Czech meals are based generally on meat dishes. That may be the reason why for the majority of Czech men applies that a meal without meat is not a meal.
There is a vast variety of meat the Czechs prepare, from pork, beef and chicken to goose, duck, rabbit, wild game, lamb, or turkey. As Czech Republic does not have access to sea, eating fish or seafood is not that usual. There are, however, plenty of lakes, streams and artificial lakes or fishfarms where Czechs get fish from. In summer time, mackerel is very popular to grill over open fire.
The dishes are generally accompanied with potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, or dumplings. Different delicious cream sauces are Czech speciality.
Like many Europeans, Czech people have a passion about picking up mushrooms. There is a lot of woods in the Czech countryside and Czech people are fond of hiking. They like to combine their culinary and sport hobbies and go searching for mushrooms into the woods.
Dumplings and potato culture
Heavy and filling meals are accompanied by bread spongy and fluffy dumplings (knedlíky) or smaller potato dumplings. They are both boiled as a roll of dough, then cut and served in slices.
The most common side dish is potatoes (brambory). They are served boiled, roasted or mashed to a purée. There is a lot of main dishes made of potatoes as for example bramboráky, which are fried pancakes of grated raw potatoes, garlic and some spices. Other potato dish are potato pancakes made from mashed boiled potatoes.
Traditional classics
Traditional or national dishes are considered to be mainly two. The first one is Vepřová pečeně s knedlíky a se zelím, colloquially called vepřo-knedlo-zelo, it is roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. The second one is svíčková, which is marinated beef sirloin in a cream sauce with a teaspoon of cranberry compote and whipped cream on the top.
Soups
Czech Republic is a soup country. Soup is the traditional meal starter. It may be even served as the sole main course, together with bread. The typical soups are potato soup (bramboračka), garlic soup with fried bread crumbs (česnečka), sauerkraut soup (zelňačka), tripe soup (dršťkovka), creamy mushroom soup from South Bohemia called kulajda, beef soup with liver dumplings, dill soup (koprovka) from sour milk with floating eggs, whole or cut in the middle. There are also legume soups from pea, bean, and lentil.
Sweet dishes
Czech people eat sweet meals as a main dish. Žemlovka or zemlbába is an apple cinnamon bread pudding or it can also be called a bread pie. It is made of bread or panini rolls, grated apple and cinnamon. The bread slices soak in milk and then layers of soaked bread and apple mixture alternate.
Fruit dumplings (ovocné knedlíky) filled with plums, blueberries, strawberries or other fruit. The fruit is wrapped in the dough and boiled. Then, it is topped with sugar, cream cheese and melted butter. Any noodles or pasta can be served with ground poppy seeds, a lot of sugar and melted butter.
Czech cuisine highlights
Utopenci ('drowned') are marinated frankfurters in vinegar with onion, pickled peppers and spices. Marinating of food is popular and there is also Pickled Camembert (nakládaný hermelín).
Czech people are used to fry cheese. It is called smažený sýr or smažák and it is about 1 cm thick slice of cheese, crumbed and after frying served with tatar sauce and potatoes. There is a local curd cheese (olomoucké syrečky) from Olomouc, Moravia. It is a ripened, pungent cheese with a strong odour which chases even vampires away.
Medovník is a honey cake usually served in restaurants, but Czechs like to prepare it at home as well. It is a very elaborate cake with a lot of layers with a strong sweet taste.
The origins of koláč in Bohemia or frgál in Moravia come from the Wallachian part of Czech Republic. It is a large round pastry which is usually divided like a pie chart. In every part, there is a different ingredient and with different flavour.
Food history and foreign influences
Czech food has been influenced by its surrounding countries. It took from Germany roast goose, sauerkraut and dumplings. During the reign of Ferdinand I, the lands of Hapsburg dynasty expanded over the Central Europe. For this reason, Czech food was also enriched with Hungarian goulash. Though, Czech guláš differs in the thickness of the soup consistency and is accompanied with bread dumplings.
Austria contributed with schnitzels and so called šunkofleky. The latter made from ham and home-made noodles, a meal for times where there was very little money. Slovakia's traditional sweet pastry called trdelník is also popular in Czech Republic. It is sold on the streets as a roll of dough topped with sugar, vanilla or nuts.
Other Eastern Europe influences brought to Czech Republic the apple strudel, served with vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream, and little buns with vanilla cream sauce called buchtičky s krémem or buchtičky se šodó.
Czech beer
In Czech Republic, the beer consumption is the highest in the world. Almost all the Czech people can tell you they just love beer. Beer is considered a national beverage and you may hear them say that drinking beer is actually good for your health. Czech beer is very price-friendly.
The most known beer brands are Pilsner Urquell (Plzeňský Prazdroj) from Czech town Pilsen (Plzeň) and Budweiser Budvar from the town České Budějovice called Budweis in German.
Czech beer production offers three kinds of beer: light-colored, dark-colored and very dark beer. Other known brands are Velkopopovický kozel, Radegast, Gambrinus, Staropramen, and Krušovice.
Other Czech beverages
Other Czech-unique beverages are Fernet Stock and Becherovka. Both are liquors based on herbs and spices. Becherovka has golden colour and bitter-sweet taste. Before, it was used as a medicine for better digestion. Fernet Stock has darker colour and is bitterer.
Slivovitz (slivovice) is colorless distilled alcohol made from plums. The name comes from the Czech word for plum – slíva. Czech people, especially from Moravia, like to make it at home. There are other liquids made from fruit juice with alcohol added to it. These are similar to slivovice but vary in name and taste according to what fruit is distilled. To name some, there is apricot brandy (meruňkovice) or peach brandy (broskvovice).