European cuisine, one of the biggest and most diverse cuisines in the world! European gastronomy includes everything, meat, vegetables, fruits, a combination of all the products of the European land.
One of the healthiest cuisines in the world, where in the vast majority every meal is designed to meet all the required nutritional needs of man.
It is based on the Mediterranean diet and in vegetables, which are produced with the strictest quality criteria, to ensure the highest level of food safety.
From ancient times, from the richest to the poorest peoples, vegetables conquered a prominent position in the European diet, where we do not forget to include one of the healthiest cuisines in the world, Mediterranean cuisine!
Salads, soups, pizzas, side dishes in grilled meats and fish, vegetables and fruits were, are, and will be among the favorites of Europeans!
Let's take a look at some of the most typical vegetable dishes of traditional European cuisine.
Italian pizza:
Pizza is one of the national dishes of Italy, a simple but at the same time so delicious and favorite food. Made with the purest ingredients, it combines the dough with the tomato sauce and the peppers and becomes a simple, fast and fantastic meal!
Greek stuffed:
The Gemista as they are called in Greece, are vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, which are stuffed with rice or minced meat, baked in the oven with tomato sauce, and accompanied by baked potatoes! A portion of food for all the months of the year that young and old love!
Pickles:
Pickles were one of the oldest and most common ways used by Europeans to preserve their vegetables. In other words, they took the vegetables like the cucumbers and after a little processing, they put them in glass jars with vinegar, and so they had vegetables all year round! The most common pickles are cucumber, peppers, cabbage, and many more. Today pickles are used very much especially in Northern European countries!
Salads:
Salads are something that all European people love without exception, and everyone has their own traditional salad with which they accompany every meal.
For example, the cabbage salad is being made almost all over Europe, with chopped European cabbage, along with fresh herbs, onion, and plenty of vinegar, a refreshing, fresh, very low calorie and very delicious salad!
Another very popular salad is the one with cucumber! Simple, fresh and very moisturizing for your body! All you need is European cucumber, onion, dressing and fresh herbs.
An excellent side dish for fish dishes and a wonderful dish for hot summer nights.
If you want a salad that is a complete meal, again European cuisine is what you need! An ideal solution for a healthy meal that will satisfy you while at the same time will give you all the nutrients you ask for is the Greek village salad!
European red juicy tomatos, colorful european pepper,s and european cool cucumber along with olive oil, vinegar and onion are just what you need after a demanding day. And if you add to your salad a European cheese of your choice, then the taste of your dish will take off.
Soups:
European cuisine loves soups, and this is something we all know. Since a very long time ago, the Europeans, especially during the winter months when the temperatures are very low, used all kinds of soups to fill their hearts and stomachs, and also to warm themselves.
So, depending on what each house was cultivating in their small vegetable backyard , they used to make their soup with their own recipe.
With pasta, with tomatoes, with meat but always with many vegetables in order to have all the vitamins that the body needs. The love of Europeans for soups is such that even today many people always start their meal with a soup as an appetizer.
Some of the most famous European soups are:
Goulash:
A traditional soup of northern Europe based on meat, tomatoes and peppers, while its characteristic is the slow cooking to become the known perfect result.
Cabbage rice:
In many countries, especially in agriculture areas the locals use to make a traditional vegetable food which is cabbage rice! They use to serve it with a lot of lemon, and it is a quite simple, refreshing and delicious food!
Another version of this food is Stuffed cabbage, a winter plate, that the locals in many countries make by making rolls with cabbage which they stuff with rice, meat, etc, and they also serve it using a lot of lemon!
But vegetables like tomato, peppers, cucumber, cabbage hasn’t been used only as cooked food but also as supply for all the year! To be more clear, people used to pick tomatoes in the summer and make a multiple types of sauces which they stored in glass jars and used them for every day cooking ,all the year!
The same they were doing with the pickles! They picked cucumbers, peppers and cabbages, and after a little process they added good quality vinegar, put the vegetables and the vinegar into glass jars, and this way they managed to have fresh vegetables all the year!
But what makes Europeans love so much vegetables? What makes European vegetables so unique, so quality? All has to do with one main principle: The European Union want to ensure that each product is in the consumer plate, is completely safe, nutrient and quality.
For the European Union the food safety sustainability, the ensuring of the highest product quality and the ecological agriculture production process is always the biggest priority!
Below we will present you some of the most basic food safety and quality requirements that EU apply to agriculture production to ensure that the final consumer will always get to his table a completely safe, quality, and nutritional food.
What are mandatory requirements for fresh fruits and vegetables?
Limited use of pesticides
To ensure health, food safety, and avoid any health and environmental risks the European Union (EU) has set maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides in and on food products.
EU doesn’t allow any product to have a higher pesticide level than the maximum level she has set up.
This happens in order to ensure that all products being produced in EU are completely safe for consumption
It is worth noting here that in the EU many of the supermarket chains and distributors are even stricter than the EU pesticide limit and they require even lower limits of pesticides in the product from their producers and suppliers.
That means that European producers are very careful with the pesticides applypment and they use only the safest supplements in the limited quantity.
Pesticide management takes a lot of responsibility on your part as a producer or exporter. More and more buyers ask for upfront information about your pesticide spray records, and shipments are checked before they are sent to the retailer. For future business, you must take into account that your responsibility as an exporter will play an important role as retail chains put more pressure on their suppliers.
