August 30-September 12
Hello everyone!
Our third year in Prague has begun as the second finished:
lots of food and plenty of plonk.
Czech food isn’t designed to be enjoyed in the summer.
Hearty and stomach-expanding, meals such as pork knuckle and goulash are
wonderful in the colder winter months. But eating Czech food in the summer is a
bit of a challenge.
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| It wasn't just us two who ate all of that food, I promise |
Thankfully, Prague is an international city stocked with
food from around the world. Much of this was on show at a street food festival
in a district to the north of the centre. From meat from South America to
Japanese sushi, this was a gluttonous global food tour.
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| Vietnamese dumplings |
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| Mexican mini-taco |
Ignoring the fact that my first few days after returning
from the Balkans were spent staring at relentless rain, August was a scorching
month in the Czech Republic. One of the best ways to cool off in the summer
heat is with an ice-cream. Luckily for us, a major ice-cream festival was
occurring a mere few stops from the street food festival.
Other food festivals we have been to were excellent value
for money. The ice-cream one was not. A surprisingly dear entrance fee (150Kc) was
not the only cost in order to get a frozen treat. Though discounted from their
regular prices, I imagine it would take a lot more than the five ice-creams I
sampled in order to make the overall experience more value for money.
Really good ice-cream though. Coconut to die for.
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| Coconut ice-cream: creamy heaven |
None of what we sampled on that fine late August day can be
called as genuinely Czech cuisine. What is most definitely local produce is
burcak (pronounced burr-CHACK), a young wine which is usually only produced in
September.
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| Red and white wine has never looked so...cloudy |
Burcak looks very different to your stereotypical image of
‘wine’. It is much cloudier and thicker, tasting more like fruit juice than
cabernet sauvignon. It is also much more potent than you realise when drinking
it, which can often result in a sore head. I suffered this consequence a couple
of years ago, so heeded the warning and drank the pink drink slowly.
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| The vineyard of Troja in Prague |
Burcak festivals spring up across Prague throughout
September. The one we attended had a spectacular setting in the city’s
botanical gardens high above the centre.
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| The Japanese section of the botanical gardens |
One month into year three, three delicious festivals. Nice
to be back!
Love you all
Matt
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