Czech Eats

Ah yes, the food.  So, is the food in the Czech Republic? Well, you’ll get a different answer from every person you ask. Too much starch! Too much pork! Where are the vegetables? I’m going to gain 8 bazillion pounds eating this mess! Actually, I believe those are all things I’ve personally said about Czech food…but seriously, there are good things (and bad) about Czech food. The most important thing is to embrace, find the stuff you do like, and eat it in moderation. Here are some of my favorite traditional Czech dishes. (Nowadays you can find just about any kind of food here. They have surprisingly – or maybe not so – good chinese food. I’m still looking for a great Thai spot, but I have a feeling that will be on the pricey end. Chinese, not so much. But I digress…)

Czech Gulaš

mmm gulaš

This is a very traditional, very delicious Czech staple. Just about every country from central europe eastward does their own version of goulash, including their own spellings. I personally am a fan of Hungarian goulash, but the Czech version is not too shabby. Typically it is tender beef in a delicious sauce with a little bit of a kick to it. Often veggies like peppers or onions are in there was well. Czech gulaš is always served on a plate and is always served with knedlíky (dumplings). Czech dumplings are not like asian dumplings, or whatever other kind of dumplings I know you were thinking about. It’s the doughy bread slices to see in the picture above. Very Czech. I highly recommend getting the gulaš if you ever find yourself in Praha, or anywhere else kind of near here. At your local corner pub this dish will only set you back about 99 kč. That’s about $5-6 depending on how low the good ole USD decides to go that day.

Slivičkova

slivičkova - one of my new faves

Mmm slivičkova. Now, I’ve had gulaš before, but was my first time for slivičkova. I discovered this Czech delight thanks to Peter, the Slovak. He recommended I try it, and so I did (actually he ordered for both of us, but it was good, so no need to complain)! Once again we see our good friends knedlíky (DUMPLINGS dummy). What did I tell you? They are everywhere in Czech cuisine. This is also beef, in a sort of creamy yumyum delicious sauce. That’s really the only way I know how to describe it (foodie fail – sorry embo). And maybe the best part is it’s usually served with a little cranberry sauce and whipped cream. Mmm, ’nuff said. I highly recommend this guy if you are in my neck of the woods. AND, you will probably impress your waiter bc this dish is CZECH Czech, not like tourist Czech. Probably a little bit more expensive than a plate of gulaš, but still not a lot if you’re in the right place and totally worth it.

Bramboráčky

bramboráčky

Bramboráčky is something that is as common as knedlíky in Czech cooking. These are potato pancakes (brambory = potatoes, bramboráčky = potato pancakes). Definitely one of my faves of Czech cooking, especially the last time I lived here when I didn’t eat any beef or pork…but that’s a whole other story. As you see above, you can get these by themselves or as a side dish to your meal. Actually, THE Corner Bar serves knedlíky AND bramboráčky with their gulaš. But the pic above also has good examples of other classic Czech sides: shredded cabbage, carrots and a pickle. They LOVE pickles here. And cukes. Put them on the side of everything. Needless to say, I love it too. OK, so your bramorak, you can eat this with ketchup or mustard or whatever sauce your meat came with, but I think they are also pretty flavorful on their own.

A couple days ago I bought a little Czech cookbook to try cooking some Czech things for myself. I actually don’t eat out here that often, but eat at home. And anyone who knows me knows I am a WHIZ in the kitchen. So, Czech cooking? BRING IT ON. (Note: actually NOT a whiz in the kitchen. Actually, whatever the opposite of a whiz is, that’s me.) Anywho, last night I decided to go with something easy and I made my own bramboráčky! OK so if anyone would have been watching me while cooking them, they probably would have called it a massive fail, and maybe also by the looks of my poor little potato pancakes. But I will tell you one thing, to the taste, they were an EPIC SUCCESS! The epic failure was the sausage I tried to cook to have with my bramboráčky. I guess maybe the pan was too hot or something (in my kitchen there are only 2 settings on my stove: on and off)…bc the sausage…well, it might have, how do you say? Exploded. But don’t worry, no one was hurt, and I made a little sausage patty with what was left, and it was good enough.

 

ingredients

So, here’s what’s in potato pancakes:

potatoes, grated (duh, and I didn’t have a grater so I used a knife, like a CHAMP)

egg

flour

garlic

salt

the recipe also called for marjoram and caraway, but I didn’t have any marjoram and I don’t even know what caraway is, so I just added a little black pepper and PAPRIKA: the spice of champions of the eastern bloc.

so you add all these together and make a little paste and then fry them up! you want them as thin as possible and crispy!

 

Voila!

Some of mine might have been a little too crispy, but what they hey. Good thing I like my food a little burnt. Also do you see the little sausage patties? Aren’t they cute?

 

DOBROU CHUT!

 

(That’s czech for bon appetit! Side note, someone once asked me what we say in America instead of dobrou chut. My response: well, we don’t say anything, except maybe sometimes bon appetit, I guess. This is a common theme I’m finding. Nailya (old roommate): what do you say in US when someone gets out of the shower? Me: Umm, are you clean?? No, no, we don’t say anything… Nailya: oh, in Russian we say something like “here’s to good wishes!”)

Well, that’s all for now folks, so here’s to good showers and good wishes!

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~ by prahakatie on November 9, 2009.