I like to avoid the smoked eel - in the Netherlands and elsewhere.


"Donna Evleth" wrote in message
...
As a tourist in European countries, how many of you have favorite things
to
eat while there? I know I do. Here are some of my own very favorites,
and
I would like to hear about other people's. Especially since my repertoire
of countries is a bit limited.

FRANCE: I live here now, but I didn't always. My all-time favorite, as a
tourist and now as a resident, is the plateau des fruits de mer. A good
plateau has raw oysters, sometimes of more than one variety, raw clams,
and
sometimes raw mussels, cooked shrimp, of two varieties, the "bouquet", a
medium sized pink shrimp and the "petit gris", a small shrimp which is
gray
when raw but salmon colored when cooked, crabs of several varieties, the
"étrille" which is small, the "tourteau" which is large, and two kinds of
sea snails, the "bulot" and the "bigorneau". These latter are eaten by
using a pin to pull the meat out of the shell.

Our daughter, who lived here as a child and now lives in the US, also
loves
the plateau des fruits de mer. For her it's even like a comfort food, and
she insists on having it on each of her annual visits. She learned to eat
the plateau des fruits de mer when she was five years old.

GREECE: We vacation every September on the island of Aegina, and I have
two
favorites there. First is the grilled fish served with a simple sauce of
olive oil and lemon juice. The second is the pistachio nuts, which are
the
island's specialty, and which are the best I have ever eaten anywhere.
And
I am originally from California, where they also grow pistachios.

HOLLAND: I have not been to Holland for a while, but we have a Dutch
friend
who often brings me my favorite treat from Holland when he comes to visit
France. This is smoke eel. You get the whole smoked fish. You peel the
skin off, which is very easy since it comes off in a whole piece, then you
eat the inside with your fingers, nibbling it away from the bone.

Those are my favorites. Do other people have things they feel they MUST
eat
when they go to certain countries?

Donna Evleth