Recipe Danish Meatballs

The Dutch love cookies, cakes, pastries, anything savory with cheese, or sweet with chocolate. And they adore whipped cream. It is therefore not surprising that this sweet pastry is one of the country’s favorites. It’s like a chocolate éclair, but bigger, fluffier, with better chocolate and much more cream. These Bossche goodies have made the city of Hertogenbosch famous and are the number one pastries to serve with fork and knife and a handful of napkins.

Strudel, štrudl, štrudla and štrukli – these are the names given by our neighbors in Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to this sweet dream of light pastry and its juicy filling. But in English, the only word which has made it into common use is the German “Strudel”. That is a powerful signal of just how famous the Viennese Apfelstrudel has now become internationally. But it’s all too easily forgotten that this fine pastry once traveled an extensive route from Arabia via the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, before becoming resident in Vienna. However, the long journey was worth it!

The most typical Slovak national food is Bryndzové Halušky with bacon. This is made from potato dough mixed with a special kind of sheep cheese – „bryndza“ that tastes best in the so called cottages of shepherds or mountain chalets. The dish is topped by fried bacon lardons and some of the fat. Bryndzové halušky is best eaten with buttermilk or acidified milk. Slovakia can boast a remarkable world curiosity. Every year, in the mountain village of Turecká at the foot of the Veľká Fatra mountains, lovers of bryndzové halušky meet at the European championship for cooking and consuming of this dish.

In Denmark, these world-famous sticky delights are called Vienna Bread (wienerbrød), as they were first made in Denmark in 1840 by Viennese chefs. Danish pastries rose in popularity over the centuries and are now a firm favorite of most Danes.