Europe Food

Top 10 for each European Food

Food is as integral to Spain as its rich history, with each of Spain's regions home to a range of unique cuisines and flavours. Here's a selection of the top 10 foods to try in Spain.

Each regional speciality is worth trying, and restaurants from different regions bring their local delights to most main cities. Besides the usual tapas, for example olives, Manchego cheese or a plate of Spanish bravas (fried potato with spicy tomato sauce), here are a few foods you shouldn't leave without trying.

1. Croquettes 

You can find Spanish a plate of croquetas in almost any restaurant or bar, each made to the establishment's own recipe. It makes food comparison throughout Spain a delight, and not at all a bad idea for judging up a restaurant's quality (hint: the traditional, scrubbed-down bars serve the best). While the creamy cheese (queso) croquettes pack a smooth flavour, try croquettes filled with a mixture of béchamel and Spanish cured ham (jamon), or the local sweet-spiced black sausage (morcilla) for something stronger.

  Make your own:

• Perfect the ham and béchamel croquette.
• Try this variation with blue cheese.
• A local recipe for mushroom croquettes.

2. Tortilla Espaniola

A great starter or meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner, no doubt you'll come across a Spanish potato omelette during your time in Spain. Like croquetas, you can find them in almost any bar and to varying degrees of quality and flavour. The best ones are from slow-cooked potato in olive oil, which make a soft centre once egg is added to create an omelette cake; even tastier when onions are added to the slow-frying process for a sweet underlying flavour. You'll also find wedges of Spanish omelette squeezed between a bocadilla for a tasty sandwich snack.

Make your own:

• This classic tortilla recipe has detailed instructions;
• ...and this one includes photos.
• This recipe caramelises the onion for a twist.

3. Gazpacho or salmorejo

This cold tomato soup has claimed space in many supermarkets around the world, but carton gazpachocompares little to the Spanish tangy, refreshing variety. Usually eaten as an appetizer – and sometimes straight from a bowl or glass – its thickness is derived from blending a whole heap of fresh tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, garlic, onions, vinegar, and herbs. Salmorejo is a similar Andalucian version combining pureed bread, tomatoes, garlic, and vinegar – also served cold – and sometimes varied with a bit of ham or egg.

Make your own:

• Try this traditional gazpacho recipe;
• or watch a video on how to make it.
• A quick and easy salmorejo recipe.

4. Pisto – Spanish ratatouille

This vegetarian option is enjoyed by all, as a tapa, starter, a side dish to meats, or even with a fried egg on top. It's a Spanish ratatouille of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, onions, garlic, and of course, olive oil. The palatable competition of intense roasted flavours makes this a tasty recipe.

Make your own:

• This recipe makes a vegetable-packed pisto;
• or you can spice it up with this recipe.
• Grill the vegetables for extra flavour.

5. Cured meats – jamon, chorizo, salchichón

Jamon is ubiquitous in Spain, carved thinly off cured legs of pork that you will see hanging in most bars and restaurants. Jamon is a serious business and an art in Spain, with many varietals that determine quality, such as what the pigs are fed and the curing process. Jamón ibérico de bellota is the top category, where the pigs are free-range and acorn-fed. Chorizo is identified by its red smoked-pepper colouring, and is a dried sausage with sweet and spicy hints. You'll also see the softer-flavoured salchichón served on mixed charcuterie platters.

Make (it) your own:

• Learn the different varieties of Spanish cured meats with this slideshow guide.
• Find out how to identify the different types of jamon.

6. Pulpo a la gallega

This octopus dish is macerated with paprika (pimenton), crusty rock salt and a drizzle of olive oil. It's a signature Galician dish, and you'll find it on the menu in many Galician restaurants around Spain. It's usually served with a potato or two, on top of a wooden platter.

Make your own:

• Try this traditional recipe with fresh octopus;
• or use frozen octopus instead.
• Watch a video for preparing the dish.

7. Bean stew

Spain is home to a wide variety of interesting beans and legumes, and certain regions are famous for particular types, for example the dried large white beans of the region La Granja, an hour from Madrid. The Basque town of Tolosa even holds a week-long festival in November in honour of the local renown bean, alubias de Tolosa. Around the country you can find different regional bean stews known as fabada, that involve cooking the beans slowly with a mixture of meats – such as chorizo pancetta, black sausage and so on – depending on the region. The hearty Asturian version, fabada asturiana, is widely available in restaurants across Spain and commonly eaten in winter; Madrid's cocido adds vegetables and cabbage to a tasty mix of sausages and chic peas.

