A Trip to the Doctor
At Middlebury’s Kunming School Abroad everyone gets pretty close pretty fast. It makes sense: 20 young Westerners trying to learn the most difficult language on earth while struggling to make sense of a culture that historically has had nothing to with ours until, arguably, the past forty years. One of the many common experiences that bring us together is food-related illness. China may be rapidly developing, but (especially if you come to the less-developed southeast of China) the food will probably get to you at some point no matter who strong you think your stomach is. A common conversation had in the hall outside our classrooms might sound something like:
“Hey, long time no see, how have you been recently?”
“Not so good, that bowl of noodles I had for lunch the other day gave me some pretty nasty diarrhea.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry. At least you haven’t been vomiting, though. It was coming out both ends for me a few weeks ago after eating some Xinjiang kebob on the street.”
I know, not the nicest topic, but its common ground, like the weather or sports, something we all have gone through are going through, or will go through pretty soon. Everyone has his or her little piece of advice for a quick recovery, from the obvious (don’t eat greasy things or meat) to the not so obvious (only drink hot water and don’t eat bananas—this came from my roommate).
Well, until a couple weeks ago, I was in the minority of people who had remained healthy for my first two and a half months in China and couldn’t commiserate with my classmates on the topic. I was beginning to get a little cocky, bragging about how my stomach could take even the greasiest of grilled pig feet. But then we went to Luoping.
That weekend was one of the few we didn’t have tests, so many of us took advantage of a free Friday (and a nice 200 RMB reimbursement from our program) to explore Yunnan, regarded by many as one of the best places to travel in China. Two of our Chinese roommates and three of us decided to go to the city of Luoping, four hours east of Kunming. Although the city itself is kind of a dump, the countryside surrounding Luoping is naturally covered in Rapeseed (Canola) flowers, which bloom in brilliant yellow every February and March. The area is relatively unknown to Westerners (it didn’t even make it into Lonely Planet), but thousands of camera toting domestic tourists visit every year to catch a glimpse of the sprawling sheets of golden Rapeseed punctured by brown karst peaks.
Buyi women cooking fish straight from the river
The delicious fish that may or not be the culprits for my stomach woes.
We spent the weekend exploring the fields of flowers in a dumpy little van driven by one of the many locals who make a living by taking tourists around to see the fields. We were also able to do a little “hiking” (hiking in China means walking on a paved path lined with tourist stands). The second day, we “hiked” along a river called Duoyihe. It was a very pleasant walk along a slow moving stream dotted with ancient wooden watermills. When we arrived at the end of the paved path, we came upon an opening filled with food tents manned by Buyi people, one of the 25-odd ethnic minorities that populate the incredibly diverse Yunnan Provence. Many of the old women wore traditional turquoise, red and pink attire and headgear to cover their round faces and dark skin. They sat around small makeshift grills cooking fish straight from the river, potatoes, and other local delicacies like chewy rice cakes. Hungry from the walk, I couldn’t resist a fresh, grilled fish—it looked so good. And it WAS so good: the flesh fell right off the translucent bones and mixed perfectly with the spicy sauce the Buyi woman had put on it. But, as I would later find, my stomach and bowels seemed to think differently…
Eat and Drink Prague
The greatest way to experience a new culture is to try the local flavors. Prague certainly does not lack in those regards. The Czech city is a cornucopia of restaurants, pubs, and coffee shops. It is especially a great city for those traveling on a budget. 100kc = $5 and if you look in the right places, that can buy you a three course meal. Beer not included of course.
Czech food is largely derived from what goes good with beer. Pub meals are all the rage and they often have the best lunch specials. My favorite dishes are beef or pork with potato dumplings and creamed spinach, steak tartar on fried garlic toast, and of course goulash.
Goulash was made popular by the Hungarians but the Czechs make it really well. You can find it at almost every pub and restaurant. It is generally chunks of beef in a thick broth served with dumplings. However I’ve also had it with boar and mixed meat.
Czech dumplings are very interesting. They are not dumplings in the traditional sense but they are just as delicious. They look more like steam bread slices and sometimes are stuffed with meat or fruit. They also have potato dumplings.
One thing you should have once, and only once because if you have it twice you will get a heart attack is pig knuckle. It comes with horseradish and mustard and there is no way to eat it without making a mess. Just look at the picture below.
