Czech Cuisine by Bookletia

Czech cuisine

The most famous Czech cookbooks The 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 first 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.

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 cuisine is traditional, it has evolved over centuries and has been influenced by the gastronomy of surrounding countries. During the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire it was mostly influenced 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 fish were waiting to be caught in the river or pond. Food and cooking has always played an important role in Czech history. The first 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 sayings about food

Soup is the foundation

Potato soup

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.

Tripe soup

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…

Kulajda

And the third speciality – kyselo (sour soup). Nowhere else will you certainly taste a soup made from bread starter, potatoes, mushrooms and the finest 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.

More typical soups Garlic – 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 filling soups Carp – the basis of the Christmas Eve supper, an extract of the best that makes a carp a carp

Making soup noodles

The alchemy of soup thickeners Poached 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!

tip Where can you find Czech soup? You can tell a good Czech restaurant by the soup. All restaurants offer soup – try U Bulánka in Blatňovice, East Bohemia, for example.

Not just meat by far

Trout fried in butter

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.

Roast duck with dumpling and sauerkraut

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 flavoured potato pancakes, particularly if they are served with smoked meat. Freshwater fish enthusiasts will also be ecstatic – pikeperch flavoured with caraway seeds, trout fried in butter, or the very unusual blue carp – a gently poached fish with vinegar poured over it – are true delicacies.

tip Carp plays an important role chiefly 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 cauliflower – for example cauliflower brain is excellent – or the Czech way of cooking spinach, strongly flavoured with garlic – served simply with potatoes and fried eggs. Anyone who really wishes to become familiar with Czech cuisine should make the effort to find a restaurant that cooks sour lentils or mushed peas, because these are truly immortal and unexpectedly delicious traditional dishes.

Where can you find fish Freshwater fish are the pride of Czech cuisine. To find them you can travel to South Bohemia, the region of fish 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.

Pig slaughter A 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 reflection of pig slaughter at pubs and restaurants. A calorific but unique and very typical experience..

A nation of mushroom pickers

Christmas Eve carp with potato salad

Czechs 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 five 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…

Dumplings everywhere you look If Czech cuisine has a pivotal point, something exclusive and unique, then it is definitely 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.

The bread dumpling is the forefather of Czech dumplings. The leavened dough made from coarsely ground wheat flour 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 fluffy 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 offspring and relatives. The most famous is the potato dumpling. Grated boiled potatoes are lovingly kneaded with flour and semolina, gently placed in boiling water and then sliced immediately after being removed… Roast duck with an assortment of dumplings

“Anyone trying to prepare dumplings elsewhere than in the Czech Republic will fail.”

The origins of the dumpling It is not clear where the first 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. Making hairy dumplings

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.

Dumplings as the main meal Dumpl What used to be the “the food of the poor” is frequently offered by renowned restaurants is f today. Make sure you ask for fried dumplings to with eggs, or with onions or for fried dumplings with mushrooms. Dumplings stuffed with smoked meat are also aan unforgettable experience.

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 flour and puffed rice is less usual but enticingly tasty Mushroom dumpling – chiefly as accompaniment to game, wonderfully fragrant and soft dumplings with a mixture of fresh mushrooms

Sauces are a Czech phenomenon

Sirloin cream sauce

If you seek for what makes Czech cuisine different 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.

Sauces of a hundred flavours fla Mushroom – with cream or without, made from fresh mushrooms or dried, this sauce always has the pleasant flavour of sunny forest glades Znojemská – a piquant, slightly sour sauce based on the flavour of pickled gherkins Horseradish – a creamy sauce based on grated horseradish with a remarkably distinct flavour 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

Preparing a good, distinctly flavoured 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 flavour. 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 flavours. And the most famous sauce? Definitely 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.

Plum sauce

It must have clear tones of root vegetables, a delicate but clear flavour of meat and cream, a trace of bay leaves, a light but very slightly sour flavour 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.

Sweet fantasy Another cult sauce is tomato sauce. The disputes led by enthusiasts who love the slightly sweet sauce made from tomatoes, with a piquant flavour 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 flavour of all versions is identically surprising.

Black sauce is proof of the inventiveness of Czech housewives. The unrepeatable flavour of grated gingerbread and dried fruit, combined with a vegetable flavour and the delicate bitterness of black beer, makes Czech Christmas unique it is served with boiled fish or classic sweet Czech vánočka bread.

And the third one is dill sauce, one of the most unique and most boldly flavoured 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 flavour will travel to the ends of the earth to taste it (and will end up in the Czech Republic of course).

Dill sauce

Goulash faith Beer 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 flour, bread, or onion. Goulash is simply a well loved adopted – and wonderfully adapted – son.

Beer or wine?

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.

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!

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 different, original and interesting.

