Gluten Allergen Guide

Greece's best-known baked dish: layers of eggplant, spiced minced meat (usually lamb or beef), tomato sauce, and a béchamel top, baked until the surface browns. Lately, gastro-tavernas have been reworking it, sometimes with truffle in the béchamel, sometimes plant-based, while keeping the flavors recognizable.

An Athens street-food staple: skewers of marinated meat (usually pork, sometimes chicken or lamb) grilled and tucked into warm pita with tomatoes, onions, tzatziki, and fries. Smarter tavernas now plate the components separately, and mushroom or seitan versions have a following.

A savory phyllo pie of spinach, feta, dill, and spring onions, baked until the pastry crisps up. You'll find it in any bakery, taverna, or home kitchen, and it works as breakfast, a snack, or a light meal.

A sweet pastry of paper-thin phyllo layered with chopped walnuts or pistachios and butter, then soaked in honey or sugar syrup spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Every region insists its own recipe is the best, so it's worth tasting a few as you travel.

Swedish meatballs, usually plated with potatoes, a creamy gravy, lingonberry jam, and pickled cucumber. IKEA put them on the global map, but the homegrown version, made with seasoned beef and pork, is worth seeking out in Sweden itself.

Cinnamon buns spiced with cardamom and topped with pearled sugar, the default pastry for Swedish fika (the coffee break). Cafés across the country sell them daily, and most Swedes eat them just as often.