OK, so I put together some thoughts about Czechs and their eating habits. Again, I have not lived in Czech for 10 years so these observations may have changed.
The negatives:
1. We eat really fast; I don’t know if it is still some kind of an after-war, post-communist complex, like someone is out to get us so we better eat EVERYTHING (calories to running) and FAST (to have time to escape). My husband always has to remind me to slow down with my food as I am always the first one to finish my plate.
2. We don’t eat much vegetables. I don’t know how about you, but when I was growing up we did not eat salads. Yes we ate a lot of fruit (mostly just apples and pears – the cheap stuff) but salads were not our thing. The only time I would be in a direct contact with vegetables is when the school cafeteria slapped a runny mush of overcooked spinach or steamed cauliflower on my plate. Occasionally I would get a bowl of fresh radishes or a big sick of carrot to crunch on – but that’s about it.
3. We don’t use napkins – at least not as much as the Americans do. In my early years here in the US, I thought it was the funniest thing how people wipe their mouths after every bite! “Is that some kind of a nervous twitch they have?”, I thought to myself. But no, that’s just the way it is. I admit, I kind of enjoy it now, wiping my mouth like that (although not that frequently). It definitely is more practical, especially for people like me, who are kind of sloppy eaters (I guess if you eat fast, there is a price you have to pay).
4. Those Czechs who smoke, like to have a cigarette after their meal (“helps the digestion”, they say :o)
The positives:
1. We say “dobrou chut” (“Good appetite!”)! What a concept – wishing everyone to enjoy their meal they are about to partake?! You don’t have to keep keep wonderig if it is actually OK to start eating or not – you just wait for someone to say those 2 magic words: Dobrou- chut! And then you can start eating your food (however fast you want to). I love that about the Czech culture.
Although the negative habits outweigh the positive ones in 4 to 1, most of the Czechs still live up to about 100 years old! How is that possible? If you add to it the fact that most of them smoke and drink a bunch of coffee and alcohol, then their longevity does not make sense at all. The French on the other hand do eat a lot of vegetables but they eat late and drink about 7 gallons of wine a day and still live up to about 101 years-of-age! What is their secret? Is it because the Czechs, French and other European nations wish each other good appetite before they dig into their plates, which in turn promotes healthy digestion, hence the long age? Or is it the everyday pedestrian lifestyle that keeps them/us living so long?
CZ: Tak jsem tak premyslela o tom, jak se Cesi v porovnani s Americany maji u jidelniho stolu. Nacrtla jsem list kladu a zaporu,tak se nestydte v komenarich do listu neco pridat!
Zapory:
1. My jime hrozne rychle; nevim jestli je to stale nejaky ten post-komunisticky/po-valecny sok, ale Cesi jidlo nejen ze vylozene zhltnou (aby meli cas na unik pred nepritelem??), ale vetsinou take snedi absolutne vsechno (tedy potrebne kalorie na pripadny utek). Muj manzel me vzdycky musi jemne upozornit, abych s jedenim trosku zpomalila, jinak jsem hotova tak 20 minut pred tim, nez doji u stolu kdokoliv jiny.
2. My nejime zeleninu; Ja nevim jak vy, ale kdyz jsem jako mala vyrustala v Cechach, my jsme salaty k jidlu proste nemeli. Jedli jsme hodne ovoce (hlavne jablka a hrusky – to nejlevnejsi), ale salaty na nasem kazdodennim jidelnicku nebyly. Skolni jidelna, byla jedine misto, kde se mi na taliri obcas objevilo neco podobneho zelenine – nekdy rozvareny spenat, nekdy rozvareny kvetak (tzv. mozecek). Obcas bych doma take dostala misku plnou redkvicek nebo obrovskou mrkev.
3. My nepouzivame ubrousky; to je jedna z prvnich veci, ktera me po prichodu do US absolutne zmatla: “Proc si tady vsichni utiraji pusu po kazdem soustu? To trpi nejakym nervnim tikem, nebo co?”, pomyslela jsem si. Ale ne, takhle jsou Americane zkratka vychovani. Castecne jsem si na tento “kralovsky” zvyk zvykla a take ho ted dokazu vice ocenit, protoze jsem jedna z tech lidi, kdo si pokeca trikco na kazdodeni bazi.