Make your own:

• Make the traditional fabada asturiana;
• or watch this video to guide you.
• Use chickpeas to prepare cocido.

8. Paella

This rice-based Valencian dish is well known internationally, and comes in many variations that equally vie for attention. The traditional version is a mixture of chicken or rabbit (or both), white and green beans and other vegetables, but mixed seafood is also common, where you will find an array of seafood suprises among the flavoursome rice – calamari, mussels, clams, prawns, scampi or fish, for example. For the adventurous, a black rice stained by octopus ink is a must try. Fiduea is also tasty, and uses a small curly pasta instead of rice.

Make your own:

• A traditional chicken paella recipe.
• Rick Stein shares a recipe for seafood paella.
• Try a black rice paella using squid ink.

9. Fried milk

You might not find ‘leche frita' on every menu, but it is a classic Spanish dessert to try if you want something unique. Its firm, cool, milk-pudding centre contrasts with a warm, crunchy encasing of flour and egg, dusted with sugar and cinnamon. If that's not on the menu, it's hard not to like the Spanish version of crème brûlée, crema catalan, that can be found with variations of orange or lemon zest, or cinnamon.

Make your own:

• This recipe adds nutmeg.
• Watch leche frita being made.

10. Red or white sangria and tinto de verano

Every meal can have an alcoholic accompaniment – coffee and whisky in the morning or after meals, or any combination of beer, wine or cava for morning break, lunch or dinner. Two Spanish specialities are the refreshing tinto de verano (‘summer wine') and rebujito (white sangria), which involve little more than mixing wines with soft drinks but create a surprisingly tasty refresher.Tinto de verano is red wine with lemon soda, while rebujito is a white wine mixed with lemonade and topped off with fresh mint, and popular at the Sevillan Feria de Abril (April Fair).

Make your own:

• A traditional sangria recipe.
• Use white wine to make white sangria.
• Mix it up with these eight sangria recipes.

Top 10 Belgian foods – with recipes

Belgium has one of the highest densities of Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe, but many Belgians' favourite foods are home-cooked comfort dishes and street-vendor snack foods.

Just as the country is divided linguistically, it's also divided food-wise. Flemish cuisine has a strong Dutch influence, while Wallonian cooking is very similar to French with lots of rich sauces. Most dishes are based around meat or fish, and desserts are often rich pastries or chocolate – and it's usually all washed down with wine or, the national drink, beer.

Carbonadeflamandeor stooflees

This sweet-sour steak and ale stew has a great many variations, with families handing down their own recipes from generation to generation. Most include beef, a rich dark beer, bread, onions, salt, pepper, herbs (like bay and thyme) and spices. Other ingredients are carrots, mushrooms, bacon, red wine, shallots – and even dark chocolate! A long marinade and slow cooking are crucial for flavour and tender meat. It's usually served with frites, boiled potatoes, noodles, salad or green veggies – and of course, more beer.

Make your own:

• A traditional recipe in French.
• Marinating the beef overnight in Trappist ale no less, makes this a 5-star recipe.
• Nigella Lawson recommends using shin of beef in her recipe for 8.

Sole meunière

Belgium's classic fish dish is sole meunière, the latter part of the name translates as ‘in the way of the miller's wife' – that is, dipped in seasoned flour and then pan-fried in a small amount of butter. Lemon juice and some chopped parsley are added to make a rich brown butter sauce. The fish is served with potatoes: as frites, boiled or mashed.

Make your own:

• Watch Belgian chef Albert Verdeyen make the dish – it's easy.
• Make sole meunière for 4 in just 12 minutes.
• Try this meal for two, with great reviews.

Ham and endive gratin

You might not find this on the menu of a Michelin-starred restaurant but it's a popular, comfort dish served up in many Belgian homes. A Flemish speciality, endive (which the Belgians call wifloof, chicon or ‘white gold', and what Americans know as chicory), has a distinctive, tangy flavour and is used in appetizers/starters, soups, salads and main courses alike. Ham and endive gratin is a dish that combines this leafy vegetable with a regional cheese and prime boiled ham, traditionally served with mashed potato. Interestingly, all the endives sold in mainstream shops in the US are imported from Belgium.

Make your own:

• Watch Belgian chef Sofie Dumont cook up witloof met hesp in de oven.
• This well-reviewed recipe uses Gruyere cheese.
• Try this recipe for a delicious supper for two.

