Everyone knows about the joys of spaghetti carbonara or a full English breakfast, but what about those dishes across the rest of Europe which go unloved? Today we’re going to take a look at six European foods you’ll never have heard of.
1. Baklava – Turkey
Baklava might sound like something you wear over your head, but is in reality a sweet pastry dish that owes its origins to the Ottoman Empire.
The dessert consists of several layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts, before being both sweetened and held together by either syrup or honey.
The meal is unsurprisingly somewhat dry, but can be garnished with chocolate syrup. It’s also a reasonably simple recipe to try for yourself at home.
2. Toast Skagen – Sweden
Think of a prawn cocktail that’s been jazzed up to the point where you would expect to see it on the menu of a gourmet restaurant – that’s what toast Skagen is.
Prawns are peeled and then mixed with mayonnaise, dill and lemon, before being served on sautéed bread.
Fish rose is often piled on top of that, making for one of the most extravagant pieces of toast you’re ever likely to eat.
Fun fact: Skagen is actually a port in Denmark, despite this dish being a totally Swedish invention.
3. Pierogi – Poland
This Polish delicacy is one of the most popular dishes in the Central European nation, yet has weirdly failed to make a mass transition across the rest of the continent.
They’re a real doddle to make – with the Poles simply wrapping dough around a sweet or (more often) savoury filling, before boiling them in water.
The dumplings aren’t exactly the most complicated meal in the world to prepare, but there’s a simple charm to them. Pierogi can be topped with whatever your heart desires.
4. Bratwurst MitBrot – Germany
You’ve probably heard of bratwurst on its own, but this unique twist sees the German crank up the flavour levels that little bit further.
For the uninitiated, bratwurst itself is Germany’s equivalent of the humble sausage and ‘mitbrot’ quite simply translates to ‘with bread’.
This delicious offering is for all intents and purposes just a sausage sandwich then – albeit one which sees the sausage baked inside the bread and then covered with melted cheese.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a nation with a penchant for the odd tipple, this delicacy is described as just as good eaten while drinking beer, or eaten the morning after drinking beer. Plus, bratwurst mitbrot is earmarked as one of the 20 foods worth travelling for – so certainly worth a try.
5. Svíčková – Czech Republic
It’s probably no surprise a dish with as many foreign letters as this one hasn’t yet made it big across the whole of Europe.
Svíčková is a fairly simple dish to wrap your head around, with beef sirloin being fried and then served up in a cream sauce.
In truth, there’s been some controversy over the name of the dish in recent years, with some arguing the title (which literally translates to sirloin) has been tarnished with the introduction of other cuts of meat being used.
All that drama aside, this dish is without question worth trying at some point.
6. Bitterballen – Holland
Let’s conclude our list with one of the most universally cherished meals in existence – fried meat wrapped in breadcrumbs.
Bitterballenis one of the most popular foods in the whole of Holland and can be found at practically any pub worth their license across Amsterdam.
The balls are often served with mustard as a dipping sauce and work as the perfect cure for a hangover after a rough night out in one of the nation’s many party cities.
There you have it; six European foods you’ve probably never heard of. When you’re next abroad why not try out one of these delicacies for yourself and savour some of the scrumptious tastes Europe has to offer?
