Shopska salad

Shopska salad is originally a Bulgarian salad made from tomatoes, cucumber, onion, pepper and feta cheese. It’s popular across Eastern and Central Europe. Shopska salad is easy summer salad recipe, which can be served as main course or a healthy side with meat.

Ingredients

  • 2 cucumbers
  • 3-5 tomatoes
  • 2 peppers
  • 200g of Balkan feta cheese
  • 1-2 onions
  • oil

Directions

  1. Dice peeled cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.
  2. Chop onion and cube feta cheese.
  3. Put in bowl and mix together with spoon of oil.
  4. Serve with bread.



Cauliflower Pancakes

Cauliflower is quite popular vegetable in Czech Republic and not just as an ingredient in vegetable soups. For a main course there are three cauliflower recipes: Breaded fried cauliflower, cauliflower pancakes and scrambled cauliflower (known as mozeček). Now fried cauliflower is most common and served even in restaurants in lunch menu, but my personal favourite are pancakes. This soft and fluffy meal beats all stereotypes about Czechs being only meat-eaters. Cauliflower meals are always served with potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 1 cauliflower
  • 2-3 eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 spoons of flour
  • oil

Directions

  1. Cut off leaves and stalk. Clean cauliflower and divide to smaller florets. Boil in salted water for 10 minutes. Strain and let cool off.
  2. Squash cauliflower.
  3. Divide egg whites and yolks. Add yolks to squashed cauliflower. Whip egg whites.
  4. Mix flour to mixture and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Gently mix in whipped egg whites.
  6. Fry small pancakes slowly in heated oil from both sides.

Add flour if the mixture doesn’t hold together enough.



Czech Fried Cheese

If there’s anything specific among Czech food, it’s Fried Cheese. Typical meal of Czech restaurants, where it was only vegetarian meal in the past. Breaded slice of cheese – Eidam (Edam; medium soft cheese), camembert (Hermelín), Emmental – is deep fried in pan or deep fryer and served with potatoes, french fries or in fast food put in bun with tartar sauce. It doesnť matter that it’s unhealthy, because it’s so easy and tasty.

Ingredients

  • 4 slices of cheese about 1.5cm thick (about 1/2 of inch)
  • eggs
  • flour
  • breadcrumbs
  • oil
  • salt

Directions

  1. Take 3 bowls. Put flour into first, whisked eggs with salt in second and breadcrumbs into third.
  2. Bread cheese in flour, then eggs and finally breadcrumbs. Bread each slice at least 2 times so the melted cheese won’t spill during frying.
  3. Fry in pan or deep fryer.
  4. Tip: In deep fryer – when cheese starts to swim up, it’s done.



Potato Pancakes

Potatoes are the most used side in Czech cuisine. Potato pancakes are called bramborák or cmunda and are very popular. You can either serve it simply as side dish or as main dish, for example with sauerkraut and salami. Potato pancakes goes well with goulash or katův šleh (“executioner’s whipping”).

Ingredients

  • 1 kg of potatoes
  • cup of milk
  • 1 egg
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • flour
  • marjoram
  • salt, pepper
  • oil for frying
  • optional: salami, bacon or ham

Directions

  1. Peel raw potatoes, wash and shred. Pour off some water from shreded potatoes.
  2. Season with salt and pepper. Add egg, marjoram and minced garlic.
  3. Add milk and flour. Dough shouldn’t be too thick.
  4. Panfry in heated oil in shape of pancakes.
  5. Potato pancakes serve fresh and hot.