Recipe Flemish Vol-au-Vent

Poish forests have an abundance of wilde game and it is no wonder that traditional Polish cuisine has been so rich in game for centuries.

The cuisine of northern Slovakia is influenced by the harsh climatic conditions of the area, where it is usually intensively cold at least three months per year. This is one of the reasons why smoked meat, potatoes, sauerkraut, dairy products and pulses are typical for this cuisine. In Slovakia, the pulses belong to the oldest cultivated crops. The most famous dish, still popular of the Slovak kitchen, is the bean soup, which used to be part of the Christmas Eve dinner for many families.

The Chestnut: sweet, healthy and low in calories. The Valle Isarco/Eisacktal Valley innkeepers show us the taste of the chestnut during the “Valle Isarco Chestnut Speciality Weeks” from the middle of October to the beginning of November when everything revolves around the fruit of the bread-fruit tree. Numerous inns all along the route of the Keschtnweg, in the traditional chestnut growing area of the Valle Isarco offer all sorts of tasty treats during this time, which are all prepared using the noble chestnut.

A vol-au-vent is the French name for a baked puff pastry batter. The name means ‘windblown’ and describes the lightness of the pastry. A round opening is cut in the top and the pastry cut out for the opening is replaced as a lid after the case is filled. In Flanders the pastry is filled with a chicken, meatball and mushroom sauce.