My top 5 food destinations in Europe

I do love food, it’s not a secret. I would travel long distances just to eat in that one special restaurant – and I actually have.
I do love food everywhere. Almost, at least.
But what are my fave picks of all of those possible food destinations in Europe?
I share you my top secrets here!

Italy

Italy isn’t propably any kind of surprise on this list. But what can I say.
If I was ordered to choose only one meal to eat for the rest of my life, that would definitely be a Roman pasta.
But Italian cuisine is much more than that. Even Roman kitchen is much more than simple pasta. Artichokes, uuh!

I won’t be explaining all the varieties of different kitchens of Italy here, let’s go on and straight to my fave food regions in Italy.

Rome

As said, simple Roman pastas are my absolute favorites.
I’m a minimalist and I also adore food prepared of few quality ingredients. Less is more.
Think about pasta aglio e olio, or cacio e pepe, just garlic and olive oil (extra virgin ofc) or Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper.

Where to stay in Rome & what to eat

Alba

Food is usually paired with the same region wine. Weird enough, I might prefer the food from the Central and Southern Italy, but for the wine I’ll definitely stick on the Northern side.
Thanks god for Piemonte (Piedmont), they manage very well on both!

I’m not big fan of all the Northern Italy’s kitchens, but Piemonte, where to even start!
Have you ever tasted a vitello tonnato? It’s just something to die for!
And those wines; You must be familiar with Barolo and Barbaresco, maybe Cortese di Gavi if you are more into white wines?

Malta

I could’ve mentioned Sicily on the Italy part, but let’s hop to Malta. That woud be Sicily enough and much more!
Maltese food is a mix of many different kitchens: Sicilian, French, Arabic and of course British. Thought I don’t know if the latter one should be specified when talking about delicious food. Each of their own… (My Britsh friends, I do apologize.)

The bread. That is something to lust for in Malta. And baked products in general.
If I’d need to choose one Maltese food to explain this small island country’s cuisine, it would definitely be Ħobż biż-żejt, simply meaning a bread with oil.
But those fillings!
– Olives, capers, tuna fish, different herbs…

This is something that Maltese pack for a picnic by the sea. Think about those hot summer days sunbathing and swimming in a milky warm Mediterranean sea.
Maltese food is much more, but I’ll tell about this later on my other posts.
Anyway, a rich usage of herbs is the thing here.

Spain

As Italy, Spain also has a great variety of different kitchens. I haven’t even experienced all of them, but here are some of my top picks.

Granada

My autocorrect is stubbornly writing ”Hranada”. Fair enough, I’m currently based in Belgrade and in the Serbian language ”hrana” means food, while ”da” is yes.
That’s quite a good description for Granada.
You’ve surely heard of tapas – this is the place to try them.

Don’t worry if you’re traveling on a shoestring budget, one tapa and a glass of wine can be found for couple of euros.

San Sebastian

Let’s get more specific with tapas. In the Basque language (Euskara) tapas are called pintxos.
Actually you’re not supposed to call them tapas.

Basque people are very proud of their culture and calling their traditional food with the Spanish word is bit insulting.
Ofc they won’t get mad at tourists doing it, but you get what I mean.
Spanish also have the word pinchos, though.

Pintxos and tapas could actually be exactly the same portion, but often it isn’t.
You can only call small bites with sticks as pintxos. That’s what the name literally means, to spike, whereas tapas can basically be any small sized portion.
Pintxo is usually piece of bread with topping, in San Sebastian most commonly anchovies or some other fish caught from the Atlantic ocean.

Madrid

Madrid isn’t too common for it’s cuisine, but I swear for it’s name. It’s not so much about the local food itself, but it has a great variety of Spanish foods to offer.
The capital cities always attract people to move in and newcomers will bring their own cultures and comfort foods with them.

Madrid has many cooking styles to offer.

Granada’s Cuisine – a Fusion of Traditions

France

But of course! You couldn’t talk about the European food without French cuisine!
I think I don’t need to explain this more, but I’ll give you one destination to try.

Montpellier

If I’d need to choose one city or a region, I’d pick Montpellier.
Why? Simply because of it’s wide range of French food.
Fresh veggies, apples, potatoes, just any veggies, bread, wine, superior meat – think about duck and beef -, all kinds of sea food as mussels, fish, oysters… it all can be found here!

Balkans

It would be unfair to choose only one destination, even a one country to introduce the Balkan cuisine. The food around here is pretty similar all around the area. And delicious.

It’s heavy, hearty and cooked with much love. If you’re invited for a dinner in to a Balkanese home, accept it. You can not have any plans to over-rule this invitation, no exceptions!
You might have some troubles if you are a vegetarian, though.

As said, it would be unfair and almost impossible to list Balkan cuisines in a specific order.
I’m based in Belgrade, Serbia atm and the food here is amazing.
But if I was forced to choose, I’d say Bulgarian and North Macedonians cook it best.

My other places in the top 5 food destinations in Europe are quite common for their seafood.
That’s not the case in the Balkans.

Cities (and countries) by the sea are of course familiar with the seafood, but the best Balkanese food is more about slowly cooked stews, grilled pork and lamb meat, paprika (sweet pepper), beans, fresh cheese and other sour milk products.
Fish is caught mainly from the mountain rivers.
Try some trout with herbs & oil dressing.
Delicious!

Well Done in North Macedonia

P.s. Are you a foodie traveler? Check out our other posts about wining & dining aka culinary traveling!