Czech Update

How and where Czechs travel on holiday?

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:47:10 -0400

How Czechs travel seems to be impacting on where. The most popular destination for vacationing Czechs has been and still is Croatia. However, a recent Croat ban on importing certain kinds of foods has caused almost 10% of the 900 thosand Czechs planning a trip to cancel their holiday there (in favor of Italy or some other place). Why? read more »

Czech 'uzeniny' in branding battles

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:23:48 -0400

Uzeniny is a great Czech word covering all kinds of saussage-like products and uzenář is the purveyor or producer of such meat products (you will often see 'maso a uzeniny' on Czech butchers' store fronts or supermarket sections). read more »

EU causes Czech pig crisis

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:18:24 -0400

I don't know what's more interesting about the story: that there is a crisis in pork production in the CR or that there is a publication called PigProgress.net? read more »

Budvar World's best lager

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:28:42 -0400

Well, what do you know. Czech pivo (which is really more than just beer) really is best in the world. Budvar (aka the real Budweiser - as in actually made in Budweis and actually being beer) beat hundreds of other lagers from all over the world to win the prize. Bohemica.com is not surprised! read more »

Bramboráky a houby in Chicago

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:28:42 -0400

What could be more fitting to celebrate Czech traditions than Houby Day on Čermák Road. This is the season of mushroom picking in the Czech Republic and many of the mushrooms (houby) will end up in pancakes (bramboráky), even though even more will be made into a meal with scrambled eggs (smaženice). read more »

Good Czech beer recommended

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:35:40 -0400

An expat beer expert living in the Czech Republic has some useful recommendations to make about Czech beer.
read more »

Czech wine given a chance

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:30:11 -0400

In this interview, Czech wine is given its proper place. It turns out that it's not all bad. The author interviews a wine expert Bohuslav Uher who has some useful recommendations to make. read more »

Dictionary of Czech culture

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:56:48 -0400

The Amazon reviewer got it right! read more »

Burčák came early this year

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:02:13 -0400

Burčák the young wine (stum) popular in the Czech lands in the early autumn came earlier this year appearing in early August. Burčák sales in Prague kiosks around September and October is one of the joys of the Czech 'babí léto' and reminds Bohemians to remember how good it is to have Moravians part of the nation.
read more »

Absinthe: tourist attraction as well as a popular export item

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:20:52 -0400

There are fewer drinks with more history and less appeal than absinthe. It has been made in the Czech lands for over a hundred years with all its decadence and semi-halucinogenic properties. It has now become a tourist attraction as well as a profitable export business.
read more »

The 10 best Czech breweries - And travelling outside Prague

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:02:39 -0400

The 10 best Czech breweries -Life & Style - Travel - Destinations - Europe - TimesOnline Prague's status as a destination for beer lovers is undisputed: the Czech Republic is home to the original Pilsner, the original Budweiser and boasts the world's highest beer consumption, 160 litres per person each year. In Prague, great pubs are found on every corner, and it is not uncommon to see people drinking one or more of the country's outstanding lagers with breakfast. Ounce for ounce, beer is cheaper than water here, and often appears to be consumed more widely. However, if you really want to sample Czech brewing, you need to leave the capital. This is far easier and less expensive than in many neighbouring countries, with excellent public transportation to nearly every Czech brewpub and regional brewery within a few hours.

Two wonderful pieces of advice. How to get to some great lesser known beers (remember you each pub only has one or at most two brands of beer) and how to travel outside of Prague to get more enjoyment out of Czech lands. read more »

Prague ham to return to Prague

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 06:12:11 -0500

Pražská šunka se vrací - iDNES.cz Kdo neví, jak chutná tradiční Pražská šunka od kosti, ať si koupí letenku. Ochutnat ji může v italském Terstu, v Berlíně, ve Spojených státech nebo i v Austrálii. V Česku zatím ne.

Is vepřoknedlozélo in danger?

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:23:26 -0500

Pig Progress | News | Page content | Pig breeding down in Czech Republic
Pig breeders are annually winding down activities in the Czech Republic. In the last five years, pig stocks have decreased by 600,000 to 2,840,000, says the Czech Statistical Office (CSU). read more »

The Masopust season: Pork killing and eating time

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:30:39 -0500

MF DNES Praha - Pravé zabijačkové hody, ale hlavně karnevalové masky a spousta zábavy. Tak vypadal čtvrtý ročník Karlínského masopustu, který odstartoval v sobotu v jednu hodinu po poledni.

The time of Masopust, or the pre-lent carnival, (literally, the meat fast, a translation of the carni-val) has come upon us which means a lot of pig slaughtering festivities (zabijačky [lit. killing times]). Of course, the atheist Czechs will go on eating meat all the way through Lent. The Czech Wikipedia lists some of the foods you might take away (výslužka) from a killing time: read more »

Czechs say no to drugs

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 04:44:33 -0500

Every fourth Czech tried drug - poll in press - Prague Daily Monitor Prague, Jan 6 (CTK) - About 22 percent of Czechs have tried a drug at least once in their hitherto life, the share being 40 percent in the 18 to 24 years age category, according to a poll carried out by the Health Information and Statistics Institute. ... The poll at the same time revealed that Czechs are not tolerant of drugs, and a mere 17 percent of them would agree with marijuana´s legalisation. read more »

Carp carnage confounds tourists

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 15:29:14 -0500

Turisté nechápou zabíjení kaprů - www.lidovky.cz
Turisty lákají především předvánoční trhy. „Teď jsem byl na Staromáku a viděl jsem turisty, jak obléhají stánky, cpou se klobásami a nechápavě koukají na hromadné zabíjení kaprů,“ dodává Beránek.

