Ovar

A stew-like delicacy that is either loved or hated, as it contains lean but also very fatty cooked meat. The tongue and internal organs such as the spleen, heart, liver or kidneys are also added. All this is boiled in salted water with bay leaf, allspice, whole pepper and onion.

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.

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 in this case, 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.

Fresh sausages (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. 

Brawn (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 brawn.

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.