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Traditional food · the Czech Republic
Pilsner beers and beers from České Budějovice, wafers and Karlovy Vary liqueur, Pardubice gingerbread, Wallachian and Chodsko cakes, and the saucy dishes found on every Czech table.
In the photo: Parque e Castelo de Lednice, Morávia do Sul
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The cuisine
Czech cuisine is rural: roasted meats, rich sauces, knedlíky as accompaniments, and leavened doughs in the sweets. Much of what is eaten today was fixed in the 19th century, when cookbooks in Czech, such as Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová’s 1826 book, organized the cooking of homes in Bohemia and Moravia.
Beer holds a central place. It was in Pilsen that, in 1842, the pale lager that gave its name to the pilsner style was brewed, and in České Budějovice the city’s beer has a name protected by the European Union. In the spa towns of the west, the tradition of mineral water treatments gave rise to the Karlovy Vary wafers and to an herbal liqueur created there in the early 19th century.
The sweets tell much of the regional history. Pardubice has been known for its gingerbread since the 16th century; Štramberk, in Moravia, bakes gingerbread cones tied to a medieval legend; Wallachian Moravia has the frgál, a large pie with various fillings; and Chodsko, on the western border, has decorated cakes resembling the embroidery of local costumes. In Moravia, plum brandy is part of festivals and hospitality.
Two dishes do not belong to a single town or region but to the whole country: svíčková na smetaně, meat with root-vegetable sauce and cream, served on festive days, and vepřo knedlo zelo, roasted pork with knedlíky and cabbage, found on the menus of inns across the country.
Each specialty is linked to the town or region that sources associate it with, or to the entire country when it is nationwide. Association with a place does not mean it is eaten only there.
11 flavors
Marinated beef roasted with root vegetables, served in slices with a creamy sauce made from those roots and heavy cream. It’s accompanied by bread knedlíky, whipped cream, cranberry jam and a slice of lemon. It’s the celebratory dish most associated with Czech cuisine.
Roast pork from the oven, served with slices of knedlík, sweet-and-sour cabbage and the pan juices. The name combines, in popular usage, the three words of the dish: pork, knedlík and cabbage. It appears on the menu of inns throughout the country.
Lager beer from České Budějovice, in South Bohemia, with a protected geographical indication from the European Union: only beer brewed in the town may use the name. It is produced by two local breweries, Budějovický Budvar and Samson, and is at the center of a long dispute over the name Budweiser.
Bitter herbal liqueur from Karlovy Vary, sold since 1807 by merchant Josef Vitus Becher. The recipe is kept secret, and the drink is still made in the spa town.
Thermal wafers from Karlovy Vary: two thin, round sheets joined by a layer of sweet filling. They are made with water from the town’s springs and have protected geographical indication from the European Union since 2011.
Honey cake with spices from Pardubice, hand-filled or hand-decorated with icing. It has been a local tradition since the 16th century and has been a European Union protected geographical indication since 2008.
A pale bottom-fermented lager brewed in Pilsen since 1842, when Bavarian brewer Josef Groll made the first batch at the town’s new brewery. It is considered the world’s first pale lager and gave its name to the pilsner style.
Large round pie made from leavened dough from Chodsko, the region around Domažlice in the Plzeň region. It is decorated with stripes of fresh cheese, plum jam and poppy seed, with almonds and raisins.
Cones of gingerbread-like dough spiced and rolled into an ear shape, made in Štramberk, Moravia. They were the first Czech food product to receive European Union protected geographical indication and are linked to a legend about the Tatar invasion of 1241.
Plum brandy from Moravia, associated especially with Moravian Wallachia and Moravian Slovakia in the Zlín region. Made from fermented and distilled plums, it generally ranges from 40 to 55% alcohol and is part of local festivals and hospitality.
A large, thin round cake made from leavened dough from Moravian Wallachia, topped with fruit filling, poppy-seed filling or fresh cheese. It has a protected geographical indication from the European Union since 2013.
Suggest a traditional dish, sweet or drink of the Czech Republic that is not here. We check the sources before adding it.
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Your questions
Among the best known are svíčková na smetaně, meat with root-vegetable sauce and cream, and vepřo knedlo zelo, roasted pork with knedlíky and cabbage. Both are usually served with knedlíky, boiled dumplings made from bread dough or potato dough.
Boiled dumplings made from bread dough or potato dough, sliced and served as an accompaniment to saucy dishes. There are also sweet versions filled with fruit.
The pilsner style is named after Pilsen, where a pale lager was brewed in 1842 that spread worldwide. The beer of České Budějovice has a name protected by the European Union, and brewing tradition is present throughout the country.
Among others, Pardubice gingerbread, Karlovy Vary wafers, Štramberské uši, and the Wallachian frgál have geographical indications protected by the European Union.
