Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1841) of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. Many of Dvořák’s compositions, such as the Slavonic Dances and his large collection of songs, were directly inspired by Czech, Moravian, and other Slavic traditional music. As the basis for his works, Dvořák frequently used Slavic folk dance forms including the skočná; the Bohemian furiant, sousedská, and špacirka; the Slovak odzemek; the Polish mazurka and polonaise; the Yugoslav Kolo; and folk songs of Slavic peoples, including the Ukrainian dumka.

Svíčková na smetaně is a traditional Czech dish made with beef sirloin and root vegetables, cooked in a creamy sauce.

Ingredients

1½ lb beef tenderloin or sirloin in one piece

5 oz. smoked bacon diced

2 onions, peeled and cut into large slices

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons mustard (or 2 oz/50g mustard seeds)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

3 tablespoons butter

2 carrots, julienned

½ celeriac, julienned

1 leek , thinly sliced

2 turnips, julienned

1 cube beef broth , diluted in ¾ cup/200ml hot water

1¼ cup sour cream

2 bay leaves

4 whole allspice berries

zest of a lemon

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons cranberry jam or other berry jam

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300° F/150° C.

Poke the piece of meat, and insert the bacon in the holes. Season with salt and tie the meat with kitchen twine.

In a large cast iron pot or Dutch oven, sauté the onions over medium heat.

Add the sugar and caramelize the onions lightly.

Add all the vegetables and sauté for 10 minutes.

Add the meat, lemon zest, vinegar, 1 teaspoon mustard (or 1 oz/25g mustard seeds), whole allspice berries, pepper, and bay leaves.

Stir and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

Pour over the diluted beef broth cube and bake in the oven for 2h15. Turn the meat over and add boiling water regularly, if necessary.

Take out from the oven. Remove the meat and bay leaves.

Add remaining mustard (or mustard seeds). Mix all the ingredients and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add a little boiling water if necessary. The sauce must be creamy and not liquid.

Finally add the cream, and cook the sauce for 1 more minute without stirring.

Slice the meat, place the slices in the sauce. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve with cranberry jam, as well as knedliky (bread dumplings).

Knedliky involves a different recipe which can be found online – e.g. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8374896/czech-bread-dumplings-knedliky/