World Cup Fever: Meals Of Champions

The much-anticipated 2018 FIFA World Cup is set to kick off (literally) on Thursday June 14th in Moscow with the first fixture seeing host country Russia take on Saudi Arabia, to get a month of glorious football underway.

Food and football have long gone hand in hand, whether it’s a meat and potato pie at half-time or chanting about curry in the stands (vindaloo, anyone?).

Top football stars themselves need to eat plenty of protein and carbohydrates as part of their training regime to keep their energy levels up, so traditional English dishes like roast beef and Yorkshires or fish and chips are unlikely to be on the plates of the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy anytime soon.

But what about the national dishes of some of the World Cup favourites (we’re not being pessimistic, just realistic, by not including England in there)? Are they meals fit for champions? Let’s take a look at some recipes that would be perfect for serving up while watching each match to get you into the full spirit of the occasion:

While not an obvious favourite, Russia is the host country of this year’s tournament, so we felt it only right to start off with a traditional Russian dish.

Stroganoff is probably Russia’s most well-known dish, and fairly similar to the classic British or Irish stew recipes that we all know and love, but with a gorgeous smoky kick thanks to the addition of paprika.

As this recipe from The Cook Report explains, stroganoff should have a creamy consistency, but adding red wine brings a beautiful richness to the sauce too.

To make a veggie version, leave out the beef (duh) and add extra mushrooms. Serve your stroganoff with rice, pasta or mashed potatoes.

Germans love a good sausage. Bratwurst, currywurst (yep, that’s curried sausage, which is obviously amazing) and frankfurters are just a few examples.

Take the bangers, mash and onion gravy that you’re used to up to a whole new level by giving them a German twist. Bratwurst go great with mashed potatoes – of course they do, what sausage doesn’t? – but for the full German experience, you need to be dishing them up with a side of sauerkraut.

Stonesoup’s recipe for sauerkraut shows you how to make this traditional German side in just a few simple steps; all you really need is cabbage and salt, but you will need to leave it to ferment (yes, we know it’s an unpleasant word – we’re sorry) until it becomes slightly pickled.

It should end up coleslaw-like in consistency, but trust us, it goes much better with sausage ‘n’ mash than coleslaw ever would.

The official national dish of Brazil is feijoada, a type of stew that’s actually Portuguese in origin, made from meat and beans in a tomato-based sauce.

Feijoada is smoky, spicy and really healthy, as you can pack it with veg like sweet potato, onion and peppers to add to the flavour. It’s beautiful with rice, or even just with a fresh, summery salad.

Check out Easy Peasy Foodie’s recipe to make your own. It’s so good that it’ll soon become a weeknight staple – you’d be daft to wait until the next international sporting tournament to have it again. Very daft indeed.

Belgium is known for many delicious goodies, including Belgian chocolate and carbonade flamande, which is its version of beef stew and technically the country’s national dish.

But we couldn’t not include Belgian waffles in here, and not just because they can be made quickly in the Tefal Snack Collection (although we do like to get a cheeky plug in), but because they taste sensational, and go with pretty much anything.

Yummy Easy Cooking’s Belgian waffle recipe is indeed both yummy and easy, and is beautiful topped with golden syrup, thick Greek-style yoghurt and berries or melted, drizzled Belgian chocolate. Indulgent, yes, but brilliantly Belgian for the full experience.

Ok, so chimichurri isn’t technically Argentina’s national dish – that title goes to asados, which is basically a lot of barbecued meat, like ribs, chorizo, sweetbreads and blood sausage (think black pudding, but a more exotic version).

But we’re going to take a guess that you know how to grill meat – if you don’t, may we acquaint you with the Tefal OptiGrill? – which is why we’re going with chimichurri chicken kebabs instead.

The chimichurri marinade in this recipe from Kitchen Swagger is made from fresh cilantro, parsley, red wine vinegar, garlic, crushed red pepper, cumin and olive oil, making it refreshing yet spicy all at once.

Of course, paella (pretend those Ls are Ys and you’ve got the pronunciation more or less right) is Spain’s national dish. There is much debate as to what a traditional paella should actually contain: rabbit or chicken? Chorizo or village sausages? Prawns or no prawns? But we think as long as it’s full of stuff you love, that’s OK – we’re so nice, aren’t we?

This recipe from Philippa Davis includes chicken, chorizo and prawns, which combine to create a gorgeous flavour that soaks into every grain of rice for a fantastically tasty dish.

Worried it looks too much like a risotto? Well, paella is to Spain what risotto is to Italy. It’s fine.

Officially, France’s national dish is supposed to be pot-au-feu, a type of beef stew. Some think it should be beef bourguignon instead – another type of beef stew.

But we think you’ve got enough beef stew recipes from around the world to keep you going for a while now, and France has plenty of other traditional grub on offer. Croissants, for example. Coq au vin (that’s chicken in wine, should your high school French lessons have vanished from your memory completely). Brie. And, of course, French fries.

The perfect French fry – which Smitten Kitchen has an excellent recipe for – should be thin, crispy and salty, totally different from the chunky, soft chips made in our Great British chip pans.

For a healthy twist on the classic French fry, cook them in your Tefal ActiFry. Using only one spoonful of oil, the ActiFry air fryer is a great alternative to a deep fat fryer. All the great taste, crunch, crispiness but none of the guilt! Then, all you need to do is decide what to serve them with. Ketchup? Mayo? Cheese? Gravy? Up to you, but the French will be appalled.