A crunchy guide for 2021. This is the best bread in Prague
Confession in the beginning: Bread is one of my main food obsessions. Never reach the whole city for fresh bread – no problem. And even outside of Prague, I am always ready to spend some time looking for small bakeries and tasting where possible. The same goes for traveling abroad – those who have not tasted at least five different types of bread in Georgia, can not live.
I have dedicated several articles to bread and I intend to continue to do so. And to the dismay of my acquaintances and friends, I am willing to discuss quality bread always, anywhere and with anyone. Long!
And that brings me to the core of this article. I have compiled a purely subjective ranking of my currently popular breads, which can be bought in Prague. I am aware that they will undoubtedly be missing their favorites, but this is already a pitfall of similar choices. But I will be happy if you, for example on social networks, tell us your personal tips on the best, most fragrant loaf of bread that you like.
So what do you think is the perfect bread? Formed with Czech traditional pastries, in my case wheat-rye breads from bakers Kučera and Roman Sebera in the Pilsen region, the perfect bread for me must meet several basic points:
- First the crust must be firm and crispy and the bottom of the bread must be hard and should knock slightly when tapped, that is, as it used to be said, “it must ring”. The crust must not resemble a bun or age when pressed. If it reminds her, it’s not good bread.
- second the bread must have a fragrance – wheat, rye, often cumin and, in the case of typical Czech bread, also slightly sour yeast. The shift should be plump and not dry. Properly baked bread with a firm crust and plump turn the slices well. If the bread twists or collapses under the knife – yes, guess right – it’s not good bread.
- Third sometimes a piece of butter disappears in it, but still – the bubbles are fine. On the contrary, if the bread change has no bubbles, it has a smooth, mossy texture, it is almost always a product from a large bakery, which, in addition to flour, yeast, water and salt, is also fed with other lures. And he doesn’t want that!
- Fourth baked yeast bread does not belong in a plastic bag, but in a tea towel or a textile bag, I usually use one of the cotton textile bags. The bread towel always stays fresh for at least a few days and still tastes good. It may gradually dry out a little, but it will never start to mold. If it starts to mold, you know there was something in the bread that didn’t have to be in it. And so it applies again – it was not good bread.
Ok, so you already know the objective metrics. Now it’s my only subjective sense of smell and taste.
So what are my current favorites? Let’s take it from five to one, like in school. We go to:
# 5 Old Charles, artic Bakehouse
Icelander Davíd Arnórsson settled in Prague’s Újezd only recently. On the contrary, he has already earned a number of very loyal customers who come from all over the city for his bread under Petřín. And they don’t ride just for him – Bakehouse makes very good pastries, from cinnamon snails to my favorite fruit scones. You certainly don’t have to regret stopping for coffee and something sweet before walking through the Kinský Gardens or to the Petrin Gardens.
Old Charles is a tribute to David’s traditional Czech bread. It is half wheat, half rye flour supplemented with cumin and anise, and therefore a very honest “homage” to the most typical bread, which is well known to all.
Charles was my favorite for a long time and I rode for him regularly. Recently, he was slightly overshadowed by a few other favorites, but I recently returned to the bakery for him. The reason why this bread is not in a higher position on the ladder is that last time the shift seemed a bit drier and the crust did not ring as much as I was used to before. But it could only be a short-term problem with flour or yeast, so it’s still in the top five.
What is it suitable for? Like most cumin darker breads, it tastes great, especially salted – that is, with butter, cheese or meat.
Where can you buy it? artic Bakehouse, Újezd & Myslíkova, Wolt.com
# 4 Potato-wheat, Slovak delicacies & bakery, Prague Market
Pure wheat breads are still still in Prague. Thanks to Slovak relatives, I have a weakness for world bread since childhood, in fact, to be honest, I think that the smell of fresh “wheat” is almost unmatched.
In addition to the Italian bistros La Bottega’s, where they bake very good breads of the Italian type, there is also a small bakery next to the popular Hall 22. The bread they bake here (which is incidentally less popular with customers than their rye-wheat or their rolls) ) is specific by adding potatoes to the dough. The potatoes add moisture to the dough and it is then beautifully plump and lasts for several days. The bread dries slightly after a few days, but if you have any left, put it in a toaster, because it is the light bread that tastes baked just as well, if not better.
