Do you also like various popularity rankings showing various Czech bests?
Even foodie scene has their own, and you can read about what we Czechs like to eat or what foods we consider national treasures all the time.
In this article, we’ll take a gander at Czech cuisine from the perspective of foreign tourists who came to admire the beauty of the Czech Republic.
Be it after all-day hiking in Krkonoše, or after sightseeing in historic city centers across Czechia, evening is the time to relax and have something good to eat.
Let’s take a look which Czech foods should the foreign visitors try!
1. Chlebíčky (Open Faced Sandwiches)
Obložené chlebíčky are a Czech specialty, first made by delicatessen proprietor Josef Paukert. He ran his famous delicatessen in Prague during the First Czechoslovak Republic.
Chlebíčky serve as quick and available snack, easily eaten on the go or ordered as takeout.
Foreign tourist fell in love with chlebíčky quickly, those from English-speaking countries even named them: open faced sandwiches.
It’s easy to see why: traditional English services are comprised of two buns with the meat and the vegetables in the middle. People then grab them with both hands and bite off small pieces.
Czech chlebíček is, however, small enough to be easily held in one hand, so it doesn’t have the upper bun.
Czechs love to play with the garnish and make small pieces of art from their chlebíčky, as tasty as they look great.
Here is a recipe for Czech chlebíčky in English.
2. Svíčková na smetaně (Beef Sirloin in Cream Sauce)
Beef sirloin in cream sauce is a true Czech classic meal, which you can’t really get anywhere else.
On the other side, every pub or restaurant in the Czech Republic has svíčková on the menu. Svíčková na smetaně is served with bread dumplings, a slice of lemon, some cranberries and whipped cream.
3. Hovězí guláš (Beef Goulash)
A goulashl with six dumplingssome cold beer, and you have a typical Czech food loved by locals.
To be frank, Czechs aren’t the only nation to make goulash, but it’s still great.
Goulash’s base is formed by marbly beef, a whole lot of onion and some time to stew the meat under the lid slowly.
Read the complete Czech Goulash Recipe.
4. Kuře na paprice (Chicken Paprikash)
A simple and quick meal which shouldn’t go unnoticed in the Czech Republic by the foreign visitors!
Originally, hen meat was used instead of the chicken, but times change and today’s Czechs prefer to use chicken meat which is more tender.
Kuře na paprice is a part of the Czech cuisine back from the days when we were a part of Austria-Hungary.
Today, we consider the meat in the cream sauce flavored with sweet paprika a traditional Czech meal.
5. Vepřo knedlo zelo (Pork Roast, Dumplings, Sauerkraut)
These three words are trained by tourists to order the incredible Czech classic in a restaurant: slowly roasted pork with dumplings and sauerkraut prepared in the way of Czech culinary aces.
Vepřo knedlo zelo má certainly belongs to the top ten Czech foods!
6. Rajská omáčka (Tomato Sauce)
Many nations have tomato sauces in their cookbooks, but the one made in the Czech Republic is certainly unique.
Our rajská omáčka has a noticeably sweet taste, and when combined with puffy dumplings and well-made slices of beef tastes just amazing.
We recommend this to all tourists!
7. Knedlíky plněné uzeným (Potato Dumplings Stuffed with Smoked Meat)
Let’s move from the dumplings made out of bread to the dumplings prepared from potato dough.
Potato dumplings stuffed with smoked meat are another immortal classic, which should be tried by foreign visitors.
Potato dumplings stuffed with smoked meat are served cut in half, sprinkled with fried onion and with sauerkraut on the side.
You can try knedlíky at Czech shop in UK.
8. Ovocné knedlíky (Fruit Dumplings)
We can recommend fruit dumplings to anybody who prefers sweet meals.
They’re made out of leavened dough and filled with seasonal fruits. They’re heavily sprinkled with grated quark, sweet poppy seeds or grated gingerbread and poured over with hot butter.
9. Bramboračka (Potato Soup)
When you’re not that hungry, the potato soup can easily serve as a main course.
Potato soup is a traditional Czech soup quite rich in nutrients. Aside from potatoes, main ingredients include mushrooms and root vegetables.
Potato soup’s distinguishing feature is a rich serving of garlic and marjoram.
10. Kulajda
While potato soup can be had in multiple foreign destination, kulajda is almost certainly first encountered here in the Czech Republic.
Kulajda is a soup comprised of sour cream, potatoes, dill and boiled eggs. It’s generally sweet and sour, but the end result depends on the cook who made it.
There’s no single universal recipe for kulajda and the taste slightly differs depending on the region.
TIP: A similar ranking of Czech food specialties in German can be found HERE.