Alfajores are Argentina’s beloved sandwich cookies: two impossibly tender, crumbly rounds hugging a thick layer of dulce de leche, with coconut pressed around the edges. One with coffee is civilized; stopping at one is...

Dulce de membrillo is one of the Iberian Peninsula’s oldest sweets: quinces slowly cooked with sugar until they transform into a dense, sliceable amber paste. In Spain it is inseparable from Manchego cheese —...

Almejas a la marinera are Galicia’s clams “sailor style”: opened in a sauce of onion, garlic, paprika, wine and tomato, thickened just enough to cling to every shell. Where Portugal’s Bulhão Pato keeps clams...

Pollo al ajillo is Spain’s beloved garlic chicken: pieces of chicken browned until golden, then simmered with toasted garlic, bay leaf, lemon and a splash of sherry until the sauce turns silky and irresistible....

Pulpo a la gallega — or pulpo á feira, “fair-style octopus” — is Galicia’s most iconic dish: slices of tender octopus over potatoes, dressed with nothing more than good olive oil, coarse salt and...

Polvo à lagareiro is the octopus sibling of the bacalhau dish of the same name — and many Portuguese would quietly tell you it is the superior of the two. Tender boiled octopus, roasted...

Caldeirada de peixe is Portugal’s great fisherman’s stew — born on the boats, where the day’s unsold catch went into one pot with onions, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes, layered and simmered until everything melded...

Empadão de atum is the weeknight hero of Portuguese home cooking: canned tuna and vegetables under a blanket of nutmeg-scented mashed potatoes, baked until the top turns golden. Humble ingredients, honest comfort. This version...

Tripas à moda do Porto is more than a stew — it is the dish that gave the people of Porto their nickname, tripeiros. Legend says that in the 15th century, the city donated...

This empada de carne is Portuguese comfort food at its most shameless: a savory filling of ground beef and chorizo under a golden crust of mashed potatoes, striped with a fork and studded with...