Krkonoše Cuisine, a Summer Journey for Kyselo and Sejkory - #PCČ3

Third Stop, North into the Mountains

In the south we fished for carp, in the west we washed down Chodsko kolach with Pilsner lager. The third stop of our summer journey across Czechia leads where the roads end and the ridges begin, to the Krkonoše Mountains.

The highest Czech mountains always fed their people modestly. Fields end just above the village, winter lasts half the year, and the pantry held only what would keep: potatoes, cabbage, dried mushrooms, rye flour. Out of that scarcity grew a cuisine that today tastes better than many a fancy menu. Simple, filling, honest.

In part three we taste kyselo made from rye starter, bake a batch of sejkory, and suggest where to go in the mountains when you get hungry.

The Cooking of Mountain Huts

Krkonoše dishes were invented by housewives with five children, one goat and a sack of rye flour at home. Meat was rare, so they cooked with what the garden and the forest gave. Mushrooms were dried for the whole winter, potatoes were baked right on the stovetop, and bread was leavened with a starter handed down through the family like a treasured heirloom.

The hut keepers on the ridges added a chapter of their own. The mountain huts, called boudas here, fed lumberjacks, smugglers and the first tourists, and their menus still stick to the proven trio: soup, a potato pancake, something from the traditional winter pig feast. Walk the ridges today and you will find kyselo on the menu of almost every hut.

Before we get to it, we picked three recipes that bring the mountain pantry to the lowlands.

Kyselo, a Soup Made from Rye Starter

Kyselo is a soup that only people who never tasted it confuse with kulajda. Its base is not cream but a rye sourdough starter, the same one bread is baked from. It ripens in a warm spot for a day or two, then thickens a mushroom broth and gives the soup a gently sour taste nothing else can imitate.

Mountain cooks made it from what was on hand: starter, mushrooms, potatoes and eggs scrambled with onion. We wrote the Krkonoše kyselo recipe from scratch for this part, including a guide to making your own starter. Next to it we add Hladká Ančka, a mountain kulajda, so you can compare the two soups fairly.

Sejkory, Pancakes from the Griddle

The second word that belongs to these mountains is sejkory. In the Krkonoše foothills, pancakes made from raw grated potatoes are not fried in oil like the usual potato pancakes. They are baked dry on a stovetop griddle. They come out thinner, drier and smelling of smoke. A little butter or plum jam was all they needed for dinner.

At mountain festivals they are still baked on cast-iron plates set up right in the yard. We wrote the sejkory recipe for this part from scratch so it works on an ordinary pan as well, and next to it we add crispy potato pancakes for comparison.

Where to Go When You Get Hungry

Start like royalty, on Sněžka. The highest mountain in Czechia stands 1603 meters tall and a cable car runs to the top from Pec pod Sněžkou. Up there you will find the round chapel of Saint Lawrence and a view you will not forget. If you prefer walking, take the trail through the Obří důl valley.

From Harrachov it is a pleasant walk to the Mumlava Falls. The water drops nearly ten meters and has carved giant kettles into the granite bed, known as devil's eyes. And on the Labská louka meadow above Špindlerův Mlýn, at about 1387 meters, the Elbe river begins. A ridge trail takes you to the symbolic spring decorated with the coats of arms of the towns the river flows through.

On the way back, stop in Jilemnice with its Krkonoše Museum, and at any mountain hut with kyselo on the menu. That is where you taste the soup the way they cook it right under the ridges.

Next Stop, Prague and Central Bohemia

The Krkonoše Mountains prove that great cooking does not need a full pantry. A starter, mushrooms and a bit of mountain patience will do. If you head for the ridges this summer, tell us which hut served you the best kyselo.

The Summer Journey Across Czechia and Moravia series continues next weekend. We roll down from the mountains straight to the capital and its surroundings, where the aroma of Prague ham and svíčková, the Czech sirloin in cream sauce, fills the air. Prague and Central Bohemia, bring your appetite.