Mark Hix's top meals from his world travels

I often get asked to name my favourite meals from my trips around the world. I’ve eaten lots and forgotten a great many, but I do remember the good ones – especially if I’ve recreated them and added them to the recipe bank on my iPad. That’s the useful thing about food writing.

My annual holiday always involves food, wine and fishing – I’m not one for sitting around and reading a book – but I most enjoy writing about it so that others can share the experience. My recipes this week are highlights from recent trips, to hopefully inspire adventures to come.

There's a pure horseradish soup that I had in Poland and remember it as the best thing I ate there (not because the rest of the food was disappointing, but because it was a bloody good soup and not the common beetroot and horseradish version). We grow lots of horseradish in the UK but don’t seem to make much use of it, save as a sauce for roast beef or grated into a Bloody Mary. This soup really lets it shine.

Then, my best interpretation of 'saucisson Alicante Bouschet', a great dish I ate at a winery, Deux Roches, in Burgundy. The original used local sausages and grape must (the crushed grapes and juice before winemaking begins), but in the recipe below I have improvised with what’s available here to get as close as possible. Use red grapes, a heavy red wine and the meatiest sausages you can get your hands on.

For afters, one of the best cream tarts I've ever eaten. The French don’t have the style of fresh double cream we have; much of their cream is long-life and you should look for this (not necessarily in the fridge) to get the flavour as close as possible to versions of the tart found in France. When the cream reduces it sets like a clotted cream consistency – hitting the spot as a simple but indulgent dessert, or an afternoon-tea pastry.