Czech cuisine

The most famous Czech cookbooksThe Domestic Cookbook or an Essay on Meat and Lenten Meals for Bohemian

and Moravian Daughters written in 1826 by Mrs Magdalena Dobromila

Rettigová, the legendary Czech cook. The second most famous Czech cook

is Marie Janků-Sandtnerová, whose 1924 Book of Budgets and Cooking

Recipes is still published in the Czech Republic. The fi rst Czech-language

book of recipes published in America was written by Marie Rosická; it was

published in 1904 and was called the Czech-American Domestic Cookbook.

Czech cuisine is traditional, it has evolved over centuries and has

been infl uenced by the gastronomy of surrounding countries.

During the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire it was mostly

infl uenced by Austrian, Hungarian and Bavarian cuisine, but we

must also point out that the surrounding countries also adopted

all sorts of traditions from Czech cuisine. A typical Czech cook

always cooked primarily using ingredients that could be grown

at home – grains, legumes and potatoes. The same applied to

meat – beef, pork and chicken ran about the yard, game ran wild in

the woods and fi sh were waiting to be caught in the river or pond.

Food and cooking has always played an important role in

Czech history. The fi rst cookbook was published as early as 1535 and

even Jan Amos Komenský described period kitchen equipment in

detail in his work titled Orbis Pictus.

Globalisation has introduced the fashion of fast food to the whole

of Europe, the tendency to eat the same things worldwide is strong,

but national tradition simply cannot be supressed and Czech cuisine

in particular would not let anyone dictate to it, if only because it

mostly arose from poor conditions, from people who only had little

to lose. When you discuss local cuisine in the Czech Republic you

will very quickly arrive at sentences such as “like our grandmothers

used to make it”. Czechs are conservative, which is probably why they

have retained much of what today’s hurried times have swept out

of national cuisines. And, on the following pages, we will attempt to

convince you that it is amazing and heavenly food.

“Good food and drink extend your life.”“Food and drink hold the spirit and body together.”

“Eat until half full, drink until half full.”“God gave people food, the devil gave them cooks.”

“Hunger is the best cook.”“Hunger is thirst in disguise.”

Czech

even

Love passes through the stomach

This is one of the most popular Czech sayings. The key to

a Czech heart lies on a plate – and naturally in a glass of beer.

To become familiar with Czech cuisine means to become

familiar with what Czechs and Moravians are really like.

Czech sayings about food

Soup is the foundation, who doesn’t eat it is amidget, has been

said in Czech lands since time immemorial. You cannot imagine

Czech cuisine without soup; it is a prelude that warms your

body, intoxicates you with its aroma and attunes the taste buds

to subsequent courses, and it is a ceremonially decorated gate into

the realm of traditional Czech feasting.

Potato soup is undoubtedly the queen of Czech soups. It is made

a little differently in every region and the recipe is frequently kept

as a family heirloom. But it is always a symphony of earthy flavours, root

vegetables, fragrant mushrooms and chiefly potatoes, with a light hint

of garlic and the distinct bouquet of marjoram, the princess of Czech

herbs. To visit the Czech lands and fail to taste tripe soup is a sin, which

you will not be absolved of even during the Last Judgement. It is said

to be a “hangover cure” because its ability to transform a stomach

roiling from the effects of alcohol into a cosy and comforting room is

legendary. This elixir is prepared from finely chopped cow‘s stomach,

which should not frighten you. Courageous

eaters are rewarded with the piquant flavour

of paprika and garlic, crowned yet again with

the essential marjoram. And imagine how

good the beer tastes with this soup…

Potato soup

Tripe soup

Soup is the foundation

4

More typical soupsGarlic – another hangover cure, some make

it strong, some even stronger…

Beef or chicken broth – meat broths have always

been considered a cure for all ills, they warm,

strengthen, soothe…

Lentil – a miracle fragrant with garlic and bacon,

the basis of the New Year meal – apparently

it attracts money like a magnet attracts a needle

Goulash – a thick and strong treasure for all lovers

of fi lling soups

Carp – the basis of the Christmas Eve supper,

an extract of the best that makes a carp a carp

And the third speciality – kyselo (sour soup). Nowhere else will you

certainly taste a soup made from bread starter, potatoes, mushrooms

and the fi nest cream, slightly sour, smelling of mountain meadows

and pine forests. Kulajda is cooked instead of kyselo in some regions.