Filet Americain

Don't order this and expect a juicy steak to arrive on your plate. Filet Americain is seasoned raw minced beef served cold, rather like the Frenchsteak tartare. Various seasonings are added to the beef (which must be very lean) to give it flavour: raw or pickled onion, egg yolk, Worcestershire or Tabasco sauce, ketchup, mustard, parsley, capers, salt, pepper and oil. You can eat it in two ways: spread on bread or toast (when it's called toast kannibaal or ‘cannibal toast'), or as a main meal, accompanied by frites and pickles. If you order it as a main course in a restaurant, it may be prepared at your table so you can have it just how you like it.

Make your own:

• Here's the classic recipe in French,
• or try this recipe in English.
• This one uses curry powder and paprika;
• And here's how to make 'cannibal toast'.

Waffles

Belgian waffles (gauffres) are made from a yeast-leavened batter using special waffle irons. There are two different types: the Brussels waffle and the Liège waffle. The Brussels waffle is rectangular, golden brown on the outside, dusted with powdered/icing sugar and then sometimes covered with syrup, slices of fruit, chocolate spread and whipped cream – all of which is deemed a mite inauthentic by waffle connoisseurs! The denser textured Liege waffle is square and has burnt sugar on the outside. They are sold by street vendors and gourmet restaurants alike.

Make your own:

• Here's a French language recipe for Gaufres de Liègeoise;
• and another for Gaufres de bruxelles.
• This quick and easy recipe is in English;
• or check out these ‘awfully good waffles'.

Mussels

About 30 million tons of moules frites are eaten every year in Belgium (that's 3kg a person), in a season that runs from September to February. The most common way to cook them is in white wine, shallots, parsley and butter (la marinere) although other recipes replace the wine with Belgian beer, add cream (la crème), or use a vegetable stock. Dispense with cutlery and eat as the Belgians do – use an empty shell like a pair of tweezers to scoop out the mussels.

The traditional accompaniment to mussels is frites (what Brits call chips and Americans call French fries). According to historian Jo Gerard, the Belgians invented frites, way back in 1781. Frites are thicker than French fries and very crisp because, like traditional English chips, they're fried twice. You can pick up a cornet de frites (frites in a cone-shaped card container) from a mobile food stand known as frietkot (or fry shack). Frites special come with fried onions, otherwise try them with mayonnaise, tartar or béarnaise sauce or samourai, a spicy chilli mayonnaise.

Steak frites is almost on a par with moules frites, and if you choose this in a restaurant you'll be able to select your cut (entrecote means rib eye) and offered a choice of sauces – such as mushroom, pepper, béarnaise or Roquefort – to accompany.

Make your own:

• Apparently, it's easier than you think with this recipe.
• Try this recette (that's French for recipe) for moules marinere.
• The classic dish, from the UK's Nigel Slater.
• How to cook steak frites.

La Dame Blanche

This classic Belgian dessert may be simplicity itself but it's extremely delicious: vanilla ice cream topped with melted chocolate sauce (and remember, the Belgian's make the world's best), fresh whipped cream and maybe a cherry. It's the Belgian equivalent of a hot fudge sundae and you'll find it on menus all over the country. Order a Belgian Cherish Raspberry Lambic beer to sip while you indulge.

Make your own:

• If you really need a recipe, then click here for one in French, with little meringues.

Stoemp

This is comfort food, pure and simple. Stoemp is a typical Brussels dish made from mashed potatoes mixed up with... other mashed vegetables. These traditionally include endive, kale, onions, carrots, turnips, Brussels sprouts, spinach and greens. Sometimes cream or milk is added to the mix. It's a bit like the English ‘bubble and squeak' or American ‘hash'. Eat it on a grey winter's evening with bacon, sausage, beef or some boudinblanc (fried sausage made of pork without the blood) or noir (black sausage), and you'll soon feel all is well with the world.

Make your own:

• Here's a recipe using leeks;
• this one's got cauliflower and fennel, too;
• or try this Belgian recipe for stoemp with witloof (endive).

Paling in'tgroen

This traditional Flemish dish can be translated as ‘eels in the green' and that's exactly what it is: eels in a very, very green sauce. Fishermen used to catch the eels in the river Scheldt, between Dendermonde and Antwerp, and then prepared the dish with whatever fresh herbs they found along the river banks. Today, the sauce is made from a mix of herbs, which may include chervil, sorrel, parsley, mint, watercress, basil and thyme, which must be added at the very last minute in order to preserve their vibrant colour. Enjoy this dish served up with frites or bread.

