My world on a plate is under starters orders
Swedish cuisine is ideal for slim blonds/ blondes. All varieties of marinaded herring, crispbread, and anything involving wild berries, is everywhere.
And then there are meatballs, popularised by Ikea. Trendy restaurants
SWEDE DREAMS: Eat fresh cinnamon rolls at the Gamla Stan branch of Brod & Salt
STREET FOOD: Diners at stalls in Jemaa El Fna, where grilled meat on skewers is popular like M Meatballs For The People in St Stockholm serve nothing els else, although you can c choose between reindeer, b bear and moose.
Our tip: Fika is a coffee and cake break, a vital part of Swedish culture. And if you’re going to have a fika in Stockholm, it should involve a cinnamon roll, straight from the oven. Watch bakers making these kanelbullar in the branch of Brod & Salt down on the waterfront of Gamla Stan, the historic part of town.
restaurant dining in Switzerland can be pricey, which is why the Swiss have introduced a Tavolata system where tourists can eat on a farm, reducing food miles to food metres.
Our tip: Picture the scene: the distant mountains; the grazing cattle; the blonde children, who may or may not be called Heidi; and the table groaning with farm beef and local cheese. Sounds like fiction? But it’s fact when you eat at Tavolata host Frau Ramser’s table at the family’s Horbermatt farm, not far from Berne.
GREECE
There are few cuisines that benefit more from a sense of place than Greek. In truth, there’s not a lot of variety on most menus: a bit of grilled meat, a square of rather stodgy moussaka, some stuffed vine leaves (who on earth likes those?), some calamari and grilled halloumi cheese.
But it will be the taverna that makes it all worthwhile: the little table by the gently lapping beach, the wooden chairs painted blue, the golden sun being swallowed by the horizon. The air is beautifully warm, and the bottle of retsina is nicely chilled.
Our tip: You simply can’t go wrong with a Greek salad. Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and olives never taste like this at home, with a lump of local feta on top and fresh bread on the side to mop up the dressing.
Try it at Panorama Taverna on Notos beach in Corfu.
What image does Italian food conjure up for you? A simple plate of pasta eaten n in the piazza of a hilltop village in Tuscany, with swifts flying high overhead and a skirt of vineyards all around? A generous gelato balanced precariously on a cone and eaten on a gondola in Venice? Or just very y simple bruschetta – grilled bread with tomato omato and garlic – served i in a street t t corner bar to accompany an earthy Chianti?
One thing is for sure, Italian cuisine is the most universally loved: you will find pizza and pasta in every corner of the world.
Our tip: Eataly is a phenomenal food hall emporium serving the best of Italian cuisine at accessible prices. Secure your table, put in your order at individual cooking stations, collect and enjoy.
There are a dozen Eatalys in Italy, and an outlet is opening in London this year.
GERMANY
Teutonic cuisine has a tendency to be heavy. For example Black Forest gateau, all the varieties of sausage (although Nuremberg sausages are finger-delicate) and Bavaria’s Schweinhaxe (pork knuckles).
The staples of life – the bread and the beer – are truly excellent here. For a travel food experience with a difference try the apple wine taverns in the Sachsenhausen area of Frankfurt, a surprising side to a boring city.
Here the focus is on a lively nest of alleys a couple of blocks south of the river, particularly Paradiesgasse and Rittergasse, lined with taverns.
Our tip: The tipple here is a local cider, drunk while seated at sociable long benches, and best accompanied by Handkäs mit Musik, a cheese drowned in vinegar and chopped onions and served with bread.
It’s an acquired a taste, so try it under the spre spreading vine of Lo Lorsbacher Thal, w which often has live music too.
*Bon appetit!
You don’t have to seek out Michelin stars to get brilliant food in France.
Simple ingredients done well top the bill. Even chain eateries, such the 50-odd Hippopotamus restaurants specialising in steak-frites, are excellent.
Each region is different: markets always have quality local produce, and restaurants reflect local specialities.
For example the small seafront town of Cancale, in Brittany, with oyster beds visible offshore, has a large number of competing shellfish restaurants, and if you want pizza – tough!
Our tip: Buy a fresh baguette and a pungent camembert and sit on the quayside in Normandy’s Honfleur, the little port on the Seine loved by the Impressionists.
Munch your way through both while watching the boat traffic come and go.
FINE DINING: Foodie favourites in France include oysters and strong camembert
SAY CHEESE: Try Handkäs mit Musik at Lorsbacher Thal in Frankfurt