Prague Suckling Pig
In birthday celebrations with a group of friends it is not unusual to be out in the garden drinking and having a Prague Suckling Pig cooking in the background. The thing is it takes time. In the garden you would have to keep this turning on a spit and you have to pay attention to keeping it basted to avoid burning.
In the city it’s much more civilised and you’ll see them cooking like in the picture above. It’s usually a portable spit in an electric powered oven and for most of the day (we’re talking 4 or 5 hours of cooking time) it will be covered in foil. When you see it without the foil then they are allowing the skin to get colour and that crispy feeling. Of course if you are downwind of a restaurant serving Suckling Pig then you will smell it long before you see it.
Old Prague Ham or Prague Suckling Pig
If you’ve read my Old Prague Ham post then Suckling Pig is less common and more expensive. But remember that Old Prague Ham is cured ham which is being “finished” on the spit so of the two choices I prefer Suckling Pig purely because it’s freshly cooked, juicier on the inside and has the crackling. It will certainly be a sit-down starter meal in a restaurant probably served just with boiled potatoes and Czech mustard.
Where to get Suckling Pig
At the time of writing there are two places that I’d go to try Suckling Pig. My first choice would be the Czech Restaurant Svateho Vaclava next to the Neo-Luxor book shop especially if you want to eat outside. The other is Restaurant Mustek at the bottom of Wenceslas Square as you walk into the narrow street Na Mustku it’s the first restaurant on the left. They have nice swing-chair seating outside but there’s an issue with beggars in this area so you might prefer to eat inside here. Check the menus because often they don’t serve it until late afternoon or early evening i.e. Prague Suckling Pig is not common to find at lunchtime.