European Recipe Sites
This section was created for sites that were too small to have their own page or sites that didn't seem to have any other logical grouping other than they are geographically in Europe or Eurasia. As the site becomes larger, some of these may move to their own page.
Italian
- Anna Maria's Open Kitchen
- You must see this site. Every one of the recipes has step-by-step photo illustrations. The recipes are easy to follow and most ingredients are readily available. Also there is a nice section with guest cooks (various nationalities) and a few other goodies you can discover on your own. My only suggestion is to provide printable versions of the recipes without pictures. As I have more time, I'll try to give a more detailed review. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Pasta Recipes Plus
- This is a great source for regional Italian cooking. Recipes are organized by type (pasta, appetizers, soups, etc.) and also by region (Tuscany, Umbria, Liguria, etc.). Many of the recipes have a brief commentary and a picture of the finished dish; the recipe instructions are clear and concise. The site also provides a "basics" section with cooking techniques, a glossary (Italian to English and English to Italian translations), plus a few ads. The advertising on this site is relatively unobtrusive and doesn't interfere for the most part. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- La Cucina Eoliana e Siciliana: Food of the Aeolian Islands and Sicily
- The love of the local food and the Aeolian Islands is evident on this site; the recipes look wonderful. From salads to wine you'll find something interesting on this site and you will also find some nice pictures of the area. Check the Pollo al profumo di verdello (chicken with onion, garlic, capers, basil, rosemary, bayleaf) and Spaghetti all'eoliana (spaghetti Aeolian style). (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- virtualitalia.com-food
- This is a great site for finding regional Italian cooking. Recipes are arranged by region with a brief discussion of the region before listing the recipes. I don't particularly like having to scroll down the page to find the various recipes, but the variety of food is so intriguing that I put up with it. There are also recipes categorized by holiday and cooking glossaries for cheese, ingredients, wines. You may notice that some recipes have metric measurements and others are either US or British; it's not clear. I guess you'll just have to get out your calculator if you're not sure of the measurement. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Milioni Magazine-Italian cuisine recipes
- This site contains recipes from two different cookbooks (I'd guess several hundred recipes). You can look for recipes by recipe name, type of course, ingredient, or browse either of the books by type of course; there is also a search capability. Many of the recipes have links to explanations of the ingredients. One of the books supplies the number of servings; in the other one you'll have to figure it out for yourself. Take a look at this site, you'll find recipes for things like eel, wild boar, frog legs, and even thrush. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- The Artisan
- This site has the potential to be one of the best Italian sites on the web. The recipes are exceptional and interesting AND there are many regional bread recipes. My complaint about the site is that I find it confusing to navigate. From the HOME page the navigation is fairly straightforward, but if you go to the "Main" page (which is not the same as the "Home" page), there is no navigation back to the "Home" page. There is a help page that attempts to explain the navigation, but I still find it easy to get lost. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Traditional Florentine and Tuscan Recipes and Wines
- A well-organized site with some unusual (by American tastes) recipes. If you're adventurous you might give Fegato alla salvia (Liver with sage) at try or perhaps Schiacciata con l'uva (Sweet grape bread). I think you'll find quite a few uncommon recipes on this site which will give you a new perspective on the variety of food you encounter in Italy. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
Medieval
- A Boke of Gode Cookery
- This is a beautiful Medieval cooking site full of illustrations, attractive text, and interesting recipes. Nearly all the recipes have the original text, a translation, and an adaptation to modern cooking ingredients and techniques. The recipes are organized in food categories (i.e., beverages, meats, poultry, etc.). If number of servings had been provided and it wasn't a dot com site, I'd have given this one a 5-fork rating. Check out the rest of the site, too; there is a Medieval/Renaissance image gallery, more recipes (not quite as authentic), a section of stories from the middle ages, and more. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Medieval and Anglo Saxon Recipes
- Five recipes that are primarily fish or poultry, two desserts, and one vegetable (fennel) -- they look interesting though. The recipes are clear, but appear to be written by someone from the UK so you might have to translate a couple of ingredients. Also a couple of the recipes call for pastry, but don't provide the recipe. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
Scandinavia
- Finnish Recipes (from Virtual Finland)
- A baker's dozen of recipes from Finland. They all have a photo of the finished product. I'm completely unfamiliar with Finnish cooking so now I have a rough idea. Most of the recipes appear hearty and filling. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Jo's Icelandic Recipe Book
- Quite a few recipes spanning the major recipe categories (soups, sweets, main dishes, fruit & veggies, and so on). The site also provides some commentary about feasts and celebrations as well as photos of Iceland. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Sons of Norway
- The Sons of Norway was founded as a fraternal benefit society in Minneapolis in the late 19th century, but also has a mission of preserving Norwegian heritage in the United States. They have about 50-75 recipes you can navigate to from the "Cultural Resources" link on the navigation bar. There are loads of baked goods and desserts along with main dishes, soups, appetizers, and veggies. The breads and cookies bring back fond memories of holidays at home, but there are plenty of other tasty recipes -- marinated trout or reindeer roast. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- The Santesson Recipe Collection - Swedish Cooking
