Food trail in The EUROPE

Vienna, Austria: Austrian cuisine:

Viennese cuisine is the cuisine that is characteristic of Vienna, Austria, and a majority of its residents. Viennese cuisine is often treated as equivalent to Austrian cuisine, Austrian cuisine is a style of cuisine native to Austria and composed of influences from throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Regional influences from Italy, Hungary, Bohemia, Germany and the Balkans have had an effect on Austrian cooking, and in turn this fusion of styles was influential throughout the Empire.

Austrian cuisine is most often associated with Viennese cuisine, but there are significant regional variations. Some of the popular dishes are:

Rindsuppe (beef soup) a clear soup with golden colour.

Tafelspitz beef boiled in broth (soup), often served with apple and horseradish and chives sauce.

Gulasch : Austrian goulash is often eaten with rolls, bread or dumplings

Beuschel: a ragout containing lungs and heart)

Liptauer: spicy cheese spread, eaten on a slice of bread

Selchfleisch: smoked, then cooked meat with Sauerkraut and dumplings.

Powidl: a thick sweet jam made from plums.

Apfelstrudel: apple strudel

Topfenstrudel, cream cheese strudel

Millirahmstrudel: milk-cream strudel & not to leave pastries; cakes.

And now a days new dishes, with influences from Arabic world, are also being considered part of Austrian cuisines like shwarama.

 

Bratislava, Slovakia, Slovak cuisine:

 

The food in Slovakia is wholesome and rather heavy. Potatoes, meat, sheep cheese and dumplings make the basis of many dishes and are often accompanied by cabbage (sauerkraut), which is sour and salty depending on how it’s been cooked.

The most popular meats in Slovakian cuisine are pork, beef and chicken. A blood sausage “krvavničky” and spicy smoked sausage “klobása” are also common along with game meats like boar, rabbit and venison. The food in Slovakia is extremely cheap. More of less everything is cheaper compared to the rest of Europe, but the food in particular. Depending on the restaurant, a meal costs between 1-6 EUR, and a bowl of soup can cost as little as 1 EUR.

My favorite dish in Slovakia was the sheep cheese dumplings (bryndzové pirohy), which is one of the Slovak national dishes. This heavy meal consists of potato dumplings (similar to gnocchi), filled with sheep cheese and topped with sour cream, spring onion, fried onion and crispy bacon pieces.The contemporary Slovak cuisine takes its inspiration from its neighbours and now most recipes are the same or very similar for Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians, Austrians and Poles. The modern food is not all new dishes, actually many of the dishes are traditional meals that have been adjusted so the taste remains, but the look changes. A great thing about the food in Slovakia is that there’s International food, too. There are American chains like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, but I also found Indian, European and Asian meals on the menu cards rtc.

 

Budapest, Hungary, Hungarian cuisine:

When you visit Budapest do not forget to taste some tasty Hungarian dishes. Hungarian cuisine surely has some delights for you including hearty soups, stews and game dishes, simple but tasty casseroles and luscious cakes and pastries. Some basic ingredients and cooking techniques make Hungarian dishes hearty and spicy. Hungarian paprika powder gives a unique taste and fiery colour to typical Hungarian meals, however don’t think that dishes made with paprika are burning hot.

Usually sweet paprika is used to make stews, goulash, paprika chicken and hot paprika is offered separately. Braising onions in hot lard and adding paprika to it are the first basic steps of making authentic Hungarian stews, paprikás or goulash. Sour cream is another essential ingredient in Hungarian recipes. It’s added to soups, pastas, casseroles and desserts. If you have a sweet tooth you do not want to miss luscious Hungarian cakes, scrumptious pastries. Coffee houses, cafés are the best places to try these sweet delights. Take your time to select from the array of cakes and gateaus behind the counter.

Prague, Czech Republic, Czech cuisine:

It mostly consists of pork or beef meat with sauce and a side dish, the most common and liked being dumplings. Dumplings (“knedliky”) are the Czech traditional side dish made from wheat or potato flour, boiled in water as a roll and then sliced and served hot. Other side dishes are: rice, potatoes (boiled, baked or fried).

Czech people love combination of meat with sauce and whipped cream. Chicken, duck, turkey, fish, rabbit and lamb are also used in some very tasteful Czech dishes. A good choice can be the Guláš (read like in English, “goulash“), even though it basically belongs to traditional Hungarian cuisine. Some of the must try dishes are:

Beef goulash (a thick beef stew) with dumplings,

Beef sirloin with dumplings and vegetable cream sauce,

Roast pork, dumplings and sauerkraut,

Pork schnitzel – a slice of pork, breaded and fried,

Roasted duck with sauerkraut and dumplings,

Fried cheese – a thick slice of cheese, breaded and fried,

Roasted chicken with potatoes,

Stuffed bell peppers with tomato sauce & many others