Food is definitely an important aspect of any travelling experience, including travelling in the Czech Republic. Czech cuisine offers a rich diversity of dishes. It is mainly meat-based with many kinds of sauces, thick soups, potatoes and dumplings.
Roasted Duck with Red Cabbage and Dumplings | photo credit: pixabay.com
What's Cooking the Czech Republic?
The main meal of the day is a lunch in the Czech Republic. It is served at noon and typically consists of two or three courses. Traditionally, the first course is a thick soup. The second course is the main dish and the third is a dessert.
My grandmother used to serve the main dish with a compote made of apples, cherries, gooseberries, peaches or other fruits harvested in the garden during the summer. It was so yummy!
Compote | photo credit: pixabay.com
A very particular kind of side dish is #dumplings (knedlíky), which is steamed or boiled bread or potato based dish of the round or the loaf-like shape. Dumpling dough is usually made of bread or raw/boiled potatoes, yolks, milk and flour. Some add parsley, bacon and other specific ingredients.
Apart from that, there is a big variety of pasta and rice dishes on the menu.
Bread Dumplings | photo credit: pixabay.com
In the bakeries, you will find a diverse offer of pastries and baked products. However, the most precious is a wheat-rye bread that is definitely a pride of the Czech bakers. If you want to buy a real one, find yourself a local bakery. It smells so nice and its crispy crust tastes so good.
A Wheat-Rye Bread | photo credit: pixabay.com
Czech restaurants serve mainly meat dishes. Vegetarian or vegan alternatives are rather limited, especially in the countryside. However, it does not mean that you will not find any. Most soups are vegetarian and there is always the famous fried #cheese on the menu.
A nice meal is always washed down by a good pint of #beer.
Taste the Authentic Czech Schnitzel
The Czech #schnitzel is a thin slice of chicken or pork meat wrapped up in flour, egg and bread crumbs, and deep-fried in vegetable oil or fat. It is usually served with either buttered boiled potatoes, french fries, or a Czech potato salad.
Slice of lemon on the top can serve as a decoration as well as an additional flavour. Sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice on top of your schnitzel and you will see the difference!
Czech Pork Schnitzel with French Fries | photo credit: pixabay.com
Fall in Love with the Sweet Fruit Dumplings
Sweet dumplings stuffed with different kind of fruits are a dish that you should not miss on your adventures in the Czech Republic. You can eat it as a main dish (as most of the Czechs do) or a dessert.
Best know are the plum dumplings, #blueberry dumplings and apricot dumplings served with grated tvaroh (a typical Czech dairy product that does not really have an equivalent in Western cuisines), icing sugar and melted butter.
Sometimes Czechs eat it with roasted bread crumbs mixed with icing sugar on the top. However, melted butter is always a must.
Apricot Dumplings with Sweet Roasted Bread Crumbs | photo credit: pixabay.com
Potato Salad: A Secret of Every Cook
Every cook has its secret recipe for preparing a homemade #potato salad. Some like it with mayonnaise, some prefer a lighter version, some add mustard, some insist on adding a ham and eggs.
Basically, the easy vegetarian version consists of small cubes of boiled potatoes, carrots, parsley and celery roots, green peas, pickled cucumbers, usually an onion, an apple and mayonnaise. All is mixed together. Don't forget to serve it cold.
Potato salad and fried fish are traditionally served for #Christmas Dinner in the Czech Republic. However, it is always on the menu with schnitzel in the restaurants regardless the season.
Potato Salad | photo credit: pixabay.com
Roasted Pork with Dumplings and Cabbage: The Most Typical Czech Dish
Roasted #pork, #sauerkraut and bread dumplings dipped in the roasted pork gravy is a dish also referred to as knedlo-vepřo-zelo. It is a classic of the Czech cuisine and it can be found on the most menus in pubs and restaurants throughout the country.
The pork is slowly roasted for hours and its tasty gravy is then used to baste the dish. The sauerkraut can be served cold or stewed and sometimes it can be replaced with red or white stewed cabbage. Dum
The vepřo-knedlo-zelo is usually served with pint of a good beer.
Roasted Pork with Dumplings and Cabbage | photo credit: pixabay.com
Sirloin Steak in Creamy Sauce: The Dish You Cannot Miss
Sirloin in Creamy Sauce alias #Svíčková is with no doubt the most popular Czech dish. Basically, you roast a sirloin steak with root vegetables such as carrots, parcely, celery, and onion, and add spices (black pepper, bay leaf, juniper, and allspice).
Once the meat is ready, you take it out, remove the spices and mix the veggies with heavy cream. That makes for a delicious creamy vegetable sauce.
It is served with bread dumplings, scoop of whipped cream and spoon of cranberry sauce.
Sirloin in Creamy Sauce with Dumplings | photo credit: pixabay.com
Famous "Smažák" Won't Let You Down
Smažený sýr or #smažák (fried cheese in English) is a deep-fried breaded cheese served with buttered boiled potatoes or french fries and tartar sauce. It is usually prepared with Edam cheese, but you can find more variations on the menu, such as fried Camembert or fried blue cheese.
The Edam fried cheese is the most popular one. It is often the only vegetarian dish in most pubs and restaurants in the countryside.
It is absolutely crucial that you consume it hot so that it is still melted and it oozes out when you cut it.
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