4. Ti kdo kouri, si radi po jidle daji cigarko, a to aby se jim pry lepe travilo :0)
Klady:
1. Prejeme si pred jidlem Dobrou Chut! Je to preci tak jednoduchy koncept, ale mnoho narodu to vubec nedela! Nemusite se tak bat, ze do sebe zacnete neslusne hazet jidlo jako prvni a take se timto zpusobem dosti ztrapnit. Ceske kulture jsem za tyto dve slova velmi vdecna.
I kdyz zaporu je na mem liste vice nez bodu kladnych, jedna vec mi neni jasna: jak to, ze Cesi ziji az do 100 let? Jak je to mozne? Kdyz k listu pridate jeste to, ze hodne Cechu pije nadmerne mnozstvi kafe a alkoholu, tak to z hlediska zdravotniho vubec nedava smysl. Francouzove na druhou stranu jedi zeleninu od rana az do vecera, ale pak take kouri jako tovarna a piji 10 litru vina denne a stejne ziji do 101 let. Je to tim, ze si take pred jidlem preji dobrou chut a tim se jim zoptimalizuje travici proces? Nebo je jejich/nas dlouhy vek zapricineny tim, ze se vsude chodi pesky?
PS: nevite nekdo, jak by se do cestiny prelozilo “eating habits”?? Jsem z tech jazyku uz nejak pomatena…
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stravovací návyky
Super clanek. Taky jsem si pripadala jako pako s tema ubrouskama. Jenze na ne nekdy zapomenu i dneska. A to jsem tu uz nejaky ten patek. 🙂 Dobrou chut jsou jedny z prvnich slov ktere se muj manzel naucil. Je to tak jednoduche.
Ahoj a dik!
No ja taky s tema ubrouskama porad bojuju:)
Tak “stravovaci navyky”, co? To by me teda uz vubec nenapadlo – to je asi spatne znameni co? 😉
Me zase prislo divny, ze tady lidi moc nepouzivaji vidlicku a nuz. Hodne veci se ji rukama a nebo jen vidlickou. /mozna proto ty ubrousky…/
Nevim jak vy, ale my jsme treba nikdy nesmeli jist v obyvaku pred televizi – jen v kuchyni u stolu…
Ahojky, moc hezky clanek. Na uborusky jsem si zvykla, ale muj manzel ho stale nejak prehlizi 🙂 Jinak eating habits bych zrejme prelozila jako – stravovaci zvyky (navyky)
No, to mas pravdu, Ivo. Vidlicka a nuz se tady moc nepouziva…asi proto, ze to maso je tady tak vlacne, ze clovek ani zadnej nuz nepotrebuje! to vis, neni to jako ty nase hutne veprove rizecky!
Ja uz si covece ani nepamatuju, jestli jsme mohli jist v obyvaku (u televize), asi jo, ale pak jsme vzdycky neco vylili a bak to byl sekec mazec…
Ahoj Milus, dik – jsem rada, ze se ti libi a ze s tebou (a vsemi) tak rezonuje :))
My teda uborusky nepouzivame. Jen malokdy. To bude asi tim, jak psala Iva, ze nejime rukama.
Taky tu nejedi spagety vidlickou a lzici, ale nozem… jak mi muze nuz pomoct s dlouhymi spagetami, to nevim. Muj manzel si tu pomocnou lzici pochvaluje.
Taky se tu na ostatni s jidlem moc neceka a to mne osobne tedy vadi. Proto u nas Dobrou chut vsechno vyresi.
Cetla jsem pres casem studii, ze cesi nejedi zeleninu, ale ja teda nevim, ja jsem na ni vyrostla. Neustale nejake zeleninove placicky a rizoto se zeleninou. A k jidlu jsme meli vzdycky salat.
Co to znamena: “Czechs still live up to about 100 years old!” Which ones? How many out of how many?
S tou rychlosti ja mam stesti, protoze ja jsem byla vzdycky “louda bouda” uz od skolky a zustalo mi to. Ted tady jim stejne rychle jako ostatni a o dost pomaleji, nez muj americky manzel. 🙂
Jednou mi jeden kamarad lekar rikal, ze kdyz clovek pije, mel by vlastne i kourit, protoze kdyz clovek jenom pije, zily se mu dilatuji (roztahnou) a pri koureni zase pusobi konstriktivne (zily se stahnou). Cili kdyz se stahuje a roztahuji, snizi se riziko tvorby trombu a timpadem mrtvice ci infarktu. Rikal to ze srandy, ale totalne to dava smysl. A tak je mi jasny, proc nektery lidi, co koouri a piji se doziji vysokeho veku. 😀
To jen pro zasmani.
