Face blanketed with the remains of the Cukrarnas finest offerings, Prague-On-Segway licks the dripping cream from the sides of it’s mouth. That was a snack well done. Back on our wheels we go to take you to the streets to see what Prague’s window vendors have cooked up for us.
As Prague-On-Segway tried to emphasise in part I of the series, Czech food prides itself on simplicity, adorning it like a badge of honour. Nothing captures this defiant mantra better than some of the street foods you’ll be confronted with on your stay in Prague. Two of the most powerful players in the street-food game are the twisted tredelnik and the nobel klobassa.
“Two of the most powerful players in the street-food game are the twisted tredelnik and the nobel klobassa.”
Now there’s two approaches Prague-On-Segway can take to describe these snacks. We could take the artisan route- highlighting the tredelniks carefully kneaded dough, whose fluffiness is dependent on the craftsmanship of the baker, masterfully twisted into a hollow tube, massaged with a light granulated sugar and cinnamon coating, delicately browned on rotating iron shafts, over a hot bed of organic charcoal (is there such a thing?) whose smoky yet sophisticated aromas perfume the dough to add earthy notes to the sweet and yeasty melodies. On the other end of the scale, we could say that, without undermining or devaluing the delicious snack, that a tredlenik is essentially hot bread and sugar. But alas, the donut remains one of the Western worlds favourite snacks, so simplicity lies behind the beauty of all food you say! Agreed.
To take the artisan approach to describing the Klobassa is a little more difficult. Essentially a large, evenly curved sausage, varying in flavour and colour according to preference, served on a, errm, rectangular childs-birthday-party-paper-plate, with eerrm, a slice of nutrient-deprived-looking bread of a cardboard hue. Optionally garnished with a dollop of ketchup and mustard to add some much needed colour to the palette. I’m afraid our description won’t be more poetic than that. We’ve pictured our preferred sausage-bread-sauce formation. It’s not spectacular, but it’s a hearty autumnal snack that works wonderfully.
The eating ritual might be somewhat unfamiliar for some European-ers who prefer the pre-prepared bite set-up of sandwiches say, or hotdogs. It usually consists of taking a bite of each component of the dish, and using your mouth as as a kind of food blender to mix the flavours. A curious approach to the art of eating street food. Prague-On-Segway notices in particular that the Brits prefer their street foods arranged in such a way that each bite combines the full array of flavours and elements of the snack- the sandwich or tortilla wrap being the perfect examples.
Other noticeable street foods you may encounter are the mouth-watering gyros, crispy potato sticks, and the wallet-emptying mini potato dumplings (gnocchi-like) wit smoked meat- but being the cultured bunch that you are, Prague-On-Segway will refrain from patronising you by explaining these common European street delights. On which note we’ll be off to indulge ourselves in a game of ”Eat-the-tredlenik-without-licking-your-lips” before scooting of to our next venue on this gastronomic tour- the pub. See you there folks.
