Rehovot

You should also get the Order of the Lace Hanky for doing it all while sick! True GRITS courage--with finesse. Everything looks fabulous. Congrats!

From what I understand, fava beans are the basis of Egyptian-style falafel, while chickpeas are the basis of, for example, Israeli-style falafel. Where do other countries fall on the bean divide, though? One Algerian cafe here in Prague uses fava beans (I think, judging by the stacks of canned fava in the back room). Different than what I'm used to, but definitely the best in town.

My past kitchens have had concrete or linoleum floors, and I've never really noticed, because I wear these 24/7. This isn't a paid endorsement ( ), just an endorsement. I'm on my feet all day long (teaching/cooking), and my feet never hurt at the end of the day, in these things. I consider them a good investment, every couple of years. Alternatively, you could also try making an ad-hoc mat from a sheet of cork, to see if that might help. Good luck!

Lovely! I love how many textures there are--for example, the crunchy fritters and baked onions. It all seems to balance so well. What a fabulous meal it must have been.

According to the World's Healthiest Foods site, both fresh and dried thyme have antioxidant properties, if that can be considered "useful". But wouldn't most herbs retain their usefulness/antioxidant traits in fresh and dried form, anyway?

Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (roast pork knee with dumplings and cabbage) and svičkova (beef with cream sauce) are foods unique to the Czech Republic. These guys, Kluci v acki / Boys in Action do a Jamie-Oliver-inspired cooking program and have lots of international restaurant experience; they could probably offer some good connections. Lots of good hidden places exist. Coffehouse/teahouse culture is quite big... Carp, I am happy to add, usually only makes an appearance around Christmastime. Good luck with your venture!

I do a lot of stuff on the stove, because our oven has one setting (infernal), but haven't burned anything in a while. However, if you're taking orders, sign me up for one automatic risotto-stirrer, please.

Beautiful! I imagine it smells heavenly. ChefC, do the four designs on the stamp each have a different meaning?

There's delivery in metro Prague--Indian, Japanese, Mexican, Italian, etc.. I think most places tack on a surcharge for each km you live outside of some range of the restaurant. I'd venture that mainly only businesspeople, expats, and anyone else making well above the average Czech salary are the ones using delivery. I just throw on a sweatshirt and walk half a block to place a take-out order at our local Pakistani restaurant. Come to think of it, since I do most of the shopping and cooking, I am the delivery service. Maybe I should raise my rates.

Sounds wonderful. Is this in her "World of Vegetarian Cooking" book? ← Is it this soup, on the Field to Feast blog? The writer says it's "adapted from" World Vegetarian.

Mmm, soup. I could eat soup all year long, which is why I really enjoyed this thread. I'd planned on making butternut squash soup for dinner, but this was vetoed by my other half, who claimed that soup three nights in a row is excessive. Yeah, excessively good! Looking forward to your week.

Here's a link.

Gorgeous! A savory croquembouche sounds fantastic.

Perhaps posting your question here will help. The expat community where I am is great at recommending where to find foodstuffs. Often, you'll find people's favorite markets/restaurants, this way. Neighbors/colleagues/students are also good sources of local info... Buena suerte!

The Upper Crust Bakery in Green Meadows used to have great cakes, tarts, etc. Is this still the case? There was also a great gelateria on the south side of town--a couple of vacant lots south of Osaka, and of Joe's Custard.

There's a good hummus recipe buried in this article on Lebanese chef Reem Azoury. The hummus recipe begins on page 3 of the first link.

Great photos; did you get an article out of the experience?

The New York Times just did a story on how to find the middle-class Aspen, which mentions a few bars and restaurants (Jimmy's bar and the Red Onion bar). Their general listing of restaurants for Aspen accompanies the article.

At a pub this weekend, I encountered dozens of these gems, including the description for one entree, "meat with a crushing bouquet".

Another cocktail with Becherovka is the Beton: ice 4 cl Becherovka top up with tonic and lemon juice twist of citron The Becherovka recipe / herb mixture is apparently a highly guarded secret. Czechs going on trips abroad often pack a bottle of Becherovka, as Americans might pack Pepto... Nazdravi!

What's wrong with oatmeal? It's got a low glycemic index so you don't crash a half-hour after breakfast, does great stuff for your cholesterol, and you can vary it by throwing all kinds of berries, nuts, yogurt, etc. on it. I regard it as a kind of morning salad.

Here's at least one thread on CSAs. I joined one after going through severe fresh-veg withdrawal, after moving to the Czech Republic from the Middle East. Every three weeks, we pay about $9.50 for 12 kilos (26 lbs.) of vegetables; the selection usually includes two kinds of winter squash, winter greens (kale, as far as I can tell), beets, carrots, onions, and potatoes. The box comes from a farmer outside of Prague, and, while it's not organic, the quality is certainly better and cheaper than what you can find in a supermarket, here (probably about the same, but cheaper, as what you find in mom-and-pop fruit-and-vegetable shops). So we've been eating a lot of roasted squash (great with blue cheese and toasted nuts mixed in), borscht, and chicken roasted with vegetables. The farmer also offers cheese, eggs, and honey; we recently got half a kilo of whipped honey, which looks like a gold silk scarf in a jar and tastes fantastic.

Here, it's traditionally carp (but I think this is also true in Bavaria): carp soup, breaded and fried carp, and potato salad. And then about four thousand Christmas cookies.

Czechs also celebrate Advent and Mikulas (St. Nicholas's Day, December 5th). Mikulas is celebrated the evening before, as is Christmas; on Mikulas Eve, it's common to see an angel, a devil's helper, and St. Nicholas/Mikulas running around the town in a band. Parents hire trios of teenagers dressed like this to come scare or charm the kids into good behavior from now until Christmas. And everyone gets chocolate. Christmas decorations popped up here, immediately after Halloween. (I don't know if this is true elsewhere, but, here, Sundays preceding Christmas are referred to as Bronze, Silver, and Gold (in that order).) The giant market in the old town square in Prague is selling svarak/mulled wine, gingerbread, etc. There are Christmas markets all over town; my favorite is the one in Vinohrady, on Namesti Miru, in front of St. Ludmila's church; the market is much smaller in scale and attracts only a handful of people. But the main joy for me, for the last two weeks, has been the scents in the old (not by Czech standards, but 19th-century) apartment building I live in; whenever I open our apartment's front door, and step out into the stairwell, there are marvelous scents of sugar cookies, gingerbread and vanilla rising up from the floors below. Since most of the building's inhabitants are elderly ladies, there are going to be a lot of grandkids buried under piles of Christmas cookies, I suspect. I was in Dresden, on Saturday, and the Christmas market there is mind-boggling: gingerbread, stollen, schneeballen . There was some kind of parade of culinary professionals along the edge of the market, too, in Old Town, including the Dresden Stollen team, who were carrying a samurai-sized sword/stollen-cutting knife on a wooden display slung over their shoulders. Along with them, marched butchers and a bunch of chefs. I love a town that throws a parade for food professionals.

Lovely! What filling do yours have? The article mentions savory sufganiyot with Roquefort. Count me in.