Where is the best beer drawn? An uncountable number of pubs fight for this honour. Try Purkmistr – Pivovarský dvůr Restaurant in Plzeň for example.

Dočesná in Žatec

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 chiefly 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 refined 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 Sout

h Moravia

tip tip 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 winegrowing 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 parade re with a parad de of historic figures and tournaments ents with knights on horseback. (www.znojemskevinobrani.cz).

Cold meals are the best accompaniment to beer 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 offer of cold dishes in the Czech Republic. Quite to the contrary, beer snacks are the most important and the most varied.

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 offers, creating an excellent harmony with the bitter flavour 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 flavourings are protected and kept as secret as battle plans – the result is a little different in each ea ch h pub, pub ub,, bu butt always alwa al waay unusually and brutally excellent. And what is a špekáček? A solid w and simultaneously flexibly soft, fragrant and juicy smoked meat sausage, slightly salty, very meaty and containing pieces of smoked fat.

Utopenec

Marinated hermelin cheese

Not far behind in popularity are marinated hermelín – a cheese with a cultivated white mould, flavoured 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 fish fillets 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.

The most aromatic delicacy A 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.

Chlebíčky: A Czech invention Chlebíčky (open face sandwiches) were first created by delicatessen owner Jan Paukert around 1916. A slice of white bread with a spread or mayonnaisebased 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 flavours is unending. You can still visit Paukert’s delicatessen today in Prague to buy real Paukert’s chlebíčky.

tip 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.

Sweet pleasures

Czech buchty

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.

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 filled cakes sprinkled with icing sugar makes the heart fly and cheers the spirit. “You cannot see into buchty” is a Czech saying, so it is always a little surprising which filling will make this flavour concert complete. The most classic fillings are poppy seed, plum jam and quark.

“Koláče have a different appearance in each region of Bohemia and Moravia.“

Unlike buchty, koláče have a different 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 different size, filling or decorative pattern.

Fruit dumplings

The third phenomenon is fruit dumplings. Whether these are made from quark or leavened dough, they are always fluffy round jewels concealing a hot fruit or jam filling. 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.

Delicacies across the Czech Republic The famously delicious Hořické trubičky were born in Hořice below the Giant Mountains, honey flavoured ears originate from Štramberk in Moravia, delicate Spa wafers from Carlsbad, and legendary gingerbread from Pardubice…

tip Visit the laundry room for ducat buns

Unique fruit Service fruit is a variety of rowan that provides soursweet 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.

The Stará prádelna (Old Laundry) restaurant, boasting a Czech Specials certificate, offers a traditional sweet dish in the magnificent 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.

Healthy traditions are returning

Salad made from tomatoes and onions

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 find 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 chiefly – think when buying food.

Vegetable salads Czech style Classic 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

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 flour and groats.

Mushroom kuba

tip 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 stuffing 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 flour, 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.

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) Prague Food Festival

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) – att attractive attrac ractiv tivee loca llocations o ationss 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

Zelňáky

Where can you find Czech cuisine? To enjoy everything mentioned above in the highest quality, in authentic settings and with friendly service – you really need good advice and recommendations.

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 ience you to make an excellent choice on where to experience e good quality Czech cuisine. Restaurants, which have acquired a Czech Specials certificate, guarantee quality and professionalism. You can find them in locations attractive to tourists throughout the Czech Republic and they offer perennial national dishes as well as regional specialities. It simply depends what you prefer…

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

CS FAMILY – nutritionally balanced, tasty and visually attractive dishes made from first-rate Czech ingredients. Great attention is paid to children here and a wide range of varied meals in appropriate portions with interesting names are offered.

CS LIGHT – easily digested and healthy meals made from first-rate Czech ingredients, with salads, fish 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.

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.

Czech Specials certified stylish restaurants

Unique modern interior U No Noem Arch, Brno – You can taste selected Czech delicacies pr prepared in the spirit of gastronomic trends and with unusual in ingenuity in the unique interior of an ark floating on the boundless ocean. You simply have to order the grilled breast of duck with onion sauerkraut, forest fruit and pork crackling soufflé or the larded loin of venison in a wine sauce, served with bread dumplings with buckwheat or medallion of beef sirloin and confit of veal cheeks, served with mashed celeriac flavoured with vanilla.

Old-fashioned czech atmosphere Dačický – 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…

Authentic surroundings with a trace of history U 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.

You can find more restaurants at www.czechspecials.cz 22

Don’t miss visiting places we mentioned in the previous chapters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Praha Brno Blatňovice Třeboň Žatec Plzeň Mariánské Lázně Mikulov Znojmo Kroměříž Olomouc

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Loštice Holašovice Hořice Štramberk Karlovy Vary Pardubice Travičná, Tvarožná Lhota Husinec Dětenice Kutná Hora Jičín

The official 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

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19.9.2011 16:11:55

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