Half Czech, Half potato / Napul Cech, napul brambora

I seriously think that the Czechs – not the Irish – are the biggest potato fans. Who else would start the tradition of Potato Days? The biggest attraction of the festival for already 17 years has been the Bramborak food-eating competition. Bramboraks (or Potato Pancakes) are a traditional Czech main course and although it has a very simple recipe it is delicious! This year’s winner became Stanislav Hamersky who in 8 minutes managed to consume 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of them!!! Stanislav explains: “Bramboraks is something I really like to eat. We make them at home at least once a week..”. The proof that the apple doesn’t fall far away from the tree is the fact that Stanislav’s son Kamil and his brother are also into the food-eating games. Just a week ago Kamil won the Poppy seed Potato Dumpling competition, consuming 2. 444 kilograms (5.4 lbs) of these sweet potato dumplings in 20 minutes. That way he managed to beat the record from the last year – also done by Kamil.

What else did the Potato Days entail? There was the Potato-peeling competition and visitors could purchase many kinds of unique and exotic potatoes coming from all over the world. The hit this year became the purple potatoes coming from the Potato Research Institute in Havlickovy Brody. Supposedly, one can use them to decorate other types of food courses.

CZ: Ja jsem zcela presvedcena, ze Cesi – ne Irove – jsou nevetsimi fanousky brambor. Kdo jiny by zacal tradici Bramborovych dnu? Nejvetsi atrakci tohoto festivalu je jiz po dobu 17-ti let tzv. soutez bramboraku, nebo-li kdo jich sni co nejvice. Tento rok prekonal dosavadni rekord Stanislav Hamersky z Havlickova Brodu, ktery za pouhych 8 minut sporadal 1 kg bramboraku. Stanislav se ospravedlnuje: ” Bramboraky je neco, co jim velmi rad. Mame je doma k veceri alespon jednou za tyden.” To, ze jablko nepada daleko od stromu videt na Stanislavove rodine, kde nejen on, ale take jeho tri synove a Stanislavuv bratr jsou obrovsti jedlici a radi v tomoto oboru take soutezi. Kamil napriklad (favorit rodiny) vyhral minuly tyden soutez jezeni skubanku s makem, kde jich snedl 2.444 kilogramu za 20 minut! Srazil tak svuj vlastni rekord z minuleho roku. Co se jeste delo pri Bramborovych dnech? Poradala se tu soutez loupani brambor, lide si tu take mohli nakoupit nove a mohokrat velmi roztodivne bramborove druhy jako jsou tzv. brambory fialove, ktere prisly primo z Vyzkumneho Bramboroveho Institutu v Havlickove Brode. Ty jsou pry dobre na dekoraci jidel.

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/zajimavosti/index_view.php?id=277530