Klobasa [Czech Sausage]
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:47 pm
My home town of Yukon, Oklahoma was founded in 1891, two years after the 1889 land run and the birth of our state. Any claims to fame Yukon has are fairly tenuous. In 1949, Grady the Cow got stuck in a silo (it ended up on the cover of both Time and Life Magazines -- slow new month, I suspect). Garth Brooks was born here. The Chisolm Trail ran through Yukon, and Main Street is also Route 66.
Yukon is also the Czech capitol of Oklahoma. We have a sister city in Czechoslovakia and everything (Krnov). Every kid in Yukon writes to a pen pal there at least once during elementary school. Every kid in Yukon also attends the Czech Festival.
The Czech Festival takes place on the first Saturday of every October (which is a bummer because there's a Bigfoot Festival that same weekend that I would really like to go to). Czech Day starts at 10 o'clock sharp with a parade that lasts somewhere between one and two hours. The minute the parade ends, food row opens.
I have heard that food row used to only consist of Czech food, although today it is mostly filled with food trucks from the fair. There are giant turkey legs, Indian tacos, BBQ, corn dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, and all kinds of things that have nothing to do with Czechs. If you pass all those places like I did this year, you'll find the Czech food.
I should say that the most common thing associated with Czech Day are kolaches. They are pastries with filling in the middle -- usually cherry or apple pie filling, sometimes cream cheese, with icing on top. They are simple to make and you would think that people would make and sell them year round, but no -- we only make and sell them that day (and they sell thousands and thousands of them) and then we all sit around for 364 days waiting for Czech Day to buy them again.
This year I decided to pass on the Indian taco and try Klobasa (Czech sausage) with a side of potato pancakes.
Klobasa is beef and pork sausage cut kind of course and thick, with pepper and garlic mixed in. Usually the same places selling them are also selling brats. I'm not sure how authentic this is, but my klobasa were served on a bun and came with sauerkraut and horseradish. They also offer it sliced with horseradish and BBQ sauce. The sausage is thick, but not gristly.
There are lots of ways to make potato pancakes. I'm used to Polish-style from getting them in Chicago, but these were a little different. They were definitely not as thick as the ones I've had up north, although maybe that's just because they came from a food truck.
I haven't been able to find any local Czech restaurants that are open here year 'round, but good news -- next year's Czech Festival is only 363 days away!
Yukon is also the Czech capitol of Oklahoma. We have a sister city in Czechoslovakia and everything (Krnov). Every kid in Yukon writes to a pen pal there at least once during elementary school. Every kid in Yukon also attends the Czech Festival.
The Czech Festival takes place on the first Saturday of every October (which is a bummer because there's a Bigfoot Festival that same weekend that I would really like to go to). Czech Day starts at 10 o'clock sharp with a parade that lasts somewhere between one and two hours. The minute the parade ends, food row opens.
I have heard that food row used to only consist of Czech food, although today it is mostly filled with food trucks from the fair. There are giant turkey legs, Indian tacos, BBQ, corn dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, and all kinds of things that have nothing to do with Czechs. If you pass all those places like I did this year, you'll find the Czech food.
I should say that the most common thing associated with Czech Day are kolaches. They are pastries with filling in the middle -- usually cherry or apple pie filling, sometimes cream cheese, with icing on top. They are simple to make and you would think that people would make and sell them year round, but no -- we only make and sell them that day (and they sell thousands and thousands of them) and then we all sit around for 364 days waiting for Czech Day to buy them again.
This year I decided to pass on the Indian taco and try Klobasa (Czech sausage) with a side of potato pancakes.
Klobasa is beef and pork sausage cut kind of course and thick, with pepper and garlic mixed in. Usually the same places selling them are also selling brats. I'm not sure how authentic this is, but my klobasa were served on a bun and came with sauerkraut and horseradish. They also offer it sliced with horseradish and BBQ sauce. The sausage is thick, but not gristly.
There are lots of ways to make potato pancakes. I'm used to Polish-style from getting them in Chicago, but these were a little different. They were definitely not as thick as the ones I've had up north, although maybe that's just because they came from a food truck.
I haven't been able to find any local Czech restaurants that are open here year 'round, but good news -- next year's Czech Festival is only 363 days away!
