin of potatoes. The answer? A thin layer of tangy custard that just melts into the gratin. Like a much more sumptuous version of the sour-cream-topped baked potato, this dish is a welcome change of pace.

Hold the cabbage! The takeout industry has given egg rolls a bad name, but in the 1940s, Gourmet readers clamored for a genuine version of the "Chinese delicacy." Our answer was fragrant with garlic, scallions, shiitakes, shrimp, and roast pork.

Remember icebox pies? And how the flavor of butterscotch always seems to melt extra slowly on your tongue? The lighter-than-air quality of the creamy filling, along with the crunch of the pecan topping, make every bite of this cooling pie a real treat.

Why a trio of cheeses? Fontina for its melting quality and nutty flavor, Gorgonzola for its biting blue punch, and Parmigiano-Reggiano for its uncanny ability to amplify other cheeses.

Hard-boiled eggs, sour cream, and onion are traditional accompaniments for caviar. In this longtime staple of community cookbooks, they are turned into a shallow cake and spread with caviar. We used supermarket lumpfish caviar, but if you're feeling flush, use the good stuff, or even Japanese tobiko (flying-fish roe).

Galette des Rois
You can bake this cake to celebrate Epiphany, as they've done in parts of France since the Middle Ages, and bury a trinket (called a fève, after the fava bean that was originally used) in its filling. Whoever finds it will be king or queen for the day. Serving a dessert this buttery, flaky, and downright delicious, however, doesn't require a holiday (or a hidden surprise).

With these distinctly Middle Eastern kebabs, the minty coolness of the yogurt sauce offsets the allspice, pepper, and cinnamon in some of the most succulent and juicy meatballs you have ever tasted.

Persian in origin, this soufflé is wonderfully airy, and the eggplant is infused with garlic and lemon. Think of it as a warm, puffy baba ghanouj.

We've run at least a dozen different recipes for steak au poivre since our first one, in 1953 — and there's a reason why, even after we started adorning meat with chiles, salts, and dry rubs, we continue to return to this dish. Why? Because it's so darn good. And despite its somewhat macho image, this particular preparation tastes practically tony. (We found it a good excuse to use fine-quality peppercorns, such as Tellicherry or the smoky, meaty Talamanca del Caribe.)

Palacsinta When crêpes entered the American consciousness, they had an air of fussiness about them. But the truth is they're very easy to make — and a regular nonstick skillet and ordinary spoon work just as well as any crêpe pan or tiny specialty ladle. This Austro-Hungarian dessert strikes just the right balance of lightness and sweetness.

The garlicky sauce in this dish is almost as delicious as the escargots themselves; it's hard to think of a better use for crusty bread than sopping up this luxurious "snail butter." But the main event is the escargots' tender texture and clean, woodsy flavor. When we ran this recipe in 1949, it took a full day's work, most of it cleaning and prepping the fresh snails. We found that canned snails work just as well and turn this appetizer into one that can be whipped up anytime.

Sausage, egg, scallion, and cheese are layered over garlicky "Texas toast" in the heartiest take on savory bread pudding we've ever come across — just the sight of it could stir a cowboy-size appetite. This stick-to-your-ribs breakfast for a crowd can be completely assembled the night before.

In this spin on New Orleans's classic appetizer of barbecue shrimp, chipotle chiles stand in for cayenne and black pepper, truly transforming the dish with a beguiling play of spice, a hint of smoke, and a gorgeous brick-red color. Here, we serve the shrimp as a main course — but in the spirit of the original, we've kept this a meal to eat with your hands. Peeling the shrimp, slurping their shells, and scooping up the hot, buttery sauce with crusty bread makes for nothing less than a feast. Best of all, it's ready in a flash.

Three cheers for any dessert that can be made two days ahead, frozen, and then softened in the fridge while guests and cook alike enjoy dinner. And all the better if it is a truly memorable finale that sets off waves of flavor explosions: sweet meringue, cold ice cream, and puckery lemon curd.

We think of this gratin as a vegetable-driven version of everyone's favorite, mac and cheese. The nutty, sweet undertones of cauliflower are particularly suited to meld with the tangy, salty Cheddar and the spicy horseradish.

We don't know who thought of it first, but making the pecan filling with maple syrup, instead of the more customary (and highly processed) corn syrup, was a stroke of genius. This pie is delicious. We added a bit of lemon juice, which prevents the sweetness from becoming cloying. Don't be concerned if the pie appears thin — this makes for a good balance between filling and pastry.