The Cook the World Challenge

The rules

One dish per continent, seven in total. Use our recipe as your starting point, then adjust spice and heat to suit your table. Swaps are allowed when an ingredient is hard to find; our recipe cards page lists the ones we trust.

There is no time limit. Some people cook one a week for seven weeks, others make a single heroic weekend of it. Cook for at least one other person if you can, because every one of these dishes was built for sharing.

For the Antarctica round, open only the freezer and the pantry. Canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, dried barley, stock cubes and frozen meat are all fair game, which is close to what station cooks work with for much of the year.

Food safety still counts. Use a thermometer for the chicken in the tagine and the gumbo, and treat the ceviche with the care raw fish deserves.

Share your table

Finished a dish? Take a photo of the plate, tell us which continent you are on and what you changed, and tag Intercontinental Chef. We love seeing family twists, clever swaps and honest kitchen disasters alike.

Finished all seven? Tell us which dish you would cook again tomorrow and which continent surprised you most. Your answers help us choose the next countries we cover.