Europe is a foodie’s dream. With influences from local culture, a rich history, and areas as part of the historic Silk Road, each country has its own national dishes that are synonymous with each.
In this article we highlight just a few of our favourite national dishes from 6 European countries that we love the most and recommend you try at least once in your life!
Spain - Paella
To the Spanish, the Paella is a Valencian speciality, but you can eat it all over the country.
Paella is the name of the huge iron pan of which you see the dish cooked in and it us often served in it too. It is a rice dish which was traditionally coked with ‘fruit of the farm and woods’ such as chicken, rabbit, runner beans and artichokes plus paprika and saffron. Today, seafood paella appears to be the most popular.
Scotland - Haggis
This traditional dish from Scotland is a savoury pudding of sheep’s pluck minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, salt and stock. It used to be encased and cooked in an animal’s stomach, but today is it often an artificial casing instead. Haggis is usually served with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes). You’ll be surprised how tasty this dish is!
Greece - Moussaka
The Greek Moussaka is absolutely delicious. It is an oven baked dish of layers of aubergine, minced lamb, tomato puree, onion, garlic, spices and potato with fluffy béchamel sauce and cheese on the top. One of our favourites!
English - Fish and Chips
Say ‘fish and chips’ to anyone around the world and the response will likely be related to the British fish and chippy.
This dish first appeared in England in the 1860 and is still a popular takeaway meal today. It consists of fried battered fish (usually cod, but also haddock or plaice are popular) with thick and chunky cut chips, sometimes called steak chips in the US.
This takeaway is often wrapped in paper (which was once newspaper, but that’s a bit grubby) with additional popular sides of mushy peas, curry sauce or gravy.
French - Beef Bourguignon
This beef stew like dish is made from beef braised in red wine (often Burgundy) with beef stock plus carrots, onions and garlic. This is a well-known French recipe, so why not give it a try on a visit to the country? We are sure you won’t taste better elsewhere!
Italy - Pasta
This staple Italian food was first referenced way back in 1154. The name ‘pasta’ is often used to refer to many dishes that are made with it, although it is actually a type of noodle. It is made of dough created from wheat flour and eggs or water and formed into the various shapes and sheets that you commonly find throughout the world. There are some 310 specific forms of these shapes!
You visit Italy; be sure to try it out in its native home!
These are our top dishes to try on a visit to Europe. Are yours?
