Olomouc Cheese

Tvaruzky are made from skimmed sour curd, salted and ripened until the surface turns orange-yellow and the smell carries across a room. They are almost fat free, which is why the flavour is so concentrated, and why they are eaten in thin slices rather than wedges. Production sits in Lostice, north of Olomouc, and the name carries a protected geographical indication tied to that origin. In Moravia they are eaten plain with dark bread, raw onion and beer; deep fried in beer batter with tartare sauce; baked into potato pancakes; or melted into a sharp soup. The cheese keeps ripening in the packet, so it gets stronger the longer it sits.

What you actually see

• The yellow discs - small ripened rounds sold stacked in a sealed packet.
• Fried tvaruzky - battered and deep fried, the gateway version for newcomers.
• With bread and onion - the pub serving, cut thin with dark bread and a beer.
• The Lostice shop and museum - a small factory museum where the cheese is made.

When to go

Year round; this is winter food more than summer food, and it belongs in a pub rather than a picnic. The Lostice museum keeps standard hours and is quiet on weekdays. Olomouc's markets and pubs half an hour south are the easiest places to try it without making a trip.

Honest expectations

The smell is the whole point and also the problem: a packet opened on a train or left in a warm bag will announce itself for days, and some accommodation asks guests not to bring it in. Fried in batter it is easy to like; raw with onion divides people sharply. The Lostice museum is small and mostly in Czech.

Nearby

Olomouc lies half an hour south; the Jeseniky hills rise to the north.