Having visited Central and Eastern Europe before, I did not expect much from the food in Prague. I thought I would spend the semester on a diet of pork and cabbage dumplings, but I was happily surprised to find out that I was only half right. It turns out the Czech Republic has a variety of heavy, unhealthy, and surprisingly delicious food to offer. Here are some of my non-pork and cabbage favorites:
1.) Smažený sýr
Smažený sýr is basically the Czech equivalent to a mozzarella stick, except so much better. It comes in huge wedges with a side of fries. The best part of Smažený sýr is that this is considered a totally acceptable meal choice. On the health conscious Duke campus, I typically only treat myself to Loop mozzarella sticks on special stressful occasions, like in the middle of finals or midterms week, but here my weekly Smažený sýr isn’t even considered indulging—it’s a completely normal meal choice. I mean it’s cultural immersion, right?
2.) Guláš (with dumplings)
Guláš is your pretty standard beef stew. But in Prague, one definitely gets a whole new appreciation for such a hearty, warm meal. It is only October and I am already starting to experience those freezing evenings that we all moved to Durham to avoid. Nothing warms you up like Guláš. I know this will be the dish I end up eating all winter.
3.) Trdelnik
As someone who has a huge sweet tooth, I consider dessert to be the most important meal of the day. I searched all over Prague to find good cake or any kind of cupcake, but with no luck. But one day, as I was walking through old town square, I finally found my dessert savior—the trdelnik. The trdelnik is a roasted pastry covered in sugar. It may not be a cake, but it’s a pastry made up of basically sugar on sugar, so what’s not to love?