Supă cu găluște (Semolina dumpling soup) (Romanian)

This is one of the most common soups in Romanian kitchens, and most of my childhood it was my absolute favorite thing from my mom's food rotations. 
Large pieces of chicken and vegetables are boiled in a broth for an hour or so until the liquid becomes very flavorful, and then the solids are removed and reserved for another use (in our home, the chicken pieces would then get fried in a pan and the result was much more flavorful then a simple fried chicken that skipped the veggie soaking; and the vegetables - mainly parsley root and parsnip and carrots - would get mashed with a little butter and served as a side for the fried chicken pieces). With only the clear soup remaining on the stove, large semolina-based dumplings are then added and softly boiled until just right. It's served hot and if you try it, it will be the best thing you've ever eaten. 
Making the dumplings can be a bit tricky - if the dough is too hard, the dumplings will be hard and chewy and not very good, but if you make it too soft they will disintegrate and form a mushy mass throughout the whole soup. It will still be tastier than the hard dumplings you would get in the first case, but definitely not too pretty. Luckily, you don't need to fret about getting it right, since you have my mom's recipe now :). 

P.S: A regular large deep plate of soup usually contains 4-5 large dumplings, but in the picture above there's only one because I used a small(er) bowl as a serving dish. I usually enjoyed adding croutons to the soup bowl after finishing the dumplings and my mom joked about it being my milk-and-cereal dish, since it tended to be a staple of mine. 

Last year: Ghanaian tomato and peanut soup (vegan).
Two years ago: Espresso and walnut iced brownies.
Three years ago: Simple coconut brownies.
Four years ago: Amaretto colada (cocktail), Easy home-made Raclette (French-Swiss) and Pasta with spicy mascarpone sauce, mushrooms and artichokes.

Coconut almond chia seed pudding (vegan)

Are you wondering how to include more chia seeds into your diet? I did too, and found this easy and delicious solution (great for convincing my kid to have some as well). You can make it an evening before having it for breakfast and just let the seeds soak overnight in the fridge, or you can make it 10 minutes before serving it directly, however you want it :).

Recipe vaguely adapted from here.

Last year: Camembert and caper Flammkuchen.
Two years ago: Artichoke crostini.
Three years ago: Sweet potato, wild mushroom and guacamole wraps.
Four years ago: Orange jam&liquor Linzer torte (Austrian/German and Hungarian), Goat cheese salad with paprika dressing and Easy chicken tacos with guacamole.

Za'atar latkes (Jewish)

Za'atar is frankly one of my favorite things to put on (and in) latkes, and the taste match is balanced and perfect. If you usually have your latkes with a dollop of cream, rest assured that the za'atar and the cream aren't mutually exclusive and you can actually serve these with cream too.
Whenever you have a batch of latkes just waiting to be adorned with various toppings, do give this one a try, its spicy in a subtle way, delicious, and most importantly, it's fit for a Jewish cuisine-themed get together, because the topping doesn't stray outside of the area's specificity. 
Also, my suggestion would be to not simply decorate existing latkes with this spice, but to go full in and add the spice to the latkes mix before frying them. This flavor shouldn't be simply in latkes only as a back-up idea for when you'd like an extra variety of toppings; give the za'atar a more mainstream role and you'll love the result. :)

Recipe source: here (the source only mentions putting the spice in the latkes, but I really wanted to add more on top as well, so bear that in mind if you're looking for super-authenticity). :)

Last year: Fluffy American pancakes (basic recipe).
Two years ago: Mexican hot chocolate.
Three years ago: Three cheese pasta with bell peppers and cranberries.
Four years ago: Blue skies cocktail (Blue curacao milk), Fastest home-made crackers (Romanian sărățele) and Oeufs Cocotte (French baked eggs).

Latkes (Jewish potato pancakes)

The most well-known dish of the Jewish cuisine and perhaps the one which has seeped into the food of other peoples the most. The history of latkes is rich and fascinating, and while I won't recount it here for lack of space and time, it's enough to say that making them central to Jewish cuisine and culture would be somewhat of an understatement. 
While everyone knows its Jewish origins, it's hard to encounter a latke-free celebration in today's USA even in completely Gentile gatherings. Of course, the delicious character of these bite-sized appetizers probably contributed to this as well: if just one dish had to be chosen from any food culture, the latkes would be the most difficult to resist from the Jewish cuisine. What's there not to love about potato based fried finger-food, right?
What sets latkes (also called potato pancakes) apart from any other potato appetizers or fried potato snacks is their special texture. The type of texture you can achieve only by grating raw potatoes into long and thin strips before mixing them with other ingredients and finally frying them to perfection. Many European peoples have their own versions of potato pancakes (such as the Czech bramboraki), but none really compare to the latkes, especially when you make them the base of various delicious toppings. 

Recipe sources: Saveur, Smitten Kitchen and Bobby Flay (to name only the most prominent ones; I researched and tried the recipe extensively until I mastered it). :D

Last year: Grilled Romaine salad with honey-mustard dressing.
Two years ago: Spaghetti aglia e olio e peperoncino (Italian) (vegan).
Three years ago: Mini chicken skewers (oven-baked) with satay sauce (Indonesian).
Four years ago: Peanut butter hot chocolate milk, Chicken with peanut butter sauce (Thai) and Pigs in a blanket (British).

Pastel de Piña (Pineapple Tart) (Nicaraguan)

This sweet tart from Nicaragua, with a sour-sweet filling of pineapple, is obviously very similar to Argentina's Pasta Frola de Dulce de Membrillo (with quince paste filling), which also more widely-known abroad. This one was a bit more tropical tasting and with a stronger sweet-and-sour touch, so if you avoid things too sweet I'd suggest choosing this one over the other. It's also great if you ever do a Latin America-themed party where you want to have dishes from as many countries as possible (that's right up my alley) :).
Recipe source: Serious Eats. 

