From andula to talián: How well do you know Czech smoked meats?
Amaso: Guaranteed quality meat
Párek, or “uzenka”
A slim sausage, similar to classic frankfurters. The key principle butchers follow when making a párek is the ratio of lean to fatty meat, which should be 70% to 30%. There's more than one kind though — find your favourite here. Historically, these sausages are sold in pairs, and the name “párek” is derived from the Czech word "pár", or pair.
“Špekáček” or “buřt”?
"Vuřt” and “buřt” are one and the same (the Czech version of “wurst”), whilst “špekáček” is a slightly smaller sausage.
measuring just 50–70 cm. Today, the špekáček is a bit longer, and you probably only hear the term “buřt” when you’re sitting around a campfire. The špekáček contains small pieces of chopped bacon—hence its name.
Here's how to choose one in-store.
Talián, a fragrant specialty with Italian roots
This light pink sausage is named after its creator — or rather, his nationality. In the late 19th century, an Italian butcher named Uggé owned a small shop on Rybná Street in Prague, and it was there that he created this unsmoked delicacy. However, he refused to reveal the recipe to his Czech colleagues, so they were forced to recreate it themselves by trial and error.
Gothaj, a retro smoked sausage of German origin
This Czech smoked meat also has foreign origins. Gothaj salami came to us in the 19th century from the German city of Gotha, where it was first mixed and smoked by butcher-smoker Johan Daniel Kestner. The recipe used for Gothaj by butchers at Amaso dates back to 1975.
If you want to prepare a retro meal with Gothaj at home, try “worker’s carpaccio” or “worker’s schnitzel.”
Andula, the Czech counterpart to nduja
Andula, invented by a butcher at Amaso, is inspired by the spicy Calabrian nduja and its slightly sweeter Spanish counterpart, contrada. Andula salami contains ground meat and lard from the tail — in fact, this accounts for about 70% of the fat. The rest of the ingredients consist of lean meat, hot peppers, garlic, red wine, fennel, and both sweet and smoked paprika. Before being cold-smoked, andula is fermented and then dried for at least two months. In the kitchen, it’s great on pizza, in pasta, or on its own on a slice of bread.
Tlačenka, or headcheese
This Czech delicacy, typically served with vinegar and onions, is a wonderful example of how butchers can make use of the entire animal. Tlačenka is made from the parts of the pig that contain collagen, as well as lean and fatty meat. There is no single definitive method to make it, as each region has its own pig slaughtering traditions, but butcher František Kšána has shared his recipe with us.
Prague Ham
Novels could be written about this smoked meat, which originated on Celetná Street in Prague. To make it today, butchers need a pork leg, specifically from a Přeštice black-pied pig, Praganda salt, a little effort, and time. The leg is cured in a brine solution, but also injected with it, which ensures the salt is distributed evenly throughout the meat, preserving its flavour and natural pink colour.
Read more about this famous cured meat below, and then head straight to Naše maso butchery in Prague to taste for yourself.
Ostrava sausage
This si the one they sell and grill on-site at Naše maso, inspired by the original Czechoslovak standard from 1975. This original recipe was created by butcher František Pekárek from the Hulváky district of Ostrava, who later worked as a food technologist at the Martinov meat processing plant.
The Ostrava sausage at Naše maso consists largely of coarsely ground meat from pork trimmings, black pepper, garlic, caraway, and a little sugar, stuffed into a pork sausage casing. After drying in the smokehouse, the butchers dip it in pork blood, then smoke it, and finally steam it gently. The blood staining the surface of the sausage is responsible for its characteristic blackish colour.
