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!
Falafel (Israel)
Host nation Israel has such a rich food culture, and there are so many delicious options for your Eurovision parties, but there’s a dish so synonymous with Israeli cuisine that it’s hard to look past – it’s the falafel! While history dictates that falafel didn’t originate in Israel, it has since been considered the national dish of the country.
The big positives of falafel are that they are easy to make, great for parties due to their size and they are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. They can also be part of a more complete meal, for example, you can accompany the falafel with flatbreads, tabouli and dips and guests can create their own falafel wraps!
Here is our recipe for Falafels (Inspired by New Idea Magazine):
Ingredients:
- 400g can of Chickpeas
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh parsley
- ¼ cup plain flour
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- Salt and Pepper
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions:
- Pulse a well-drained can of chickpeas with the parsley, onion, flour, cumin, coriander in a food processor until it is a coarse paste
- Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste
- Shape the mixture into eight even patties
- Shallow fry in hot vegetable oil for about 5 minutes, turning once, until golden brown
- Drain on absorbent kitchen paper and serve warm
Here is 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
Israel
The National Treasure – Goldstar (Vienna Lager – 4.9%)
The Party Starter – Dancing Camel Patriot An American Pale Ale (American Pale Ale – 5.2%)
The Show Stopper – Alexander/Mikkeller The Beer of Milk & Honey (Imperial Porter – 8.4%)
Listen to our Dare to Dream, Make a Meal playlist below: