In the paper, five cuisines in Europe are depicted: Hungarian, Italian, Greek, Spanish, and French. They are very famous and popular throughout the world. The differences among them consist in both the types and quantities of raw materials and species used. There are two major ‘secrets’ of their culinary attractiveness and popularity: a successful combination of regional products and exotic species, and a remarkable, innovative method of their preparation. Many of those products and dishes are still prepared using traditional methods, and, thus, they have become unique; tourists regard them a real attraction in a particular region. Some of them crossed into other countries long ago, like, for example, pizza, and in this way, they underwent a peculiar process of globalization. Species play an important role in making a dish or a product unique, so, in this paper, it is highlighted the role of species that are the most characteristic for a particular cuisine.