Make your own:

• Here's a simple recipe.
• Watch this dish being prepared – in Dutch.
• This recipe uses spinach as well as herbs.

Gentzewaterzooi

Gentzewaterzooi is a soup-like stew. Waterzooi comes from the old Flemish word zooien, meaning ‘to boil' andgentze shows that the soup originates from the city of Ghent. It's traditionally made from fish such as carp, pike, eel and bass – but these days more commonly these made with chicken – as well as vegetables like carrots, leeks, potatoes, and then thickened with eggs, cream and butter. It's usually served with toasted French bread to mop up the soup.

Make your own:

• Try this simple recipe,
• or this one, in Dutch, which is slightly more sophisticated.

Top 10 German foods – with recipes

Each region of Germany has its own speciality dish and variations of typical German cuisine. Here are our top 10 traditional German foods to try, do-it-yourself recipes included.

German food is rich, substantial and delicious, with each region having its own speciality dishes and traditional cuisine. And what better way to explore German culture than creating your own German specialties? That's why we have searched far and wide for the best German recipes – both athentic and with a twist. Guten Appetit!

Apfelstrudel
Apfelstrudel (apple strudel) is a delicious pastry filled with apples flavoured with sugar, cinnamon, raisins and breadcrumbs – and has been popular since the 18th century. The delicate flakey pastry is made from an elastic dough, which is kneaded and stretched until it’s as thin as phyllo pastry. The pastry is wrapped round and round the filling building up many layers, and then baked. It’s served warm in slices sprinkled with powdered or icing sugar.

Make your own:

• German apfelstrudel rezept from the imperial Schönbrunn bakery.
• Cheat with filo pastry.
• Quick apple and pecan strudel with cinnamon.

Eintopf
A steaming bowl of eintopf will warm you up on a cold day. The name of this traditional German stew literally means ‘one pot’ and refers to the way of cooking rather than a specific recipe. However, most recipes contain the same basic ingredients: a broth, some vegetables, potatoes or pulses and then some meat (commonly pork, beef or chicken) or sometimes fish. There are regional specialities, for example, lumpen und fleeh (which means ‘rags and fleas’) in the Kassel area, which is similar to Irish stew.

Make your own:

• Grünkohleintopf – kale with smoked meat and sausages.
• Warming bean and pork eintopf.
• A veggie option (in German).

Kasespatzle 
Spatzle, noodles made from wheat flour and egg, are popular especially in the South. They’re often served topped with cheese (kasepatzle) – rather like macaroni cheese – and sometimes with roasted onions as well. They can be served boiling hot, straight from the pan – so be careful!

Make your own:

• Top-rated German language rezept.
• Classic kasespatzle recipe with loads of great reviews;
• ...or a version with pictures for instruction and inspiration.

Kartoffelpuffer
These are shallow pan-fried pancakes made from grated or ground potatoes mixed with flour, egg, onion and seasoning. You can enjoy them either salty as a side dish to a main course of meat or fish, or sweet with apple sauce, blueberries, sugar and cinnamon. Look out for them in outdoor markets in the winter.

Make your own:

• Three German recipes for sweet and savoury potato pancakes.
• Bavarian kitchen recipe.
• Watch kartoffelpuffer being made.

Rote grutze
This red fruit pudding is a popular dessert in the North. It’s made from black and red currants, raspberries and sometimes strawberries or cherries, which are cooked in their juice and thickened with a little cornstarch or cornflour. It’s served with cream, vanilla sauce or milk. 

Make your own:

• Step-by-step illustrated German recipe;
• ...traditionally served with a vanilla custard sauce.
• Quick and simple rote grütze recipe.

Sauerbraten

Germans love their meat – and sauerbraten (meaning ‘sour’ or ‘pickled’ roast) is a pot roast that’s regarded as one of the country’s national dishes. It can be made from many different meats (originally horse), which are marinated in wine, vinegar, spices, herbs and seasoning for up to 10 days.Schweinenbraten is a delicious roast pork dish, usually served with braised cabbage or sauerkraut and dumplings (knoedel), and washed down with a pilsner beer.

Make your own:

• Rheinischer sauerbraten recipe.
• A family recipe for a favourite dish.
• Cook in a crockpot.

Brezel
Brezel are soft, white pretzels, made from flour water and yeast and sprinkled with salt (and sometimes different seeds), and great to eat as a side dish or snack – or with a beer. They’re in every bakery and on street stands, sold plain, sliced and buttered (butterbrezel) or with slices of cold meats or cheese.

