Czech Cuisine

A great way to get the taste of any culture is, of course, through their cuisine. Czech cuisine is traditionally meat, meat and more meat. Pork, dumplings (potato or bread) and cabbage are the staple (vepro, knedlo, zelo). Mushrooms are a favorite, as every year mushroom picking is an important family event. Rabbit is a delicatessen and many have rabbit farms. Potato is also a big part of the meal and cooked in many varieties. The food is generally quite heavy and slow to digest, so take it in stride, but a good Czech beer will help.

Most common salty dishes

Pork (baked or boiled), dumplings and cabbage (vepro, knedlo,zelo) as mentioned above is the staple. Of course other favorite Czech dishes include: boiled smoked pork fore loin or pork knee with apple horseradish and beetroot, boiled beef with tomato sauce, bread dumplings and horseradish; the infamous Svickova - fillet steak/beef shoulder with cream sauce and bread dumplings accompanied by the favorite cranberry sauce; roast pork (pork neck or shoulder) with stewed sauerkraut and potato dumplings; rabbit roll with boiled potatoes; Bramborak - potato pancakes (also sold at outdoor food stands BUT very greasy) and a huge favorite – roasted young goose or duck with stewed white cabbage and bread dumplings. Finally, who can forget the beef goulash with bread dumplings! Sometimes even small little food stands at an outdoor event will serve this favorite and be sure to notice how most of the time the beef is OH so tender and tasty!

Czech cuisine is also known for the variety of soups such as: beef soup with homemade noodles or liver dumplings; garlic soup (Oukrop); tripe soup; potato soup; and mushroom soup (Kulajda). Just to name a few.

Salty snacks

Do not forget to try some of the other salty snacks such as their Zavinac – or fish in pickled sauce; Chlebicky – open sandwiches with toppings such as crab salad; hermalin cheese spread; ham and potato salad; cheese spread with tomato; ham and egg and many more toppings; homemade sausages; and creamed horseradish rolled up in sliced ham.

The sweet stuff

Like most, Czechs have their sweet tooth. To satisfy this many traditional savory sweets exist! Potato flat cakes served with damson cheese, grated/sour cream/yogurt and jam; potato pasta balls (Skubanky) topped with poppy seed or grated gingerbread, sugar and melted butter; min-pancakes topped with bilberry sauce, plain yogurt or both; fruit dumplings; apple strudel; baked dumplings (Buchty); Bohemain, Chodsko and Moravian tarts with poppy seed, cream cheese or fruit filling; and of course the fruit pastries made with yeasty dough and topped with bilberry, apricot, plums, red currents, cherries or gooseberries sprinkled with sugar crumbs or poppy seed. Can’t you just picture these delights!

Places to eat

Prague has its pubs or Hospoda (can get quite smoky); snack bars or Lahudky; sweet shop or Cukrarna; milk bar or Mlecny Bar, and coffee shops (Kavarna) and some of them do serve the typical Czech snacks and desserts. All you need to do is venture and you’re sure to come across one of these!