This is a strong and thick mushroom soup with cream and the

essential egg. Don’t ever skip the soup fanfares calling you to eat;

it would be a grave mistake.

The alchemy of soup thickenersPoached eggs – boiling water with vinegar is capable of conjuring up a silky white

concealing a runny yolk.

Thousands of types of dumpling – from traditional liver through semolina to yeast

dumplings

Noodles – hair noodles, with mushrooms, fritata noodles, pancake noodles – as long

as there are lots of them!

Kulajda

Kulajda

tip

Where can you fi nd Czech soup?

You can tell a good Czech restaurant by the soup.

All restaurants off er soup – try U Bulánka in Blatňovice,

East Bohemia, for example.

Making soup noodles

5

The fact that meat is very important in Czech cuisine does not

mean that it does not contain numerous other ingredients.

Various vegetables, legumes, grains and mushrooms are also

used in cooking.

Probably the most famous Czech dish is roast pork with dumplings

and sauerkraut. It comes in many forms and is loved and also

condemned – unjustly. Current healthy eating trends consider

it a very balanced meal with all the essential components – you just

have to order it where they know which meat to use and are capable

of cooking it in a healthy manner and serving it in the correct

proportions. Besides pork, all parts of which are cooked in Czech

cuisine, poultry is also a favourite of Czechs, particularly golden roast

duck with dumplings and sauerkraut, rabbit and game. Dishes

made from potatoes are also typical and very popular – for example

the very intricately fl avoured potato pancakes, particularly if they

are served with smoked meat.

Freshwater fi sh enthusiasts will also be ecstatic – pikeperch fl avoured

with caraway seeds, trout fried in butter, or the very unusual

blue carp – a gently poached fi sh with vinegar poured over it – are

true delicacies.

Not just meat by far

Trout fried in butter

Roast duck with dumpling and sauerkraut

6

tip

Where can you fi nd fi sh

Freshwater fi sh are the pride of Czech cuisine. To fi nd

them you can travel to South Bohemia, the region of fi sh

and ponds. Šupina Restaurant in Třebon is a guaranteed

tip. Or make a trip to Třeboň in South Bohemia at the

end of August to see the Třeboň Fish Celebrations.

Carp plays an important role chiefl y at Christmas – and in most

households it is the main course at Christmas Eve dinner, most

frequently fried and served with countless variations of Czech

potato salad.

Encounters with vegetarian dishes are also more and more frequent –

cabbage in particular, cooked by a multitude of methods, characterises

Czech cuisine. It is fantastic when braised. It would be a mistake to not

try meals made from caulifl ower – for example caulifl ower brain

is excellent – or the Czech way of cooking spinach, strongly fl avoured

with garlic – served simply with potatoes and fried eggs.

Anyone who really wishes to become familiar with Czech cuisine

should make the eff ort to fi nd a restaurant that cooks sour lentils

or mushed peas, because these are truly immortal and unexpectedly

delicious traditional dishes.

Christmas Eve carp with potato salad

A nation of mushroom pickersCzechs are undoubtedly more gatherers than hunters.

For example looking for and picking mushrooms

is a very widespread and strong passion. Very few

nations are willing to set out for a wet forest en

masse on weekends at fi ve a.m., wander through

wet scrub for several hours, all with a very uncertain

result. Mushrooms are also called

the “meat of the poor“ here.

