It was Jacques Houdek who once said, ‘Dare to dream, make a meal’ – ok yes, that wasn’t quite the lyric, but with this year’s slogan ‘Dare to Dream’ why not make a few adaptations! With this year’s contest quickly approaching, it’s time to start planning your Eurovision parties. With the help of Eurovision Union, you can plan out the ultimate Eurovision party for you and your friends!
Over the last month, we’ve gathered some of the tastiest and most intriguing dishes from across the participating nations and we have put our aprons on to test out these recipes! We selected a diverse range of food, as well as both savoury and sweet dishes, so if you are hosting a Eurovision party this year, you can take inspiration from our cooking adventures across Europe and recreate these dishes for you and your friends!
Köttbullar (Sweden)
Sweden has a diverse range of traditional foods, however when you think of Swedish food, you think of Swedish Meatballs or Köttbullar. The meatballs are made from beef, or a mix of beef and pork or even veal and venison however you can choose your preferred meat. The meatballs are often served with a creamy sauce, and with boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam and sometimes pickled cucumber.
When searching for recipes, it was hard to go past one with the title ‘The Best Swedish Meatballs.’ The pictures definitely looked delicious, so I gave this one a go and I can safely confirm that they are the Best Swedish Meatballs (at least that I’ve ever had!). They aren’t too difficult to make, plus they are perfect with mashed potato on the side, or with pasta, especially with the creamy gravy. With that said, this is a dish that you can put on the table and let you guests serve themselves and I can guarantee no one will be complaining!
Here is the recipe we used (credit: The Recipe Critic):
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef (500g)
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup onion, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 5 tbsp. butter
- 3 tbsp. flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- In a medium sized bowl combine ground beef, panko, parsley, allspice, nutmeg, onion, garlic powder, pepper, salt and egg. Mix until combined.
- Roll into 12 large meatballs or 20 small meatballs. In a large skillet heat olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter. Add the meatballs and cook turning continuously until brown on each side and cooked throughout. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
- Add 4 Tablespoons butter and flour to skillet and whisk until it turns brown. Slowly stir in beef broth and heavy cream. Add Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard and bring to a simmer until sauce starts to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for another 1-2 minutes.
Here’s what we started with:
And here is our finished product!
Beer List
Our resident beer expert has done research (and a whole lot of tasting) to come up with some of the must-try beers of the nation. For each nation there are three suggestions:
- The National Treasure – this is a beer that is recognisable and accessible to buy
- The Party Starter – this is a nicer alternative, but still fairly accessible to buy
- The Show Stopper – this is for the beer enthusiasts or those with a sense of adventure, but may not be as easy to purchase outside of that nation
Sweden
The National Treasure – Falcon Export (Pale Lager – 5.2%)
The Party Starter – Dugges/Stillwater Mango Mango Mango (Sour Ale – 4.5%)
The Show Stopper – Omnipollo/Buxton Yellow Belly Peanut Butter Biscuit Stout (Imperial Stout – 11.0%)
Listen to our Dare to Dream, Make a Meal playlist below: