Speaking of famous Czechs, one of my favorite composers, Antonio Dvorak, was a railfan.
On Oct 23, 2020, at 6:33 PM, Charlie Vlk <cvlk@comcast.net> wrote:
Joel- Apparently years of inbreeding. Jewel usually has it. Charlie From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> On Behalf Of Jeff Zeleny via groups.io
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2020 6:10 PM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] What's for lunch? I didn’t know many were Czech. How did that come about? I make a mean chicken paprika’s 😀 Might not be too far off topic. This food may have been in some Q employees lunch boxes or they went to a dine for some of it. Where do you find Chateau Brand bread dumplings and potato “sinkers in Chicago? Diner? Grocery store? other? -----Original Message-----
From: Charlie Vlk <cvlk@comcast.net>
To: CBQ@groups.io
Sent: Fri, Oct 23, 2020 6:26 pm
Subject: FW: [CBQ] What's for lunch? Sorry for the off- topic email but many CB&Q employees were Czech and ate this food…may be a reason why the Q was so, er…..thrifty…..but I don’t have a current email for Pete! Taking this off-list as it is straying from CB&Q subjects although a large number of Q employees in Chicago (and Iowa and Kansas) were no strangers to Bohemian food!! Yes, I recall meeting her. Sicner appears to be a Germanic surname which is not uncommon in Bohemia. My dad’s mother’s maiden name was Voller. Many towns in southeastern Czech Republic were (and still are) German-speaking. There my name is Wlk….and her name would be Woller. My research says that Vlk is a Indo-European root word that evolved into modern words that mean wolf. The restaurants in Berwyn and Cicero are mostly all gone having been taken over by Mexicans. The last time we were in the area the Plaza Restaurant across from Cermak Plaza at Harlem Avenue & 22nd Street was still there and as good as ever. Old Prague has been gone for decades as have Pelikan’s, and Klas are also gone. There were good ones in Riverside and Brookfield but I don’t know if they are still there. There was the Dumpling House on Harlem Avenue in Berwyn looks like it too is gone. There is still the Czech Crystal in Westmont as far as I know. Jaternice is not something I’ve ever been exposed to directly but I think my fraternal grandfather ate it. My maternal grandfather wasn’t into eating waste from the butcher shop. My wife is half Bohemian and half Polish…her father liked Duck Blood Soup and probably “head cheese” which I think also has unspeakable ingredients. Koprova is just like Svickova but with dill gravy. When we visit Chicago (hopefully the state will open up again….right now, they technically want anybody from another state to stay in a hotel room for two weeks before coming out in public) we always stock up on Chateau Brand bread dumplings and potato “sinkers”. I may have to dig out the old recipes as they are getting harder to find each time we visit. Hope to see you at the Spring Meet…..God willing and the Creek don’t rise!!! Charlie; You may recall that I once introduced you to my wife. I wanted to do that specifically since you both "hale" from the same part of the world. Where the use of vowles is limited. Her maiden name is Sicner. Which doesn't sound Czech, but it is. You mentioned Koprova which I am not familiar with but Svickova is one of my favorite Czech meals. When the old Bohemian Cafe in Omaha was operating I always had that dish when we went there. Now on the other hand there is JATERNICE. which my late wife loved, but which in my estimation is the most vile combination of unspeakable animal parts and various and sundry spices. She even used to make it herself. Once when we were babysiting for my daughter at her house Sharon friend up some Jaternice. When my daughter came home the odor still lingered and she said. "Mom don't you ever fix that stuff in my house again. Our kids never did learn to eat any of those exotic Czech dishes, but we didn't push the issue. When we lived in the Chicago area we went several times to Cicero and ate at some of the Czech places whose name escapes me now. -----Original Message-----
From: Charlie Vlk <cvlk@comcast.net>
To: CBQ@groups.io
Sent: Thu, Oct 22, 2020 10:13 am
Subject: Re: [CBQ] What's for lunch? Now you went and did it!!! I haven’t thought about Ox Tail Soup for decades…..what memories it brings back! My mom (rest her soul!!!) was not the greatest cook….few things from her table I recall fondly (she, like many of her generation, would take a thin pork shop and pan fry it to an inch of its life…and when my dad was not having dinner with us she would do the same to lamb chops….he had enough mutton in Australia during his service in WWII to abhor anything that once had wool on it!!). I was in my 40s before I learned to enjoy properly prepared lamb… But I do remember enjoying her Ox Tail Soup….and sucking the marrow out of the bones. Of course today, our kids and grandkids will turn their nose up at OUR ethnic recipes but go out of their way to try “trendy” dishes from “other cultures”. (who would kill for a Koprova (marinated beef with dill gravy) or Svickova (marinated beef similar to Sauerbraten…..or even a decent Philadelphia Reading Market Pastrami). Nashville is a “foody” town but only for the trendy crowd.
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