So it is no wonder that

Czech cuisine is familiar

with tens of methods

of cooking mushrooms –

mushroom sauces and

goulashes, pancakes, fried

breaded mushrooms, baked

mushrooms, mushroom

omelettes, cakes, dumplings…

Pig slaughterA home slaughter of a pig, which was lovingly fed

the whole previous year, used to be the norm. It also

used to be a social event linked to many customs.

Today you can take part in a traditional Czech pig

slaughtering event at some of the fairs or advent

markets held during the Advent period. Pork feasts are

a refl ection of pig slaughter at pubs and restaurants.

A calorifi c but unique and very typical experience..

7

The bread dumpling is the forefather of Czech dumplings. The leavened dough made

from coarsely ground wheat fl our is enriched with cubes of white bread. Simple? Not really –

dumplings are a trap for cooks. A good dumpling should be as light as a breath of fresh

air, as fl uff y as a pillow and so soft it can be cut by light pressure of a fork and it must have

an irregular, porous surface so that it is capable of soaking up the sauce or gravy. There

are so many rules to follow… Flour kept at room temperature must have air incorporated,

the bread must be two days old, the milk tepid, the dumpling should be turned when

cooking and should be pricked with a fork and lightly brushed with oil after being removed

from the water… When it turns out right, though, it is the manna of gods. Bread dumpling

has uncountable off spring and relatives. The most famous is the potato dumpling. Grated

boiled potatoes are lovingly kneaded with fl our and semolina, gently placed in boiling

water and then sliced immediately after being removed…

If Czech cuisine has a pivotal point, something exclusive and unique, then

it is defi nitely the most widespread side dish – dumplings. They are the

touchstone of every cook, and also every housewife. Recipes are passed down

through the generations. Czechs are not as well versed in anything else, apart

from beer, as they are in dumplings – they are capable of appreciating dumpling

works of art, as well as condemning failed attempts.

Dumplings everywhere you look

Roast duck with an assortment of dumplings

8

Carlsbad dumpling – an excellent variation on

the bread dumpling, made from unleavened dough,

enhanced with whipped egg whites and herbs –

experts cook it in a napkin

Bacon dumpling – crispy fried bacon and bread are

the basis of these spherical delicacies

Wholegrain dumpling – a light and healthy

alternative made from spelt fl our and puff ed rice

is less usual but enticingly tasty

Mushroom dumpling – chiefl y as accompaniment

to game, wonderfully fragrant and soft dumplings

with a mixture of fresh mushrooms

Dumplings as the main mealWhat used to be the “the food of the poor”

is frequently off ered by renowned restaurants

today. Make sure you ask for fried dumplings

with eggs, or with onions or for fried

dumplings with mushrooms. Dumplings

stuff ed with smoked meat are also

an unforgettable experience.

There are tens of recipes for

making dumplings in the Czech

Republic. You should not skip hairy

dumplings in particular. Of course

hairy dumplings don’t have any

hair, they are called hairy because

they have a lovely irregular surface –

these are small dumplings made

of potato dough. The secret is in the fact that the potatoes are grated

raw, sometimes with half of the potatoes boiled. Hot, slippery and

maddeningly tasty “bosáky” are the result.

Dumplings are a Czech phenomenon. Legend says that anyone who

attempts to cook them elsewhere than in the Czech lands will fail.

So enjoy them to the full.

The origins of the dumplingIt is not clear where the fi rst dumpling was cooked,

but it is certain that it was somewhere in Central

Europe. It is said that in 1266 the wife of the

Deggendorf mayor drove away a spy from the army

of King of Bohemia Přemysl Otakar II by throwing

dumplings at him. Dumplings are even mentioned

in the works of Czech reformist preacher Jan Hus

(who lived at the turn of the 14th century). However,

there can be no doubt about where the dumpling

is at home now.

DumplWhat

is f

to

a

“Anyone trying to prepare

dumplings elsewhere than

in the Czech Republic

will fail.”

