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A Scary Thought
On the CNN front page I saw an article titled "Czech, please! Eat like a local in Prague." I spent a bunch of time in the Czech Republic back in 1997 before there was much non-Czech cuisine available, even in Prague, and I can tell you that this is a terrible idea. Czech beer, great. Czech people, great. Lots of great stuff over there. But Czech food -- terrible. The last thing you want to eat like is a local. Fortunately, when you click the link the actual headline is "Czech, please! Restaurants in Prague worth getting excited about" and the restaurants worth getting excited about turn out, rightly, to be the ones that don't serve authentic central european fare. Instead, they talk about places where "A hearty sweet-and-sour vegetable stir-fry, with glazed zucchini, carrots and smoked tofu, comes with a side of couscous ($4.50)."
April 25, 2006 | Permalink
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giggle. I think the point is that the locals already know the native cuisine sucks and therefore seek out other options, and the article tells outsiders how to follow their lead. 'Cause only a sucker tourist shells out for the crappy "authentic local cuisine," when it's truly terrible.
Posted by: flippantangel | Apr 25, 2006 12:29:04 PM
I was in the CR not too long ago and...yeah, I've never eaten so much flavorless meat and starch in my life. Truly among the worst national cuisines ever. Though I'm reliably informed that the American fast food is actually better. And I got the distinct impression (by which I mean: I asked) that it was hard to keep afloat if you served anything too "exotic" The Czechs seem to like their flavorless meat and starch. Fortunately I found that one can survive indefinately on beer and sweet cakes. Oooo...and that plum liqueur, slivovice.
Posted by: justin | Apr 25, 2006 12:40:22 PM
C'mon, didn't you try the Bryndzova Halusky? Sheep cheese with little potato dumplings, plus bacon bits and grease.
One of my favorite Slovak dishes, anyway.
Posted by: Tom Grey - Liberty Dad | Apr 25, 2006 12:48:32 PM
I'm not sure how much of this is an indictment of the historical national Czech cuisine, and how much is a result of a couple of generations behind the iron curtain.
For example, while German food isn't my favorite, the difference between West and East German cuisine while the Wall stood was dramatic.
Posted by: Petey | Apr 25, 2006 12:49:32 PM
Some Czech Recipes
Tripe Soup with liver dumplings. Yum.
Posted by: bob mcmanus | Apr 25, 2006 1:30:07 PM
Not sure if it is part of the "national cusine" but a smazeny syr sandwich is about the greatest thing in the world.
I also loved the fact that menus listed the mass of the food. We never knew what we were ordering, but we definitely knew how much of it we were getting.
Posted by: mwl | Apr 25, 2006 1:33:46 PM
A while back Yglesias was slagging Russian food, now Czech! Nothing is more annoying that American pussies who want their tofu and health food. Food should be about flavor! Anyone who would eat tofu and zucchini in Prague is sick, truly disturbed. Svickova is one of great world dishes. Knedkliky, bramborak, the list goes on and on.
Posted by: Vanya | Apr 25, 2006 1:37:07 PM
For example, while German food isn't my favorite, the difference between West and East German cuisine while the Wall stood was dramatic.
Good grief, Petey, how old are you? I mean, relative to Yglesias, I'm ancient, but when the Berlin Wall still stood, my idea of high cuisine was still limited to gross pseudo-fruit flavored candies (nerds, skittle, gobstoppers, etc.), pizza, and all the other things annoying little pre-teens can eat at a disturbing rate while still maintaining the physique of a stick. But, then again, I did have a culturally deprived childhood...
Posted by: flippantangel | Apr 25, 2006 1:51:23 PM
"Good grief, Petey, how old are you?"
Somewhere between 14 and 70.
One of the pleasant things about human civilization is that you can read about things that happened prior to when you walked the Earth.
For example, I believe that many of the problems of the modern Democratic Party can be encapsulated by its wrong choice in the two Stevenson-Kefauver nomination races of the 1950's. But I think this despite not having personally around to witness those events.
Skittles are gross. Nerds are yummy.
