Moravian cuisine facts for kids

Moravian cuisine is the traditional food from Moravia, a region in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. It's a bit like a cousin to Czech cuisine, but it has its own special dishes, drinks, and customs that make it unique.

People in Moravia often use lots of pork and poultry (like chicken or duck) in their cooking. They also love dishes made with flour, like different kinds of dumplings called knödel (or koláčky, gulivary, pěry). In the southern parts of Moravia, you'll find many dishes with fresh vegetables and fruits, especially plums.

What Makes Moravian Food Special?

Moravian food often uses pork, and in a specific area called Moravian Wallachia, they also cook with lamb. Goose and duck meat are popular too, along with wild game like hares, partridges, and pheasants.

For cooking fats, people traditionally used lard (from pigs), goose fat, and duck fat. Oils like beechnut oil and grape oil were also common. Butter was expensive a long time ago, and olive oil had to be brought in from other countries.

Fresh Vegetables and Fruits

Especially in southern Moravia, there are lots of vegetables. These include white cabbage, red cabbage, peppers (paprika), Savoy cabbage, cucumbers, beans, peas, cauliflower, rutabaga, celeriac, beetroot, kale, lentils, and pumpkin.

Southern Moravia is also famous for its vineyards, where grapes are grown. This means wine and grape products are used in the kitchen. You might find grape oil, wine jelly, jam, and powidl (a type of prune butter). They also use wine vinegar, raisins, and brandy.

Moravia has more fruit orchards than the neighboring region of Bohemia. The most common fruits are apricots, peaches, plums, and almonds. In the very south, you can even find watermelons, figs, and mulberries.

Spices and Herbs

The most common spices in Moravian cooking are caraway, marjoram, local types of onion, and local garlic. Other herbs used less often include thyme, parsley, rosemary, saffron, wild garlic, satureja, garden cress, mugwort, and chives. Many of these herbs have been grown in Moravia for hundreds of years, even though they originally came from the Mediterranean region.

A Look Back at Moravian Food History

Street markets have always been very important for Moravian cuisine. They were places where people could buy and sell fresh ingredients. A great example is the Cabbage Market (Zelný trh) in Brno, which has been open for an amazing 850 years!

Popular Moravian Dishes

Here are some well-known dishes from Moravia:

• Stuffed peppers (paprica) – Peppers filled with tasty ingredients.
• Moravian sparrow (moravský vrabec) – A dish often made with pork.
• Halušky – Small potato dumplings, also popular in Slovakia.
• Olomoucké tvarůžky – A special type of strong-smelling cheese.
• Šulánky s makem (poppy seed noodles) – Noodles with poppy seeds.
• Kyselica (zelňačka - zelná polévka/sauerkraut soup) – A sour cabbage soup.
• Marillenknödl (meruňkové knedlíky/marholové gulivary) – Apricot dumplings.
• Plum dumplings (švestkové knedlíky/trnkové koláčky) – Dumplings filled with plums.
• Stryky
• Pohančena
• Tlačenka
• Bigos – A stew, also found in Silesia and Poland.
• Powidl – A thick prune butter.

Moravian Drinks

Moravia also has a variety of interesting drinks:

• Slivovitz (Slivovica/trnkovica) – A strong plum brandy.
• Jablkovica, hruškovica, ringlovica, meruňkovica – Other fruit spirits made from apples, pears, ringlo plums, and apricots.
• Kofola – A popular Czech soft drink.
• Wine – Moravia is known for its wines, including types like Moravian Muscat and Pálava.
• Ondrášovka
• Hanácká kyselka
• ZON
• Vincentka – A mineral water.
• Bezovka – A popular homemade drink made from elderflowers.
• Šaratica – Another mineral water.
• Apple juice (jablečný mošt) – Fresh apple juice.
• Burčák (Federweisser) – A young, low-alcohol wine that is still fermenting.