Making hairy dumplings

9

If you seek for what makes Czech cuisine diff erent from others,

you will inevitably come across sauces. If you were able

to look into a typical Czech household, you would probably

catch the family over a meal with a sauce. Thick, probably

creamy, spicy, distinct and most importantly – in large

amounts. There doesn’t have to be much meat, but

dumplings richly smothered in sauce – that is what many

Czechs like. It could even be said that sauces are even more

popular than dumplings because they are frequently eaten

with potatoes, rice, pasta or even simply with bread.

Preparing a good, distinctly fl avoured sauce requires a little more

than being able to cook. The cook will not manage without a sense

of combinations of ingredients and the ability to recognize even the

slightest variations of fl avour. A small pinch of spice or other ingredient,

or a traditional knack, are frequently essential. A good Czech sauce has

a smooth consistency, a shiny surface and perfectly balanced fl avours.

And the most famous sauce? Defi nitely beef sirloin in cream sauce.

This is the cornerstone of Czech cuisine, the family silver, this sauce

decides whether we call someone a master cook.

Sauces of a hundred flavoursMushroom – with cream or without, made from fresh

mushrooms or dried, this sauce always has the pleasant

fl avour of sunny forest glades

Znojemská – a piquant, slightly sour sauce based

on the fl avour of pickled gherkins

Horseradish – a creamy sauce based on grated horseradish

with a remarkably distinct fl avour and aroma

Plum – a unique combination

of plum jam and dry red wine

with a faint aftertaste

of cinnamon and

ginger and a trace

of rum, excellent

with meats

Sirloin cream sauce

Sauces of a hundred fla

Sauces are a Czech phenomenon

Plum sauce

10

It must have clear tones of root vegetables, a delicate but clear

fl avour of meat and cream, a trace of bay leaves, a light but very

slightly sour fl avour and it must not be too smooth… No, it cannot

be described, even in verse, it must be tasted. The lemon slice

topped with preserved cranberries is naturally a part of the correctly

served jewel of Czech sauces.

Another cult sauce is tomato sauce. The disputes led by enthusiasts

who love the slightly sweet sauce made from tomatoes, with

a piquant fl avour of dark spices, have been ancient. Should

a typical Czech tomato sauce include a pinch of cinnamon, grated

gingerbread or a sprig of thyme? The irreconcilable camps will

never agree on this. However, the unusual fl avour of all versions

is identically surprising.

And the third one is dill sauce, one of the most unique and most

boldly fl avoured heights of Czech cuisine. A subtly sour-sweet, boldly

aromatic creamy sauce honouring the most fragrant herb in Czech

gardens, dill. Those who enjoy its fl avour will travel to the ends of the

earth to taste it (and will end up in the Czech Republic of course).

Sweet fantasyBlack sauce is proof of the inventiveness of Czech

housewives. The unrepeatable fl avour of grated

gingerbread and dried fruit, combined with

a vegetable fl avour and the delicate bitterness of black

beer, makes Czech Christmas unique it is served with

boiled fi sh or classic sweet Czech vánočka bread.

Goulash faithBeer calls for goulash, says pub wisdom. Even though

this is originally a Hungarian dish, it has become

so naturalised in the Czech Republic that goulash

tournaments are held here and every proper pub

cooks its own version – whether it thickens the sauce

using fl our, bread, or onion. Goulash is simply a well

loved adopted – and wonderfully adapted – son.

Dill sauce

11

tip

Beer from birth to tap

As well as visiting a pub, another fascinating experience

is an excursion to one of the beer breweries in the

country – for example the one in Velké Popovice

by Prague (www.kozel.cz), where they will give you

a tour of the cult Velkopopovický Kozel plus you will

be able to visit the typical pub called Kozlovna, or the

Chodovar brewery in Chodová Planá by Mariánské

Lázně (www.chodovar.cz). A tour of the Shrine of beer

and hops beer museum in Žatec, West Bohemia

(www.chchp.cz), where you can visit the Chmelfest

or Dočesná celebrations with a little luck, is guaranteed

to be a thrilling experience.