Make your own:

• Top-rated brezel recept in German.
• Pretzel recipe with 5 star reviews.
• Laugenbrezel: traditional German pretzels.

Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte
You’ll find lots of cakes and tarts to tempt you in Germany, commonly made with fresh fruit. Few can resist a huge slice or two of the most famous of them all: the delicious schwarzwalder kirschtorte – Black Forest cherry cake. The cake is named afterschwarzwalder kirschwasser, which is a liqueur distilled from tart cherries. Alternating layers of rich chocolate cake, cherries and whipped cream are topped off with more cream, maraschino cherries and chocolate shavings.

Make your own:

• A German recipe from the Black Forest.
• Classic Black Forest gateau recipe;
• ...with extra cream.
• The cupcake version.

Schnitzel
A schnitzel is a thin, boneless cutlet of meat, which is coated in breadcrumbs and often served with a slice of lemon. You can choose a Wiener Schnitzel, which is made of veal, or a schnitzel Wiener made of pork. If you order a Hamburg-styleschnitzel, it will arrive with a fried egg on top;  while a Holsten-style schnitzel will come with an egg, anchovies and capers.

Make your own:

• All star German-language recipe for Wiener Schnitzel;
• ...and another in English.
• If you don't fancy veal, try chicken schnitzel;
• ... or lemon and thyme pork schnitzel with potato salad.

Wurst
There are more than 1500 different types of wurst (sausage) made in Germany and you’ll find street stalls selling them everywhere. The most popular include bratwurst (fried sausage) made of ground pork and spices,Wiener (Viennese), which is smoked and then boiled, and blutwurst and schwarzwurst, which are both blood sausages. Look out for regional specialities like Berlin’s currywurst (sausage with curried ketchup on the top), Bavaria’s weisswurst, a white sausage that you peel before eating with a sweet mustard, and Nuremberg's grilled rostbratwurst, served with fermented shredded cabbage known as sauerkraut.

Make your own:

• Simple recipe for wurst with sauerkraut, in German.
• Currywurst sauce – as made by Schnell-Imbisse (fast food stalls).
• German sausage and new potato salad.
• Martha Stewart's beer-braised bratwurst with cabbage.

Top 10 Swiss foods – with recipes

Swiss food is influenced by French, German and Italian cuisine, but each region adds its own traditional touch. Explore Swiss cuisine by canton with this list of top foods in Switzerland.

Swiss food is influenced by French, German and north Italian cuisine with lots of regional dishes, many of which are based on cheese and potatoes, the ingredients readily available to the Alpine farmers of old. One thing's for sure, you won't go hungry in Switzerland.

Cheese fondue

Cheese fondue is a great meal to share with friends. It's a dish made of melted cheese (gruyère andemmentaler) and other ingredients, such as garlic, white wine, a little cornflour/corn starch and often kirsch (cherry brandy), served up at the table in a special ceramic pot called a caquelon, with a small burner underneath it to keep the fondue at constant temperature. You spear small cubes of bread onto long-stemmed forks and dip them into the hot cheese (taking care not to lose the bread in the fondue). The term ‘fondue' has come to describe other dishes where food is dipped into a pot of hot liquid, such as fonduebourguignonne (beef cooked in hot oil) and chocolate fondue.

Make your own:

• Here's the classic fondue recipe – from Switzerland.
• Jamie Oliver has this easy cheese fondue recipe.
• Try this 5-star recipe with 100 great reviews.
• This recipe uses beer in place of wine.
• Sweeten up with a chocolate version.

Rösti

Rösti is a potato dish made by frying (or occasionally baking) flat round patties of coarsely grated raw or parboiled (semi-cooked), seasoned potato in oil. They're crisp on the outside and soft and melting inside. Sometimes bacon, onion, cheese – and even apple – are added to the mix. Eat it as a side dish to accompany fried eggs and spinach or a sausage meat called fleischkäse. It was originally eaten as a breakfast by Bern farmers but these days you'll find it enjoyed all over the world as well as here in Switzerland where it's considered a national dish.

Make your own:

• A Swiss recipe for a national dish.
• This version is baked in the oven.
• A delicious English version with cabbage and cheese from Delia.

Bircherműesli

You may have had muesli for breakfast before, but did you know that it was invented in Switzerland around 1900, by a Dr Maximilian Bircher-Benner? Believing that a diet of cereals, fruits and vegetables was better for humans than a heavy meat-based diet, he created birchműesli – a mix of rolled oat flakes, fruit, nuts, lemon juice and condensed milk – for patients in his Zurich sanatorium. It's still eaten today, and not only eaten at breakfast but sometimes in the evening, too.

