Czech & Slovak Fried Cheese: Smažený Sýr/Vyprážaný Syr

In Czech it's "Smažený Sýr," pronounced kind of like "shmah-zhawny seer," and in Slovak as "Vyprážaný Syr," pronounced like "vee-prah-zhawny seer," they both simply mean "fried cheese." Typically they use Edam cheese in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia. Edam cheese is a round-shaped, off white colored Dutch cheese, encased in red wax, but Edam is also made outside of the Netherlands. If you can't find Edam, you can use gouda, another cheese originally from the Netherlands, but also produced elsewhere, or in the U.S. you can even try Monterey Jack, an American cheese that is pretty much available in any supermarket. The thing is, these cheeses all have relatively low moisture, which is what you want. I hadn't bought Edam cheese for many years. It's not that I don't like it, but for whatever reason, it just wasn't on my mind, but when I went to buy it recently, I couldn't find it at cheese shops or at the supermarket. I don't know if this is because of the pandemic, which disrupted the suppy of some items, especially from outside the country, or if Edam has fallen in popularity (of course, it's possible that your local store will have it). Anyhow, I ended up buying it online. Gouda is readily available in cheese shops and supermarkets, and I actually bought some of it too, just to have it.    

Serve with french fries, Czech tartar sauce and don't forget a nice cold glass of beer. The Czechs have a good reputation for pilsner beer.

Ingredients (2 to 4 servings):

 

4 pieces of Edam, gouda or Monterey Jack cheese, cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick, 2 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches long

2/3 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup breadcrumbs (fine type)

oil for frying

 

Add enough neutral flavor oil to provide a quarter inch of oil in a skillet, then heat the oil over medium high heat (NOT just medium heat). Spread the flour out onto a plate, then beat the eggs in a separate shallow bowl/plate, then spread the breadcrumbs out onto another separate place. Roll a cheese slice in the flour to coat it, shake off excess, then dip the cheese slice into the beaten egg to coat it, then roll the cheese in the breadcrumbs to coat. I dip my cheese slices back into the egg and then back into the breadcrumbs to make sure they are well coated (no need for another dose of flour). Do the same with each cheese slice. Fry the cheese quickly over medium high heat, turning the cheese pieces to brown them on both sides. Frying the cheese quickly helps to prevent the cheese from running out (the double breadcrumb coating naturally helps too). Stay alert, because the frying does not take long, and if you blink twice, the breadcrumb coating may become too dark, or even burn. Not that I know anything about that ... Actually, the first time I fixed this recipe, I turned around to simply rinse a dish off in the sink, and when I turned back to the stove, the breadcrumbs were so dark and burned, they looked like I had doused them in soy sauce, which gave me an idea, but that's another story. 

 

For the Czech tartar sauce:

 

1 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon vinegar

1/4 cup sweet gherkins, finely chopped (you can use somewhat less, to your own preference)

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped or grated

1/4 teaspoon chopped dill

1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, add all of the ingredients and stir well to mix. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour, but preferably for several hours. Stir the sauce before serving it.  

 

Fried cheese with fries, Czech tartar sauce and a glass of beer ...

WORD HISTORY:

Howitzer-This word is related to "heap" (both noun and verb), which are from the Germanic roots of English. "Howitzer" goes back to Indo European "k(h)oup," which had the notion of "raised surface;" thus, "hill." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "houpaz/haupaz," which "seems" to have reduced the meaning from "hill" to the lesser "pile or stack of something," although the reduced meaning may have first come in the West Germanic branch of Germanic. This gave Old High German "hufo" (heap), which then became "hufe (heap) (this also was used in the sense "group/band/crowd"). This was borrowed by Czech (often called "Old Czech" for the time period until the early 1500s) as "houf," which meant "heap, crowd, flock," and this gave Czech the noun "houfnice," initially a "catapult," seemingly from the trajectory (an arc) of the objects hurled by the device. German borrowed the word from Czech during the Hussite Wars (wars within Christianity in Bohemia, but before Christian "protesters against the Church" took the name "Protestants") for a "catapult" in the 1400s, apparently initially in German as "huffnitze," but also as an occasional name for some small Czech cannons. As artillery became more common, the name shifted to the shell-firing mortar-type gun that can be used to fire indirectly upon targets; that is, upon targets that cannot be seen by the gunners, as the shells are fired over all types of visual obstructions, and in German the term became "Haubitze," which was then borrowed by Dutch as "houwitser," and this was borrowed by English, initially as "hauwitser," in the latter part of the 1600s.   

