Traditional Czech food and drink in Prague

Czech cuisine has recently changed, adhering to a healthier lifestyle; however, traditional Czech recipes are still extremely popular and are rather high in calories, fat and sugar, in addition to the fact that they favour special, if simple, sauces and condiments.

The main course is usually pork or beef, accompanied by boiled potatoes, rice, dumplings and a sauce, perhaps preceded by a hot soup.

As for drinks (nápoje), a Czech meal is usually accompanied by the national drink: beer (pivo). If beer is not your thing, you can order mineral water (minerálka), orange juice (pomerancový džus), apple juice (jablecný džus) or soda.

Czechs also like to drink tea (caj) with sugar (cukr) and lemon (citrón) and coffee (káva) with or without milk (mléko) or cream (smetana).

What to eat in Prague

Let’s take a closer look at what they eat in Prague and some typical dishes.

Main course (hlavní chod)

The main course (hlavní chod) usually consists of a meat dish (maso) accompanied by a side dish (príloha). The most common types of meat are chicken (kure), pork (veprové) and finally beef (hovezí). Meat is usually served with a kind of sauce (omácka), which goes well with bread (cléb and pecivo).

Fish is not very common. Trout (pstruh), cod (treska), mackerel (makrela) and carp (kapr) are possibly served, especially on Christmas Eve.

Typical Prague dishes

Some of the most popular dishes are:

• Veproknedlozelo (short form of veprova, knedliky a zeli: pork, dumplings and sauerkraut): This is a typical Czech dish, very fatty and heavy
• Pecena Kachna (roast duck, usually accompanied by smoked bacon dumplings and red sauerkraut)
• Uzené (smoked pork)
• Veprovy rizek (breaded and fried pork cutlet)
• Svickova na Smetane (beef fillet roasted in a casserole, served with cream and carrot sauce and garnished with whipped cream and blueberries)
• Gulas (meat stew always accompanied by knedikly – a kind of dumpling)
• Utopence (pickled sausages, usually accompanied by pickled spring onions)

Soups (polévka)

• bramborová polévka or bramboracka – potato soup
• cesneková polévka or cesnecka – garlic soup
• kurecí polévka s nudlemi – chicken soup
• hovezí polévka s játrovými knedlícky – beef soup with liver dumplings
• zelná polévka o zelnacka – sauerkraut soup
• koprová polévka or koprovka – dill soup made with sour milk

Cheese dishes

• Smazeny syr – fried sweet cheese sticks, accompanied by chips and tartar sauce
• Pivny Syr – cheese marinated in beer. It is eaten spread on black bread sprinkled with chopped onions
• Syrecky (or olomoucké tvaruzky) – small goat cheese characterised by a pungent aroma. They are served with beer, bread and onions.

Side dishes

• varené brambory – boiled potatoes
• opékané brambory – roast potatoes
• bramborová kaše – mashed potatoes
• hranolky – fried potatoes
• rýže – rice
• houskové knedlíky – bread dumplings
• bramborové knedlíky – potato dumplings
• zelí – bread dumplings or potatoes with sauerkraut
• bramborový salát – potato salad

Desserts

• crepes (palacinky) filled with jam (džem) or strawberries (jahody) and whipped cream
• boruvkové knedlíky – blueberry dumplings
• jablecný závin – apple strudel
• zmrzlinový pohár – ice cream sundae with syrup and fruit

At all meals, from breakfast to dinner, the table will never be short of rohliky, banana-shaped rolls always served as an accompaniment to the main course.

At street stalls

At street stalls you can ask for

• Chlebiky – slices of French bread garnished with smoked salmon (uzeny losos), ham, roast beef, eggs and cheese, often on a bed of mayonnaise and gherkins (nakladana okurka)
• Klobasy and parky – grilled sausages and boiled frankfurters, always served with mustard (horcice)

What to drink in Prague

Beer is the Czech national drink par excellence, but in Prague you can also drink good local wine, the legendary Becherovka, brandies and non-alcoholic drinks.

Czech beers

The most famous Bohemian beer, known on the international market, is Pilsner Urquell, which is light and golden, brewed in the Lager method and characterised by a strong hop taste. Its name comes from Plzen, a town 80 km from Prague where it was first brewed in 1842.
Another is Budejovický Budvar (formerly Budweiser, which had to change its name because of the American of the same name), brewed in the town of Ceské Budejovice.
Perhaps the most popular beer in Prague is Staropramen, with its light, fruity flavour, brewed in the Smichov district.
Other beers include:

• Krušovice, sweet and a little drab, the darker one (tmavé) deserves more credit
• Velkopopovický Kozel, sweet and strong, considered by some to be the best in the world!
• Branik, with an unmistakable flavour deriving from the water of the Vltava River with which it is made
• Bernard, unpasteurised, characterised by its typical bittersweet taste and strong hop aroma
• Velvet, sophisticated dark beer
• Gambrinus, the best-selling beer in the country, both light and dark
• Herold, an American beer brewed in Bohemia, rich in malt, caramel-coloured

Beer-themed tours in Prague

Wines

The Czech Republic also produces considerable quantities of red and white wine, but exports very little of it. Vines grow mainly in Moravia and around Melnik, north of Prague. Rulandské is a good dry white; among the reds, which are generally more valuable, Frankovka and Vavrinecké stand out.

Super spirits

Among spirits, Becherovka, an amber-coloured herbal bitter, stands out. It is served both as an aperitif and as a digestive, sometimes with tonic water. Since it has a distinctive flavour, it is recommended to try it. Then there is Borovicka with juniper and Slivovice, a very strong plum brandy.