Cevapcici[che VOP chee chee] comes from the Persian kebaband Slavic diminutive ending, -cici; literally, “little kebabs.” These small sausages were introduced to Europe during the Ottoman Empire. Popular in Balkan countries, these bite-sized treats are enjoyed as appetizers or with tzatziki in a sandwich, and can be cooked under the broiler or barbecued.

This dish of fresh corn with trinity vegetables and Cajun seasonings is traditional Acadian French fare. If you cannot find tasso ham, just use smoked sausage, country ham or bacon. This version is a robust side dish, perfect with blackened fish; or you can add crawfish, shrimp, crab or toasted okra to serve it as a main dish.

Try this recipe to share the taste of France with friends and family. It is a delicious mixture of shrimp sautéed with shallots and sundried tomatoes in a creamy Cognac sauce. Excellent served with pasta or over rice, add a light salad to offset the richness, and a side of warm, crusty bread.

Gougères are among the most popular hors d’oeuvres in France. A traditional specialty of the Burgundy region, gougères are often made with Gruyère cheese. You can also use other cheeses (such as parmesan) to add an extra depth. Enjoy these with a glass (or two) of good French wine.

Pho (pronounced like “fun” without the “n”) originated in northern Vietnam during the early 20th century and was likely brought by Chinese refugees who settled around Hanoi at that time. Making the base from scratch yields outstanding results but takes time; alternately, substitute 3 quarts quality beef broth, add seasonings, simmer for 1 hour; strain and proceed.

According to Czech lore, Česnečka(garlic soup) will cure just about anything, even the common cold. It certainly tastes rich and comforting. So, if you feel under the weather, make a big pot of this simple soup of broth, potatoes, garlic and cheese to help you feel better.

Ciorba de Varza (pronounced “CHOR ba duh VAR zuh”) is a traditional cabbage soup with meatballs, very typical of the Bulgaria/Romania region, and uses both fresh and fermented cabbage (sauerkraut). Hearty and filling, this soup absorbs the richness of the beef meatballs as they cook in the chicken broth, developing complex flavors and depth.

The chanterelle, or the girolleas it is called in France, is a gold, spongy, trumpet-shaped mushroom with a distinctly nutty flavor. Chanterelles have a short growing season. These fungi taste best when just harvested and still plump. Delicious as a side dish, lightly sautéed, they are also wonderful in soups or served over pasta.

Warm and rich, this soup can be made in under half an hour for quick, delicious comfort food, and the dash of savory truffle oil adds a decidedly European touch. This sophisticated soup is perfect for a cold winter night or as an elegant luncheon starter.

The Dutch are great soup eaters, often featuring soup as a main dish. This hearty soup, enriched with Gouda cheese, is perfect served piping hot on a chilly evening. Gouda is the quintessential Dutch cheese to use: a young Gouda will give you a soft, mild taste, while an aged one will provide more complex and robust flavor.

Healthy, hearty and packed with flavor, this Dutch version of split pea soup (known as snert), is one of the signature dishes of the Netherlands. During cold winters, small food and drink stalls called koek en zopie spring up along frozen canals serving snertto ice skaters. It is a real treat and easy to make.

Beloved across the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, split pea soup is actually one of Norway’s many culinary imports. Our version of this perennial favorite makes a hearty lunch or dinner, ideal for fall or winter days. The combination of ham and chicken broth creates a flavorful soup. Split peas did not appear until the end of the 19th century, when a process for removing the skins became common—the peas split naturally when their skins are removed.

This classic soup can be simply outstanding when made with a hearty homemade beef stock or broth, but in a pinch, purchased broth will still make a very good soup. The key to the dish is ensuring the onions caramelize well but do not burn.

Treasured since ancient times, truffles are among the world’s great delicacies. Most come from Europe, and they are famously abundant and delicious in France’s Périgord region. Here, just a small amount of this aromatic fungus complements the hearty polenta and offsets the delicate, grass-like asparagus with its earthy, delectable flavor.

This hearty main dish originally came from 19th-century Russia and was named for the Stroganov family, whose palace can still be seen on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. In the early versions of the recipe, mustard was included as an ingredient, but modern versions omit the mustard and instead depend on the rich texture of sour cream.

