May 8th is a holiday in this country, supposedly to mark the end of World War II, and looking for a place to dine out, I came across this special menu item: Green asparagus in butter with poached egg and Parmesan, price 178 crowns. That’s about seven bucks. For asparagus? A glass of Moravian white wine is recommended to go with it, described as “light, semi-dry, with a combination of fruitiness and minerals in the aroma, accompanied by fresh acidity and a full yet tangy flavor.” That sounds like it could be worth the two bucks for it.

In the end, I opted for a food fair, offering various types of cheeses, chocolates, and nibbles to try. Nothing filling if you’re hungry, not unless you keep coming back until they get wise to you. There were also stands with traditional foods like a burger, although I’m not sure about that weird one in the picture. Is that watercress in it? Czech snacks are always popular at events like these, nothing more so than the spicy potato pancake smothered in sour cream. It can only be eaten with a beer in hand, preferably with a lot of foam on top. Altogether, it will run you about the price of that glass of “wine”.                                     

                                                                  Ran out of lettuce, had to use watercress              

                                                                     

  

                                             

Maybe a thousand calories each, but worth every bite   

       

 

      A beer with no head in this country just ain’t no beer      

                                       

     

About our author, Darren Baker (1961- ), his career path is almost as unlikely as Simon’s own! He was born in California and spent his formative years in South Carolina, before joining the U.S. Navy. His first book was based on his years in the submarine fleet. He later attended the University of Connecticut, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in modern and classical languages (a double Russian and German major with a minor in classical Greek). A backpacking tour of Eastern Europe in 1991 led him to settle permanently in the Czech Republic.

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