My mother always told me that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, but in Prague, that statement has some real competition against the mid day meal that reigns supreme. In contrast to the customs back in America, lunch is a time to eat out, enjoy a beer, and take a break from the office for a hot meal. Lunchtime is the best time to experience traditional Czech fare.
Photo: Halley Crane
Each pub presents a daily lunch menu, called a polední menu, consisting of 2-5 dishes that are premade for efficiency, and usually cost 100 crowns or less (about four dollars). Common dishes include large portions of meat and potatoes, and if you’re lucky, there may even be a vegetarian pasta dish for something a bit lighter. Lunch is a time where once again, I am reminded that Prague is the city where vegetables go to die. Back in Los Angeles my lunches almost always revolve around a variety of colorful vegetables sitting on a bed of kale, often times accompanied by a green smoothie. In Prague I’ve had to desperately hunt down vegetables more than ever, and I keep a tally on how many green things I am able to consume throughout the day. I certainly respect any vegetarians here and send them my best wishes for eating out in the city whose staple ingredient is pork. When it comes to lunchtime vegetarian dishes, the Czechs have committed some culinary crimes. I mean come on, why do pubs think it is acceptable for mayonnaise to dress a Caesar salad?
Svíčková, photo: Czech Tourism
Polední menus have showed me some of the best and worst of Czech culinary traditions. For the life of me I will never understand the craze around a piece of beef covered in a sweet cream sauce accompanied by cranberry sauce and some white substance resembling that of whipped cream. No, svíčková is not my favorite and based on the experiences I have had so far, dumplings they will never be on my list of things I wish to have if I am stuck on a desert island. Prior to coming to Prague, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what a dumpling was. Back home, I’ve spent many Sunday mornings cramped inside loud Chinese restaurants where push carts rush by piled up with stacks of metal steamers carrying a vast array of vegetable and meat filled dumplings. The kind of delicious dumplings that I carefully dip into soy sauce by using wooden chopsticks. Dumplings in Czech, however, mean something very different. Bread dumplings found in pubs remind me of a bland Thanksgiving stuffing that is in desperate need of some flavor, and potato dumplings mine as well be slices of boiled potatoes. If I don’t like dumplings, have I no hope for getting immersed in the Czech culinary culture? Well if that is true, I’ll take my chopsticks and go home, but I’m not giving up that quickly. I’ve been told by locals that the best Czech food is made by their grandmothers, so somebody should really start a company where expat foodies like myself can rent one for the day, or for a meal, so my opinion isn’t as skewed.
No matter what I order from the polední menu, I always seem to be too stuffed to imagine getting back to my productive day. I honestly don’t know how Czechs do it. A few beers, a pork roast, and back to the desk job? Beyond gluttony it seems simply exhausting. I respect the Czech businessman for doing lunch with such gusto and still be able to keep a somewhat stable economy.
Photo: Halley Crane
My Jewish ancestors would be turning over in the grave to know the amount of pork I have consumed from these polední menus. Pork neck, cheek, knuckle, and knee have all made their way onto my plate in recent weeks, and although they have not been blessed by a rabbi, I give a big mazel tov to the chefs who have presented me with these thick and tender pieces of delicious swine. Even the potato pancakes, which in my home would be considered Latkes, make the traditional ones my grandmother puts apple sauce on look like puny wimps. The potato pancakes here are gigantic mounds of hash browns fried in pork fat and usually stuffed with sauerkraut and more, well you could guess it, pork. I’ve been told my entire life that America serves the largest portions of food, but I must say, a Czech would probably win an eating competition before the American picked up their fork.
