Recipe Polish Potato Dumplings

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.

“Ostropel” is a Romanian dish that can be found all around the country; each area having their own variations, additions, or omissions. Even the chicken is exchangeable, and the dish could easily be cooked with chicken livers, pork chunks, or even a vegetarian version with the meat replaced by potatoes or another solid vegetable.

Cotechino with shrimp and lentils cream recipe from the European Young Chef Award 2017 was created by Davide Fiammenghi, representing East Lombary – European Region of Gastronomy 2017

The Austrians are convinced that the word “Gugelhupf” origins in the Middle High German “gugele” (monk’s hood) and “hopf” (yeast). It might also come from the Alsace “Kouglhof”, though, a sweet dish which, according to legend, the Three Wise Men carried with them.