Česnečka – Czech Garlic Soup

I know that many of my fellow marathoners would have thought I would be making some Chinese dishes for this alphabet but in doing so I don’t think there would be any thrill in that,right! So I am going to disappoint them and cook from another country.Our journey is now proceeding towards the Czech Republic from Bulgaria.

Here are some facts about this country…

• The Czech Republic has over 2000 castes / caste ruins!
• Tourism is the major source of economy for this country.
• This country boasts of being the largest consumers of beer.
• Czech has some well known spa towns.
• Tennis champion Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl hail from this country.
• 90% of the population have completed secondary education!
• Soft contact lenses were discovered by a Czech national named Otto Wicheterle.
• Christmas dinner in this country would be considered incomplete if carp is not served.

Cuisine of Czech Republic:

Here is something that I read while searching for the recipes from this cuisine…

This cuisine is not not exactly synonymous with healthy cooking.They are mostly rich in calories, fat and sugar! Now a day , the people are shifting towards to more healthier food styles.

A Czech meal often starts with a soup.The main course has some meat and side dishes.There are a lot of desserts in this cuisine that are tasty and fatty!A lot of butter and whipped cream is used and the

Some dishes unique to this cuisine are

• Roast pork with bread dumplings and stewed cabbage
• Beef roast with steamed dumplings and creamy vegetable sauce
• Roast duck with dumpling and red cabbage
• Potato pancakes
• Carp for Christmas
• Fried Cheese
• Honey cakes
• Crepes with different fillings
• Fruit filled dumplings.

 Behind the scene :

This was the 5th recipe that I cooked for this series – Around the world in 30 days. The day I made this,it was cold and rainy The soup tasted awesome. I took it for clicking pics and hubby saw it and wanted to taste it.As soon as the quick photo shoot was over,hubby finished off the entire bowl of soup!!And I had just tasted it while it was getting cooked.So I am sure I will be making this again.

Garlic Soup

I used:
Adapted from – Cityroom.com
Serves – 2

Garlic- 5 pods
Potato-1 , chopped into small cubes
Vegetable stock-4 cups
Freshly crushed black pepper- 1/2 teaspoon
Minced Ginger-1/2 teaspoon
Caraway seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste

 Bread croutons-as needed
Grated cheese – as needed

Crush the garlic pods in a stone motor and pestle with a little salt.

Heat the vegetable stock in a pan and add the crushed garlic, caraway seeds, cubed potato,minced ginger, salt and pepper. Let it simmer covered till the potato is cooked.

Remove from heat and serve hot garnished with bead croutons and grated cheese.

• You can use water instead of vegetable stock.
• Sometimes with soup is served with some meat in it or as such.
• Adjust the seasonings to suit your taste.

Since I have used potato in this soup, I made a simple Czech carrot and apple salad…Check it out too….

Bon Appetit…