European cuisines: what to try in France, Belgium, Scandinavia and the Netherlands

France Key dishes

• Baguette, croissant, brioche — symbols of French baking.
• Cheeses — more than 400 varieties: Camembert, Brie, Roquefort, Comté, chèvre, Reblochon, Munster and more.
• Bouillabaisse — Provençal fish soup with seafood and aromatic herbs.
• Coq au vin — rooster braised in wine with vegetables and spices.
• Ratatouille — vegetable stew of eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, onion and garlic.
• Quiche Lorraine — open pie with cream, eggs, bacon and cheese.
• Cassoulet — slow-cooked dish of white beans, duck or pork, sausages and herbs.
• Escargots de Bourgogne — snails in garlic-parsley butter.
• Foie gras — a duck or goose liver delicacy, often served with fruit or jam.
• Crêpes — thin pancakes with sweet or savory fillings.

Street food and snacks

• Croque-monsieur — a hot ham and cheese sandwich.
• Socca — a chickpea-flour pancake (Nice).
• Galette — buckwheat pancakes with fillings (Brittany).
• Tarte flambée (flammekueche) — an Alsatian open pie with cream, onion and bacon.

Desserts and pastries

• Macarons — almond cookies with cream filling.
• Éclair, mille-feuille, tarte Tatin, clafoutis, baba au rhum, canelé — classic French confectionery.
• Crème brûlée — a custard dessert with a caramelized crust.

Drinks

• Wine — Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire, Alsace and Provence wines.
• Cider, Calvados, Armagnac, pastis — local alcoholic drinks.

Belgium Key dishes

• Moules-frites — mussels in wine, cream or herbs with fries.
• Carbonade flamande — beef stewed in dark beer with onions and mustard.
• Waterzooi — creamy chicken or fish stew.
• Stoemp — mashed potatoes with vegetables, often with sausage.
• Chicons au gratin — endive wrapped in ham under béchamel.
• Shrimp croquettes — with gray shrimp and creamy sauce.
• Sole meunière — pan-fried sole with butter sauce.

Street food and snacks

• Belgian fries — twice-fried potatoes with sauces.
• Boudin blanc/noir — white and black sausages with sides.
• Filet Américain — raw beef tartare with sauces on bread.

Desserts and pastries

• Belgian waffles: Brussels (crispy), Liège (caramelized).
• Chocolate — Belgian praline.
• Tarte au riz, speculoos, marzipan.

Drinks

• Beer — more than 1,500 varieties, including Trappist, lambic, gueuze, dubbel, tripel.
• Jenever, cider, wine — regional drinks.

The Netherlands Key dishes

• Chocomel — thick hot chocolate.
• Hagelslag — bread with chocolate sprinkles.
• Kibbeling — battered fried fish with sauce.
• Haring — raw herring with onion.
• Poffertjes — mini pancakes with powdered sugar.
• Pannenkoeken — large pancakes with fillings.
• Bitterballen, kroketten, frikandel — meat snacks.
• Stamppot, erwtensoep — hot dinners.
• Uierboord — pan-fried cow udder.

Street food and snacks

• Patat — thick fries with sauces.
• Kaassoufflé — breaded fried cheese.
• Appelflap — apple turnover.
• Stroopwafel, pepernoten, tompouce, appeltaart.

Denmark Key dishes

• Smørrebrød — open-faced sandwiches with various toppings.
• Frikadeller — meat patties.
• Stegt flæsk med persillesovs — fried pork with parsley sauce.
• Boller i karry — meatballs in curry sauce.
• Flæskesteg — roast pork with crispy crackling.

Street food and snacks

• Rød pølse — red sausage in a bun.
• Leverpostej — liver pâté on bread.
• Fiskefilet, sild — fried or pickled fish.

Desserts and pastries

• Wienerbrød — Danish pastries with cream.
• Æblekage, rødgrød med fløde — fruit desserts.
• Risalamande, æbleskiver — festive sweets.

Drinks

• Akvavit — strong herbal spirit.
• Gløgg — Christmas mulled wine.

Sweden

Key dishes

• Köttbullar — meatballs with mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberries.
• Inlagd sill, gravlax — pickled and cured herring and salmon.
• Janssons frestelse — potato gratin with anchovies.
• Falukorv — a thick sausage.
• Pytt i panna, ärtsoppa, kroppkakor, raggmunk.
• Smörgåstårta — sandwich cake.

Street food and snacks

• Prinskorv, stekt strömming, tunnbrödsrulle.
• Räksmörgås — open shrimp sandwich.
• Köttbullesmörgås — meatball sandwich.

Desserts and pastries

• Kanelbulle — cinnamon bun (the icon of fika).
• Prinsesstårta, semla, kladdkaka, smulpaj, ostkaka.

Drinks

• Akvavit, glögg, beer (Falcon, Omnipollo), cider (Kopparberg), punsch.

Norway

Key dishes

• Fårikål — lamb with cabbage.
• Lutefisk, rakfisk — traditional fish.
• Fiskepudding, brislinger, laks.
• Game — venison and moose with berries.

Street food and snacks

• Lefse — flatbread with sweet or savory fillings.
• Reker, boknafisk, sursild, caviar.
• Barley and oat breads — a traditional staple.

Desserts and pastries

• Krumkake, rømmegrøt, skillingsboller.
• Lefse (sweet version), multekrem.

Drinks

• Akevitt — the national spirit.
• Brunost — caramel-like cheese served as a dessert.
• Gløgg — Christmas mulled wine with spices.