Petra Pospěchová – food writer and columnist for the daily Hospodářské noviny
Many readers of the daily Hospodářské noviny look forward to Petra Pospěchová’s weekly column in the paper’s weekend magazine, where she devotes a double page to a lovingly written article about a certain dish or ingredient, as well as provides a recipe and a gorgeous shot of the food. She is also known for her in-depth, critical pieces on the Czech food industry. Petra Pospěchová talks about the research process of such long-form articles, what first sparked her love for food and how she became a food writer.
“I remember when I first came up to my boss and said ‘I would like to write six pages about chocolate’ and he went ‘Come on! Six pages about chocolate? What would you write about it? Nobody is interested.’ And then it actually was quite a success and so we continued, and then it started to become the only topic I was writing about.”
Did your interest in food start very early, was food important in your family, or how did that come about?
“I guess it is mostly about my two grannies, because both are fabulous cooks. One of them more the village-rustic type, the other one the middle-class, city lady. So these were the people who formed my views on food and gastronomy, and who taught me cooking, because my mom is not really so keen on it.”
I believe you also spent some time in Ireland as a student. What was that like and how did you find Ireland’s culinary culture?
“Irish cuisine is probably not something that will ever become a world gastronomy trend, but on the other hand, they have amazing products, they have amazing butter, amazing seafood. I will never forget things like fresh oysters on the Saturday market, you can buy a half-dozen or a dozen, and eat it right there. It’s just fabulous.”
“I’m afraid it is lower. Because, some of the companies… we are actually working on an article at the moment which should prove that some companies make the same products in worse quality for the Czech market, worse quality than what is sold on the Western markets.
“And there is also one factor in legislation, because Czech laws are stricter in some parts of food production than European ones, so the imported goods are of worse quality than the Czech ones, so opening the borders can actually mean worse quality of foods on the market.”
And how has the Czechs’ attitude towards food, cooking, fancy restaurants – all that, changed in the past decade?
“I think it is one of the biggest changes I have ever seen among people. Because gastronomy is starting to be a topic to discuss in the pub, among guys. My boyfriend and his friends discuss food all the time. When they go out and drink beer, they discuss how to marinate meat, for example. And people are so interested in food; it has really become the trendiest topic. Everybody cooks, everybody is interested, everybody goes to the farmers’ markets, which are actually the product of this big interest that people have right now.”
Why do you think is food right now such a hot, trendy topic?
You also have written long, exposé type of articles about the food industry and questionable practices employed in the Czech food industry, for example one about the decline of Czech bread. Could you tell me where the inspiration for this comes from and then how you write it, and what the process of researching it is like?
“The basic inspiration was Felicity Lawrence from The Guardian, because she does this kind of thing in Britain and she is really good. But in the Czehc Republic, we have different kinds of products, so she really was just the inspiration. And at the end, it takes maybe a month or two to get through all the legislation, and then maybe get into some factory secretly, to really work on it hard and go to the basis of the food, through the technology stuff. It’s quite a lot of work, honestly, for those eight or ten pages at the end.”
And how did the bread-baking lobby react to this particular article? Did you have a lot of negative reactions from them?
“Yes, it was really a lot of long phone calls from the general managers of the biggest factories, which is Penam and United Bakeries. And the boss of the biggest one actually came to the publishing house. And I was really happy that my editor-in-chief stood behind me, that he knows what we publish is correct, that there are no faults, I didn’t make anything up. So he just told him that if there was a factual error, we could talk about it, but that’s it. It is important to have this kind of background.”
“I mean, the inspiration comes from nature, from the seasons, going out to the market or into nature, collecting flowers, travel maybe…”
Do you also incorporate some things from childhood, for example when you write about elderberries?
“Definitely. Many of these recipes are my grandmothers’ recipes, from both sides. Because, as I said, they are both really good cooks, and I am happy that they have taught me something. So just as everybody probably, I am going back to the roots.”
Do you actually cook all these meals yourself and where do you cook them?
“Yeah, I do, and I must say that even after all this time, it is very nice to see your own food on a big picture in the newspaper, it’s something that makes me happy. We make it in the kitchen of a colleague; she lives in a village and has a really big kitchen, with lots of light and interesting items, old antiques, cutlery, and so on, so that’s where we make it.”
I have noticed that most of the recipes are quite simple. There are no long lists of ingredients, etc. Is that a conscious effort on your part?
“I guess. If you want to cook a nice meal, you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen, and if you want, of course, you can. But you have to keep the joy, when it comes to food, and also, you need to give some time to the people you want to eat with, not just to the food.”
What would you like to change when it comes to the gastronomy here, or where do you think do we still need to improve the standard?
And what are your favorite restaurants in Prague right now?
“My long-time favorite is definitely Café de Paris, they have the best entrecôte ever in this republic, and my recent favorite is Sansho, I really love Sofia Smith, she’s simply amazing.”
