Let’s Get Cooking, Czech Style!
I’ve been a follower of Kristýna Koutná’s excellent “Czech Cookbook” website for sometime now and was quite excited when she published this companion book for her site. It’s clear in every detail of her website and in this book just how much she loves the cuisine of her homeland and takes pleasure in sharing it.
This book is as much a coffee table book on Czech food as it is a cookbook. It’s full of beautiful photos of not only the dishes the recipies will allow you to make, but also of places around the Czech Republic itself. The author teaches you how to make some classic Czech food and actively encourages you to visit the country as well.
The recipies are easy to follow, with measurements in both imperial and metric. All of the recipies are accompanied by one or two testimonial comments made about the particular dish by visitors to her website or social media pages.
Sections of the book cover: bread, appetizers, main courses, side dishes, desserts and Christmas sweets.
Also very useful are the various tips the author gives about how to make some of these dishes when you are not in the Czech Republic and may not have access to some of the more specific ingredients. One very good example of this is when using flour, all purpose flour is definitely not a typical product in Czech supermarkets. In fact, the baking aisle of a Czech supermarket is a minefield when it comes to flour as there are four or five different types to choose from depending on what you are making. This book will tell you what sort of flour you may have available to you will be the best stand-in for the traditional flour used in a particular recipe.
Aside of the recipes, this book is full of anecdotes and memories from the author’s childhood and upbringing that detail how she developed her love of cooking and her native cuisine.
This book is clearly a labour of love and definitely one to have if you wish to try your hand at some traditional Czech dishes.
This link will take you to the “Czech Cookbook” website. Here you can find more information about the book and a lot more about Czech cuisine:
Beyond Prague 