All EU producers apply integrated pest management (IPM) to reduce the amount of pesticide they use. IPM is an agricultural pest control strategy which is also part of GLOBALG.A.P. Certification. It uses natural control practices such as the application of pests’ natural enemies.
Avoiding contaminants:
What are contaminants?
Contaminants are substances, that have not been intentionally added to food but which may be present as a result of the various stages of its production, packaging, transport, or holding.
Similar to the MRLs for pesticides, the European Union has set limits for several contaminants.
EU fresh fruits and vegetable producers make sure and pay great attention during the whole production process to eliminate any risk of microbiological contamination on the fresh EU products.
That’s why the vast majority of EU agriculture producers develop and apply a HACCP plan, and most EU products bear certifications like BRC or IFS, that base on HACCP principles to ensure the product's highest quality.
Because as we said above for the EU the biggest priority was and always will be the consumer's safety.
Plant health and Phytosanitary regulations:
Fruit and vegetables being produced in the European Union must comply with European legislation on plant health.
The European Union has laid down very strict phytosanitary requirements to prevent the spread of organisms harmful to plants and plant products in Europe.
The applying of these legal requirements are supervised by the local authorities
So all EU fruit and vegetable producers are very strictly careful about the prevention of plant health, and that's why every fruit or vegetable or other products that becomes from them, consumers eat is completely healthy and safe.
2 How can you check that the EU products are really safe and with the highest quality?
As we mentioned above most of the EU fruits and vegetables producers are certified with the most strict food safety and quality standards that ensure the final product highest quality!
Such certifications that EU producers have are GLOBALG.A.P ,HACCP etc.
Let’s find out more below:
Certification as guarantee:
As food safety is a top priority in all European food sectors, you can expect most producers implement the food safety management system based on hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP).
GLOBALG.A.P.
The most commonly requested certification scheme, essential for sale of fresh produce to and from Europe, is GLOBALG.A.P.
This pre-farmgate standard covers the whole agricultural production process from before the plant is in the ground to the unprocessed product.
GLOBALG.A.P. focuses on food safety as well as the environment, labor conditions, and product quality. ¨
To be more specific :
The purpose of the application of GLOBAL G.A.P. Fruits and Vegetables is the answer to the growing consumer concerns about issues related to:
- Food safety
- Traceability
- Quality assurance
- Workplace Health and Safety
- Field Management
- Land Management
- Lubrication Management
- Complete fight against enemies
- Plant Protection Management
- Water management
In the new V5 version there are the following changes in requirements:
- Food safety
- Handling of Plant Protection Packaging Gaps
- Sabotage on food
- Microbiological Risks
- Environment
- Energy efficiency
- Responsible Water Use
- Pollution control
- Employee Health and Safety
- Traceability
IFS, SQF, FSSC 22000:
Another strict food safety and quality management system is IFS food standard, Safe Quality Food (SQF) programme, FSSC 22000 or other industry-developed standards.
Most of the EU fresh fruits and vegetable producers apply multiple food safety management systems and are focus on every safety production detail to ensure the the biggest food safety and health for all the EU products consumers.
In addition to the official and common requirements, specific requirements apply to niche markets such as organic fruit and vegetables.
Organic, a growing niche market
As we all know organic products are becoming more and more popular and EU is one of the biggest producer and consumer of organic products.
In order to market organic products in the European Union, you must use organic production methods, which are specified in European legislation. You must have used these production methods for at least 2 years throughout the conversion period before you can certify your product as Organic.
After being audited by an accredited certifier, you can use the EU organic logo on your products, along with the logo of the standard holder.
In 2021, the new organic Regulation will enter into force together with the new Official Control Regulation. Beside checking the compliance with European rules for imported products, it will also reinforce the controls and enhance possible actions against fraudsters. As a third-country producer, you will have to comply with the same set of rules as those producing in the European Union.
Maintaining the required soil fertility and water retention, avoiding cross-contamination, and using organic inputs and reproductive materials can be a challenge for farmers in countries with tropical climates or with limited access to organic reproductive material and inputs.
Organic production rules
Producing organically means respecting the rules on organic farming. These rules are designed to promote environment protection, maintain the biodiversity of Europe and build consumer trust in organic products. These regulations govern all areas of organic production and are based on a number of key principles, such as:
- prohibition of the use of GMOs;
- forbidding the use of ionising radiation;
- limiting the use of artificial fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides;
- prohibiting the use of hormones and restrict the use of antibiotics and only when necessary for animal health.
This means that organic producers need to adopt different approaches to maintaining soil fertility and animal and plant health including:
- crop rotation;
- cultivation of nitrogen fixing plants and other green manure crops to restore the fertility of the soil
- prohibition of use of mineral nitrogen fertilisers;
- to reduce the impact of weeds and pests, organic farmers choose resistant varieties and breeds and techniques encouraging natural pest control;
- encourage the natural immunological defence of animals;
- in order to maintain animal health, organic producers need to prevent overstocking.
As we have seen above EU products have all the highest quality and food safety standards to attract all the customers that want to eat healthily, nutrient and delicious fresh fruits and vegetables.