Other than the headline the other interesting tidbit in this article is the numbers of tourists who even during Christmas number in 50 thousand and spend over 10 billion crowns in the process.

Carp sellers mostly honest

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 07:27:51 -0500

Prodejci kaprů nešidí. Skoro - iDNES.cz Inspektorka: Kapři nám dělají radost: "Dělám to už dvanáct let," říká starší z obou inspektorek. "Musím říct, že v posledních letech při prodeji kaprů není zdaleka tolik problémů, co dřív.

Carp sellers in Czech towns, apart from publicly killing and butchering fish, are by and large honest, as was revealed by a round of inspections. read more »

Beer a day

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 07:55:04 -0500

Czech beer output seen up at 19.8 million hectolitres in 2006 - Prague Daily Monitor
Czech breweries are increasingly successful on foreign markets and the ratio of exports to total production grew to almost 18 percent in the first half of the year, against the global average of 6 percent.

Germany was still the largest market for Czech beer exporters, covering 40 percent of the total volume. Slovakia came second.

Vesely said output for the domestic market was likely to grow as well this year, mainly owing to a long, hot summer. read more »

A Czech Christmas dinner in Texas

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 06:18:03 -0500

A Czech Christmas: fish soup, potato salad and False Snails | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Everywhere in the Czech Republic, people enjoy the same menu on Christmas Eve: appetizers, fish soup, fried fish, potato salad, Christmas bread, Christmas cookies and apple strudel. By tradition, the fish is Czech carp, which is prized all over Europe but difficult to find here. In Marcella and Tomas Klima's family, the appetizer on Christmas Eve is always False Snails. These recipes come from Czech Family Cookbook - Cooking With the Klimas. read more »

Changing Czech tastebuds find fresh fish (plus some meat stats)

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:31:38 -0500

Češi přišli na chuť čerstvým rybám na úkor mražených - iDNES.cz
V České republice podle obchodníků v posledních letech roste obliba čerstvých chlazených ryb, které z nákupních košíků postupně vytlačují ryby mrazené. Češi jsou sice v EU stále značně podprůměrní jedlíci ryb, při výběru ale čím dál častěji sahají i po exotických druzích ryb a mořských živočichů.

Czechs are far below the EU average when it comes to eating fish, other than the Christmas carp but a recent report shows that for the fish they eat, they are more and more reaching for fresh chilled fish rather than frozen fillets. read more »

Czechs drink more wine

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:43:28 -0500

Češi pijí více vína, i dražšího - iDNES.cz
Lidé mají větší zájem především o prestižní kategorie vín nad 130 korun. Jedná se především o značky Bohemia Sekt Prestige, Chateau Radyně a Chateau Bzenec a Louis Girardot.

Most of Czech wine comes out of Moravia. Some important labels of cultural importance are Frankovka, Müller-Thurgau a Veltlínské zelené. That, however, is changing and now Czechs demand more expensive prestigious wines priced over 130 Kč (about 6 US dollars). read more »

Slivovice exhibit in South Korea

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 07:37:14 -0500

The Korea Times : Slivovitz Czech’s Spirit
If there is soju for Koreans and whiskey for Scottish people, there is slivovitz for Czechs. The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Seoul last Monday hosted ``Slivovitz and its Soul,’’ an exhibition on the history of the drink, at the new Czech restaurant, Castle Praha, near Hongik University.

This one of the more bizzare exhibits of Czech culture you can think of. But the interesting question is whether it is accurate. I suspect that most Bohemian Czechs think of slivovice (plum brandy) as a Moravian thing. read more »

Lactalis lured by Czech cheese growth (or on Czech Cheeses)

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 22:38:54 -0400

Lactalis lured by Czech cheese growth
French dairy giant Lactalis has enhanced its position in the growing cheese market of the Czech Republic by signing a deal to buy local firm Promil.
...
It [the report] said cheese was an area ripe for investment.
...
Euromonitor says quality has become increasingly important on the Czech cheese market, and has greatly improved in the last few years. Czech consumers, it adds, are very demanding: “The have many [cheeses] to choose from. They do not come back to products they were not satisfied with.” read more »

Czechs lead the world in beer consumption

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 15:35:13 -0500

www.lidovky.cz - Piju, piješ, pijeme
Obliba piva, již nám naši předkové dali do vínku, vedla až k tomu, že dnes jsou Češi s asi 157,9 litru na hlavu za rok mistři světa v jeho konzumaci. Co se týče výroby, jsme 17. na světě. Podle zprávy Chmel ministerstva zemědělství z roku 2005 se Česká republika podílí 1,2 procenta na světové výrobě piva. Největšími producenty jsou přitom Čína, USA, Německo, Brazílie a Rusko. V Česku je 53 průmyslových pivovarů, což není na zemi o 10 milionech obyvatel špatné. read more »