Luxembourgish cooking sits exactly where the country does: German in substance, French in technique. The result is often described locally as German quantities with French quality, and that is a fair summary.
Judd mat Gaardebounen
The national dish is Judd mat Gaardebounen: smoked pork collar, soaked and then simmered, served with broad beans in a cream sauce and boiled potatoes. It is substantial, mild and comforting, and it appears on every traditional menu. Best in late spring and early summer when the beans are fresh.
The rest of the repertoire
Bouneschlupp is green bean soup with potatoes and bacon, the everyday dish of the country. Gromperekichelcher — grated potato cakes with onion and parsley, deep-fried — are the classic street and market food, sold at every fair and Christmas market.
Träipen is black pudding with apple sauce, eaten around New Year. Rieslingspaschtéit is a pastry of pork and veal cooked in Riesling, served hot or cold. From the Moselle come Friture de la Moselle, small fried river fish, and trout.
Kachkéis — cooked cheese — is a soft, runny, strongly flavoured spread eaten on bread with mustard, and it is the thing visitors are most often challenged to try.
Sweet
Quetschentaart, a flat tart of Damson plums, appears in late summer and is genuinely excellent. Verwurelter are twisted doughnuts eaten at carnival, and the Christmas markets sell Stollen in the German manner.
Drink
The Moselle whites and Crémant de Luxembourg are the local drinks, and the crémant in particular is worth ordering. There are several good craft breweries alongside the older Bofferding and Diekirch. The plum brandy Quetsch and the blackcurrant Cassis de Beaufort are the local spirits.
Where to eat
Luxembourg City has an unusually high concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants for its size, driven by the institutional and financial money. That is not where the traditional food is.
For that, look for a village Stuff or an inn in the Ardennes or along the Moselle, where the day's menu is short and written up on a board. Portions will be larger than you expect.
Meal times and habits
Lunch is taken seriously and served roughly from noon to two; many restaurants close between services and do not reopen until seven. Sunday lunch with family is a fixture, and booking is advisable. Portions in traditional places are generous enough that a starter is often unnecessary.