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French Onion Soup
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Soft and delicious caramelized onions are steeped in a beautiful broth, laced with cognac and white wine, a truly warming soup that is good at any time of the year. A crouton of bread with cheese melted on the top (usually gruyere) is placed in the middle of the bowl and eaten with the soup, dunked in so that the cheese oozes all the way through the soup!
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French
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Spaghetti and Meatballs
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Traditional Italian dish, with meatballs made of minced pork and beef, herbs and minced onion and garlic, and served in a rich thick tomato based ragu sauce. Can be served sometimes with shredded fresh basil or oregano and shavings of parmesan. As with carbonara, it tends to be served with garlic bread and side salad.
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Italian
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Rillette
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Rillettes are the perfect party food, great for a mid week lunch and fabulous as something to share as part of a meal. Rillettes are made by simmering meats (usually pork, duck or rabbit) for a long time until they are mouth meltingly tender and then mixed into a rich paste. Served with crusty French bread rillettes can also be made from fish such as salmon, trout or smoked fish. We also found a vegetable rillettes made from eggplant and olive - not traditional but an alternative.
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French
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Bouillabaisse
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A rich and deep fish stew made from virtually any fish that you can find, originally made by the Breton and Normandy fisherman at the end of a days’ catch. The fish, heads and tails, are thrown into a huge steaming pot with saffron, garlic, tomatoes, herbs, peppers, celery, you name it. Any amount of fish and shellfish are used, but traditionally the rule is no less than five fish! Served as a steaming bowl with a rouille (a garlic style mayonnaise) and crusty French bread or baguettes.
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French
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Moussaka
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An oven baked lasagna style dish but with the pasta being replaced by layers of eggplant. In between the layers is a delicious mix of spiced minced lamb with oregano and tomatoes. The whole dish is topped with a béchamel sauce and baked in the oven until the top is bubbling and golden. Some moussakas have a more savoury custard topping. Moussaka is made differently from restaurant to restaurant and can include sliced courgettes or part fried potato slices, depending on the chef’s recipes.
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Greek
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Kleftiko
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A joint of lamb, usually a whole leg which has been slow roasted until it falls of the bone. Cooked with garlic, lemon, potatoes and onions with plenty of oregano and thyme and tomatoes. Often the lamb is wrapped in paper and sealed to keep in the flavour and left for many hours on a low heat. Very delicious and very Greek!
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Greek
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Spanakopita
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A Greek savoury pastry often served as a starter or a snack, consisting of filo pastry wrapped around a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions, egg and seasoning. The dish is usually served as a triangular pastry, but some restaurants make large trays, almost pie like, and cut out wedges to serve with a mixed salad and yoghurt dip.
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Greek
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Lamb cutlets with garlic and rosemary
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Usually on every Italian menu, small trimmed lamb chops or cutlets are served steeped in fresh rosemary and garlic and pan fried or grilled. Served with sauté potatoes and vegetables, it is a hearty plate of food and delicious flavours. Tender pink lamb is enhanced by the earthy rosemary and garlic.
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Italian
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Minestrone Soup
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The classic and renowned Italian soup, comprising small pasta shapes, a rich chicken stock and finely diced vegetables such as celery, onions, tomatoes, carrots beans and herbs. Created in Ancient Roman times this soup is now served in many different ways, some finely and others much more chunky and hearty. A sprinkling of parmesan and a good basket of bread makes this really filling.
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Italian
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Napoletana pasta sauce
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An amazing vegetarian italian option. Crushed tomato, onion, garlic, basil and parmesan. Sounds simple but bursting with lots of flavour.
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Italian
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Osso Buco
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A dish invented in Ancient Roman Times and perfected over the years to a more sophisticated Italian meal, consisting of cross-cut veal shanks, braised in red wine, onions, celery and carrots and served with a gremolata on the top (optional).
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Italian
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Bruschetta
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Delicious slices of bread, rubbed with garlic and tomato and seasoned before grilling. Various toppings are served, the most popular being diced tomatoes and red onion with finely chopped garlic and basil. Can also be served with a pesto topping, and sometimes with roasted aubergine and mushrooms. Usually a starter, but can be purchased as a main course.
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Italian
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Boeuf Bourguignon
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Another classic French dish very hearty and wholesome. A rich red wine sauce with tender braised beef, carrots, onions and cubes of bacon or pancetta really fills you up. The addition of herbs and garlic brings out the flavour of the meat to perfection. Crusty French bread is served with the meal to mop up the juices!