Where is the best beer drawn?

An uncountable number of pubs fi ght for this honour.

Try Purkmistr – Pivovarský dvůr Restaurant in Plzeň

for example.

Beer is a sure winner in the Czech Republic, but wine has

begun to rapidly catch up recently. Czechs‘ relationship with

beer, the national beverage and “liquid bread”, is hearty and solid.

It is a social blunder to omit visiting a beer house at least once

when in the Czech Republic, because the pub has been a platform

of popular wisdom in the Czech lands since time immemorial.

Czech beer is renowned and honoured the world over and, what

is more important, it is excellent!

Dočesná in Žatec

Beer or wine?

And this doesn’t simply concern the guaranteed quality of the most

famous brands Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser Budvar, as nearly

500 varieties of beer are produced in Bohemia and Moravia, some

of them in fairly small family breweries! Each one is diff erent, original

and interesting.

12

Travelling in search of wine

You can taste wine right where it is born and you

can even make the experience more exciting by

travelling in search of wine on bicycle, because

South Moravia has an abundant network of wine-

growing cycle routes passing among the vineyards

and the most popular cellars (mvs.timetree.eu). You

can map Moravian rose wines on Rose wine days

in Mikulov (www.wineofczechrepublic.cz) and you

can visit the Znojmo historic wine harvest festival

for the most original atmosphere with a parade

of historic fi gures and tournaments

with knights on horseback.

(www.znojemskevinobrani.cz).

re with a paraddee

ents

tipttttttiiiiiippppppp

However, wine has also had an ancient tradition in Bohemia

and particularly in Moravia. A great number of varieties are grown

here – many of them native to this country, for example white

Aurelius, Pálava, Mopr or the red variety André. Wine here

is varied, surprising, rich, with a distinguished character. Speaking

of gastronomic experiences, then a visit to a typical Moravian cellar

with its unrepeatable atmosphere, lively music, hearty singing and

chiefl y a tasting of the wine treasures using the “until you can’t take

anymore” system, is one of the most powerful ones.

And if you hanker for something a littler stronger, there are two

jewels in the Czech lands – Slivovice, distilled with love and

centuries of refi ned care from the beloved plums, and Becherovka,

a unique herb liqueur made from thirty-two herbs and spices.

Nevertheless, the Czech Republic also has a speciality among

soft drinks – traditional Kofola, which was developed in 1959

as a counterweight to western colas – and is still successful

competition to them. Drink it wherever you want, but if you wish

to experience it as the Czechs love it most, drink it drawn from the tap.

Open Cellars Festival in South Moravia

13

Utopenec

One of the greatest experiences with Czech cuisine is to enter

a good beer house and be amazed at the quantity and inventiveness

of the snacks it off ers, creating an excellent harmony with the bitter

fl avour of the Czech national treasure. Utopenci – špekáčky with

plenty of onion, pickled in a sour brine for at least two weeks, are

legendary. Additional ingredients and fl avourings are protected

and kept as secret as battle plans – the result is a little diff erent in

each pub, but always unusually and brutally excellent. And what is a špekáček? A solid

and simultaneously fl exibly soft, fragrant and juicy smoked meat sausage, slightly salty,

very meaty and containing pieces of smoked fat.

eaeachhch pppubububub,,,, bubububut t ttt t alalalalalalalwawawwwaww yy

Czech cuisine has never been enthusiastic about typical cold starters, because

soup has held such a strong position. But this doesn’t mean that there is a poor

off er of cold dishes in the Czech Republic. Quite to the contrary, beer snacks

are the most important and the most varied.