Czech Sweet Rolls: Buchty, and Buchteln in German

These rolls originally came from the Czech lands of Bohemia, where they are called "buchty."* Very briefly and superficially, Bohemia and the Czechs had a long association with Germans through the Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) and the Habsburg family, one of the leading German noble families in Germandom for centuries. Bohemia later was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, led by the Habsburg emperor (Kaiser), who was simultaneously King of Hungary and King of Bohemia, as well as a number of other titles. When that empire dissolved, Bohemia became a part of the newly formed Czechoslovakia and it now is part of the Czech Republic, also known to some as "Czechia." The term "buchty" was borrowed by German as "Buchteln" (German nouns are capitalized), which is what I know them as, but they are also called "Wuchteln," although I have no idea why, unless it simply started out as a mispronunciation (?). There are also a couple of other regional names for these rolls in German. They are well known in Austria, parts of Bavaria (Bayern), Saxony (Sachsen) and the Swabia (Schwaben) region, part of which is in Bavaria, with the rest being a part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

There are variations to Buchteln, which are often, but not always, filled with plum or apricot jam, while others add some grated lemon peel to the batter. Some dust the Buchteln with powdered sugar when they are taken from the oven. "Vanillesoße" (vanilla sauce)** is a common accompaniment to these little sweet rolls. I made the Buchteln straight up, with no filling or lemon peel, but I did have plum jam on the side for serving. I do NOT take responsibility for any desire you have to make these rolls over and over and over. They are delicious! Browned and a "little" firm on top, but just light and airy inside.

Ingredients:

Rolls:

2 1/4 cups flour (a little more, if needed, plus some for when kneading the dough)
1 packet dry yeast (1/4 ounce/7g, and I used quick rise yeast) 
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup lukewarm milk
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons melted butter for coating
(optional) 1 or 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
butter for the baking dish
(optional) powdered sugar for dusting

In a bowl, mix the yeast with about 1/4 cup of lukewarm milk (it cannot be hot, just barely warm), 2 tablespoons of the sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Set this aside for about 10 to 15 minutes to let the yeast begin to act. Meanwhile, in a larger bowl, add the flour, the remainder of the sugar, the rest of the lukewarm milk, the egg yolks, the melted butter, the vanilla and the salt (the lemon peel too, if using). When the yeast mixture is frothy and puffy, add it to the other ingredients and mix everything very well. The dough will likely be somewhat sticky, but cover the bowl with a towel or paper towel and put it in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until the dough about doubles in size. Dust your counter or board with some flour and empty the dough out. I use some oil on my hands (not something like extra virgin olive oil, which has a flavor to it). Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, adding a little flour to the counter, as needed (of course if you have a mixer for bread, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer). Roll the dough into a long "snake." Cut off pieces to roll into golf ball size rounds. Butter a baking dish. Dip each round into the melted butter to lightly coat them, then put the rounds into the buttered dish. The rounds should be "snuggled" into the dish together, not spread out from one another. Cover the dish with a towel again and let it sit in a warm place for about another 10 to 15 minutes to let the rolls rise a little. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F for "about" 30 to 40 minutes, or until the rolls are browned. Note: If you want to fill the Buchteln, when you roll the golf ball size rounds out, punch an opening into each round with your thumb, put in a heaping teaspoon of plum or apricot jam, then pull the dough over the opening to close it off. Place this side down in the baking dish. Some people actually roll out the rounds, place the jam in the middle, then pull up the dough all around. Again, place where the opening was facing down in the baking dish.

Buchteln are usually served warm, and you can always pop them into your microwave for just a few seconds if they've cooled, but I like them cooled too. If you'd like vanilla sauce with the Buchteln, see note ** below.   

* Pronounced pretty much like "book-tea" (the "oo" being the pronunciation of "boot," not book), with the singular form being "buchta," with the (singular) meaning being "bread roll, bun." 

** The recipe for vanilla sauce is at this link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/11/vanilla-sauce-vanillesoe.html

2 Buchteln with plum jam and vanilla sauce...

Fresh from the oven...

Unbaked...

WORD HISTORY: 
Leave-English has two forms of this spelling, but this is the noun meaning, "permission, agreement to permit something," most commonly associated with "permission to be away from work or military duty, furlough." It is related to the second part of "belief," and more distantly related to "love," both from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "leub(h)," which had the notion of "care, desire, love, something that pleases." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "leubon/laubon," meaning, "permission" (obviously tied to "something that pleases"). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "leafe" (not related to the foliage of trees and plants, "leaf"), also meaning "permission." This then became "leve," before the modern version. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Urlaub" (military leave, leave from work, but Americans more typically say "vacation"), Erlaubnis (permission, a permit, authorization), Low German borrowed "Urlaub" from standard German, but prior to that, it had "orleve," Dutch has the now antiquated "oorlof" (permission, military or work leave), but Dutch also has "verlof," (vacation, military leave, furlough). Most of the Germanic languages now use words unrelated to the English noun "leave."