HRAD STRAKONICE : CASTLE CUISINE

The region of Strakonice, bagpipers, the Otava river and a highly reputed beer – everything is reflected in the local cuisine.  

The regions of Southern Bohemia and Otava are renowned fish regions (carp, zander, pike, tench and trout), and fish-based dishes are prepared in all possible ways here. Besides pork, beef, poultry and venison from the region, the cuisine also includes traditional Czech meals: beef sirloin served with cream sauce and dumplings, roasted pork served with cabbage and dumplings, potato pancakes, wiener schnitzel and sweet dumplings. Popular dishes also include goulash and peppered meat.

Don’t forget delicious mushroom and potato recipes, traditional potato soups and potato dumplings, sweet poppy seed potato dumplings, cakes and potato pancakes with marjoram, garlic and pork cracklings.  

Here you can also taste delicious cakes, doughnuts, apple strudel and traditional, beautifully decorated cakes with sweet filling baked in special pans.  

The local atmosphere of the South Bohemian region illustrates the brewing tradition, which is well known for a mixture of hospitality and the serenity of the Šumava forests. The beer of Strakonice reflects the local atmosphere and cannot be missing at any parties or tables. In 1367, a nobleman named Bavor IV granted the right to brew the beer to Strakonice.

Enjoy your meal and we offer some of the specialities of Strakonice.

Švanda Onion Rings 

Ingredients:

• 4 onions
• 250 g flour
• 300 ml Švanda beer
• 300 ml milk
• 2 eggs
• salt
• 50 g butter
• 200 ml milk
• white pepper
• fat or oil

Preparation:

Peel the onions, cut them into 1-cm thick slices and separate them into individual rings. Pour the Švanda beer and milk into a bowl, add the flour, the two egg yolks and the salt and whisk with a fork into a smooth batter. Whisk the egg whites until thick and softly stir in the batter. Dip the rings in the batter and fry in hot oil until golden. Rest the fried rings on a serviette to get rid of any excess oil and serve with mashed potatoes.  

Bagpiper’s Pork and Beer Dainty

Ingredients:

• 700 g lean pork
• lard
• 1 onion
• salt
• ground cumin
• ground pepper
• 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
• 250 ml beer

Preparation:
 
Rinse the meat and cut it into large pieces. Dice the onion and fry it slightly in lard. Add the meat pieces and fry all together. Season with salt. Add some water and braise until almost soft. Let the juices turn a little brown and add the breadcrumbs. Fry the mixture slightly and add some more water. Season with the ground cumin and pepper, and by adding the beer gradually, braise until completely soft. Serve with fried potatoes or potato dumplings.

  
Strakonice Beer Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 l Dudák beer
• 1/2 l stock
• 250 g sauerkraut
• 100 g cut smoked streaky bacon
• an onion
• 4 spicy sausages, sliced
• a pinch of hot pepper
• salt
• pepper

Preparation:

Pour the beer and stock in a cooking pot and add the sauerkraut. Stir until the sauerkraut starts getting soft. Fry the cut bacon and onion in a frying pan and add the sliced spicy sausages. Add the mixture of bacon, onion and spicy sausages to the boiling soup and mix well. Simmer for a while and then serve. It tastes better if served with croutons.  

Carp in a Hat

Prepare a large carp fillet. Clean it and remove the backbone. Season with salt. Make several cuts on the skin to prevent warping when baked. Melt the butter in a baking dish and place the carp in it with the skin side down. Prepare the “hat” – the stuffing.

Soak two rolls in some milk. Squeeze out the excess milk and cut them up. Fry the chopped onion in butter and then add fresh mushrooms cut into pieces and cook for a short time. Stir in one egg and season with salt, pepper, a little bit of cut parsley and marjoram. If desired, add some anchovy paste. Please note! The stuffing must be thick in order to keep it together. If necessary, keep it in a cool place for a while. Then place the stuffing in the carp, smooth it out and pour warm butter over it. Place the baking dish in a hot oven and bake well.  

Bagpiper’s Duck

Ingredients:

• 1 duck
• salt
• cumin
• 2 apples
• 2 pears
• 320 ml dark beer (Klostermann or Dudák Black)
• red cabbage
• a tablespoon of lardan onion
• a teaspoonful of sugar
• vinegar

Preparation:

Rinse the duck and dry it. Then season with salt inside and outside and sprinkle with cumin. Place quarters of the cleaned apples and pears inside the duck. Place the duck in a roasting dish, pour in the beer and let it roast. Baste with beer and the juices until the duck is roasted and soft.

Take the roasted duck out of the roasting dish, cut into portions and remove any excess fat. While the duck is roasting, prepare the cabbage. Preparation of the beer cabbage: fry the chopped onion in lard until golden, add the chopped cabbage and season with salt and cumin. Add some water, and steam covered with a lid for about 45 minutes. Pour in the rest of the beer towards the end of steaming and season with vinegar and sugar. Serve the duck with the beer cabbage and dumplings.  

Fried Apples in Beer Batter

Ingredients:

• 500 g medium-sized apples
• 250 g flour
• 3 eggs
• 200 ml lager
• 2 sachets of vanilla sugar
• half a tablespoon of cinnamon
• salt
• oil

Preparation:

Slice the washed and peeled apples. Remember to remove the cores. Cover the slices with flour. Prepare a thick beer batter with the beer, egg yolks, salt, flour, vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Whisk the egg whites until thick and softly stir in the batter. Dip the floured apple slices in the batter and fry until golden in oil that is not too hot. Rest the fried apples on a serviette to get rid of any excess oil. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  

Strakonice Cupcakes

Make the mixture with 6 eggs, 180 g semi-coarse flour and 240 g sugar.

Whisk the egg whites until thick and then whisk in some sugar. Add the yolks gradually. Stir in the rest of the sugar and keep whisking until thick. Then, add the sifted flour. (Some cocoa powder or nuts may be added to the mixture when a part of the flour is replaced by ground nuts.)
Bake slowly in baking cups greased and dusted with flour. Pour the mixture from the sides towards the centre of each baking cup so no bumps are formed in the middle while baking. After the cupcakes cool down, top with chocolate, white or lemon icing and sprinkle with colourful sugar toppings, Smarties or chopped nuts.

Recipes: Archives of Brewery Strakonice 1649, a. s., and VM publisher: Václav Malovický