A guide to the delicacies of a Czech 'zabijačka'
Lokál U Bílé kuželky
Brain
Usually the first meal right after slaughter, it's fried with egg and onion and served with fresh bread.
Ovar
A stew-like delicacy that has many supporters and detractors because it contains lean but also very fatty cooked meat. Ovar is also used to make tongue and viscera such as spleen, heart, liver or kidneys. All this is boiled in salted water with bay leaves, allspice, whole pepper and onions. Then the intestines, the liver and the liverwurst come in. If something cracks and the insides escape into the soup, it's no harm - this is how you get killer soup, or prdelačka.
Slaughter broth (‘Prdelačka’)
A hearty broth in which the other delicacies like blood sausage and brawn have been cooked. Pearl barley and pork blood are added, along with plenty of garlic and marjoram.
Slaughter goulash (Zabijačkový guláš)
Goulash, in which you can find almost everything - shoulder, belly, neck, all the trimmings and offal. It’s a mixture that creates a unique taste that you can really only find at a pig slaughter.
What goes on at a traditional pig slaughter
Different region, different morals, this is also true of the tradition of 'zabijačka'. Regional variations are mainly a matter of seasoning – the list of delicacies that can be prepared from the pig remains more or less constant.
'You get up at six in the morning, kill the pig and then go on until the evening. Some specialities are eaten straight away, such as brains or ovar, while others are saved for later – blood sausage, brawn and others. We have a lot to do until the evening," says Jirka Michal, Kantýna's head butcher.
Nowadays, slaughters are mainly held in the countryside, but in the past, pigs were also commonly killed in Prague's Old Town Square. Urban slaughters are forbidden by current laws, but even if the pig has to be taken out of the world elsewhere, you can still enjoy the authentic atmosphere with all the trimmings in the centre of Prague.
Blood sausage (Jelito)
Sausages made with fattier meat, which is ground and mixed with blood – to make a firmer mixture – before being filled into the intestine casing. Blood sausage is seasoned similarly to ‘jitrnice’, with the addition of crushed cumin, and also cooked pearl barley. All of this is combined, fed into the casing, and can be eaten cold or warm – but they’re best when toasted until crispy.
Prejt
Similar to blood sausage, but the mixture isn’t cased. Instead, it’s baked in a dish, which gives it a crispy crust. Eat it warm, with a couple of slices of bread.
Jitrnice
Jitrnice – or fresh sausages – contain leaner meat than the blood sausage above, with no added blood. The mixture (meat, lungs, spleen, raw liver) is mixed with soft bread rolls – this helps absorb the fat, but above all sets the whole mixture. They taste great cold and warm.
Tlačenka
Tlačenka is a Czech speciality much like brawn or head cheese. All the parts of the pig that contain collagen are used here – skin, back fat and even the feet. This helps give a stiff, jelly-like consistency. Other meat, mainly lean, is added to this mixture, which is then cased and heated in water that has a maximum of 85 °C – but never boiled!. It’s allowed to cool, and is turned regularly so that the meat settles evenly throughout.
Snout and ears (Rypáček a ouško)
A treat for connoisseurs! The snout and ears are put in the ovar, and sometimes people literally fight over them at the butcher's counter. If these aren’t already gone, they’ll be added to the tlačenka.
Pork scratchings (Škvarky)
Sometimes called butcher's popcorn, because you’ll hear them popping away in the background during the whole slaughter process. These are made by rendering lard – back lard cubes are heated and melted, following which the cracklings are removed and liquid lard is poured into containers. The lard is eaten like butter, spread on bread after it has solidified.
Fresh cutlets
The meat is ready to eat immediately after slaughter, needing only quick preparation. Butchers wrap the cuts in a breadcrumb triple-wrap and fry them in lard to make schnitzel, or simply grill them. You can enjoy succulent pork neck, cutlet or tenderloin.
