Sarah Compton-
So you’ve got your backpack strapped on tight, your Inter-rail ticket and passport concealed in the flesh-tone fashion monstrosity known as the “travel belt”, your hostels and sleeper trains booked, and you think you’re ready to do Europe like it’s never been done before? Not quite. Sure, there will probably be a McDonalds on each and every one of the cities you visit, but let’s face it, we’ve all seen Super Size Me, and there are only so many burgers you can order in one day before you start to feel really bad about yourself. So here’s a guide to some of the more unfamiliar, terrifying, and downright delicious cuisines of the countries many of you will be facing this summer in the hope that it will add a little more fun to your trip.
Germany
They eat a lot of meat in Germany. By a lot of meat, I really do mean a lot of meat. When you arrive there, you will be confronted with a wide range of sausages (in an all- natural intestine casing) that look very similar, but taste quite different so here are the basics:
Bratwurst- made of ground pork and spices; this is the most popular of all the “Wursts” and is often cooked in beer.
Bockwurst – a smoked (or simmered) sausage usually made from veal or pork and served with mustard.
Frankfurter – this is the familiar ancestor of the Americanised version called a “hot dog”, and it differs from the other types of German sausages in that it is usually served in a bun, whereas the others are not.
If you’re a vegetarian: never fear. Germans eat a lot of potatoes and vegetable stews that are hearty enough to keep you very well-fed during your stay in Germany.
Poland
Polish cuisine is very similar to that of Germany, and can best be described as rich, hearty, and meaty. They use a lot of cream and heavy noodles, and if you decide to visit a traditional Polish restaurant you will probably be faced with a wide variety of soups to try, which are most often made with all sorts of nutritious and strange ingredients such as mushrooms and beets and are very delicious. A type of dumpling, called pierogi, is extremely popular not only in Poland but also throughout the rest of Eastern Europe, and can be sweet or savoury, and contain a wide range of ingredients including combinations of potato, meat, and cheese. If all these meat dumplings and heavy vegetable stews are getting too much for you, then you can take a break with one of the many varieties of cheesecakes that Polish bakeries specialise in.
Czech Republic
Czech food is, yet again, heavy on the meat, with an emphasis on pork and wild game and they are known for their very large and wholesome portions. If you order a meal there, it’s highly likely that you will have a vegetable soup for a starter and will be washing your meal down with a locally brewed beer, as the Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world.
Hungary
While Hungarian cuisine has many of the features of other European countries (stews, soups, meats, sausages, dumplings) there is one aspect that makes it unique: paprika. This spice is absolutely everywhere in Hungary and is used as liberally as salt is here. Hungarians typically eat a large breakfast that may contain foods as diverse as sausages, fried peppers (sprinkled with paprika), kidney beans (with more paprika, of course), and cold meats, and if you’re lucky enough to be staying in a hostel that offers such a breakfast, take them up on it.
Croatia/Slovenia
If, like most backpackers, you’re sticking to the coast in Croatia, the seafood is not to be missed, and you will have the opportunity to sample dishes that contain a variety of sea creatures that you may have been wary of back in Ireland, like squid, octopus, sea spider, and cuttlefish. If you’re venturing into Slovenia, beware the horse burger as they are extremely popular there in the capital Ljubljana, but I have heard that the “Hot Horse” is a good place to go if you want to sample a steed.
