How a single cookbook defined a city’s cuisine

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic, the 13th largest city in the EU, and the historical capital of Bohemia. Its long history includes being a culinary capital, but decades of communist rule relegated the storied foods of the city and its environs to the history books. Anthony Bourdain described the Czech Republic as “the land vegetables forgot.” The drab, carb- and meat-heavy foods served during and immediately following communist rule were due in large part to a single cookbook, as Atlas Obscura explains.

During the Napoleonic era, Prague’s cuisine rivaled that of its peers like Vienna and Paris. According to the article, during that period “Czechs were roasting goose better than Germans, using gnocchi in ways the Italians never thought of, and incorporating French techniques that made their meat sauces even richer.” That came to a screeching halt in 1939 as Nazis invaded the area and implemented strict rationing.

After the war ended, the Czechoslovak citizens hoped their food would rebound and it did to a certain extent, but it never returned to pre-war levels of bounty. As the Soviets tightened their grip to squelch the nascent liberalization movement, they imposed restrictions on importing meat and other foods, and even dictated what foods restaurants could serve by publishing a national cookbook entitled Receptury teplých pokrmu, or Recipes for Warm Meals. It contained 845 approved recipes, and if you wanted to depart from what was in its pages you had to seek permission from the authorities, a process that could take years. Read more about this cookbook at Atlas Obscura, and learn how Prague and the Czech Republic are slowing rebuilding their national food scene.

Photos of Czech pork loin with dumplings and sauerkraut (Vepřo knedlo zelo) and Meatballs / meat patties (Karbanátky) from 196 Flavors, indexed by an EYB Member.