If you are a vegetarian, have no fear. Great Czech food still awaits you. The crepe with cheese and spinach is my favorite. A really popular dish is fried cheese with tartar sauce. It is pretty much a giant mozzarella stick but better.
A tip about ordering in restaurants: ask to see the daily Czech menu. Most places have a lunch menu that changes every day of the week. It is often much cheaper than the main menu except it is almost never in English. Here is a great way to decode the menu. Look for an item that says it includes knedlíky, that is Czech for dumpling. The best dishes have dumplings for sides. Hovezí is beef, kure is chicken and veprové is pork. For vegetarians spenat is spinach and syr is cheese. That is all you really need to know. You also may want to add soup to your meal; it is normally only 30kc ($1.50). The best soups are garlic soup, and beef broth with smoked meat.
For those who are in a hurry and would prefer a quick meal or something on the go, nothing holds a card to the döner kebab. The döner is very similar to the Greek gyro or the Middle Eastern shwarma. It is chicken, lamb or beef cut from a rotating vertical spit and put in a pita with salad and yogurt sauce. It is essentially the perfect meal, comprising of all four food groups, meat, dairy, bread and vegetables and almost always less than 80kc.
And let’s not forget drinks. The Czech word for beer is pivo and they drink a lot of it. Much to the embarrassment of the Irish and the Germans, more beer is consumed per capita in the Czech Republic than anywhere else on Earth. You may be disappointed to find that restaurants will seldom bring you tap water but your disappointment will soon fade when you see that the best beer you probably will every drink is only 30kc on the menu. For that price, you can do without the water.
When you visit Prague make sure you are hungry and make sure you are thirsty. Behind every alleyway, outside every tram stop, everywhere you go you will find a plethora of places to try. If you want any further recommendations or want someone to share a meal with don’t be shy to shoot me an email.
Comfort (Food) Zones: Eating in Prague, Morning to Night
Brunch is totally my thing. When my roommates and I found out that one of our favorite night spots, Radost (which has a really fun Hip-Hop night each week) also has brunch on the weekends, we decided Radost could definitely be the destination twice within 24 hours.
Lox in Prague is significantly less expensive compared to the general priciness of my favorite fish and carb breakfast option in America. As a native New Yorker, I am of course biased to all foreign bagels, but as far as I am concerned, the amount of fixings that comes with the Salmon Bagel Platter at Radost makes up for the slightly mediocre bagel. I left New York for a reason, after all, and I can handle a few months without one in exchange for all of the fabulous things I am doing (and eating) here.
See the photo of the lox platter, which comes with heaps of lox, a huge dollop of cream cheese, tomatoes, and onions.
So, we can start our Saturdays of exploring often overlooked side streets off well within our comfort zone. After turning down the paths less traveled, as literally as we possibly can, we often decide to try something new for dinner. One of our best discoveries were the Pivovarskys, or local breweries. Microbreweries are more or less just beginning to come into vogue here in Prague. The original, Novomestsky Pivovar, has a fun map on their place mats explaining the layout of the winding underground restaurant and the different brewing rooms. The best part for us, however, was trying the food. We all started with garlic soup (pictured), which is a good staple that we always trust to be delicious at any restaurant. It happens to be particularly delicious at Novomestsky because they have big chunks of Brie cheese floating around in the soup!
Then the really exciting part of the meal- the Brewer’s Pan. It comes in a gigantic cast iron skillet and includes duck, pork knee, and other pork cuts, sausages, green beans, and three kinds of dumplings. The waiter commented that he had never seen five girls plow through so much meat, but we are here to try as many new things as possible and after the initial shock of staring at piles of meat we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.
While here in Prague we decided that we would indulge in a few familiar favorites as long as we also pushed our boundaries and tried at least as many new things, and, unsurprisingly but welcome and exciting nonetheless, it is working out to be a fabulous culinary experience.
Czech Table or Český Stůl begins at CET Prague!
Posted by Kim Strozewski, Director of CET Prague Programs
The students learn how to cook “ovocné knedlíky” or fruit dumplings with their Czech buddy Katka. While the ingredients are in Czech, the instruction is in English, so the students are successful making their delicious dessert. It is way for them to practice Czech as well as learn about Czech cultural traditions. Past Czech tables have included cooking, visiting small Czech towns for local holidays, hikes in the mountains and excursions to sites in the city.
>> Stay tuned for videos or snapshots from the Český Stůl in Praha….
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