Posted by: Petey | Apr 25, 2006 2:13:33 PM
One of the pleasant things about human civilization is that you can read about things that happened prior to when you walked the Earth.
Well, duh.
But, with some obvious exceptions (such as extensive documentation that a nation's food supply was crawling with maggots, for example), I'd be hesitant to make any judgements about the quality of a cuisine I hadn't experienced myself beyond simply reading about it.
Most effective efforts to verbally convey sensual experiences are not primarily designed for informational or evaluative purposes, nor well-suited to them.
Posted by: flippantangel | Apr 25, 2006 2:40:35 PM
The food may have improved since Matt was there as well - last summer I had some fabulous roast duck in Prague and a some great meals in beer halls there and in Kutna Hora. I remember reading an article on how traditional fare in Britain improved greatly after the import of foreign-owned restaurants; perhaps the same thing is happening here.
Posted by: Craig | Apr 25, 2006 2:41:15 PM
Let's not go overboard, Vanya. Yglesias is a big fan of goat, of which I heartily approve.
I don't know much about these Eastern European foods that he doesn't like: Czech food, or Russian food. But if Yglesias ever goes off on Polish food, we're going to have a problem. Yum.
Posted by: Al | Apr 25, 2006 2:42:22 PM
BTW, Eugene Volokh reminds me that it was 20 years ago tomorrow that Chernobyl happened. The one and only time I was in Eastern Europe was 20 years ago next month, and I've got to say the food situation was Strange, with a capital S. They wouldn't serve you any milk or vegetables in the USSR, because it all came from Ukraine and they didn't know how they food supply was affected (even a month later). I know that Eastern European food is a lot of meat and potatos, but every day for lunch and dinner for 4 weeks was abit much.
Posted by: Al | Apr 25, 2006 2:48:29 PM
"I'd be hesitant to make any judgements about the quality of a cuisine I hadn't experienced myself beyond simply reading about it."
You've obviously never the Workers Paradise or Just Overcooked? article in the June 1974 issue of Dining Magazine on the best East German spaetzle restaurants. Exceptional writing by one of the best Eastern bloc food critics.
I'd link to the article, but my back issues of Dining are on microfiche.
Posted by: Petey | Apr 25, 2006 7:12:30 PM
Come on, the whole key with Czech food is the combination of greasy, heavy slop with the golden, magical beer of the gods. Czech gulas, houskovy knedliky (bread dumplings), and a liter (or three) of Pilsener Urquell on tap is one of the great experiences available to humankind.
Oh, and to underscore the general sameness of the cuisine, if you find yourself in Moravia and see "moravsky vrabec" on the menu and think, "Moravian sparrow? Sounds different, at least," you will in fact receive another helping of roast pork and cabbage, but this time allegedly in the shape of a sparrow.
Posted by: some dude | Apr 26, 2006 1:15:09 AM
Somehow, I think yglesias has spent too much time in Czech pubs eating Czech pub grub at bargain basement prices. That hardly qualifies as Czech food. For starters, if you get off the bar stool and headed to Mala Strana and away from tourist traps, you'd find yourself spoilt for choice with fabulous, world-class Czech food which boasts rich, robust flavours and they go down well with fantastic Moravian wines. All in, around US$20 per head. If you haven't spent that much and called Czech food 'terrible', then you haven't eaten Czech CUISINE.
Posted by: Non-American | May 1, 2006 8:45:48 AM
The sum total of my experience with Czech cuisine has been at the Bohemian Citizens'Benevolent Society of Astoria's Bohemian Hall--all I can say is, so far, so good. That and mmmm, fried cheese.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | May 1, 2006 5:23:32 PM
What Czech food have you been eating? I took a break between World cup matches and took a 4 day side trip to Prague. Ate only Czech food. Oh, my, fantastic!!! There is a restaurant called Kolkovna-www.kolkovna.cz. Click on the English option and go to menu. We learned what to eat by asking the locals at the next table what to eat. Yum Yum Yum.
Posted by: ak traveler | Oct 2, 2006 7:50:37 PM
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