A Taste of Czech

When it comes to dining and drinking, the Czechs have many traditions. These traditions must be followed exactly, or it is found to be very offensive to your host and/or other guests. The following is some Czech dining etiquette:

1. For lunch and dinner, beer is usually consumed with the meal. The Czechs love their beer and it is said to be the best. You should expect to find a lot of head, or foam, on the top of your beer when it is poured. 

Some types I've tried so far: Kozel (this is the Natty Ice of Czech beer), Velven, Staropramen, and Starobrno. They are all local beers, and there's pretty much a brewery in every town. My favorite thus far was the Velven. My fellow beer lovers, you'd be happy to know that beer is CHEAPER than water! Why? You can't get tap water here. They won't even serve it to you if you ask for it. It's usually 50Kc for 0.5L (slightly more than a pint) of beer and 1.5Kc for a bottle of water, about 0.33L. No wonder they love their beer here!

Starobrno (Sorry, I already drank some.)

2. It is customary to say "na zdraví (naz-dra-vee)", or “cheers”, once the first round of drinks arrives, but this is the only time you say it. Depending on the region of the Czech Republic, there are different ways to cheers. Some just clink glasses once, while others clink the tops and bottoms of the glasses, then hit the glasses on the table before drinking. No matter where you are, you must never cross any glasses/arms in the process (if there is a group of people). It’s seen as a superstition, therefore, it’s more of a patient cheers to make sure you say it to everyone. Don't forget to look the person the other person in the eyes while clinking glasses!

3. When sitting with others, you must wait for each person to receive their meal before anyone begins eating. Then, everyone says "dobrou chut (do-brow hoots)" aloud, which basically translates to “enjoy your meal”.

4. You do not eat with your hands—ever.  It does not matter what you are eating.

5. You do not cut things with your fork. You must always use your knife to cut your food, even if it can be cut easily. 

6. You do not drink out of bottles. This is in terms of dining with your family, friends, or guests in someone’s house, or at a restaurant. When someone hands you a drink, such as water, soda, or beer, you always get the bottle and a glass. Then, you pour the drink into the glass.

Eating:

Breakfast is usually the lightest meal of the day. Usually, one eats a piece of bread (like rye) with a piece of Swiss cheese, maybe a piece of ham, or with butter and some type of jam. You don’t toast the bread. Other breakfasts include yogurt (blueberry), granola, or just small, individual cheese triangles/circles.

Traditional Czech meals are enormous and very filling. Lunch is the biggest meal for the Czechs. Often times, soup is served with your meal. I’ve had what I consider close to a Matzo ball soup, and a tomato soup with pieces of hot dogs so far. I didn’t love either of those, but I tried, a.k.a. demolished, them both.

Below is chicken schnitzel with potatoes and a cucumber salad. It’s a very common dish, and very easy to make. It’s equivalent to America’s chicken cutlets. You have pieces of chicken that are put in flour, egg, and bread crumbs and then fried. Eva, my mentor, said that these so-called chicken cutlets are different here though. Czech chicken cutlets would just be a piece of chicken fried in a pan alone. Also very typical is pork schnitzel. This word “schnitzel” is German, meaning “fried”. The Germans would typically have veal schnitzel, but veal is very hard to come by in the Czech Republic.

This next dish is "Svičková (svitch-co-va)".  It is pieces of sirloin in a type of gravy with whipped cream and cranberries and a side of dumplings. Czech dumplings are made from wheat flour boiled in water as a roll, and then sliced and served hot. This dish is extremely popular here, and I can see why. The meat was exceptionally tender and flavorful, especially with the whipped cream and cranberries. The dumplings weren't my favorite, but they taste good in the gravy.

This is roasted duck with gravy, red cabbage, and both baked and friend potato dumplings (made from potato flour). Potato dumplings are way better than the wheat dumplings, in my opinion. The meat was tender and juicy, and overall, this was just an amazing dish!

Since lunch is so heavy, dinner is pretty light. I’ve had pasta with tuna fish, and basically cold cut sandwiches. Ham seems to be the meat of choice in this country and the bread is is amazing from the bakery. 

I know we all love dessert, so of course, I took some pictures of those.

My mentor, Eva, made an apple strudel. It’s pretty standard, yet delicious.

This is a cherry, chocolate cheesecake. It’s more of a jelly-like substance on the top, and the chocolate is a light chocolate mouse. The crust is very thin. As much as it was different from the dense, heavy cheesecake of home, it was rather delicious. Next to it is a small dark chocolate-mouse filled pastry. It has a white nut in the middle for decoration. I actually didn't try that one.

The cheesecake was made by a famous Czech baker. Of course, I already forgot her name, but I mean the story itself is pretty interesting! She makes these famous cheesecakes, and her store is in the Sumava Mountains, a popular tourist area. I’ll speak more about these mountains later. Anyway, supposedly she met a man and had to move to another town to be with him, but she rents her store, with her famous recipes, to a tenant so people can continue enjoying these cakes. Once she moved to this other town, she took up making her own jams. These homemade jams are supposedly so tasteful, that the Queen of England herself orders them specifically! Well, of course everyone wants to eat like the Queen. A small jar is about 200Kc. None of the locals would ever buy these expensive jams, but then again, it’s really common for people in the countryside to make their own jams and pickle their own fruit. Eva’s friend just got a jar as a present for his birthday though. We’re curious to see if it lives up to its reputation. I’ll keep you posted, and ask again about the baker's name.