A great moussaka is an exquisite dish to have in your collection. With layers of creamy sauce, potato, ground meat, and aubergine create a rich, warm dish that’s great for a family get-together.
Also prevalent in Turkey and Lebanon, moussaka is believed to have been around since Arabs brought the aubergine to Greece.
Schnitzel, Austria
This thin cutlet of pan-fried veal is a Viennese specialty. The latest versions also use pork instead of veal and the meat is served with boiled potatoes.
First, the meat is pounded, salted, and rolled in flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs to form a crust. The secret is to fry the meat until it becomes golden brown all over.
Fish and chips, UK
Once you've found the perfect pub with the best fish and chips, nothing else will do. This dish may have a foggy origin, with roots probably both in Lancashire and London. The chips were a cheap staple back in the industrial north and fried fish was common in London's East End.
Wherever it comes from, the perfect chips married with battered white fish is a British national passion that has never been abated.
Banitsa, Bulgaria
This cheesy Bulgarian breakfast patisserie can be served either hot or cold and is usually eaten with yogurt, ayran (traditional yogurt drink), or boza (a fermented drink), almost as the French would eat a croissant.
It's constructed of egg and cheese stored between sheets of filo pastry, which is then wrapped into a spiral, with hidden treats added for special occasions.
Plov, Uzbekistan
This meaty rice dish, plov comes in more than 60 varieties and forms the heart of Uzbeki cuisine. Its essence is long grain rice steamed with saffron, with a layer of eggs, flour, butter, and yogurt at the bottom. Meat, dried fruits, and fresh herbs are often piled on top.
But, at its most basic, plov is rice with onion and carrots with any type of meat-like mutton or lamb, and its history can be tracked back more than a thousand years.