Czech Food Cooking Classes
I was fortunate enough to have a real Czech Babicka (mother-in-law) to observe and learn some of the tips and tricks for making classic Czech food. I soon learned that soups could be like a French consomme at one end of the scale and thick enough to cut with a knife at the other. Pork and Beef was slow cooked and usually had Cumin seeds. Dumplings were homemade. Sweet cabbage seemed to be everywhere. Dessert was made from whatever was growing in the garden or had been preserved from the summer fruit harvest. You cracked your own walnuts.
It was a wonderful selection of fine tasting food and over the years I came to recognise my own favorites. Having published several recipes to help people make real Czech Food I became interested in how tourists could spend part of their break here in Prague to learn the basics of cooking Czech food. So I looked for places that offered the actual preparation and cooking experience rather than just the eating part.
Chefparade
Chefparade offers cooking classes for a variety of cuisines but here I’d like to concentrate on the Czech options. The course is pretty straightforward in that you decide what you want to cook either from a permanent or seasonal menu and after 3 hours you’ll be sitting down to your own homemade 3-course lunch. There’s also the Market Hall Tour option.
Sounds simple enough. In reality it’ll take timing and that’s where the chef will be guiding you, advising on what needs to be prepared and how, dish-specific ingredients, the order of preparation and cooking plus the final presentation. One of the things I learned about Czech food is that things that you would presume to eat hot can also taste great cold but this all depends on how you want your 3-course meal. Also Czech food does not always need a knife and fork as many dishes adapt well to finger food.
The Market Tour Option
A nice compliment to the Czech Food Cooking Class is to participate in a market tour, guided by the chef and take in the atmosphere of shopping for fresh local products, find out interesting facts about Czech cuisine and stop for several tastings.
So if you’ve got a free morning and you think you’d like to create your own Czech Food experience then give them a try. Allow 3 hours if only doing the Cooking Class or 4 hours if you add the Market Hall Tour option.
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