black and white photograph, a table covered in different food as well as plates and cutlery.
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Scrumptious sites

7 foods named after European places

A culinary tour across Europe to discover the meanings behind the names of some popular food

by
Adrian Murphy (opens in new window) (Europeana Foundation)

Foods enjoyed all around the world have their origins in Europe, with some displaying this through their names.

Let's take a culinary tour across Europe and discover the meanings behind the names of some popular food.

Currants

Currants are dried grapes, often used in cakes and desserts. Currants, along with raisins and sultanas, are used in particular in British cuisine in fruit cakes such as Christmas cakes.

colour photograph of raisins and currents in white bags.
colour illustration of a bunch of red grapes.
black and white photograph, a man standing next to a horse and cart beside a field.

Their name comes from Greece. They were first sold in England as raysons of coraunce, a name which stemmed from the French raisins de Corinthe - named for their origin in Corinth, Greece.

Sardines

These small, oily fish are eaten all around the world. Their name is believed to originate from Sardinia - as sardines were plentiful in the waters around the island.

colour photograph, a tin of PEMCO smoked sardines with a silhouette illustrator of a sailor smoking a pipe.
black and white artwork, two sailing ships in stormy seas.

Mayonnaise

Even though there is a county in Ireland called Mayo, the name for Mayonnaise does not originate from there but it is said to come from the Balearic island of Menorca.

photograph of two glass jars of Reichelt mayonnaise, one with green and white label, the other with a yellow and white label.

The island's capital city Mahón is said to have given mahonnaise or salsa mahonesa its name. However, some food scholars dispute this theory.

black and white photograph of a port city in the distance from the sea.

Gouda

The origin of Gouda cheese is much more clear-cut: it comes from Gouda, a town in the Netherlands. This cheese has been made in the Gouda region since the 12th century.

photograph of a round, red tin, packaging for cheese.
image with a colour photograph of a windmill and the word 'Gouda' above.

Edam is another Dutch town to give its names to world famous cheeses - while the Swiss town Gruyères and valley Emmental also have cheeses named after them.

Macedonia

Macedonia (or macédoine) is a salad of small pieces of fruit or vegetables mixed together, part of cuisines in Greece, Romania, Spain, France, Italy and Argentina.

colour photograph of a kiosk selling fruit.

Though not fully proven, its name is said to derive from the empire of Alexander the Great's Macedonia which was an ethnically diverse mix of peoples.

Pilsner beer

Pilsner is a type of pale lager which originates from the Czech city Plzeň, known in English as Pilsen.

colour photograph of a white tin, trimmed with blue and yellow, with the words 'Pilsner Special'.
black and white artwork, a landscape view of Plzen.

It was first produced in the 1840s by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll. Within decades, it grew in popularity as improving transport links meant it became available in Prague, Vienna and Paris. Soon, the brewing method for pilsner was being imitated across Europe.

Linzertort

Linzertort is a traditional Austrian pastry dessert, with a fruit filling under a pastry lattice. Its name comes from the Austrian city Linz, with recipes for the dish dating back to the 17th century.

artwork, a landscape view of a river between hills.
colour photograph of a linzertorte.

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