- published: 13 Jul 2015
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Luxembourg cuisine reflects Luxembourg's position between the Latin and Germanic worlds, drawing on the cuisines of neighbouring France, Belgium and Germany. More recently, it has been influenced by the country's many Italian and Portuguese immigrants. As in Germany, most traditional everyday Luxembourg dishes are of peasant origin, in marked contrast to the more sophisticated French fare.
Luxembourg has many delicacies. In addition to French pâtisseries, cake and fruit pies, local pastries include the bretzel, a Lent speciality; quetscheflued, a damson plum tart; verwurelt gedanken, small sugar-coated doughnuts; and äppelklatzen, apples en croûte. Luxembourg's cheese speciality is kachkeis or cancoillotte, a soft cheese spread.
Fish from the local rivers such as trout, pike, and crayfish are the basis for dishes such as F'rell am Rèisleck (trout in Riesling sauce), Hiecht mat Kraïderzooss (pike in green sauce) and Kriibsen (crayfish), usually prepared in a Riesling sauce. Another favourite is Fritür or Friture de la Moselle, small fried fish from the River Moselle.
Luxembourg (i/ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-burg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg, Dutch: Groothertogdom Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.