Ahoj Jano,
No to je sranda s tim tvym kamaradem – lekarem!!! No, fakt to dava smysl, co? I kdyz chudaci plice….
Jinak “Czechs still live up to 100 years old!” , ja samozrejme prehanim, abych zduraznila to, ze lide se v Cechach doziji dlouheho veku 🙂
Ahoj, tvoji stranku jsem objevila pred casem. Ja jsem ted v USA jako exchange studentka, v cervenci se vracim domu. Prijela jsem v srpnu. S mnoha tvymi negativy nesouhlasim. Ani by me nenapadlo jist rychle, zeleninu mam na dennim poradku, bez ni nemuzu zit a ubrousky jsou porad na stole. A veprovy uz davno neni tuhy. Tot moje poznatky 🙂
Ahoj Ilco,
Ja jsem taky byvavala exchange studentka 🙂
Jinak proto jsem v uvodu rekla, ze jsem v Cechach nebyla jiz deset let tak se to asi zmenilo; i kdyz jak vidis z drivejsich komentu, hodne lidi se mnou souhlasi – to vis, to jsme tak trosku zasekli v case 🙂
Myslim, ze nase generace a dnesni studenti jsou ze dvou rozdilnych svetu. 🙂 Ja to vidim jen na brachovi, kteremu je o pet let mene, ale za revoluce byl jeste mrnavej kluk na prvnim stupni. Oni si to uz nepamatujou jake to bylo pred revoluci. Ja s tebou Tanjo uplne souhlasim. Urcite se to zmenilo, coz vidim kdyz jsme v Cechach.
Nevim, jestli si pamatujete na scenku Labuse s Kaiserem zkouseni dejepisu o Sametove Revoluci v budoucnosti. Kaiser tam ze sebe udelal peknyho blba a clovek si v te dobe myslel ze to neni ani pravda. Ze takova vec se preci nemuze zapomenout, nebo nenaucit. No a jsme tam kde jsme mysleli ze byt nebudeme. Dnesni generace se musi sprtat to co my jsme prozili na vlastni kuzi. 🙂
Kaiser a Labus byli vzdycky moji NEJOBLIBENEJSI komici!! A tuhle scenku jsem asi ani nevidela :(((
Pamatujes si na Rodinku?? Oni ted pry vydali knizku zvanou “rodinka” !
Ja jsem teda byla 89tem v sedmicce a muj bracha je o 10 let starsi. Stejne ale tu zeleninu jime, nekourime. Je to spis v rodine. Ale znam i jine rodiny, kde se jedi knedliky s omackama, ale to maso bylo vzdycky mekke. Mozna az na tu skolni jidelnu.
A na Labuse coby ucitelku zkousejici Kaisera si moc dobre pamatuju. Strasne jsme se tomu smali. Mama mi rikala, ze si takhle predstavuje mne u tabule. Ale ja jsem v tom presne videla jednu spoluzacku Romanu. Stoji to zato si to od nekoho sehnat. Doporucuji u toho nejist a nepit, jinak je tu nebezpeci uduseni. 🙂
No vidis to, tak jo jste meli stesti! Vsichni z mych kamaradu (vcetne mne) jsme do sebe cpali knedliky a veprove :))
tesim se, az si koupim Kaisera a Labuse na DVDcku…to si je potom budu poustet jako vecernicek pro dospelaky!
Tanja: ještě jsem tvůj blog tak neprobádala.. ale je to pro mě i dobrý trénink v angličtině.. ježiš já se ti nedivím s tou češtinou, vážně ne.. mě už teď se do vět pletou anglický slovíčka 😀 Kde si byla jako exchange? ČR se hodně změnila, “tvojí” dobu známe jen z knížek a vyprávění.. ale máš moc dobrý stránky, opravdu super!!
Ahoj Ilco,
Ja jsem byla v Kalifornii; jinak jelikoz jsem ted (spolu s dalsimi) trosku takovy unikat (viz. pamatuju si komunismus), myslis ze me jako starou babicku budou interviewovat, jako to ted delaji s lidmi, kteri si prosli 2. svetovou valkou?? 😉 No, to abych se na to uz zacala pripravovat!!
I’m married to a check girl and I swear she wants to lick the plate at restaurants. What up with that? Like an old Czech good luck thing or something?
Hey Keef, when you are a Czech kid you are allowed to do that to show you really liked the dish. Mostly at home never in public. 🙂
Grown ups usually use bread to wipe up the sauce (even in public) but probably not in high end restaurant.
