Christmas Market Food: 22 Things to Try and What They Cost

Walk into any German Christmas market and the first thing you see is a grill full of sausages. They put one in a roll, usually with mustard. Simple, but on a cold evening it is exactly what you want in your hand.

Nothing like the big German sausage you know. They are finger-thick and must be 7 to 9 cm long; the name has EU protected status (official information: EU eAmbrosia register ), so a stall cannot just call any small sausage a Nürnberger.

One of my favourite things in Cologne. Grated potato, onion and egg are mixed and fried into crisp pancakes, and they come with apple sauce.

Raclette is Swiss, but you now find it at many markets. They heat a whole wheel of cheese, scrape the melted top and pour it over bread or potatoes. One look and you are in the queue.

It looks like a very thin pizza, but there is no tomato sauce. Thin dough gets crème fraîche, onion and other toppings, then goes into a stone oven. It is an Alsace classic and you also see it at German markets.

Yeast dough is deep-fried, then topped with sour cream and a lot of grated cheese. If you want something light, this is not it. Is it good? Very.

The salmon surprised me more than anything on these trips. Whole sides are fixed to wooden boards and cooked slowly in front of an open fire, with a light smoky smell. Then it goes into a crusty roll with lettuce and sauce.

If you keep smelling something sweet and cinnamony as you walk, it is probably these. Almonds are roasted with sugar and cinnamon in copper kettles until the sugar forms a crunchy shell.

Chestnuts roasted over fire, peeled and eaten hot. In Vienna nearly every market has a chestnut stand in one corner.

In Riquewihr we bought the sesame and poppy seed ones. Pretzels are nostalgic for me: during my internship in Germany I ate one almost every morning, so I never walk past them.

Dough is wrapped around a long rod and turned over the fire, then rolled in sugar and nuts while hot. It has become a symbol of Prague, but it is not a Czech tradition; it comes from the Slovak and Hungarian side and spread in Prague in the early 2000s.

Trdelník's Hungarian relative. Served hot, it steams from the middle like a little chimney. You will see it at every Budapest market; if you like trdelník, try this one too.

The name means tree cake, and when you cut it you see why: the inside has rings like a tree. Batter is brushed onto a turning cylinder and baked one layer at a time, up to 15 or 20 layers.

Dresden's famous Striezelmarkt takes its name from this cake. The market has been held since 1434 and counts among Germany's oldest. Stollen is a buttery cake with dried fruit and almonds under a serious layer of powdered sugar; some of it always ends up on you.

Think of a torn-up pancake. A thick pancake is pulled apart in the pan, dusted with powdered sugar and usually served with fruit compote. Portions are big; see what the next table ordered before getting one each.

The gingerbread everyone links with Christmas markets. At German stalls it is mostly heart-shaped with icing writing on top, and it is called Lebkuchen.

In Alsace the gingerbread role goes to pain d'épices, a spiced honey bread. Stalls stack it in wrapped loaves, with smaller shaped pieces next to them.

Small Christmas cookies that Alsace families bake at home in December: butter, cinnamon, almond and many more. Legend says there are as many bredele recipes as there are people in Alsace. A bold claim, but the variety is real.

We finished the sweets with a wafer that did not look innocent at all: a honey wafer at the bottom, marshmallow on top and chocolate over that. At a Christmas market you count calories after Christmas. The village and its market are in our Riquewihr guide .

The classic drink at every market is Glühwein, mulled wine spiced with cinnamon, clove and orange peel, in red and white versions.

If you do not drink alcohol, ask for Kinderpunsch, a hot fruit punch made with apple and orange juice. The name says children, but plenty of adults drink it.

Hot spiced apple juice is the other alcohol-free pick, and just as good for warming your hands.