One of the great things about living in another country is trying all kinds of new food. I have really enjoyed most of the Czech food I have had and I wanted to share some of it with you. One staple food is bread or potato dumplings. I haven't made them, but I have eaten them a lot! Here is a recipe for bread dumplings that looks authentic: http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/bohemianczechdumplings/r/breaddumplings.htm, and one for potato dumplings: http://www.food.com/recipe/bramborove-knedliky-potato-dumplings-14735. Dumplings are usually eaten with pork or duck and gravy and perhaps sauerkraut.
Potatoes are a staple of Czech cuisine and are made with caraway seeds (a common seasoning here, called kumin in Czech) and often paired with meat and gravy or eaten with sour cream. Czechs are fond of eating slices of raw tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, and cucumbers with their meals. Salads are usually made with those ingredients as well.
There are foods that are eaten especially at Christmas. Vanočka (the č is pronounced "ch") is a sweet Christmas bread that reminds me of stollen. Here is a recipe on a Czech recipe blog that looks authentic, although the name "houska" is incorrect. http://czechrecipes.blogspot.com/search/label/Houska%20-%20Czech%20Bread There are a lot of nice recipes on this blog. Christmas cookies are also an important part of the Christmas season and there are innumerable varieties. Here is a recipe for gingerbread cookies. It uses grams but you can find grams to cups conversions online.
Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients:
300g icing sugar
200g melted honey
Grated peel of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange
700g flour
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 ts. ground cinnamon
1 ts. ground cloves
Method:
Knead dough, roll dough (half inch), cut out various shapes, place on the baking paper and the baking trays, bake in the oven until golden (160-170 C), when still hot, brush with mixture of milk and eggs.
They will need to be stored unsealed for some days before eating. Czech cookies are of the hard variety and will keep a long time.
Apple strudel is another traditional dessert and this looks like a good recipe: http://czechrecipes.blogspot.com/search/label/Apple%20Strudel%20Recipe.
Soups are eaten very often before the main meal. They are usually of the thin, brothy, variety. One way of making vegetable soup is to coat the vegetables with farina and heat in the pot a few minutes before adding the liquid.
There is so much I could say about Czech food, but I think that is enough for now. Let me know if you try any of the Czech recipes and how they turn out.
