Olomoucké Tvarůžky Smažené

The dish's star, olomoucké tvarůžky, comes from the small town of Loštice near Olomouc in Moravia — a rustic specialty of the Haná region documented there since at least the 15th century. It is made from skimmed, defatted cow's milk soured into curd, is almost fat-free, is seasoned only with salt, and ripens slowly under a reddish surface mould, growing more pungent the longer it matures — from mild to sharply piquant. In 2010, after a years-long dispute with Germany and Austria, the Czechs secured EU PGI protection for it, so that only the original cheese made in Loštice by traditional methods may be sold under the name. While the cheese is commonly eaten raw with bread and onion, the form most prized in the Haná region is breaded and deep-fried — fried tvarůžky served with potatoes, tartar sauce and beer is an all-but-fixed fixture of eastern-Moravian pubs. It is much less common in Prague, where fresh Loštice cheese is harder to find.

The knife pierces the crust — a crisp crackle, then a wave of warm, pungent vapor rises. The inside flows out, thicker than ordinary fried cheese because the fat content is so low; the molten cheese stretches into long threads. On its own the flavor is overwhelming — ammoniac, salty, intensely cheesy — so a slice of raw onion is essential, its sharp bite cutting the funk down to something swallowable. A slice of dark bread underneath catches the runoff. Beer between bites is essential; the bitterness resets the palate for the next round. This is not subtle food. It's a Moravian show of nerve.

It comes down to two properties of the cheese. (1) It is extremely low in fat — almost pure protein — and long surface-mould ripening has already broken down its casein network, so it melts very readily and completely; this is exactly what makes it suited to breading and deep-frying. But because it has so little fat and such a soft structure, the melt is loose, sticky and prone to collapse, so the coating must be thick and even — a thin shell won't contain it and tears as it fries. (2) Its signature ammoniac smell comes from ammonia gas released by mould metabolism during ripening, most pungent at room temperature; high-heat frying drives off most of the volatile ammonia and leaves behind the deeper umami compounds (free glutamate and the like). That is why fried tvarůžky tastes 'mellower' than raw even as it smells stronger. Oil temperature and timing must be judged carefully: too hot or too long and the interior vaporizes and bursts the crust.