SnackHands loves Prague!

Is it possible that our taste buds are genetically programmed?

When I was in grade school, my dad figured out for me that I am 12% Bohemian. What you might call Czech, these days. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but I give it extra weight because Bohemia is also where my last name hails from. I didn't grow up eating Czech food, and it wasn't until I was in my late 20s that I visited my first Czech restaurant. I can't remember exactly what I ate, only that it was a mixture of meats and breading and cheese, and that it, somehow, tasted familiar.

In February, I went to Prague, Czech Republic, for a week. I tried to get there as slim as possible because I knew my diet throughout the week would consist largely of potatoes, pork, beer and cheese. Oh, and kielbasa with rye bread from a cart on the street. Does it get any better??? (Answer: No, it doesn't.)

My first meal was ham carved off a pig roasting on a spit in the middle of a little street festival we came across. My second, later that same evening, was potato pancakes with sausage and a side of bread dumplings. Later in the week I discovered honey cake, which was on the menu in pretty much every restaurant, thank god.
I also had an absinthe macchiato, which was fascinating and pretty. Everything I ate and drank made me love the city that much more. Not that Prague is not a hard place to love -- beautiful ornate buildings, winding cobblestone alleyways, and just the all-around cool experience of being in a totally different place, at a totally different pace, and fitting right into it. If you haven't been, go. Just go.

The greatest place we stumbled upon was this one: www.rest2000.cz/uciriny We got there at about 3 in the afternoon. The two ladies working were sweet and helpful, despite our slight language barrier. I ordered the "pancakes with ham foam." Don't ask me what "ham foam" is supposed to be. What I got was a piping hot casserole dish filled with delicious crepes loaded with creamy cheese and ham. For desert, THE GREATEST THING I'VE EVER EATEN. These apple fritters:
Basically, hot doughnuts rolled in sugar and cinnamon, baked around apples and drizzled with chocolate. Oh. My. God.

I've been back in NYC for about a month now. My stomach is homesick.