Just recommend the bread technic. 😉
Good luck!
This is funny. I know this is so “you never lick a plate, it is soo rude and discusting”, but… We have done it as kids, I have done it as teenager at home and I still do it sometimes. My husband used to shake his head. I will not do it in restaurants (well, maybe 🙂 ) but I guess it goes back to… 1. this is so darm yummy. 2. You better finish your plate or you will sit here till the morning 3. there is just not enough and it is such a shame to waste this 4. Who needs dishwasher. 🙂
Ja jsem taky vyrostla na polevkach, knedlikach s omackama a samozrejme veprovym. No, i kdyz jsem mestska holka, pestovali jsme vlastni zeleninu, ovoce, kraliky, slepice no a samo sebou i prasata. Dodnes si pamatuju jaky je to pocit michat cerstve vyvalenou krev aby se nezdrcla. Hovezi bylo tuhy a do dneska je, i v restauracich ktere tvrdi ze delaji americke steaky. Mozna v par restauracich to umi, ale to maso je tam do dneska jiny nez tady. A z kravy ktera neni na maso ale nejprve na telata a mliko proste poradnej steak neudelas. Ale i presto nam vzdy chutnalo. Kdyz clovek nezna nic lepsiho tak si zas tak moc nestezuje. jak na jela cocka s parkem ve skolni jedelne, ze? Polivky jsem jako mala nesnasela a ted bych dala cokoliv za dobrou poradnou polivku. A clovek by si snad dal i ten burtgulas. I kdyz je to spise melancholie. (je to vubec slovo?)
that’s funny! We used to lick plates at home too!! When we were little of course….Why the heck is it considered so TERRIBLY rude?? You see people french-kissing on TV all the time (i.e. tongue action) but a little plate-licking gives people a frickin’ heart attack!! 😉
maybe we just need to start carrying AEDs. 🙂
Bread yes. Tongues no. Please stop. The EU demands it. It was part of the deal in letting you guys in.
Such a hot discussion, love it!
I even Googled “why not to lick a plate” because I don’t really have good argument rather then “It grosses me out!”. So much fun!
Well Tanja, speaking of fan clubs maybe there is one you should start. I just joined the Arasidova Nugeta Group on facebook. haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYWqL58Gtls
Wait, what it AEDs? Am I missing something really important here??
I know, huh? I should connect this post to the forum since it’s such a winner! I am curious though, what did you find out on google as far as the “Why not lick a plate” expression goes? I bet they had no logical explanation on why NOT to do that…;)
So you joined ENG? That’s great! You think I should go with the Plate Lickers Anonymous (PLA)??? I will may just have to think about that…
automated external defibrillator or AED. Just an inside joke for your plate licking heart attack
AED je defibrilator
One thing that bothers me here that Americans use a lot of abbreviations. Why? Wanting to sound different or educated or just being lazy to say the whole thing? I’ve looked like a complete idiot when I did not know (and still don’t) what they mean. Can’t they hear I am not a native speaker? Or they assume everybody knows, worldwide?
The google search results first came as:”Did you mean: why not to kick plate?”
And then no real answer. Nic kloudnyho!
There are people that peel banana one side or the other, people that like crunchy PB or creamy PB and much more…. Now there is another category “plate lickers” and “not lickers”
You know, charging…. one, two, three, clear …. And the heart either starts beating or you repeat and repeat and repeat. 🙂
Oh-OK! I get it now! Defibrilator!!!! That’s great!
Hi everybody,
Tanja, I really like your website. The more I read the bigger the smile gets. I absolutely agree with you. I do all of the above.
My husband too learned Dobrou Chut or sometimes we say Bon Apetit or Buen Aprovecho….depending on how we feel. My American husband and stepson both know how to use a knife and a fork and we practice it whenever I cook (and I love to do that)…and yes, I never use a napkin, only when we have roasted chicken.
The vegetable I remember is hlavkovy salat….not like here in the US – Romaine, Arugola and the rest million other varieties. Remember the lettuce we used to eat…hlavkovy salat ve sladkokyselem nalevu….
Hahaha…..That was the good old days…
HI Gabina,
I am so glad you like my blog 🙂
And I remember EXACTLY what salad you are talking about! My mom would use to make the ‘sladkokysela zalivka’ so strong (so acidic) that our eyes would water just by getting close to this lethal salad!