Seafood

Tikinxic—Yucatán's ubiquitous grilled fish—gets a double wallop of flavor: first from a recado rojo (fire-red achiote marinade), then from a wrapping of banana leaves, which help keep the fish moist, prevent it from sticking to the grill, and add their own unique taste.

Frozen puff pastry makes a quick and easy crust for this modern take on pizza.

The best tool for grating is a rotary grater by Zyliss ($20; chefcentral.com) or by Microplane ($25; thekitchenstore.com).

Great on polenta, grits, or steamed rice.

The addition of the sweet vermouth here punctuates the natural sweetness of the canned tomatoes, making this quick sauce taste as if it's been simmered for hours.

Traditionally, this bouillabaisse-like stew is rich with tomatoes and chunks of wild-caught freshwater fish such as perch, tench, eel, trout, and pike. While wild-caught is best, fillets of farmed freshwater fish—including tilapia, catfish, trout, and arctic char—also work well.

You'll want to break out the red-checkered tablecloth when you make this spicy, briny, and superbly balanced version of the Italian-American staple at home.

This classic Italian sauce, with its combination of balsamic vinegar and a touch of sugar, lends deep sweetness and a hit of acidity to the meaty sautéed fish.

Even if anchovies aren't part of your culinary heritage, the way the sweetness of the onions and the saltiness of the fish interact, combined with the tactile pleasure of the crunchy bread crumbs, will have you missing your nonna no matter what your nationality.

If you like stuffed clams, you'll love this variation. The mussels are steamed open, then topped with garlicky herbed bread crumbs that truly complement the plump bites of briny flavor beneath.

Salads like this one are found all over Puglia, almost always with carrot, celery, and parsley (we suspect the locals like the combination as much for its gorgeous color contrast with the octopus as for its freshness and crunch) and lightly dressed with olive oil and lemon.

The combination of salmon and whitefish is delicious (and pretty). A few tablespoons of horseradish give a real kick to the sauce. To adjust the heat to your taste, add the horseradish a little bit at a time.

Serve with toasted country bread.

Surf-and-turf like you've never had before—whole fried trout topped with crisp pieces of sweet and spicy pork. For a traditional Thai dinner, serve the mains and sides family-style with a large bowl of steamed jasmine rice.

In this delicately flavored main course, the asparagus steams along with the fish in individual paper packets.

In this appetizer, the spicy squid and the cooling relish are wrapped in betel (pronounced "beetle") leaves, which have a slightly bitter taste. If you can't find betel leaves, Boston or romaine lettuce leaves make a good substitute.