Amid an onslaught of protest from groups across Europe, a Flemish television broadcaster has withdrawn from its schedule an episode of a culinary show featuring Adolf Hitler's favourite dish.

Public broadcaster VRT in Belgium said in a statement on Monday that the Hitler episode of its series Plat Préféré (Favourite Dish) had been deemed "too sensitive" to air.

The network also noted that amid the criticism, "there was a wrong perception that the show about Hitler would humanize or, worse, glorify" him, VRT said on its website.

Hosted by young cook Jeroen Meus, the show features profiles of famous people and recreations of their favourite meals.

In televised promos last week, the Hitler episode was hyped as Meus travelling to southern Germany to visit the Nazi leader's former haunts and recreate a trout with butter sauce that the Fuehrer reportedly favoured. The episode had been slated to air on Tuesday.

Michael Freilich, the editor of Antwerp's Jewish affairs magazine Joods Actueel, was among the leading voices (along with political prisoner groups) who criticized the episode last week.

On Monday, Freilich welcomed its removal from VRT's slate, but also questioned why producers had even chosen to film a Hitler episode in the first place.

"The problem is that Hitler is being featured in a cooking show, without any historical context," he said.

Past subjects explored on the show have included surrealist artist Salvador Dali, opera diva Maria Callas and British rocker Freddie Mercury.

With files from the Associated Press