---
title: "European cuisines: what to try in France, Belgium, Scandinavia and the Netherlands"
description: "A gastronomic guide to Western and Northern Europe: the most famous dishes, desserts, street food and drinks from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. What to try — and why."
author: "Дністер"
published: 2025-06-15T19:47:00.000Z
language: en
url: https://neurodrift.org/en/blog/yevropeyski-kukhni/
tags: ["travel", "culture", "food"]
---
# 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.