Euros 2021: BBQ and cocktail ideas for Group B - Denmark, Finland, Belgium and Russia
11 June 2021, 11:09
A year late, Euro 2020 is finally happening! Here's some delicious food and drink suggestions and recipes to make for a Group B-themed BBQ or party.
Denmark
Got Denmark in the work sweepstake? Toast their goals with the traditional Scandinavian spirit of aquavit, also known as akavit or snaps by the Danes.
It can be compared to vodka or gin, and is distilled with caraway or dill and has a minimum alcohol by volume of 37.5%, though 40% is usually the average.
Despite its name coming from the Latin for 'water of life', it is said to taste more like liquid fire!
It is very popular in the Scandinavian nations but only just getting a foothold in the UK - you could score some serious cool points if you brought this to the Euro party!
Nuet Dry Aquavit has been specially designed to work with tonic and in a dry martini. It has elements of grapefruit peel and blackcurrant with the traditional caraway base.
Where to buy: Master of Malt, £41.95
Finland
The Finns LOVE a BBQ, and use especially built huts called grillikota to gather together to cook and eat together both in summer and winter.
Looking like a summer house or fancy shed from the outside, the interior is kitted out with seats and a central grilling area for preparing and cooking meat.
But they also love a hearty salad, so why not have a go at making Rosolli Salad? This recipe is from the team at This is Finland
Ingredients:
- 4 boiled potatoes
- 4 boiled carrots
- 4 boiled beetroot or pickled beetroot
- 1 gherkin
- 1 small onion
- salt, white pepper
Dressing:
- 1 1/2 dl cream
- 1 1/2 tsp vinegar (10%)
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- water the beetroot was cooked in
Method:
Cook the vegetables in their skin well beforehand until just tender. Peel the vegetables and onion, and cut them into small, equal-sized cubes. Mix them together and season with a little salt and white pepper.
Whip the cream lightly, season with sugar and vinegar and add a few drops of beetroot liquid for colour. Serve the dressing separately. Garnish the salad with hard-boiled eggs - traditionally the the yolks and whites are chopped separately and laid in stripes on the top.
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Belgium
Belgium is most famous for three things, chocolate, beers and Jean-Claude Van Damme... and two of these are easy to incorporate in to your Euros party!
Forget making do with a few cans of lager in a bin full of ice, make things more exciting with a selection of Belgian beers.
They have hundreds of options, from a fruity Kreik made with sour cherries to a super-strong Chimay.
We also love a Hoegarden Rose, which is a traditional pale wheat beer with a hint of raspberries - plus it means you get to sip on a pink pint! Buy a keg of it from Beer Hawk.
If chocolate is more your thing, why not make a chocolate martini?
The luxury Belgian chocolate company’s Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur feature the ultra-velvety chocolate flavour of Godiva’s famous chocolates with balanced notes that are not overly sweet.
Buy from VIP Bottles, prices range from £3.99 for a mini bottle to £34.99 for full size.
Russia
Sorry veggie and vegans, but if you want to BBQ like a Russian you need to be hungry for meat... and lots of it!
In Russia and other Caucasus countries, they love getting together for a shashlyk, which is skewered and grilled cubes of meat.
It's not totally dissimilar to a Turkish shish kebab.
To make sure that the meat stays tender and juicy when it's cooked, it is marinated the day before and over night - but it's not as simple as putting it in a bowl smothered with a bottle of Nando's Peri-Peri sauce.
According to Russia Beyond, the marinades are made from all sorts of kitchen staples, and everyone has their own special - and often secret - recipe.
These include something simple like mayonnaise, onion and lemon, but can include "sour cream, yogurt, beer, wine, olive oil, honey and whatever else you find in your fridge".