Native to the Upper Mississippi River basin, walleye are beloved throughout the region for their delicate taste and exquisite texture. Minnesota’s Red Lake is particularly prized by anglers for its abundance of the carnivorous freshwater fish. Our recipe marries this local specialty with another of the region’s culinary treasures: beer, which is used in both the sauce and the batter.

So valued is the Belgian endive by Belgians that they refer to it as “white gold.”  A tad bitter when raw, the sleek, compact heads mellow in flavor when cooked. This elegant dish of ham and Belgian endive broiled in a rich cheese sauce is a perfect cold weather dish as well as a great accompaniment for fish.

Bordelaise [bore duh LAZ] sauce is a great accompaniment for any grilled red meat, and Bordeaux wine is the key to this recipe’s rich taste. The author of this classic recipe is Georges Auguste Escoffier; it appears in his book Le Guide Culinaire, first published in French in 1903, which has become a classic on the art of cooking.

Originally cooked by fishermen using unwanted fish from their catch, this traditional Provençal fish stew is served with a creamy, saffron-scented rouille.

This dish is now considered a classic, but it was Chef Paul Prudhomme who brought the blackening technique to mainstream dining in Louisiana, along with a number of other inspirations. Be sure to use a very hot cast iron skillet and do not overcook your fish; it is the browning of the butter combined with the spices that makes for delicious results.

Winter is the perfect time to make hearty meals that raise everyone’s spirits. Unlike French stews made with wine, this Flemish carbonnaderelies on the flavor of Belgian abbey-style beer. The key to making it great is the beer: we recommend Oud Bruin, an aged Belgian beer. If you cannot find this, a stout or porter works well too.

This classic comfort food is a staple along the banks of the Lower Mississippi. The practice of slow-cooking cuts of meat to bring out their heavenly textures and succulent flavors was well established in the American South by the 19th century. Memphis especially is renowned for its pulled pork, which is seasoned to create a perfect balance of sweet and savory notes.

Coq au Vin is a traditional French chicken dish cooked in full-bodied Burgundy wine. This rich, tasty entrée is often served during the colder months of the year. While relatively simple to prepare, it will impress and delight your guests. The secret to the depth of flavor is marinating the chicken.

These vegetables (hutspot) with braised beef (klapstuk) are part of an annual celebration commemorating the 1574 end of Leiden’s siege during the Dutch revolt against Spain. In a shrewd maneuver, the Dutch punctured their dikes, flooding the Spanish position and thus freeing Leiden. Liberators brought herring, bread and hutspot, which residents still eat today.

Flammkuchen, which literally translates from German as “flame cake,” became popular in the 1960s at the beginning of the pizza craze. You will find variations of it in much of Europe. With both a thinner crust and topping layer than a typical pizza, it is perfect served with a generous side salad for lunch or a light supper.

Looking for something different for dinner? This hearty, slow-cooking chicken entrée is easy to make and features an interesting blend of flavors. The recipe comes from the city of Alcobaça on Portugal’s west coast; traditionally it is prepared in a special clay pot called a púcara, but you can use any covered baking dish.

This fine, light cake is a favorite from one of our Dutch friends, who used to make it frequently and served it with coffee as an afternoon pick-me-up. Here we use a springform pan, but for a more elegant presentation it can also be baked in a shaped pan, such as a Bundt.

With its graceful fan of apple slices enrobed in creamy vanilla custard, this tart is a dessert classic of the small but esteemed region of Alsace, France. Bordering Germany and Switzerland, Alsace is known for its high-quality cuisine that reflects a mix of German and French influences. Try this delicious tart for a small taste of this region.

Cooking one of Germany’s favorite sweet treats at home is a great way of sharing your holiday travel discoveries and memories with friends and family. For a taste of the old country, follow this easy recipe for traditional Apfelkuchen, then make a pot of coffee and enjoy a warm slice of cake with whipped cream.