- My Scandinavian heritage must be showing -- why else would I include a site with recipes like Nettle Soup or Brown Beans. Actually, the site contains some interesting recipes for those of you not familiar with Scandinavian cooking. Hasselback Potatoes are one of my favorites and what kitchen repertoire would be complete without an authentic recipe for Swedish meatballs. There aren't a lot of recipes here, but it's a start. Apparently the original web site is gone but has been preserved, in part, here. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Icelandic National League of North America (PDF)
- Seven recipes (in a PDF file) for baked goods, they look fine but the site doesn't give you a feel for what Icelandic cooking might be like. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- The Norwegian Table (fromnorway.net)
- My Norwegian heritage got the best of me here. This is a rather mediocre site -- bad navigation, some recipes lack instructions (I still haven't found the instructions for rolling flatbread that are supposed to be there). This will stay until I find some better sites. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
Portugal/Spain
- Leite's Culinaria (Portuguese Recipes)
- Leite's Culinaria is now one of my "must visit" sites. David Leite's site has expanded tremendously since I first reviewed it several years ago. Not only are there now more than 50 Portuguese recipes ranging from appetizers to desserts but there are also loads of recipes from James Beard House and multiple cookbooks. The photography is excellent and nearly every recipe I checked had a photo to go with it. The Portuguese recipes look delicious -- check out Carne Assada em Vinho d'Alhos (Portuguese Pot Roast in Wine and Garlic), one of the family recipes. Also take a look at the somewhat complicated shrimp turnovers (Rissóis de Camarão). Make sure you check the writings section of the site which contains many columns and features written by David. I find most of the columns both informative and humerous, particularly the ones from The Morning News. (Last reviewed: 15 Jan 2006)
- don Quijote (Spanish Recipes)
- This is a language school site so the recipes are ALL in Spanish, but they provide a link to SYSTRAN if you want to translate the page. I couldn't get the link to work properly, but went directly to the SYSTRAN site and had better luck (although the translation was a bit muddled). If you know some Spanish and have a Spanish/English (or your language) dictionary, you can probably make most of these recipes. My Spanish is a bit rusty and I could get through most of them. There are some wonderful recipes here (like capon with plums, peaches, and apples) so if you have the time to translate, give them a try. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Recipes from Spain at Tienda.com
- Limited collection of recipes from a site selling food, cookbooks, kitchenware, art, tiles ... fortunately the advertising isn't too intrusive other than some ingredients that are linked to the store pages. The recipes are primarily appetizers, main courses, and desserts; they range in difficulty from very simple (Asparagus wrapped with Jamon Serrano) to quite complex and expensive (Paella a la Valenciana). If it weren't a commercial site, this one would get a higher rating. (Last reviewed: 18 May 2005)
- Lusa Web
- A Portuguese recipe exchange with a few recipes grouped by category. Many of the categories are empty and the recipe quality varies. You may find a gem here or you may just want to take a look, but I don't think you'll get a good feel for Portuguese cuisine from the few recipes here. (Last reviewed: 27 Dec 2004)
Other European
- June Meyer's Authentic Hungarian Heirloom Recipes
- I haven't had much exposure to Austrian-Hungarian cooking other than the occasional goulash so I'm relying on my intuition and experience when I say these recipes look great. You won't find any lightweight food here, just satisfying, rib sticking goodies. As the site author says: "They are peasant dishes which took advantage of the bounty of the land, requiring slow cooking while the farmers worked in the fields. These are stick to the ribs, clog your arteries food. But they are exceptionally flavorful and unforgettable. (Nouvelle Cuisine this ain't)". The recipe that intrigued me the most was Plum Dumplings (Slivas gomboc); I'll have to try it as soon as I can find some decent plums (which seems more and more difficult these days ... what are they doing to the fruit out there in California?). (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Eleanor's (Czech) Kitchen
- About 15 Czech recipes -- 5 of them for dumplings -- This isn't light cuisine folks. There are two interesting pork recipes Veprove S Krenem (pork with horseradish) and Veprove, Knedlik a Zeli (roasted pork, dumpling, and cabbage). (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- recipesbycindy.homestead.com (German Recipes)
- This is a small site (about 3 dozen recipes) put together by a self-described "Army brat" who lived in Germany. The site is organized into categories (Breakfast, Soups, Salads, Bread/Brötchen, Potatoes/Dumplings, Vegetables/Sides, Schnitzels, Beef/Pork, Wursts, Desserts) with photos of some of the recipes. The recipe instructions are easy to follow. Check out Bayerische Semmelklösse (Bavarian bread dumplings) and Karotten im Bier (carrots in dark beer). (Last reviewed: 22 Jan 2005)
- GreekCuisine.com
- Pretty standard Greek fare here. The recipes are organized in categories such as appetizers, salads, soups, etc. If you don't have a Greek cookbook you can find some good recipes here, but beware of the "More..." at the end of each list of recipes; it takes you to a book sales page. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Luxembourg Recipes
- There are about 25 recipes categories into starters, fish, meat, snacks, and desserts. There are some very unusual recipes (by American standards) here. You might start with Brennesselszopp (Nettle Soup), then try Haam am Hée (Ham in Hay -- hey, I'm not kidding the recipe calls for hay), and finish off with Boxemännercher (Gingerbread men). Seriously, there are some good looking recipes on this site too: Hong am R?isleck (Chicken in White Wine), F'rell am R?isleck (Trout in Riesling Sauce), and Quetscheflued (Plum Tart). Some of the instructions are a bit sketchy and some of the recipes call for difficult to find ingredients, but take a look. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)
- Norm's Greek Cookbook
- Norm is a retired Armed Forces Radio & Television Service broadcaster who retired in Greece. There are over 300 recipes on his site. The navigation on the site is a bit primitive (but fast) and if you are not familiar with Greek cooking you may have to read through some of the recipes to figure out what they are (for example, Yiovetsi), but it is quite an extensive site ... definitely worth a look. (Last reviewed: 23 Dec 2004)