Make your own:

• This recipe has good reviews.
• Try this one in German.
• Yotam Ottolenghi's experimental take on the classic.

Raclette

Raclette is the name of a Swiss cheese made from cow's milk (slightly nutty, a little like gruyère) but it's also the name of a very popular meal. In the old days, an entire wheel of cheese was held up in front of a fire and as the cheese melted, it was scraped off onto a plate to be eaten. The name is derived from the French racler, meaning ‘to scrape'. Today, slices of raclette are melted in table-top raclette pans or grills, and can be accompanied by small potatoes cooked in their skins, vegetables, charcuterie, pickled gerkins and onions, and bread. With a modern raclette grill, you melt the cheese on one layer and can scrape it over the grilled vegetables and meats.

Make your own:

• Try this traditional Swiss recipe;
• or this one, which pairs the rich cheese with carrot and celeriac salads;
• here's a Swiss recipe (in German) for a raclette with chicken.

Bűndnernusstorte

The bűndnernusstorte, sometimes called an engadinernusstorte, is a yummy caramelised nut-filled pastry originating from the canton of Graubűnden. It's made in small independent bakeries all over the canton, each of which have their own variation on the basic recipe of short-crust pastry made from flour, sugar, egg, butter and salt with a filling of caramelised sugar, cream and chopped nuts, usually walnuts. Enjoy it a piece as a dessert (it's very rich), with a cup of coffee or tea.

Make your own:

• Follow the photos in this simple step-by-step recipe.
• Here's a Swiss recipe – in German,
• ...and another, with five-star reviews.

Saffron risotto

Saffron is grown in the Swiss canton of Valais, and it's an essential ingredient of a traditional Ticino dish often served with a luganighe sausage, a raw sausage made with pork, spices and red wine. Ticino is the southern most canton of Switzerland, sharing a border with the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy, and the one canton where Italian is the official language. Saffron risotto is a comforting dish made from risotto rice cooked slowly with onions, stock, saffron threads, wine and cheese, and easy to make at home.

Make your own:

• Here's  a recipe for saffron risotto with luganighe sausage;
• this is a Swiss recipe in German for the same dish;
• or try this recipe, which uses charred leeks in the saffron risotto.

Zurchergeschnetzeltes

This translates as ‘cut meat Zurich style', but if you see it on a menu in Switzerland the dish will be made using strips of veal (calf meat) and sometimes veal liver. The veal is cooked with mushrooms, onions, wine and cream and usually eaten with rösti (see above), noodles or rice. You can substitute the veal with chicken or pork if you're making it yourself.

Make your own:

• Classic, all star recipe.
• Try it out in German.
• Here's another version.

Zopf

There are many types of bread in Switzerland but one of the most popular and delicious is a soft white loaf called zopf. You'll be able to recognise it easily because it's a plaited loaf (the word zopf means ‘braid'), with a golden crust, very much like the Jewish bread called challah. Some say it originates from an ancient custom of widows cutting off their braids and burying them with their husbands. The dough is made from white flour, milk, eggs, butter and yeast, plaited into a braid and then brushed with egg yolk before baking. It's traditionally eaten on Sunday mornings.

Make your own:

• This recipe has rave reviews.
• There are great photos with this recipe, including how to braid the bread (it's easier than it looks).
• Here's an authentic Swiss recipe translated into English.

Berner platte

If you like meat and are feeling very hungry, then you'll love the Bernese speciality the Berner platte (‘Bernese platter'). It consists of a whole range of meats and sausages, which may include beef, ham, smoked bacon, smoked beef and pork tongue, spare ribs, pork knuckle, pork loin and shoulder, marrow bone­­ – oh and there's some juniper-flavoured sauerkraut, potatoes and dried beans in there, too. The dish was created on March 5, 1798 after the Bernese defeated the French army at Neuenegg. To celebrate they held a huge feast, with everyone bringing along whatever they had to hand, hence the variety and predominance of preserved meats and other foods.

Make your own:

• This recipe is in German;
• ...and so is this.
• This recipe in English uses a slow cooker.

