Krkonose specialities

2) Krkonose ‘Sejkora’

- A local style of potato cake, usually cooked directly on a hotplate. They also used to be eaten quite frequently by poorer families as the ingredients were available in almost every household. They are still a favourite dish today, especially at certain Krkonose feasts and fairs.

Recipe:

• 1 kg potatoes
• 20 ml milk (or less – just enough for the dough not to be too dark)
• 2 eggs
• 150 g soft flour
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons marjoram
• milled black pepper
• salt
• lard or butter

Peel and wash the potatoes. Grate them finely and drain off any excess water. Beat an egg in a little milk and add to the potatoes. Add soft flour, marjoram and black pepper. Add garlic minced with salt. Mix well to prepare the dough. Place some dough on a hot pan and cook over high heat on both sides. Prior to serving, spread lard or melted butter on the cakes.

3) Krkonose ‘Kuba’ from mushrooms

- Kuba is a traditional Christmas dish that has been known in Bohemia for centuries. As the tradition goes, you can either fast on Christmas Eve and wait for the golden piglet to fly through the sky, or you can try this traditional mushroom dish, served long before the traditional carp and schnitzel with potato salad were invented.

Recipe:

• 8 white bread rolls
• ½ l milk
• 8 eggs
• 150 g onion
• marjoram, ground allspice
• caraway
• 5 cloves garlic
• 250 g streaky smoked meat
• salt, pepper
• 150 g dried mushrooms

Dip the sliced bread rolls, one day old, in milk with beaten egg. Mince the smoked meat, add the chopped onion and fry slightly. Add the mix to the dipped rolls and add the salt, spices and garlic. Squeeze out the dipped and cooked mushrooms, mince and add to the mix. Bake in a greased roasting pan until golden.

4) Krkonose ‘Oukrop’

- This is a very easy-to-prepare soup with garlic.

Recipe:

• bread
• butter
• caraway
• salt
• garlic
• marjoram
• chives
• water

Add the caraway to water and let it boil. Put into each bowl one minced clove of garlic (or more, as desired), a pinch of salt, a bit of butter and a slice of bread torn into small pieces. Pour the water with the caraway into the saucer and add fresh marjoram and chives.

5) ‘Zelniky’ – sauerkraut cakes

Recipe:

• 500 g soft flour
• 150 g lard
• 400 g sauerkraut, squeezed out and chopped
• 2 eggs, one beaten
• handful fresh marjoram
• salt

Prepare the flour with the lard, sauerkraut and one egg on a pastry board. Make a cake approx. 5 mm thick. Place it onto a baking tray, cut into squares, smear with the beaten egg and add the marjoram. Bake at 200°C until golden brown. Separate the squares with a knife.

6) ‘Skubanky’ or ‘Kucmoch’

- A traditional regional treat made from potato dough.

Recipe:

• 1 kg potatoes
• 200 gr coarse wheat flour
• 80 gr lard (or oil or butter)
• 30 gr poppy seeds
• 30 gr fine sugar
• salt

Cook the peeled and sliced potatoes in water with a little salt until they are cooked but still firm. After cooking, retain the water in a dish. Add the flour to the potatoes, use a wooden spoon to make several pits in the dough from top to bottom, add some of the water so that it comes up to approx. one half of the dough's height and leave covered on the hotplate for approx. 10 minutes. Drain the excess water, carefully mash the potatoes with the flour and mix to make a smooth and stiff dough. Use a tablespoon dipped in melted lard to chop up the dough, place in a bowl, add the fat and sprinkle with the poppy seeds and powdered sugar.

7) ‘Muzika’

Stewed dried fruits.

• dried plumes
• dried pears
• dried apples

Soak the dried fruits one day ahead. Cook quickly and serve cool.

8) Roprachtice - style sauerkraut

Special red cabbage is used which is only grown in the Krkonose in windy locations. The leaves are tightly curled upwards and are fragile.

• 1 kg curled red cabbage
• 15 g salt
• 1 large onion
• carawayu
• horseradish

Slice the cabbage and onion, add enough salt and a bit of caraway and mix until juicy. Grate the horseradish finely and combine with the cabbage just before placing it in a barrel. Small whole sour apples can be added. The cabbage will ferment intensely for one week in a warm place. After that, it is placed in a cold cellar for slow fermentation.

There is a special plant which is only grown in the Krkonose Mountains. The windy slopes have always been ideal for red cabbage. Especially the cabbage grown around Vysoke nad Jizerou has a great reputation. It is mature in mid-October. The procedure to prepare sauerkraut is easy. Cabbage is grated together with onion. Some four medium-sized onions and 100 gr of salt, preferably rock salt, are added per each 10 kg of grated cabbage. The cabbage soon starts to produce juice and should be frequently stirred and squeezed. Small apples can be put in the barrel, too. The mix is covered with a lid and a weight and the barrel is covered. Fermentation occurs for approximately 14 days at room temperature. After that, it is better to put the barrel in a cold room.

9) Peeled potatoes with curd

• potatoes
• curd
• salt
• butter

Boil the potatoes in the skin. Mix the curd until smooth and add salt. Young onion stems can also be added. Peel the boiled potatoes and serve with curd, a bit of butter and salt. A quick and easy-to-prepare recipe which can substitute dinner.

10) Potato cakes

• 500 g potatoes
• fine flour
• egg
• salt
• butter
• plum butter, syrup, powdered sugar

Boil the potatoes in the skin, peel and grate finely. Add an egg and soft flour. Prepare a thicker dough and split into smaller pieces, roll them into cakes. Place a hot plate wrapped in aluminium foil on the stove, heat it up and place thin cakes on the plate without any grease. When brown spots appear on the cakes, turn them over. They will give off the typical smell of potatoes baked in an open fire. When the baking is finished, take the cake off the plate, grease with butter and smear them with plum butter, syrup or just sprinkle with powdered sugar.