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French
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Pate de Campagne
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Another rustic French dish, originated by farmers wives, particularly in the North of France made by using up any meat that was available, along with herbs, garlic and sometimes brandy or cognac. Usually rough cut and cooked in a terrine in the oven, served as a starter with bread and cornichons (gherkins)
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French
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Mezze
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Traditional starter of an array of small plates of Greek food, similar to eating tapas style in Spain. Regular dishes include hummus (chickpeas with garlic and tahini) taramasalata ( fish roe), felafels and kofte (spicy meatballs or cigar shaped formed meat with herbs, spice and onions), grilled octopus, grilled halloumi cheese and an aubergine salad, plus many more. Served with pitta bread for dipping and cucumber and mint tsatsiki
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Greek
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Souvlaki
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An Amazing Greek dish consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. Check with the staff to the scale of heat as it has been know to surprise people! Be brave and add more spice with a hot chill sauce or soften the heat with garlic yoghurt or hummus
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Greek
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Baclava
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Very sweet and almost ‘teeth-curling’ this is a delicious Greek pastry served as a dessert and comprising of flaky filo pastry, crisp on the outside but with a gooey filling of cinnamon spiced nuts and dried fruit bathed in honey or a sweet syrup. Whilst sold in restaurants as a dessert, it is often found in Greek delis and sandwich shops.
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Greek
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Irish Stew
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It doesn't get more Irish than Irish stew, comprising long braised lamb, pearl barley, carrots, onions and potatoes in a rich gravy that makes this a hearty dish for any occasian. Sometimes served with Irish savoury biscuits. The lamb can often be served as chops with the bones in, but the meat is so tender that it melts in your mouth and falls of the bone. A very hearty and very tasty, classic Irish dish.
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Irish
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Beef and Gunniess Pie
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Very popular through Australia in Irish restaurants and most pubs is this pie. Tender beef, slow cooked in a rich Guinness
Gravy with mushrooms served in a crock pot, topped with flaky puff pastry. Typically Served with seasonal vegetables & some form of potato (chips or mash).
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Irish
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Chianti
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In rustic Italian restaurants, you can still see empty bottles of Chianti grouped together and hanging around the bar or ceiling! Old Chianti bottles used to be covered in a basket weave, and often used to house a candle on your table, so that the wax dripped down the outside of the bottle! The wine itself is red and relatively light in comparison to heavier Italian wines such as Barolo. Chianti is produced primarily in the beautiful region of Tuscany, and is eminently drinkable!
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Italian
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Soave
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Another popular wine, this white wine is produced in the Veneto region of Italy, around the city of Verona, home to many Shakespeare plays! It is comparatively dry and was once the ‘in’ drink in the 1970’s but was overtaken by Pinot Grigiot towards the 1980’s
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Italian
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Peroni
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The most popular of beers served in Italian restaurants, it is not the cheapest one around but still sells more than any other. 5% alcohol, a slightly ‘hoppy’ taste but very refreshing when served in iced cold frosted glasses.
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Italian
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Kir Royale
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Champagne based cocktail, with a touch of blackcurrant cordial. A kir is simply made with white wine and cordial, but the royale is always made with champagne. Usually served in a fluted champagne glass using house champagne. A great deal of champagnes come from the town of Rheims, where many large and well-known ‘houses’ are situated.
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French
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Chablis
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A classic French white wine from the northern part of the burgundy region, made primarily from the chardonnay grape. A very clean white wine but with a deeper flavour than Sauvignons, almost ‘flinty’ and with very little oaking apparent. Moderately priced, it vies for attention with Pouilly Fume and Pouilly Fuisse which are also very popular but tend to be slightly more expensive
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French
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Ouzo
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Traditional Greek drink served as an aperitif, although Greek people will drink it at any time! Quite a firey spirit, totally clear until water is added and it becomes cloudy. Almost aniseed in flavour, not unlike the French Pernod, but stronger.
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Greek
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Rakomello
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This is more like a ‘hot toddy’ and made with the incredibly alcoholic raki spirit, but mellowed down with water, honey, cloves and cinnamon. Served hot, it is particularly popular in winter months – worth trying, it is quite unique, and the Greeks use it for ‘medicinal purposes’ !!
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Greek
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Retsina
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Another traditional Greek wine, not known for its smoothness. It has been resonated with pine to preserve the wine, an age old tradition from thousands of years ago. It pairs effortlessly with dishes containing herbs such as rosemary, oregano and dill and is a good accompaniment to chicken and fish dishes. Crisp and quite a herbal taste, but some people really like it. Retsina is also available in a rose version but not all restaurants stock it – do ask though, as it is eminently more palatable than the white version!
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Greek
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Guinness Beer
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“Swirling Power and Living Magic” - Guinness is a popular Irish stout that originated from Dublin. Guinness beer is as dark as strong coffee and looks interesting. Some love it, some hate it, but it's always worth trying at least once a year.
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Irish
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Irish Coffee
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Coffee and Irish Whiskey! A must try and least once in your life – there is something rich and warming with this drink that really does make you want to have more. Rich coffee is accompanied by Irish whiskey which is mixed through with sugar, and the whole cup is topped with cream. True Irish coffee should have cream that is not whipped and just sits on the top of the drink. Other traditionalists say that any sugar used must be brown!
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Irish
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