Forum

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…

Read original blog post

Post edited 3:53 pm – February 28, 2009 by Tanja

Ahoj Honzo!

The cigarette thing is just an excuse for the to smoke so that's why it's funny…sort of 

Now we are stuck on (in the actual post comment section) why do Czechs like to lick the plates so much? And why the heck is it considered so impolite?? Any ideas anyone?

Hi Vlastimil,

I kind of have to agree with you :0) especially on the pesticide soaked grass! What's the point,right?

I have not even though about the "bone apetite" version!! That is too funny! But then again, it may be a good ice-breaker with people that you don't know that well.