Czechmatediary

Just like you heard me complain about cherries I would like to raise another important fruit issue: currants and gooseberries. Whatever has happened to them? Did they commit some horrible crime to the American people that most of them don’t even know what they are?

I happened to come across a little tiny box of some very tiny gooseberries in the grocery store the other day and since they were on sale I put them in my basket. Unfortunately, they were completely tasteless – nothing like what I was used to in the Czech Republic. You see, the Czechs grow up on currants and gooseberries. They hang over every fence and grow in almost every garden. They are easy to take care of and are also very nutritious. In fact, they are so sour at times, that one could probably overdose on vitamin C from them!

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Martin’s yogurt breakfast pancakes – Czech style

Martin was born in Prague and since 1978 he has been living in the US. He married an American lady named Kathleen (who is also the co-creator of this magical recipe) and have 2 wonderful kids together. His blog called “O Americe” (“About America”) is written strictly in Czech. Why?  Martin gets to express himself in his native language, and  his non-English speaking Czech friends and family  can learn more about the American ways. Through his blog he found a  virtual way how to connect with his unforgettable motherland.

For those of you who would like a less fattening version of my recipe on livance (pancakes) here is Martin’s healthy version:
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One of my dear readers was very kind and sent me her  recipe for POTATO DUMPLINGS. The are more dense than the regular bread dumplings but equally delicious. I love them both but I know some Czechs prefer those way over the bread dumplings.

CZ: Jedna moc hodna ctenarka se s nami podelila o jeji domaci recept na bramborove knedliky a vyresila tak naprostou ZAHADU, jakou mouku na tento recept pouzit: smichejte farinu/semolinu a wondru!

PS: Recept na houskove knedliky muzete najit zde.

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Many of us , Czechs and Slovaks living in the US, have been on a desperate hunt for Czech/Slovak groceries. Some were more successful than others so  I got the idea to ask around and here is what my friends (thanks you guys!!) and I put together.

PS: I read through your great comments and added most of the new goodies in (highlighted in red).

CZ: Vetsina z nas, Cechu a Slovaku zijicich v USA, ma ten samy problem. Jsme totiz na nekonecnem honu po ceskych. (nebo alespon podobne chutnajicich) potravinach Nekteri jedinci byli uspesnejsi nez zoufajici vetsina a tak jsem dostala napad optat se v okoli. Toto je list, ktery jsme vytvorily s mymi kamaradkami (diky holky!!).

PS: Procetla jsem vase vzacne komenty a vetsinu novych vecicek jsem k listu pridala – jsou zvyraznene cervene

1. Trader Joe’s

• Trader Joe’s Yogurt cups  (vanila & Cream yogurt) – tastes just like “Pribinacek“
• Trader Joe’s rolls – Czech “rohliky“ (warm them up in the toaster oven)
• Czech beers -  Broucek, Starobrno, Krusovice, Staropramen
• “Slivovitz” (green bottle) – tastes the same as the Czech Slivovice
• Meringues (Trader Joe’s brand) – Czech “pusinky”
• TJ Potato chips – taste like the ones from the Czech Fair (chutnaji jako ty z poute: premastene a preslanene..vyborne!!)
• Mineral water – taste just like the one in Czech
• Melta (barley coffee-like beverage) – Pero brand is made in Switzerland, it’s very good (more…)

Dill is one of the major spices used in the Czech cuisine. It pretty much shares the throne with parsley, caraway seeds and thyme. We make dill soups, dill gravy, dill cookies….(just kidding with the cookies!). The fancy name for dill weed is Anethum graveolens, a member of the parsley family. It is native to the eastern Mediterranean region and western Asia. The word dill comes from the old Norse word dylla, meaning to soothe or lull. It dates back in writing to about 3000 B.C., where it was mentioned in Egyptian medical texts. Czech dill soup is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It is a perfect winter meal because it is rich, creamy and nutritious – no need to have a second course after this baby :0)

CZ: Kopr spolu s petrzelkou, tymianem a kminem vladne ceske kuchyni. Delame z neho polevky, omacky, buchty (no to snad jeste ne)…..kopr je proste milacek vsech Cechu (a myslim ze i Slovaku). Nedavno jsem narazila na vyborny recept na koprovku, trosku jsem ho upravila a tady je. Sdilim s vami mou nove nalezenou kuchynskou pohadku :0) (more…)

It is really getting close to Christmas and most of us are getting ready for some serious Christmas-cookie-baking marathon. I myself will be baking some more of vanilla crescents (there is never enough of those guys) and some vanocka. To make it easier for you here is a complete recipe list of them:

CZ: Vanoce se blizi a s nim i neodlucitelny maraton peceni vanocniho peciva. Aby se vam lepe peklo, udelala jsem list vsech vanocnich receptu tak si ohrnte rukavy a jde se do toho!

