Let Your Nationality Shine

Northern Europe

Estonia

Mulgikapsad is a delicious dish that is prepared with pork, sauerkraut, and barley. The dish originated in the Mulgima region in southern Estonia. The meat, barley, and sauerkraut are placed in a saucepan with water to cover and cooked slowly. It is ready when the meat is tender and the barley soft. It is served with boiled potatoes.

Latvia

Pelekie zirni ar speki translates to gray peas with bacon. The dish is prepared with local gray peas boiled in salted water until tender. They are combined with fried chopped bacon and onions.

Lithuania

Cepelinai are zeppelin-shaped potato dumplings. The dumplings are made with grated potatoes which are stuffed with minced meat, mushrooms, or curd cheese, and boiled.

Norway

Farikal is a simple and delicious dish. It consists of layers of lamb and cabbage cooked slowly with whole black peppercorns. It is served with boiled potatoes garnished with parsley.

Finland

Karelian pasties are made with pastry shells made with flour, rye flour, cold water, melted butter, and salt. Once the shells are made they are filled with a combination of rice, egg, water, milk, and butter which are boiled together into porridge.

Sweden

Swedish meatballs are a delicious combination of ground beef and ground pork, onion, seasoned bread crumbs, beaten eggs, ground black pepper, and salt. The meatballs are boiled in broth. A cream gravy is prepared and poured on the meatballs. They are usually eaten with mashed potatoes.

Denmark

Stegt flaesk is a delicious dish that consists of fried pork breast with parsley sauce. A favorite in the wintertime thick slices of well-salted pork breast are served with boiled potatoes and parsley sauce.

Iceland

A fermented shark is prepared with a gutted and beheaded Greenland shark. A fairly deep hole is dug in the earth close to the sea, The shark meat is cut into pieces, and packed tightly, and placed in the hole, covered with dirt, and heavy, sturdy stones. The meat is left there for about 12 weeks until the shark has putrefied. Then it is dug up and hung up and left to cure for seven months.

England

Chicken tikki masala comes with Indian food influences. The dish consists of boneless chicken pieces marinated in yogurt and spices. Traditionally the chicken is cooked in a tandoori oven and topped with a creamy sauce.

Ireland

Delicious Irish stew is prepared with chunks of lamb or mutton, potatoes, onions, and parsley. The ingredients are combined and simmered on low heat for 2 to 3 hours.

Eastern Europe

Belarus

Draniki is a dish that consists simply of potato and onion pancakes. The delicious flavor of the pancakes comes from being fried in pork fat giving them a creamy texture and a crispy outside.

Bulgaria

Shopska salata is a colorful salad that features the colors of the Belgian flag. The salad consists of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and onions. It is served with a dressing made with red wine and sunflower oil. The salad is topped with crumbled Bulgarian sirene cheese.

Czech Republic

Vepro knedlo zelo means pork, dumplings, and sauerkraut. Pork shoulder is slowly roasted with garlic, onions, and spices. Bread dumplings are made with flour, egg, yeast, salt, and bread cubes and shaped into a roll then boiled or steamed and cut into slices when done. The sauerkraut is braised with pork fat, cubed bacon, and onions.

Hungary

Goulash is a delicious dish prepared with chunks of beef and onions. Traditionally it is prepared in heavy iron kettles called bogracs. The onions are browned in oil and then mixed with paprika, beef chunks, and garlic. Then bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, beef broth, bay leaf, cumin, salt, and pepper are added and once it starts to boil the head is lowered and the goulash is simmered until the meat is tender.

Poland

Bigos is a hearty stew that was originally made with wild game. Today you can use beef, veal, bacon, or kielbasa. Other ingredients include cabbage, sauerkraut, and mushrooms.

Romania

Sarmale is a delicious dish that consists of stuffed cabbage rolls. Cabbage leaves are stuffed with ground pork and rice and then cooked slowly for hours.

Slovakia

Bryndzove halusky are potato dumplings that are prepared with sheep’s cheese. They are topped with bacon and bacon drippings.

Western Europe

Austria

Tafelspitz is a delectable combination of boiled beef, root vegetables, and spices. This dish is typically served with applesauce or horseradish sauce and fried potatoes.

Belgium

Moules frites is a delectable Belgian dish. It is made with steamed or poached mussels in white wine, shallots, and garlic. They are served with French fries or frites.

France

Pot-au-feu is a dish prepared from cuts of meat with vegetables like carrots, parsnips, turnips, white cabbage, and onions. It is flavored with black pepper, bouquet garni, and cloves. The meat and vegetables are slow-cooked until tender. The stew is served with Dijon mustard, gherkins, or horseradish sauce.

