Cuisine Czech Style
Pickled hermelín brie, pickled sausages, pork with cabbage and dumplings, fruit dumplings, beer, and Becherovka liqueur all constitute an essential part of the Czech menu, not only at home, but also in restaurants.
Czech cuisine will be a pleasant surprise even for gourmets. In spite of being related to Austrian, German, and Hungarian cuisine, it has retained its original character. Old Bohemian cuisine boasts inventive meals that have acquired an exceptional taste and aroma over the centuries. The foundation of typical old Bohemian meals, even today, are ingredients that people were able to grow at home - primarily potatoes, pulses meat, and grain.
Breakfast Czech Style
Today, the usual breakfast includes white bread (rolls, buns, or bread) cold-cuts (e.g. ham, salami or sausages) cheese, eggs and sometimes jam. Czechs also enjoy a sweet breakfast of the traditional braided sweet bread vánočka or doughnuts. The drinks normally served at breakfast include tea with lemon, coffee, cocoa or hot chocolate.
Soup is the Foundation
The main meal of the day is lunch, traditionally comprising three courses: soup, the main meal and dessert. Czech cooks make many varieties of soups: in addition to beef and chicken broth, thickened soups based on pulses or vegetables are also excellent.
The main meal comprises meat and accompaniments. Meat is a solid component of the Czech diet – pork, beef, and poultry appear on the plate most frequently, with game and fish being less common. Meat is usually served with various types of sauces (such as cream-based sauces flavoured with various spices and herbs, depending on the recipe), which are a real phenomenon of Czech cuisine. Other Czech specialities are the products of the winter pig-slaughtering season: blood sausages, black and white pudding, and brawn. A typical feature is the unique accompaniment of meat and sauce – Czech dumplings – a cooked ball- or cone-shaped dish, usually made with bread- or potato-based dough. Potatoes are also served as a side dish, being historically the most frequently used food in the lands of the Bohemian crown. There are many potato-based meals found in Czech cuisine (e.g. various kinds of potato pancakes).
Supper
Supper habits differ by family. Some prefer a light meal with the family, others like a substantial dinner comprising ingredients similar to those found in lunch, and with increasing frequency, ready-made food from “take-away” restaurants is making its way onto Czech dining tables.
Czech Cuisine for Vegetarians
You will not find many vegetarian meals in traditional Czech cuisine. You can taste pea porridge, sour lentils, fried cauliflower, scrambled eggs with sautéed mushrooms, and fried edam or hermelín cheese. Vegetarians can also choose from typical Czech sweet dishes, such as leavened dumplings filled with fruit, sprinkled with poppy seeds or cottage cheese and topped with melted butter; sweet square buns with vanilla cream; potato gnocchi; or crepes with fruit or jam.
Last update: 16.8.2011 16:00