• Rum balls/Rumove koule
• Vanocka
• Walnut Tarts/Orechove dorticky
  
• Linz Tarts/ Linecka kolecka
• Vanilla crescents/Vanilkove rohlicky

Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way (still have a bellyache by the way) let’s talk CHRISTMAS!!! My Czech friend Martina agreed to some truly delicious guest post…

Ted kdyz je Dikuvzdani jiz za nami (porad mam z neho jeste precpane bricho), muzeme se zacit bavit o VANOCICH!! Moje kamaradka Martina (ceska) nam popisuje sve vanoce…plus vyborny recept.

CZECH COOKIE BAKING AND HOW CHRISTMAS IS THE TIME OF PEACE ;0)

- by Martina

When I think about a Christmas time back in Czech – when I was just a little girl – my mind pictures the classroom environment just before the winter break. The blackboard was written all over with notes for our teacher not to test us anymore since we had to be helping our moms with Christmas baking and had no time for studying. That’s right, we had to help with  baking of the cookies, gluing them together with filling and decorating them. The note would usually sound something like this: “Christmas is the time for peace and not for testing; if we get an ‘F’, your fish will not taste the same’ (it rhymes in Czech)”. And to our surprise, the teachers took the note to their hearts and left us alone. Probably they were really afraid that their carp will not taste that good. It worked every year. (more…)

An American Tartar sauce tastes nothing like the Czech one. I don’t know why but it just tastes completely weird to me. I know that many of us are going through the Czech Tartar sauce withdrawals so I did some research and picked the 2 most authentic recipes. The first one is the easier way out where one does not need to use raw eggs – you just start adding stuff to the already made mayonnaise.  The second recipe is for the hard-core food lovers who don’t mind having couple of raw eggs in their dish. Although one risks to get a salmonella poisoning it may just be worth it :0)

PS: Tartar sauce can be used on just about anything but it is a must when eating fish or the Czech-style  fried cauliflower. (more…)

WARNING: if you you want to stay clear of garlic breath stop reading right now. This recipe is so potent that it will give you one just by reading these words! Traditional cesnecka (Garlic soup) doesn’t have much in it but garlic and few herbs. I don’t know what the magic is, but at the end it ends up tasting so yummy and rich! This particular recipe came from Sher who is an American expat living in Prague with her Czech husband and who also has a fun blog called Sher off the Beaten Path. Dobrou chut! And don’t forget, the more garlic the merrier!

Click HERE for the Cesnecka recipe.

CZ: Tak uz je to tady – cesnecka!!! Jestlize se bojite cesnekoveho (neboli tzv. zabijackeho) dechu, radsi tyto slova ani nectete, protoze tento recept je tak silny, ze vam v krvi zacne kolovat cesnek, aniz byste pozreli jedine sousto. Ja cesnek miluju, takze pro mne to neni problem :0). Recept je prevzaty od Sher, tedy spise od jejiho blogu zvaneho Sher off the Beaten Path. Sher je Americanka, ktera uz nejakou dobu zije se svym ceskym manzelem v Praze.

Recept na Cesnecku najdete zde (kliknete zde).

In today’s globalized world some ‘ignorant’ soul might call this dish a vegetable tempura. But we, the experienced cauliflower-lovers know, that it is not just some kind of an appetizer. When served with a side dish – like the mashed potatoes for example – breaded (or ‘fried’) cauliflower is a delicious main course!

CZ: V dnesni globalizovane spolecnosti muze nejaka ta ‘ignorantska’ duse nazvat smazeny kvetak ‘vegetable tempura’. Samozrejme ze my, zkuseni kvetakovci vime, ze smazeny kvetak neni jen nejaky predkrm. Kdyz se totiz serviruje s brambory, je z toho velmi chutna a syta vecere! (more…)