Cold meals are the best accompaniment to beer

14

The most aromatic delicacyA unique delicacy has been produced in Loštice near

Olomouc since the 15th century, so called olomoucké

tvarůžky. These small round wheels of mature cheese with

a penetrating odour are created from quark without rennet

and no preservatives are used apart from salt. Less than one per cent of fat makes them

the healthiest and also the most popular beer delicacy, even protected by the European

Union. There is even a Tvarůžky Museum in Loštice, documenting the history and

procedure of traditional production.

Not far behind in popularity are marinated hermelín – a cheese

with a cultivated white mould, fl avoured with onion and chilli

peppers, marinated for the appropriate period in oil, which must

melt in the mouth, and naturally the indispensable and devilishly

good tlačenka (brawn) with vinegar and onion: small pieces of pork

or chicken, set in a jelly made from boiled connective tissues.

Fish delicacies occupy an independent position – zavináče,

neat rolls of fi sh fi llets pickled with vegetables in a sour

brine are excellent, as are matjesy or pečenáče

(soused herring). The atmosphere of a Czech pub,

with a harmonica player frequently appearing to play

playful folk songs, is simply determined by the delicacies served on the

plates and boards as well as the beer, because Czechs know that beer

accompanied with something to eat tastes twice as good.

Marinated hermelin cheese

Which beer house to visit

You will most probably experience the typical

Czech pub atmosphere with excellent delicacies

to accompany beer in the Černý Orel Restaurant

in Kroměříž, East Moravia.

tip

Chlebíčky: A Czech inventionChlebíčky (open face sandwiches) were fi rst created

by delicatessen owner Jan Paukert around 1916.

A slice of white bread with a spread or mayonnaise-

based potato salad, garnished with smoked meat

or meat and vegetables is still a phenomenon

present at home celebrations and as a fast food.

Ham, with egg and caviar, with Hungarian salami,

with roast beef – the variety of fl avours is unending.

You can still visit Paukert’s delicatessen today

in Prague to buy real Paukert’s chlebíčky.

15

If Czech cuisine has an inexhaustible variety of something,

it is sweet dishes. In contrast to most other cuisines,

it is not unusual here for a sweet dish to be served as the main

course. Baking in particular is practically a national sport,

every housewife boasts her own version of buchty,

koláče or Christmas biscuits.

Czech buchty

The most famous Czech sweet dish, which is even mentioned in fairy

tales, is buchty. The picture of a baking tray full of beautifully golden

and irresistibly fragrant fi lled cakes sprinkled with icing sugar makes

the heart fl y and cheers the spirit. “You cannot see into buchty”

is a Czech saying, so it is always a little surprising which fi lling will

make this fl avour concert complete. The most classic fi llings are

poppy seed, plum jam and quark.

Unlike buchty, koláče have a diff erent appearance in each region

of Bohemia and Moravia. The most famous are the ones from

the Chodsko region in West Bohemia and the Wallachian koláče

from North Moravia. Every region has a diff erent size, fi lling

or decorative pattern.

“Koláče have a diff erent

appearance in each region

of Bohemia and

Moravia.“

Sweet pleasures

16

Fruit dumplings

Visit the laundry room for ducat buns

The Stará prádelna (Old Laundry) restaurant,

boasting a Czech Specials certifi cate, off ers

a traditional sweet dish in the magnifi cent interior

of a stone vaulted room in the heart of Prague –

ducat buns with vanilla sauce. Experience

the atmosphere of a classic homely inn.

Visit Holašovice in search of buchty

What is probably the most beautiful Czech village

(protected by UNESCO) holds a Farmers’ Celebration

every year in July, which includes a contest for the

best South Bohemian buchty.

Unique fruitService fruit is a variety of rowan that provides sour-

sweet juicy fruit the size of small apples. Dishes and

spirits made from this fruit have been a part of the

Moravian heritage for generations. There is even

a Service Tree Museum in Tvarožná Lhota, where

a regular Service Tree Celebration takes place every

April; and a Service Fruit Harvest Festival is held

in Travičná in September.