Here is one of the recipes we have collected while traveling through France. The almond paste, an ingredient often used in French baking, gives this delicious dessert a Continental flavor. With its combination of fresh apples and cranberries, plus easy crumb topping, this will quickly become one of your favorite fall desserts.

Made popular in the 1700s by the Hapsburg Empire, today apple strudel is considered the national dish of Austria. The oldest strudel recipe on record, handwritten in 1696, can be found at the Viennese City Library.

Brunslioriginate from Basel, and literally means “brown cookie” from the German, brun Guetsli. A recipe for these first appeared in the cookbook The Sweet Basel in 1750, and today the cookies are eaten all over Switzerland during the holiday season, usually served with Mailänderliand cinnamon stars.

This Southern bread pudding is rich and elegant, with the distinctive taste of Steen’s cane syrup. Bourbon, another American flavor, is woven throughout both the pudding and the sauce. Bourbon came under heavy regulation in 1897 with the Bottle in Bond Act, which required the spirit to be made from only one distillation season, one distiller and one distillery.

This grand dessert is a descendant of the medieval subtlety—food disguised to look like something else. Here, chocolate cake masquerades as the traditional yule log for a long winter’s night. Although making the log look realistic can be challenging, even a simple approach is great fun to make and delightful to serve on a holiday evening.

This oriz puding is easy to make and likely will become a favorite. The lemon zest adds a freshness to the pudding, and the rose-pistachio garnish is lovely. You can serve this while still warm, or at room temperature; just refrigerate any leftovers.

This rich dessert combines a soufflé with the decadence of molten chocolate. It is every chocolate lover’s ultimate dream, with crusty cake edges and a gooey, soft center. The cake batter can be frozen for up to a month before baking (do not thaw before baking). Offset the richness by garnishing with crème fraîche and fresh raspberries.

French macarons (from the Italian maccherone, or meringue) are typically a sweet meringue confection filled with preserves, caramel or buttercream; these chocolate ones are a light-as-a-feather French treat. The sugar syrup method results in a delicate, delicious meringue subtly flavored with almonds, and the filling is intensely rich and decadent.

Simple and elegant, this is the quintessential French dessert. When you travel to France, no matter the region, you will likely be offered this “chocolate foam” (moussemeans “foam” in French). Rich, creamy, dark and dreamy, chocolate mousse is not only a perfect gourmet treat, it also one of the simplest to make.

Delightfully easy to make, these chocolate truffles are a fabulous holiday gift. Rich and decadent, they can be a dessert unto themselves, or an excellent accompaniment to an espresso. Be sure to use a good quality of chocolate as the flavor of the final candies will be dependent upon this.

The term profiteroleis believed to have come from the French verb profiter, to profit, and originally meant a small gratuity or gift such as one might give to a servant. This rendition, with fresh fruit, coconut purée and toasted coconut, mascarpone and cream, is indeed a fine gift to the taste buds.

This dense moist cake is like a giant chocolate truffle—crunchy on top with a deliciously fudgy center. Extremely rich yet so simple to make, it is popular all year round. It is gluten-free and you can even make it in advance—just take it out of the refrigerator an hour before serving. It tastes even better the second day.

Frangipane, a sweet almond-flavored pastry cream, sets off this tart’s buttery pastry and slices of fresh pear. Like so much of French cooking, this dessert is both elegant and delicious. Indeed, while all aspects of French gastronomy are renowned, it is France’s wonderful pastries and baked goods that are typically the most beloved.

This recipe makes a slightly tart fruit butter that is a wonderful complement to toast, pancakes or muffins. If you want a sweeter butter, replace the cranberries with golden raisins.

Popular throughout Austria, this flavorful coffee is named for beloved Austrian empress Maria Theresa. And, this same recipe with a twist makes a Fiaker. That version, named for Vienna’s carriage drivers or fiakers, who need something warm to keep going in chilly weather, substitutes rum for the orange liqueur and omits the garnish.

The Belgian waffle actually originated in North America, not Belgium. These are traditionally served with whipped cream and strawberries, but are also great with maple syrup and butter. Belgian waffle makers have deeper grids than a standard waffle maker, yielding a waffle that is bigger and fluffier with more space for whipped cream or syrup.