The Czechs in a Nutshell

And that’s quite strange, considering the diversity and imaginativeness that generally characterize Czech culture. Thanks to a location in the middle of Europe, Czech literature, architecture, theatre and arts in general have been influenced from all parts of the continent (see: Central Europe), and the result is a magnificent blend of domestic and foreign elements.

Unfortunately, that multitude of influences does not apply to Czech cuisine, which seems to be not only influenced but downright regurgitated from one single tradition: the German. And say what you want about the Czechs’ great neighbours to the West, but their cuisine is definitely not their greatest contribution to mankind.

To start with the conclusion: Czechs are the ultimate meat-eaters. Cheap (and fatty) meat was one of the main carnal delights with which the former regime bought itself the people’s acceptance (see: Communism). And the broad masses surely took full advantage of the offer. By 1990, the Czechs consumed more pork and beef per capita (50 kilos and 28 kilos respectively) than almost any other nation on the planet.

The only thing that seems to have changed after the Velvet Revolution is that vegetables have become somewhat more visible on the dinner plate. Before 1990, the Czechs shovelled down dishes of fatty meat with rawgrated cabbage. After 1990, they have been shovelling down dishes of fatty meat with rawgrated cabbage and some tomatoes and cucumbers. But the sauce’s role in Czech cuisine is still the same. While other nations use it to stimulate the meat’s taste, the Czechs drown the meat in loads of heavy sauce to make sure that the taste is killed completely.

This is not a militant vegetarian’s personal opinion.

Surveys conducted by the Czech Statistics Office prove that consumption of red meat, thanks to extensive propaganda of healthy nutrition, went down in the first years after the Velvet Revolution, while the popularity of poultry grew. And, occasionally, a “mad cow” incident weakens the average Czech’s taste for beef.

The problem, however, is that this healthy trend reversed by the end of the 1990s. Today, the Czechs’ eating habits are only slightly healthier than in 1990. Their risk of dying from a cardio vascular disease is, according to official figures, still double the Western average. Their average level of cholesterol, which in the early 1990s dropped to Western standards, has rocketed back to its original heights and, eventually, with 16 percent of Czech men and 20 percent of women categorized as obese, this nation places itself in the forefront of Europe’s lard league.

It’s hard to point out one single reason for the Czechs’ culinary impotence. Okay, they don’t have access to the ocean, so you can’t blame their cuisine for not offering a variety of delicious seafood (see: Carp). But that goes for the Hungarians, as well, and yet their halaszlé (fish-soup) is by all standards excellent.

A comparison with the world-famous Hungarian cuisine might seem unfair, but the fact is that the agricultural conditions that Mother Nature gives the Czechs don’t differ all that much from their ex-neighbours’. Even the yodelling Austrians have come up with a more fiery cuisine. So why are the Czechs, in this respect, so drab?

Photo © Jaroslav Fišer

One rather uncomplicated theory is at hand: the cuisine’s character is to a large extent influenced by the beverage that is consumed to smooth its digestion. And in the Czech case, only one candidate can be taken into consideration: beer.

Indeed, this country’s brewing traditions are as old, rich and various as the cuisine is dull, fatty and tasteless. It’s simply impossible to imagine a genuine hospoda meal without a rosy glass — or three — of beer (statistically, every Czech consumes about 160 litres annually, which makes them the world leaders in this discipline). So, where the Hungarians, French and Italians swallow light and spicy food with sparkling wine, the Czechs use tasteful and high-calory beer to digest loads of fatty meat and heavy sauce.

To be fair, Czech cuisine also has some bright spots. The soups, for instance, which are an obligatory starter at any meal, can be delightful, and like all other nations in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, also the Czechs revel in cakes and pastry. The ultimate Czech speciality, however, is the knedlík (dumpling).

You can find the same delicacy in Bavaria and Austria as well, but nobody serves this boiled savoury pudding with greater affection than the Czechs. There are even regular timed contests in stuffing down as many knedlíks as possible. In her now-cult-classic cookbook from the 1920s, Marie Janků-Sandtnerová listed 37 different ways of preparing the knedlík. Since then, some fifty more recipes have been published.