A Taste of Czech Republic

Traditional Czech food is not exactly what one would call dietary, however it perfectly goes with the flavourful Czech beer. Most Czechs enjoy their food very much and mealtimes are special occasions. Czech food is rich and hearty, but if you've never tried it, there are a few things worth knowing. It mostly consists of pork or beef meat with sauce and a side dish, the most common and liked being dumplings. The knedlík or dumplings is the most common side dish made from wheat or potato flour, boiled in water as a roll and then sliced and served hot with gravy. Other side dishes are: rice, potatoes (boiled, baked or fried). Get ready to eat lots of potatoes. Czech people love Svičková (read “svitch-co-va”) or Rajská (read “raiska”), a somehow interesting combination of meat with sauce and whipped cream. "Svíčková" is the national dish. Most dishes are pork, or beef, but chicken, turkey, fresh-water fish, duck, lamb and rabbit are common, too. On menus you often see the word "Medallions": it just means a piece of meat, sliced flat, like a medal. A "spis" is like a shish-kebab, grilled meat and vegetables on a spear. A good choice can be the Guláš (read like in English, “goulash“), even though it basically belongs to traditional Hungarian cuisine.

 

If you are in a restaurant and you aren’t really in the mood to spent hours studying the menu, you can chose another Czech classical, that is Fried Cheese or Smažený Sýr, (read “smazhenee seer”) garnished with potatoes and Tatarská Omáčka , (read “tatarska omachka, Tartar sauce).

 

Czechs like sugar in just about everything, it seems. Sauces, gravies, and salad dressings are uncommonly sweet. A common meal for children is noodles, with loads of sugar, ground poppy seeds and melted butter. Other flavours seem to be used very sparingly; the overall effect is, some would say, perhaps a bit bland. Spices most commonly used are: caraway, poppy, paprika and dill. Condiments are: mustard (smooth and grainy), sauerkraut, tartar sauce, horseradish and very sweet ketchup. Most dishes come with "zelí" or cabbage. Many things are marinated, so if you're vinegar fan, you have a lot to look forward to. Vegetarianism is only recently catching on in Central Europe, so there aren't many options, unfortunately. But if you like beets, turnips, carrots, onions and potatoes, you're in luck.

 

Soups and Salads

The most appreciated Czech soups (polévka) are onion (Cibulačká, read “tsibulachka”) and garlic soup (Česneková polévka, read “Chessnekova polevka”), but the speciality for Christmas is the fish soup or Rybí polévka, made out of Carp, the Czech traditional Christmas delicacy. Also very tasty is Goulash Soup (Gulášová polévka), a spicy thick creamy soup, served with brown bread. Czech food is not exactly diet food. When you buy a "salad" at a deli, what you often get is a very thick mayonnaise-based dressing and small pieces of vegetables and meat. Czech salads contain delicious mayonnaise or dressing-sauce. Some salads contain also sugar, so if you’re not a fan of sweet salads, just ask them not to put any. In general Czech salads are not only really tasty but also huge, so you can served as the main course without worrying that you will be hungry immediately after.

 

Main Course

In main courses, there are 3 national foods always found on the menu: vepro, knedlo and zelo, or pork, dumplings and cabbage respectively. The pork can be served baked and lightly seasoned, smoked, or breaded and fried like schnitzel. Dumplings can be light and spongy or dense and pasty depending on preparation. Taking a departure from German influence, Czech cabbage doesn't resemble sauerkraut. Instead, it's usually boiled with a light sugar sauce. Preparation of these 3 main dishes can vary depending on location, chefs and preference, but they're standard fare that all travellers should taste at least once. Other popular main dishes include rosten (roast beef), grilovan kure (roast chicken) and uzeniny (spicy cured meats). Cmunda is a local favorite; the dish consists of a steaming potato pancake topped with sweet, boiled red cabbage and spicy Moravian smoked pork. Czech sauces have the reputation of being heavy, creamy and characterless, but when paired with spicy meats or cabbage, the outcome can be heavenly.

 

Beer and Beer Delicacies

The national beverage is beer, but the national liquor is Becherovka, a medicinal aperitiv made of 12 herbs, and said to aid digestion. And after a meal of cream sauces and sauerkraut, you might be appreciative of that! You can try tours of both the Becher factory and Staropramen brewery, as well as a well-preserved estate brewery that's many centuries old. It's fun to tour the breweries and beer tastings.

 

Don’t be surprised to find in the menu special offers like “Against great thirst & hunger” (“Proti velké Žízeni”, read “proti velke zhyzeny). That means food or snacks that particularly go with beer. As French invented all sorts of cheese combinations to go with their fine wines, the Czech people have their own delicacy: nakládaný hermelín , (read “naakladanee hermeleen” or pickled ermine). “Hermelín” is a special type of cheese, very soft inside, covered in a thin white film. Another beer delicacy are Utopenci, read “utopentsee” (“Drowned”), a somehow funny name for sausages, I would say, but at the same time a very practical one. Utopenci are sausages pickled in vinegar, oil, onion, red pepper, and different spices. As said before, they go perfectly with beer and are usually made by the house or beer hall itself. If neither of the above raised your interest, one last recommendation is Klobásy(“Grilled sausages”). They come with mustard, horseradish, brown bread and are guaranteed to satisfy your stomach needs at least for a while, if not for the whole evening. You will most probably find all sorts of Grilované Klobásy (Grilled Sausages) at food stands on tourist tracks. Not only do they smell irresistible, but they taste addictive as well.

 

Desserts

There are a number of delicatessens, pastry shops and cafeterias that offer light lunch fare and delicious pastries. Famous are the Czech Pancakes (Palačinky – read “Palachinky”), filled with ice-cream, jam or fruits and coated in whipped-cream, almonds or sugar. Try also the traditional Fruit dumplings (Ovocné Knedlíky, read “ovotsne knedliky”) and the various forms of tasteful Czech cakes (Kolač – read “Kolach”) filled with different fruits, jams or curds.