Day/Country #14 -- Luxembourg

Luxembourgian Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 2,586 km²

Population: ~537,853

Capital: Luxembourg City

GDP (PPP) per capita: $79,785

Official Languages: French, German, Luxembourgish

Known For: Banking, castles, good-value alcohol,

beautiful china.

Our first culinary venture into Europe and we head to the tiny but extremely prosperous nation of Luxembourg.


A representative democracy, Luxembourg is headed by a grand duke, and is the only grand duchy (pronounced 'dutchy' rather than 'dukey'...) left in the world.  Initially founded as a Roman fortress, it was the site of an important Frankish castle (the Franks being a confederation of Germanic tribes that ruled much of mainland Europe during the early Middle Ages), and was a critical center along an important military supply route in the 1500-1600's, which stretched for ~1000km northwest - southeast through Europe and was known as the "Spanish Road".

So what from this land of fairy tales and feudal castles was Mum going to cook? It had to be the national dish!  With the tongue-twisting name of judd mat gaardebounen it consists of pork brined for four days, then smoked, boiled and finally served with creamy white sauce, broad beans and potatoes.  In addition to this marathon effort Mum also produced gromperekniddelen: egg and potato dumplings boiled and rolled in buttered bread crumbs.  Not to mention another original cocktail she's dubbed Eifel Groove, consisting of lager, orange juice, lemon juice and sugar syrup.

The pork dish was flavoursome and the meat simply fell apart on your fork, but with white sauce, broad beans and potatoes it was always going to be a bit stodgy.  The dumplings were also heavy, but in a nice way that would serve as a great alternative to a side dish of mashed potatoes that are so common in Kiwi home-cooking.  Finally the cocktail was refreshing, but it didn't really grab hold of your taste buds like some of Mum's other creations.

So, Luxembourg, a place I'd love to visit...though I'll prepare for some heavy and hearty meals while I'm there!

Rating (out of 5):

Judd mat gaardebounen 2.5/5 

Gromperekniddelen_4.5/5
Eifel Groove 3/5