Food to remember a father by

September 3, 2009 4:42 AM

Since my FiL died, me and my good-cookin' fella have been reliving the Czech food of his childhood. While he remembers most of the dishes he has forgotten many of the recipes his old man used. Feed our imagination please and give us your best Czech recipes.

Vaclav was from the north near the Polish border so southern Polish recipes are also welcome. Yum and thanks.

posted by Kerasia to food & drink (8 comments total)

My mother in law does a great Goulash, I was surprised to find that she actually buys Goulash stock cubes here in Czech. Fry onion, brown meat, add the stock cubes, add paprika and water.

I'm at a lamb roast this weekend in Northern Czech- if anyone there mentions any better/ more detailed recipies than that basic one I'll be sure to add to this later.

Dobrou chut!
posted by Gratishades at 5:29 AM on September 3

I'm sorry for your loss and what a fantastic way to remember your FiL. My in-laws got me Czech Cookery by Lea Filipova [first link to Amazon as I'm assuming you're in the States, second gives you an idea of the cover]. The photos are lovely and it contains all of my Czech man's favourites. I'm a huge fan of knedliky myself (dumplings--either potato or bread), especially with fillet steak and cream sauce...oh! and a little cranberry sauce to top it off. Ideal. Other good things: bramborak (potato pancakes), Czech-style potato salad, and vanocka (Christmas cake). I'll put up some of my favourite recipes when I get a chance....
posted by brambory at 6:19 AM on September 3 [1 favorite]

Here's a delicious Czech cake that one of my friends learned from her mum:

Apple Cake
400g plain flour
250g vegetable spread for baking
150g icing sugar
4 eggs--separated
2 tsp baking powder
125g granulated sugar
8 apples
Grated coconut
Vanilla essence or rum (rum is the best)

Mix pastry from flour+veg spread+icing sugar+egg yolks+baking powder. Put 2/3 pastry into baking tin, save the rest for the top. Grate apples and spread them on the pastry. Add a layer of rum and coconut. Whisk egg whites to a foam and then carefully add granulated sugar. Spread foam over apples+coconut+rum. Finally, crumble last 1/3 of pastry onto the top. Bake for 30 minutes at 180ºC.

-That's her version. I prefer less sugar and leave out the coconut if I don't have any. Perfect for breakfast!

Ooops--I see you're in Australia! Still worth getting the book though.
posted by brambory at 6:52 AM on September 3

One of my favorite dishes in Prague was Svickova, a marinated beef dish with a delicious gravy, often served with dumplings (of course). I haven't tried that particular recipe that I linked to, but it looks approximately the same as the one I used in the past.

Also, I agree that this is a lovely way to remember your FiL, and I am sorry for your loss.
posted by jacquilinala at 7:19 AM on September 3

I used to wait tables in a restaurant in VT which was owned by a Czechoslovakian gentleman and his wife. I do not know the recipe but their sauerbraten had a cream sauce and was served with bread dumplings. It was heaven on earth. It looked exactly like this recipe. Most recipes out there include marinating the beef for a day or two (google svickova recipes), but when I've tried that it turns out much sharper than what I remember.

Also, weiner schnitzel. The wait staff used to eat it with the sauerbraten sauce. It's incredibly calorific but one of the best meals you'll ever have.
posted by txvtchick at 7:36 AM on September 3

Oh another point- one of the distinctive things about Czech food is the strange (to me) taste to most of the the bread- this is achieved by adding cumin before baking.
posted by Gratishades at 7:59 AM on September 3

My husband is from Czech and also near the Polish border. Here's some recipes that we like to cook up - Krupice and Parizsky Salat:

500g Bologna (cut up in strips)
500g German Pickles (chopped fine)
1 hard boiled egg (cut up fine)
1 medium onion (chopped fine)
1 jar of peas and carrots
1tsp or so of Worchester sauce
1tsp or so of white vinegar
3 spoonfuls of mayo (do this at your own taste.. I like a little, hubby likes a lot)
splash of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Another classic Czech dish is breaded porkchops fried and served with boiled potatoes (mixed with mayo! yum!)

I have a ton of recipes from this region, feel free to Mefi Mail me if you'd like more. I have to get them translated for you.
Oh.. and I have a great rohliky recipe, if you'd like to try making your own bread.
posted by czechmate at 8:44 AM on September 3

Oh yum!
We made bramborak last night - they was good!
As soon as I next get to town I'm getting the ingredients for mouth-watering Svickova and apple cake.
Thanks for the link to the recipe book, Brambory.
Czechmate, thanks very much for the offer. I will take you up on that.

I'll be coming back to this thread so if anyone has any more recipes to add, please do.
posted by Kerasia at 2:15 PM on September 4