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Showing posts from November, 2009

From far away




The Debate




20 years is nothing


A Critic to the Critics

Even though we hardly dine out anymore, I still enjoy reading Prague restaurant reviews. I specially like those where the author has a good grasp of the concept of value for money, even if they aren't paying from their own pockets, and where they tell us about their dining experience in a straightforward, fun to read language. Unfortunately, I must say I've lost my patience with the whole lot of them. The reason, their ignorance and total lack of interest in beer. The Czech Republic is home to some of the finest lagers in the world. "Pivo" is a source of national pride and plays an important part in Czech popular and culinary cultures. How is it then that restaurant reviewers don't complain when a restaurant offers bad beer? No, I'm not just grumpy because it's Monday morning (well, a bit, yes). Many times I've read how reviewers complain, and fairly so, about the authenticity or freshness of some ingredients, the way a dish is prepared or presented

And the winners are...

Just like I promised yesterday , here you have the list of winners of this year's Sdružení přátel piva awards, plus some comments. Desítka roku 1. Podskalák, světlé výčepní pivo (Pivovar Rohozec) 2. Moravské Sklepní (Pivovar Černá Hora) 3. Březňák, světlé výčepní (Pivovar Velké Březno) I must confess that I don't remember ever drinking this beer (which I hope to correct soon). The other two, however, are well placed, yes. Jedenáctka roku 1. Otakar 11% (Pivovar Polička) 2. Svijanský Máz (Pivovar Svijany) 3. Klášter 11% (Pivovar Klášter) Otakar is a very good, and not known enough, beer. Máz is my least favourite from the Svijany lot and I would put it well behind Klášter's (which dropped from the first spot for the first time in I don't know how many years). Dvanáctka roku 1. Svijanský Rytíř (Pivovar Svijany) 2. Březňák, světlý ležák (Pivovar Velké Březno) 3. Bernard, sváteční ležák (Rodinný pivovar Bernard) This first prize is going to be discussed a lo

It's good to be me (2009 edition)


Making (at least a bit) of sense of it


A Cholesterol Bomb

Warning: If any of you out there has cholesterol problems, you'd better not read the following recipe. If any of you out there is voluntarily on a diet, leave it! It's not good for you. Get you ass off that chair and do some exercise instead. Some of the names of classical Czech dishes are rather curious. "Moravský Vrabec", for example. The translation is "Moravian Sparrows", but it's actually made with roasted cubes of marinated pork. It's a favourite pub grub, specially at lunch time. The other day I thought I would make my version of the recipe. It's ideal for an ugly weekend day, when we have more than enough time, but don't feel like doing much. It doesn't need much work, but it requires quite a bit of time. Another advantage is that this is a very versatile recipe. Here it's usually served with knedlíky and stewed cabbage, but there's no problem to serve it with potatoes in any form, veggies, rice or salad. Ingredients:

Changed my mind