Last year: Ardî Shawkî bil-Bayd (Artichokes with scrambled eggs) (Syrian).
Two years ago: Ginger, apple and lime smoothie (raw vegan).
Three years ago: Oven-baked salmon with herb crust and caramelized baby carrots.
Four years ago: Pina colada cupcakes (muffins) and Brussels sprouts side with garlic, nutmeg, lemon and chives (vegan).

Elena Ruz (Turkey Tea Sandwich) (Cuban)

A delicious tea sandwich from Cuban cuisine, this sliced bun combines cream cheese with strawberry preserves and a slice of turkey ham. After it gets composed, the final touch is for the sandwich to get fried in a but of butter, until golden and heated and delicious. You may find the combination of ham and preserves and cream cheese to be a bit unusual, but you'll be convinced as soon as you take the first bite. 
The sandwich is named after Elena Ruz, a beautiful society debutante who lived in the 1930s' Cuba. After attending an evening opera show, she used to stop by El Carmela (a famous restaurant in those days) and ask the waiter to fix her a custom sandwich made after her instructions. You guessed it: the sandwich was in time named after her and here it is. :)
Recipe source: Saveur (and background info here). 

Last year: Banana and chocolate chunk cake squares.
Two years ago: Brownies with mixed seeds and vanilla.
Threeo years ago: Cinnamon and brown sugar palmiers.
Four years ago: Diet muffins with cranberries, dark chocolate and spices and Risotto with caramelized onions, artichokes and bacon.

Café Cubano (Cuban espresso) (vegan)

The Cuban espresso is different from other espresso drinks because it adds the sugar (raw demerara sugar, to more precise) right in the making of the espresso, thus creating a sweet and very delicate foam that is its specific signature. The drink is not only special from this technical point of view, but it has become a huge part of the Cuban culture and social ritual ever since espresso machines started being imported from Italy or a large(r) scale. 
More on the background of the drink here.
P.S: It's great served with a sweet cookie or biscuit. Pictured above is a raspberry-almond heart biscuit. ;)

Last year: Kela ki subji (Indian banana curry) (vegan). 
Two years ago: Simple broccoli, artichoke and bechamel souffle.
Three years ago: Moroccan preserved lemons (vegan).
Four years ago: Black olive dip (French Tapenade) and Concentrated orange juice caramel (vegan).

Raspberry almond heart biscuits

A quick and easy biscuit recipe using the same ingredients as pie crust. I actually had some extra left over, and I thought it would be nice to just roll it out, cut it with a nice cookie shape and top it with whole almonds and raspberry jam. The result was really delicious, not too sweet, but well-flavored. 
I like making this kind of biscuits at least once a week, because they keep well and they're just what was missing from my morning coffee or tea. Enjoy :).

P.S: I featured the heart-shaped biscuit today because in Romania we celebrate Dragobete, considered by many a pre-Christian celebration of love and romance, just as spring is about to set in. Truth be told, no one was actually observing this holiday anymore a few years ago, so it remained in our minds only in name (most of us had maybe heard about it as an old pagan rite that great-parents used to observe in rural areas decades ago and maybe not even then). It was more or less extinct in anything but name, but the last few years brought on a revival of the Dragobete, only as a cultural response to the growing number of people celebrating Valentine's Day (following the logic that if we must have such a kitschy holiday, the least we could do is celebrate our own instead of the American one). I personally couldn't care less about either of them, but a nice occasion to celebrate whatever you hold dear is always welcome. :)

Last year: Courgette and feta cheese tart.
Two years ago: Bulgogi (Korean fried beef with cellophane noodles).
Three years ago: Home-made Raclette bowls with wild mushrooms, lemon and capers.
Four years ago: Spaghetti and tuna balls and Orange and poppy seed muffins.

Risotto de quinua y pimientos amarillos (Quinoa risotto with yellow peppers) (Chilean and Bolivian)

This risotto made with quinoa is considered by many as the staple / national dish of both Chilean and Bolivian cuisines. It's rich and delicious from the grated cheese and the butter, and greatly flavored with the aji amarillo (orange pepper) ever present in South American cuisines. If you can find aji paste at a specialty store it would be great, but if not, you can just use it raw; the risotto with taste just as delicious. :)
To be honest, I think I very much prefer this to regular risotto. Just try it and you'll see. It's absolutely delicious. I think even people who are usually not very keen on quinoa will love it.
Recipe source: here.

Last year: Leek, potato and bacon soup (British).
Two years ago: Halloumi and chickpea salad with mint and oranges.
Three years ago: Bell pepper sticks with refried bean dip.
Four years ago: Tikka Masala chicken cous cous (British-Indian) and Czech poppy seed cakes (kolaches).

Ensalada de quinoa con chonta (Central and South American) (vegan)

I wanted to explore the cuisine of Central and South America some more and this was one of my favorite discoveries while researching it. It's delicious and fresh and a bit tangy and I couldn't stop eating it. Also - which is something I can say about few dishes - I have repeated this one more than once. I keep a can of palm hearts in my cupboard especially for when the munchies strike and I quickly fix a bowl of this good stuff. Enjoy.
Recipe source: here.

Last year: The Sidecar (cocktail).
Two years ago: Pears with rosemary sugar dust (raw vegan).
Three years ago: Beefsteaks in apple juice.
Four years ago: Broccoli and pancetta orecchiette, Noodle salad with black sesame (vegan) and Chocolate and stout cupcakes (Irish).