Our eating explorations today were heavily influenced by
Anthony Bourdain. Before traveling to any city, we check to see if he’s visited
with his show No Reservations, for
suggestions on what to eat. We had three main objectives: finding vegetarian
versions of goulash, a traditional spicy beef stew served with dumplings, and Svíčková na Smetaně, another classic Czech meal of beef covered with a gravy made from cream and
vegetables; and Smazeny Syr, a fried
cheese sandwich that Anthony gleefully consumed at a street food stand.
But first, there was more of the city to explore. We hiked
up to Petrin Hill and walked through a beautiful wooded area, gazing down at
the city. I had no idea what it would be like before we got here, but it was
really beautiful. Orante old stone churches and cathedrals, glamorous shopping
streets and sophisticated apartment buildings reminiscent of Paris, a winding
river, a town square faced with gingerbread-house buildings and lit up for the
holidays.
We walked back down to the Old Town area (it was a long way
and the Polish cream fudge came in very
handy) to a Buddhist-inspired vegetarian restaurant called Maitrea. They
offered an incredible variety of dished from around the world, including sushi,
kimchi, quesadillas, quinoa, and three Czech specialties. We ordered the two
that Anthony Bourdain had tried.
The goulash was made with seitan (made from wheat gluten) in
a spicy gravy, served with bread dumplings – basically soft, fluffy bread with
no appreciable crust, perfect for soaking up any leftover sauce.
The Svíčková na Smetaně was seitan too, smothered in a delicious sauce made
from mustard, vegetables – we assumed sweet carrots – and cream, served with a
lime, a squirt of plain whipped cream (kind of a weird touch, but good), and
cranberry sauce. It was amazing, especially after a long walk in the cold.
Luckily, we had room for dessert. We ordered raw chocolate
cake – more like a tart – made from coconut oil, figs, and nuts. It was very chocolately and lightly sweet, dense and rich. It was different than what I'd expect chocolate cake to be like, but interesting and tasty nonetheless. We also ordered Aztec hot
chocolate, and green tea that literally tasted exactly like a hay loft.
The hot chocolate was the best I’d ever had. It came in a
tiny espresso cup with an even tinier spoon. It was thick enough to eat like
pudding and topped with crumbled walnuts – a surprising but absolutely amazing
touch. It was rich, sweet, and spicy, strengthening my resolve to only eat hot
chocolate with a spoon from now on.
After lunch we walked more around the Old Town, through the Jewish Quarter, past the Jewish Cemetery, and across the famous Charles Bridge, lined with age-darkened statues of religious figures and kings. Later that night, we began a search for the last thing on our list: fried cheese in a bun.
It
took a while, but after wandering for half an hour, retracing our
steps multiples times, and asking a man who turned out to be Bulgarian
where we could find the "uhh...fried cheese thing?", we found it. A
little stand in an out-of-the-way street
advertising fried cheese patties on a bun with lettuce and tartar sauce.
We
ordered one and watched while the owner turned up the deep fryer and pulled a bag of
french fries out of the freezer. After those had sizzled for a few minutes, a
rather sad looking block of frozen, pre-breaded cheese emerged from the freezer
as well and disappeared into the oil. It was removed and assembled as promised,
and handed to us in a paper wrapper, accompanied by a plate of fries.
All this
was ours for just 65…Czech monies (about $4). While the fries were good (it’s
hard to mess up fried potatoes), the cheese was a little disappointing: it was
hot but not super melty like Anthony’s, and the bun, etc., was mediocre. Still, deep fried cheese in a bun? Great in its
own terrible way.