Älplermagronen

Sometimes called herdsman's macaroni, alplermagronen ­is a traditional all-in-one dish from the German part of Switzerland. It uses all the ingredients that were available to the herdsmen who were looking after their cows on the mountain pastures of the slopes of the Alps: cheese, potatoes, onions, macaroni, milk or cream – and apples. The classic version is made by layering cooked potatoes and macaroni with cream and cheese, baking it in the oven and then serving it with fried onion rings and a stewed apple sauce on top. Sometimes it comes with bacon as well. It's a hearty meal that will really warm you up a cold night.

Make your own:

• Try this authentic recipe from Switzerland (in English).
• This recipe, in German, is easy and delicious.
• Here's one expat's take on the dish.

Top 10 Dutch foods – with recipes

There's much more to Dutch food than raw herring. Here are the top 10 most popular Dutch foods, together with Dutch recipes for you try at home.

Dutch cuisine is varied and delicious. From piping hot street snacks, heart-warming stews, thick tasty soups and lots of different Indonesian foods because of the country's colonial past, to the vast pancakes (and tiny pancakes), pies filled with spiced apples and, of course, raw herrings – there are many foods to enjoy in the Netherlands. Here are just 10 Dutch foods to try.

Pannenkoeken (sweet and savoury)

Pannenkoeken are delicious Dutch pancakes, which are often eaten with sweet and/or savoury foods like slices of bacon, apples, cheese, raisins, stroop (a treacly Dutch syrup), chocolate, an apple sauce calledappelstroop, icing/powdered sugar, nuts – and even smoked salmon and crème fraiche. Usually much thinner than an American or a Scotch pancake – more like the traditional English pancake – they can also be huge. They're made from a batter of flour (sometimes buckwheat), milk, eggs and salt, and cooked quickly over a pan on a high heat. They can be eaten as a main course for lunch or dinner – or as a dessert. They're often served flat and eaten with cutlery, or rolled up and eaten with your fingers. There are pancake restaurants all over the Netherlands or you can make them yourself at home: take turns flipping huge pannenkoekens over – it's fun!

Make your own:

• Here's a basic recipe (practice your Dutch!);
• or be inspired by these 15 Dutch pancake variations – both savoury and sweet (also in Dutch);
• and try the classic apple pannenkoeken – in half an hour.

Erwtensoep

Erwtensoep is a thick pea soup­ – so thick that some say you should be able to stand a spoon up in it – and it's really a meal in itself. It's made from dried split green peas and other vegetables, such as celery or celeriac, onions, leeks, carrots and potatoes, plus different cuts of pork, with slices of smoked sausage added in just before serving. It's often eaten with a rye bread (roggebrood) topped with a type of smoked bacon called katenspek, cheese and butter. Erwtensoep is traditionally eaten on New Year's Day but it's welcome on any cold winter day – you'll often see skaters alongside the frozen canals warming themselves up with some hot and delicious snert, which is one-day old soup.

Make your own:

• Cook snert using this Dutch recipe;
• Also in Dutch, here's a vegetarian version of erwtensoep;
• Or use this easy-to-follow recipe from the BBC.

Appeltaart

The Dutch have been enjoying appelltaart or apple pie for centuries – the first printed cookbook dating back to 1514 contains a recipe for one! An appeltaart is a deep pie with a pastry top and bottom (unlike the French apple tarts which are open), filled with a mixture of slices or pieces of apple (often using a slightly tart variety called goudreinet), sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Sometimes raisins or currants are added, too. Traditionally, the top of the pie is made from an attractive lattice of pastry strips, so you can see the filling through it. Enjoy it served with whipped cream (met slagroom) and a cup of coffee (koffie).

Make your own:

• Try this simple recipe.
• Cheat with a recipe using a ready-made pie crust – it will be just as delicious (over 200 glowing reviews can't be wrong!).
• This Dutch recipe puts a spin on the classic appeltaart – it uses filo instead of short crust pastry.

BamiGoreng

Back in the 17th century, the Netherlands was an important colonial power ruling the world's spice trade. The jewel in its crown was Indonesia, and when the Dutch East India Company went bust in the 19th century, Indonesia became a Dutch colony. Today, Indonesian food is almost synonymous with Dutch and there are Indonesian restaurants everywhere. Nearly all of them will have bamigoreng on the menu – stir-fried egg noodles with garlic, onion, vegetables, meat, egg and chilli. Other Indonesian specialties to look out for includerendang (meat in coconut and spices), rijsttafel (rice with lots of small dishes of spiced meat and vegetables) and a spiced layer cake called spekkoek.

Make your own:

• Try this simple step-by-step guide to making Indonesian stir fried noodles;
• or a vegetarian version;
• if you prefer rice over noodles, then make nasigoreng – this recipe has great reviews.

