The Czech word for spices is koreni - coming from the word koren, meaning root.  Unlike the English word which comes from the Latin "species," meaning a type or kind.

Spices, imported from faraway countries, used to be so rare in the past that they were sometimes used instead of money.  Some proverbs in Czech still remind us of their one-time value.   For example  -  je tohojako safranu -  it is as rare as saffron.  Anything that is precious and scarce can be called vzacne koreni - precious spice.  And Czechs often say humor - je koreni zivota - humour is the spice of life.

The most widely used spice is pepper - pepr, the most usual being ground black pepper - mlety cerny pepr.  Marjoram - majoranka - has a special place in Czech cuisine.  It is used to flavour all those various pork sausages and soups prepared at pig slaughtering feasts.  Marjoram is also the dominant taste of potato soup - bramborova polevka, also known as bramboracka, and mushroom soup -houbova polevka - and of course bramborak -the potato pancake.

Another type of spice typical for Czech cuisine are caraway seeds - kmin.  They are added to dark bread dough and whole loaves are sprinkled with them.  A few seeds can be added to the water in which potatoes are boiled.  Roast duck and even fish can be sprinkled with them.

As far as herbs bylinky - are concerned, traditional Czech cuisine mostly use fresh parsley leaves - petrzel, chives - pazitka, and libecek - garden lovage.  They are used to garnish soups or you can sprinkle them over a slice of bread spread with fresh cheese.

-Pavla Horakova