Pražská šunka s křenem

The story

Pražská šunka, Prague ham, is a brine-cured ham that is cooked and lightly smoked over beechwood. A Prague butcher, Antonín Chmel, began selling it in the 1860s, and his meat works at Zvonařka grew it into an industrial product. In the 1920s and 1930s it was a well-known export, sold in Western Europe and the United States, and other countries began making their own versions. After decades in which the name was put on almost any ham, the Czech meat processors' union asked the European Union to fix the recipe, and since 2018 Prague ham has been registered as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. Ham cooked on the bone is called šunka od kosti and counts as a delicacy. The Czech tourism board calls ham and horseradish two traditional Czech ingredients, and its recipe for this cold starter rolls thin slices around whipped cream sharpened with freshly grated horseradish, two rolls per person. It needs no cooking, and the same page suggests it as a festive starter for the Christmas table. Serve it as a first course on an evening when the main dish needs your attention, with buttered rye bread and a light Czech lager alongside.