It was a Saturday afternoon on Wenceslas Square, the commercial center of Prague, and as usual, hoards of tourists filled the street as they listened to their tour guides, who spoke just about every language known to man. I pushed and shoved my way through, heading towards my goal. It was so close that I could almost smell it. Almost.
After working my way through the “CONNOR FAMILY REUNION 2008,” according to their lime green t-shirts,
I spotted it: a small silver kiosk with bright red signs lining its top. It may have seemed like a typical New York hot dog stand, dingy and greasy, but it was different, special somehow.
Fodor’s and Frommer’s have called it a “hot spot,” and “a place not to be missed.” Or as Dorling Kindersley put it, “a slice of culinary genius, for the late night connoisseur.” Oddly enough, however, the tourists in the large group surrounding the kiosk were all ordering the wrong delicacy that day.
“One hamburger,” cried a Brit.
“Jedna sausage,” shouted an American. I chuckled; American tourists always pretend to be “fluent” in the native language. But I should not have laughed since that was exactly what I did next.
“Smazeny syr, prosim.”
Before coming to Prague, friends had told me all about the infamous sandwich sold along the square. And not once did it sound appetizing. Where to begin? Essentially, Smazeny syr, fried, cheese, is a thick slice of cheese, preferably edam, covered in egg and breadcrumbs, deep-fried, served on a hamburger bun with tartar sauce – I prefer it with ketchup – and purchased in droves by tourists and Czechs alike. Even though the current kiosks only date back to 1998, the stands have actually been located on Wenceslas Square since the late 1940s.
“They first appeared after the second World War,” said Jana Novakova, 49, a lifetime resident of Prague who runs one of the smazeny syr kiosks on Wenceslas Square.
“People come from all over to buy them,” she added. “One of my very best customers, he will drive here three times in one week from Brno.” Located two hours south of Prague, a drive from Brno shows true commitment to the fried cheese cult.
“Mothers and fathers bring their children here,” said Martina Janku, 38, who works at the same kiosk as Novakova. “And when the children grow up, they bring their children, and their grandchildren.”
“It’s a tradition,” she added. “People feel comfortable when they eat smazeny syr.”
I tried one on my third or fourth night in Prague. After stumbling out of the infamously wild nightspot Chapeau – or is it Chateau Rouge? – I found myself passing the kiosk on my way back to Vinohrady.
“Jedna smazeny syr.”
One minute and 35 crowns ($1.75) later, the warm oozing cheese fell upon my tongue, and I knew that I had found something truly amazing. The sandwich climbed to the top of my list of favorite Czech dishes, clogged arteries be damned!
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