European cuisine

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French bread
Italian pasta

European cuisine, or alternatively Western cuisine, is a generalised term collectively referring to the cuisines of Europe and other Western countries.[1] European cuisine or Western cuisine includes that of Europe including (depending on the definition) that of Russia,[1] as well as non-indigenous cuisines of North America, Australasia, Oceania, and Latin America, which derive substantial influence from European settlers in those regions. The term is used by East Asians to contrast with Asian styles of cooking.[2] (This is analogous to Westerners referring collectively to the cuisines of East Asian countries as Asian cuisine.) When used by Westerners, the term may sometimes refer more specifically to cuisine in Europe or continental; in this context, a synonym is Continental cuisine, especially in British English.

Grilled steak
Frites (french fries)

The cuisines of Western countries are diverse by themselves, although there are common characteristics that distinguishes Western cooking from cuisines of Asian countries[3] and others. Compared with traditional cooking of Asian countries, for example, meat is more prominent and substantial in serving-size.[4]Steak in particular is a common dish across the West. Similarly to some Asian cuisines, Western cuisines also put substantial emphasis on sauces as condiments, seasonings, or accompaniments (in part due to the difficulty of seasonings penetrating the often larger pieces of meat used in Western cooking). Many dairy products are utilised in the cooking process, except in nouvelle cuisine.[5]Wheat-flour bread has long been the most common sources of starch in this cuisine, along with pasta, dumplings and pastries, although the potato has become a major starch plant in the diet of Europeans and their diaspora since the European colonisation of the Americas. Maize is much less common in most European diets than it is in the Americas; however corn meal, or polenta, is a major part of the cuisine of Italy and the Balkans.

Central and Eastern European cuisines

Belarusian potato babka
Polish pierogi
Bulgarian banitsa
Romanian sărmăluţe cu mămăligă
Czech Vepřo-knedlo-zelo
Russian pirozhki
Hungarian gulyás
Ukrainian borscht
Main article: Central and Eastern European cuisine


Northern European cuisines

English Sunday roast
Norwegian smørbrød
Finnish sautéed reindeer
Scottish haggis, neeps, and tatties
Irish stew
Swedish meatballs
Lithuanian cold borscht
Welsh rarebit


Southern European cuisines

Bosnian Ćevapi
Macedonian Tavče Gravče
Croatian Žganci
Maltese octopus stew
Cypriot bamies
Serbian Đuveč
Greek salad
Portuguese amêijoas à bulhão pato
Italian polenta with rabbit
Portuguese cozido
Italian risotto alla milanese
Spanish paella
Italian spaghetti alla carbonara
Spanish tapas
Neapolitan pizza
Turkish kebab
Main article: Cuisine of the Mediterranean 
Tuscan cuisine


Western European cuisines

Austrian schweinsbraten with semmelknödel
French carbonnade flamande
Belgian moules frites
French duck magret
Dutch Boerenkoolstamppot with rookworst
French fondue savoyarde
German Sauerbraten with potato dumplings
French quiche lorraine


See also

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References

  1. ^ a b "European Cuisine." Europeword.com. Accessed July 2011.
  2. ^ Leung Man-tao (12 February 2007), "Eating and Cultural Stereotypes", Eat and Travel Weekly, no. 312, p. 76. Hong Kong
  3. ^ Kwan Shuk-yan (1988). Selected Occidental Cookeries and Delicacies, p. 23. Hong Kong: Food Paradise Pub. Co.
  4. ^ Lin Ch'ing (1977). First Steps to European Cooking, p. 5. Hong Kong: Wan Li Pub. Co.
  5. ^ Kwan Shuk-yan, pg 26
European cuisine
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