Related articles

Welcome to the ABC of Czech, Radio Prague special Czech language programme, this season dedicated to Czech food and cuisine. Having explained some of the vocabulary concerning fruit dishes last week, it is time today to look at vegetable meals.

Welcome to the ABC of Czech, Radio Prague's Czech language course which this season looks at Czech food and cuisine. In today's lesson we'll be talking about some traditional Czech fruit dishes and cakes.

A Czech-speaking customer buys a chain of homemade sausages in a trendy part of town. But, don't be fooled into thinking this is Prague: this is in fact Toronto, fashionable Queen Street West, where a delicatessen, known as the Prague Deli, has been preparing fine Czech foods since 1968. Run by three generations in the Kral family, the deli is nothing less than an "institution". Some would say: a "bite" of home away from home. It's where almost all Czech Torontonians go to stock up on schnitzel, cold-cuts, or even just desserts.

This Monday marks the 220th anniversary of the birth of one of the great daughters of the Czech nation. Magdalena Dobromila Rettigova was a woman of many talents and interests but today she is perhaps best-known for her famous cookery book, which can still be found on many a bookshelf in the Czech Republic.

In this edition: New Year's greetings, the most popular winter foods, the history of written Czech, the winner of December's competition. Listeners quoted: Muhammad Shamim, India; Harjot Singh Brar, India; R.L. Scott, Canada.

Tune in for a special Xmas edition of Magazine - which can serve as a crash course for foreigners who are spending their first Xmas here and who may find things a bit strange at first.

For centuries, Czechs have enjoyed the Christmas treat vanocka, which means bakers have labored to make the sweet, fruity bread for just as many centuries. Radio Prague's Eric Martin found out just how difficult the bread is to make. The product of his hours-long solo attempt was practically inedible, so we sent him to get his act together at a well-known Prague bakery as it prepared for the Christmas season's first batch of vanocka.

Many people from Prague's large ex-pat community would balk at the idea of having a carp for Christmas dinner. In places like Ireland and England, the fish is hardly ever eaten as it's considered to be a "dirty" animal. Luckily for many ex-pats, the British-owned Robertson's Butchers has now been supplying meat products that are very common in other countries on the Prague market as well. This includes providing turkeys and hams for people's Christmas dinners.

Bursting to share your views? Head for Palacky Square - the site of Prague's newly inaugurated Speakers' Corner. Hockey star Jaromir Jagr may be in far away Siberia but he can still enjoy Czech beer and dumplings at a local Czech restaurant. And, the Czech Army is being accused of discrimination after turning away a transsexual. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.

As the fifteenth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution fast approaches, many people in the Czech Republic have been taking stock of the vast changes since then. Take the nation's health: Czechs aren't growing any taller but men seem to be putting on weight. More diseases are being diagnosed but are also being treated more efficiently. That's what statistical data tell us about Czech population 15 years after the fall of communism.