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

Author: Дністер
Published: 2025-06-15T19:47:00.000Z
Language: en
URL: https://neurodrift.org/en/blog/yevropeyski-kukhni/
Original (Ukrainian): https://neurodrift.org/blog/yevropeyski-kukhni/
Tags: travel, culture, food
Original source: https://neurodrift.org/tpost/yevropeyski-kukhni

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.

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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.