Delicacies across the Czech RepublicThe famously delicious Hořické trubičky were

born in Hořice below the Giant Mountains, honey

fl avoured ears originate from Štramberk in Moravia,

delicate Spa wafers from Carlsbad, and legendary

gingerbread from Pardubice…

tip

The third phenomenon is fruit dumplings. Whether these are made

from quark or leavened dough, they are always fl uff y round jewels

concealing a hot fruit or jam fi lling. The topping for this delicacy

is very important – quark, fried breadcrumbs, gingerbread – all this

is combined with sugar and butter and creates a whole so harmonic

that the taste buds faint with pleasure. Czechs love

garden and forest fruit and particularly plums. Fruit

is dried – and delicious dried apple rings are born –

rice pudding and bread pudding is created from

fruit or it is served with quark or sugar.

17

The fresh wind of rational and healthy eating blows through

the world and has also entered the Czech Republic. And now

Czechs and Moravians are surprised to fi nd that they don’t need

to invent anything, that everything is already here, all they need

to do is leaf through pages of their grandmothers’ recipes,

return to honouring the seasons and eat what is ripening

and growing and chiefl y – think when buying food.

Large numbers of farmers’ markets have appeared selling vegetables

grown nearby and even forgotten or seemingly untraditional

ingredients have begun to make a reappearance – lentils, peas,

beetroot, asparagus, veal and even snails, preparation of which

is surprisingly a centuries old tradition in the Czech lands. Czech

cooks are rediscovering buckwheat, millet, spelt fl our and groats.

Vegetable salads Czech styleClassic Czech cuisine is familiar with salads as smaller,

served in bowls and intended as a side dish to the

main course. They are prepared from fresh and also

canned vegetables. The most popular salads are:

Cabbage salad with horseradish – frequently with

added onion and apple

Sauerkraut salad – with caraway seeds and a little

dill, frequently with added apple

Lettuce salad – with a simple sweet and sour

dressing

Cucumber salad – made from fresh grated

cucumber, again with onion

Carrot salad – with apple and lemon juice

Tomato and onion salad – with vinegar dressing

Mushroom kuba

Salad made from tomatoes and onions

Healthy traditions are returning

18

And so forgotten traditional dishes from the menus of our forebears

have reappeared on Czech tables – for example kuba, fragrant

and crispy mushrooms baked with groats and bacon, buckwheat

porridge sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, kohlrabi “cabbage”,

Easter stuffi ng with young nettles or, as if it came from a modern

book on nutrition, pučálka – germinated peas fried in butter

or zelňáky – unbelievably tasty cakes made from fl our, cracklings

and cabbage and baked on a pan. Desserts have a new addition:

forgotten potato dumplings with poppy seeds…

It appears that the so-called food of the

poor was not simply conjuring tricks

in the kitchen during times of need,

but that it followed wise principles

of the natural order in food.

tip

Zelňáky

Experience the Middle Ages

You can return to the traditions of Czech cuisine

in medieval times and enjoy them in authentic

surroundings with characteristic period service

in one of the medieval taverns.

Medieval tavern ANNO DOMINI 1471 Prague

(www.ad-1471.cz)

Medieval tavern Husinec (www.krcma.org)

Medieval tavern Dětenice (www.krcmadetenice.cz)

Gastronomic celebrations

and festivals

You can investigate the

variety of Czech cuisine, its

traditions and the newest

trends at many gourmet

events.

Prague Food Festival

(www.praguefoodfestival.cz) – attractive locations

in Prague in late May

Fish from Bohemia (www.rybazcech.cz) – in Prague,

Brno and Klokočná from July to August

Chřestfest – Asparagus Festival

(www.chrestfest.cz) – in Prague and Brno in May

– attattracractivtive le locaao ttions s

Prague Food Festival

19

20

To enjoy everything mentioned above in the highest quality,

in authentic settings and with friendly service – you really

need good advice and recommendations.