Germany

Sauerbraten is a traditional marinated and roasted meat. Rump roast or bottom-round beef is marinated in wine or vinegar, water, herbs, spices, and seasonings for three to ten days. The meat is roasted and served with a thick gravy and potato dumplings or potato pancakes.

Liechtenstein

Kasknopfle is a baked cheesy pasta dish. It is a combination of pasta and three kinds of cheese to make a creamy sauce. The cheeses are Gruyere, Emmenthal, and Fontina.

Luxembourg

Gaardebounen is a delicious dish that consists of smoked pork collar and broad beans in a creamy sauce made with white wine and fresh cream.

Netherlands

Stampoot is a delectable winter dish combining chopped kale with mashed potatoes. The dish is topped with smoked sausages.

Switzerland

Rosti is a grated potato fritter. Potatoes are grated and seasoned and then fried in butter or ghee until the fritter is golden brown on both sides. If you prefer you can add chopped bacon, Alpine, cheese, and onions to the potatoes to make a meal.

Southern Europe

Albania

Tave kosi is a Mediterranean dish. It originated in the city of Elbasani. This delicious dish consists of lamb, garlic, butter, rice, and oregano. It is topped with creamy yogurt and baked until golden brown.

Andorra

Escudella is a meat stew that is typically made with available ingredients. It is prepared with vegetables, rice, and some meat. The meat can be chunks of pork, homemade sausage, chicken, or lamb. This dish is usually prepared on the feast days of Saint Anthony and Saint Sebastian in January.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cevapi are meatballs shaped like sausages. They are prepared by mixing ground meat with salt and pepper. Once made into sausage-like meatballs they are traditionally cooked over a charcoal grill for a smoky flavor.

Croatia

Zagorski strukli is a dish that originated in the northern regions of Hrvatsko Zagorje and Zagreb. It consists of dough that is rolled out flat and thin and filled with a mixture of cottage cheese with eggs, sour cream, and salt. After placing the filling on the dough it is rolled up lengthwise. The rolls can be baked until golden brown or boiled in a pot of boiling water.

Cyprus

Souvla is a popular dish for all kinds of gatherings. It is made with large cuts of pork, lamb, or chicken cooked on long rotating skewers over charcoal and cooked a long time at a low temperature.

Greece

Moussaka is prepared with layers of soft, pasta sheets, separated by minced meat, sliced eggplant, and vegetable layers. Once assembled everything is topped with a delicious creamy bechamel sauce and baked until golden.

Italy

Ragu alla Bolognese is a delicious spaghetti dish prepared with ragu sauce. The sauce consists of minced meat beef, veal, or pork, onions, carrots, pancetta, and butter. The ingredients are braised together and then mixed with the pasta.

Vatican City

Fettucine alla Papalina is prepared with fettucine pasta combined with chopped prosciutto and salty pecorino cheese in a creamy sauce. It was created for Pope Pius XII in the late 1930s.

Portugal

Bacalhau is a dish prepared with salted cod. The salted cod is soaked overnight to remove the salt. Then the fish is flaked and combined with hard-boiled eggs, sauteed onions, strips of potatoes, and spices. Parsley and olives garnish the dish.

Malta

Stuffat Tal-Fenek is a delectable dish prepared with locally caught rabbit meat stewed in a rich tomato sauce. Various vegetables are added.

Monaco

Barbagiuans are deep-fried pastry fritters. These are filled with Swiss chard, spinach, ricotta cheese, or pumpkin. They are served as an appetizer or tasty snack. Barbagiuans are very popular on the National Day of Monaco on November 19th.

Montenegro

Njeguska Prsuta is a delicious ham that is covered with sea salt then smoked and dried in mountain air. It is matured for a year, smoked over beechwood, and thinly sliced to serve with bread, cheese, and pasta dishes.

North Macedonia

Tavche gravche is a delicious baked bean dish. The beans are cooked in a stone pot over an open fire. Onions and hot peppers can be added. The dish is served with sausages, bacon, ribs, kofta, or fish.

Serbia

Pljeskavica is an amazing hamburger. A large, tasty meat patty is placed on a soft flatbread. It is topped with roasted peppers, onions, and eggplant sauce.

Slovenia

Struklji are filo pastry rolls that can be filled with savory or sweet fillings. The dough can be boiled, steamed, or fried. The fillings can include meat, cottage cheese, apples, and poppy seeds. Traditionally struklji has a cottage cheese filling.

Spain

Paella originated in Valencia in eastern Spain. Traditionally it is cooked over a wood fire. A large pan is filled with duck, rabbit, or shrimp, rice, tomatoes, onions, and some beans. It can consist totally of various seafood or with chicken and a little saffron.

Paella valenciana is the traditional paella. It is prepared with rice, green beans, rabbit, chicken, or duck and cooked with olive oil and chicken broth,

Paella de marisco uses seafood with vegetables and rice.