This bread in the selection may look like a hammer, it is not a bakery product with a shiny machine for premium coffee, but it is exactly the opposite – it is a seasoned matador who may not tolerate the image, but has kept its quality for many years. And yes, the last time I still paid an incredible CZK 45 for the whole loaf.
What is it ideal for? Unlike rye-wheat, wheat is very versatile, tastes as good with salty spread or meat as with butter and jam or honey. But if you want to taste it as it is served in southern Slovakia, I recommend butter and fresh peppers or tomatoes.
Where can you buy it? Slovenské delikatesy, Hall 22, Pražská tržnice
# 3 Pane Nuovo, Pizza Nuova, Ambi Group
The youngest favorite in the selection comes from small shops on the ground floor of Pizza Nuova on Náměstí Republiky. Even so, it is bread that has only been baked here since the summer, it has won my heart.
Mr. Nuovo has been arguing with his own bread for a long time. There was a time when they baked Italian white bread here, which, rather than a valid bread, resembled age – apart from the unconvincing crust, it was a typical, crumbly “paper” that was no longer edible the next day.
This applies to the entire bakery anabasis of the Ambi Group – sometimes it takes them a while to fine-tune the recipes. But the moment they find the right relationship, they start spewing bestsellers!
The new bread from Mr. Nuovo, I dare say, is one of the best you can currently taste in Ambi. It is a lighter bread (80 percent wheat, 20 percent rye), which comes from wheat, but at the same time has a beautiful dark ringing crust typical of darker breads. Behind its development are the shifts in optimization during the pandemic – Sláva Grigoryk, who previously worked as a creative chef, moved to Pane Nuovo after a bakery internship in Denmark and apparently said that he would shake the product range. And Mr. Nuovo did great with him.
What is it ideal for? And that’s just it. This bread is so versatile that it will taste just as good with cheese as it is toasted and crunchy with Nutella.
Where can you buy it? Mr. Nuovo, Canteen, Buffet Karlín
# 2 Spelled, Practice
The new way of baking, which was introduced in Prague by Tomáš Solák in Praktica, is a paradox. According to Tomáš, he only returned to how bread was baked before – from much fresher flour that did not sit in a sack before being used in a warehouse for several years. The pitfalls of baking from so-called fresh flour are a whole range – the bread is much wetter and thus you will not get as perfect a roast after baking as if you still have a perfectly dry product. The dough is therefore far more unpredictable and the bread remains moist even after baking. This initially confused many customers who came to Praktika for the first time. The benefit, however, is that fresh grain bread retains far more nutrients and vitamins that otherwise evaporate from the flour over time. Over the years, Tomáš has been able to tame the recipe and his bread is now much more stable than it was at the beginning. In addition, he has brought up his own customers, who regularly return to the Bread Practice. Thanks to that, he will not be able to open a second branch in Letná after the Vinohrady bakery. In addition, a third store in Karlín is soon to be added.
Of the breads that Praktika sells, I prefer spelled – it is one of the breads that has been on the practitioner’s menu from the very beginning. The combination of spelled and wheat flour in organic quality has an intake, hazelnut flavor and firm baked crust.
What is it ideal for? Sweetened and sweetened. You can try my favorite combination on it – peanut butter and lemon curd.
Where can you buy it? Praktika Bělehradská, Praktika Letná, Rohlik.cz
# 1 Eska 33, Eska, Ambi Group
In Esca, after opening for a while, they bother with the recipe for the ideal bread. Over time, however, they gradually tuned it, followed by thirty threes – a product so popular that it is better for him to go to Eska or Our Meat early in the morning before the weekend, otherwise there is a risk that you will leave empty-handed.
The key to the success of this bread is a combination of rye and wheat flour, which has stabilized at (yes) 33 percent rye. By adding extra boiled potatoes to the dough, the bread gained cyprost and softness. And with cumin, we add exactly the right taste that all of us remember from childhood. Eska thus created bread, which is a perfect remix of traditional wheat-rye bread with a twist. A classic cumin loaf of bread, just a little better.
The first place belongs to him also because 33 has had a stable quality for several years.
What is it ideal for? Due to the cumin, it is a bread that he understands mainly with salty. If I had to say one perfect combo, I would have 33 with butter and sausages or scrambled eggs, ideally during a long weekend breakfast.
Where can you buy it? Eska, Naše Maso, Rohlik.cz