CS REGIONAL – typical specialties

from individual regions and areas

in the Czech Republic, made

from regional ingredients.

The gastronomic traditions

of our forebears in modern-day

packaging.

CS LIGHT – easily digested and

healthy meals made from fi rst-rate

Czech ingredients, with salads, fi sh

and vegetables predominating. A visit

to these restaurants will convince you

that typical Czech cuisine can comply

perfectly with the current trends

in healthy nutrition.

For more comfort of choice, the restaurants are divided into three categories:

CS FAMILY – nutritionally balanced,

tasty and visually attractive dishes

made from fi rst-rate Czech

ingredients. Great attention is paid

to children here and a wide range of

varied meals in appropriate portions

with interesting names are off ered.

To pretend that you will be delighted on entering any restaurant in

the Czech Republic would be improper. The CzechTourism Agency

has been establishing the Taste the Czech Republic Czech Specials

project for several years. This project will minimise the risk and enable

you to make an excellent choice on where to experience

good quality Czech cuisine. Restaurants, which have

acquired a Czech Specials certifi cate, guarantee

quality and professionalism. You can fi nd them

in locations attractive to tourists throughout the

Czech Republic and they off er perennial national

dishes as well as regional specialities. It simply

depends what you prefer…

ience

e

Where can you find Czech cuisine?

21

Authentic surroundings with a trace of historyU dělové koule, Jičín – Sitting in this comfortable interior, surrounded by a mini-exhibition of military items, which the local museum assisted in establishing, you will believe you have travelled back in history to the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You must try the renowned local plum sauce with gingerbread and the Kaldoun duck soup with bread dumplings, leg of rabbit in beer sauce, roast duck, delicate mother’s beef sirloin in cream sauce and pork roll with garlic are also all excellent. Have the yeast dough blueberry dumplings or the homemade strudel for dessert.

Unique modern interiorNoem Arch, Brno – You can taste selected Czech delicacies prepared in the spirit of gastronomic trends and with unusual ingenuity in the unique interior of an ark fl oating on the boundless ocean. You simply have to order the grilled breast of duck with onion sauerkraut, forest fruit and pork crackling souffl é or the larded loin of venison in a wine sauce, served with bread dumplings with buckwheat or medallion of beef sirloin and confi t of veal cheeks, served with mashed celeriac fl avoured with vanilla.

UNoprin

Czech Specials certified stylish restaurants

You can fi nd more restaurants at www.czechspecials.cz

Old-fashioned czech atmosphereDačický – Old Fashioned Czech Restaurant, Kutná Hora – Enjoy traditional and less familiar Czech specialities in this stylish restaurant, surrounded by wood and the spirit of honest hospitality – try the smoked breast of goose on a bed of pear salad, wild boar goulash with gingerbread dumplings or raspberries aurum foliatum – a dessert garnished with twenty-three carat gold foil. You can also taste specialities from the alchemist’s kitchen…

22

The offi cial tourist presentation

of the Czech Republic

www.czechtourism.com

www.czechspecials.cz

Published by CzechTourism ©

Text: Rostislav Křivánek

Photos: Vít Mádr, istockphoto.com,

SUNDAYPHOTO EUROPE, a.s.

Translation: Skřivánek, s.r.o.

Design: Cyril & Metoděj, s.r.o.

Year: 2012

Don’t miss visiting places we mentioned in the previous chapters

12 Loštice

13 Holašovice

14 Hořice

15 Štramberk

16 Karlovy Vary

17 Pardubice

18 Travičná, Tvarožná Lhota

19 Husinec

20 Dětenice

21 Kutná Hora

22 Jičín

1 Praha

2 Brno

3 Blatňovice

4 Třeboň

5 Žatec

6 Plzeň

7 Mariánské Lázně

8 Mikulov

9 Znojmo

10 Kroměříž

11 Olomouc

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