This article was tranlated by Iustrans
While preparing the “summer” link between Bilbao and Prague (or between Prague and Bilbao, depending which way you fly), CzechTourism has had a brilliant idea: to organize a meeting with journalists and bloggers around a table, in order to raise awareness of its country among the Basque people.
The standard thing to do would have been to bring a glamorous cook from Prague, and then organize a dinner surrounded by waiters and multiple-star chefs. Bu instead, Markéta Lehecková, the director of CzechTourism for the Iberian Peninsula (supported by the Blog on Brands team) organized a different fun, magical event, which they named #txokotxeko.
What was it about?
- Firstly, they did not invite us to a restaurant but to a txoko.
- Secondly, the cook wasn’t a Michelin-starred chef. All of us contributed to the making of the dishes, under the direction of Markéta Lehecková (to be honest, she did almost everything and left us the fun part)
- We did not have strange, complex dishes. We dined what our hostess traditionally used to dine at home; a family meal. That is, the typical authentic food you would have at any Czech home on a festive day.
Thus, amongst pans, knives, meat, vegetables and dough, we learned many things about the Czech Republic’s (Česká republika, Czech Republic) food culture, traditions and history. Well, yes; let’s admit it: we also tasted Czech beers and an exquisite Chardonnay from the Czech winery Moravine.
Although we will post with more details of what we did and learned in future, we wanted to share tonight’s experience with our readers immediately.
The dinner, along with our host’s explanations and friendliness, did not only whet our appetite, but also left us with a real desire to get to know this Central European country; especially now that there will be a direct connection between both countries.
But let’s get back to what we wanted to tell you: the dinner.
The first course was the country’s undisputed signature dish: the soup. For this occasion, Markéta surprised us by preparing a “Kulajda” soup (cream of mushroom)
The main course was a Gulás, an extraordinary dish consisting of a stew of beef or pork (in our case it was pork).
And the dessert was a real surprise: a scrumptious Jablecny Zavin. And what is a Jablecny Zavin? Well, it’s pastry filled with apple. With apple, raisins and other dried fruits. It can be served with cream, as it was in this case, or with some ice cream.
In short, it was a fantastic encounter, where we met very interesting people and began to discover a truly remarkable country in the best possible way: with good food and good company.
We will keep you informed about this event, simply because there are many interesting things to say, such as: what do the Czech Republic and Euskadi have in common in 2015 and 2016?
Once again, we want to express our gratitude to Markéta Lehecková for her impressive hosting, as well as for her original way of introducing her country to us.
To learn more about this country, see CzechTourism
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