Bitterballen

If you're in a café or bar anywhere in the Netherlands, then be sure to ask forbitterballen. These little meatballs are often served as part of a bittergarnituur, a selection of savoury snacks ­– bite-sized Gouda cheese, tiny egg rolls, sliced local sausage – to accompany drinks. Bitterballen are made from a mixture of chopped beef (or chicken, veal or mushrooms for a veggie option), which is cooked in broth, flour, butter and herbs. After chilling the mixture to firm it, it's then rolled into small balls, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried until crisp and golden. They are delicious dipped in grainy or spiced mustard.
Make your own:

• Try this classic bitterballen recipe in English;
• or this one in Dutch.
• Eat this version with chutney or pickles;
• or try this veggie recipe, with great step-by-step photos.

Poffertjes

These tiny fluffy pancakes are made with yeast and buckwheat flour, have a light, spongy texture and are served with icing/powdered sugar, butter and sometimes stroop syrup. During the cold season and at festivals and fairs, you can buy them from food stalls and eat them with a little fork in the street. They're usually cooked in special poffertjes pans, which have lots of shallow indentations in them – but if you're making them at home you can drop small spoonfuls of the batter onto a drying pan or skillet and carefully turn them over to cook the other side.

Make your own:

• The photos make this Dutch language recipe simple to follow;
• a classic poffertjes recipe;
• this recipe uses self-raising flour instead of buckwheat.

Oliebollen

These are the Dutch version of doughnuts. They are traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve but you'll find them sold on street stalls throughout the cold winter months. The word oliebollen means ‘oil balls' but don't let that put you off – while they are deep-fried (like doughnuts), they are totally moreish. The dough, which has sugar and lemon zest added to it, may or may not contain sultanas or other dried fruit, but the finishedoliebollen should always be covered with plenty of icing/powdered sugar (don't treat yourself on your way to an important meeting!) Eat them hot, straight from the food stall, or cold, with a cup of coffee (koffie).
Make your own:

• Try this recipe – you soak the raisins in rum the night before;
• watch olibollen being made by a Dutch chef (and practice your Dutch);
• or use this traditional recipe with great reviews.

Hollandse nieuwe haring

This soused herring, served with chopped raw onions and with or without bread, can be only called Hollandse nieuwe haring if caught between the months of May and July, when the fish has fattened up by the ideal amount. Strictly speaking, that means a minimum of 16 percent fat. Traditionally, fishermen clean and gut the fish at sea (leaving in the pancreas so that enzymes allow the fish to ‘mature') and then preserve them in brine (this is the ‘sousing'). Every year, fishing boats are decorated with flags on Flag Day (Vlaggetjesdag), when the first fish of the year are brought in. To eat haring the Dutch way, hold the fish by the tail, throw your head back, open your mouth and let the fish slide in! Or if you prefer, you can eat it in a sandwich called a broodje haring.

Make your own:

• Dutch recipe with great reviews.
• Delia Smith shows you how to souse your own herring here.
• Here's how to fillet – and pickle – your herring (with photos).

Stamppot

This may not be the most sophisticated dish you'll ever eat but it's a satisfying, nutritious and delicious dish which will really warm you up on a cold winter's night. It's simply mashed potato mixed together with different (also mashed) vegetables and usually served with a smoked sausage and some gravy. There are lots of different versions of stamppot: boerenkool (kale), zuurkool (sauerkraut), hutspot (onions and carrots) andrauweandijvie (endive) – each one perfect for comfort food.

Make your own:

• A classic version;
• boerenkoolstamppot – that's with kale;
• you use onions, carrots and potato in this recipe for hutspot;
• or try this recipe that puts stamppotrauweandijvie with meatballs.

Sate
Sate is an Indonesian food that has become an integral part of Dutch cuisine. It's a dish of skewered seasoned meat  ­– chicken, pork, beef ­– served with a thick peanut sauce, which is made from a sweet soy sauce called ketjapmanis, peanut butter and an Indonesian chilli sauce called sambaloelek. While you might have hadsate (or satay) before in another country, the chances are that you won't have enjoyed it quite like they do in the Netherlands – served on top of chips (French fries), a bit like mayonnaise or ketchup.

Make your own:

• A Dutch language recept for kip sate (chicken satay) with rave reviews.
• A delicious recipe for peanut sauce with fantastic photos to inform and inspire.
• If you only have a few minutes, this 10-minute recipe will do the trick.