Czech cuisine — pork, dumplings, cabbage, beer. Hearty Central European tradition. Influences of Austria, Germany, Hungary, but with Czech identity.
National Dishes
Vepřo knedlo zelo — national dish (roast pork, dumpling, sauerkraut). Svíčková na smetaně (beef sirloin with cream sauce, dumpling, cranberries). Goulash, fried cheese, schnitzel (Wiener Schnitzel Czech-style), kulajda (cream soup with mushrooms and egg).
Dumplings
Dumplings — Czech identity. Bread dumplings (from white bread), potato, fruit (plum, strawberry, apricot — sprinkled with butter + sugar + curd cheese). Home-made — every grandmother different recipe.
Soups
Soup is essential — mandatory at lunch. Garlic soup, beef broth with noodles, potato soup, kulajda, tripe soup, goulash soup. Cold soups rare — Czechs prefer hot.
Beer — National Drink
Czechs consume most beer in world (140 liters/person/year). Pilsner Urquell — 1842 invented by brewer Josef Groll, original Pilsner style, today 70% of world beer. Budweiser Budvar, Staropramen, Krušovice. Brewery tourism.
Savory Snacks
Utopenec (marinated sausage in vinegar), pickled hermelín cheese, headcheese, cracklings, sausages in rolls, fried cheese rolls.
Sweets
Buchty (sweet pastries with fruit/curd/jam), trubičky (Karlovy Vary), medovník (honey cake, Slovak origin but Czech favorite), žemlovka, doughnuts, větrníky, palačinky pancakes.
Christmas
Traditional Christmas Eve Dec 24: carp with potato salad (carp bought beforehand, bathed in bathtub!). Baked fish. Christmas cookies — 15+ kinds of homemade cookies, 2 months preparation. Christmas markets with mulled wine.