By Caden Haynor and Caden Fiala
The annual Hot & Spicy Food Festival kicked off from 11:00 to 18:00 on Sept. 19. Smíchovská Náplavka hosted over 20 food stands, all featuring various food cultures and categories for passersby to enjoy while overlooking the Vltava river.
Meals available ranged from French soups to Indian cuisine to Mexican churros and seemingly everything in between. Curry King Indian Restaurant, for example, served meat samosa and vegetarian curry, among other Indian dishes, while Kač Kač offered various smoked meats and burgers with hot chilis inside. Prices ranged from around 100-250 Kč for a meal.
To complement the hot food, there were also various sides and desserts for sale, such as ice cream, french fries and, of course, beer.
Multiple stands sold lines of hot sauce bottles, all varying in spice content, for sampling with wooden sticks. Many festival-goers bought a bottle of hot sauce and applied it to the food they bought at the surrounding stands.
Czech cuisine is known more for being comfort food rather than for strong flavors. Students feeling homesick for spice may feel disappointed browsing Prague’s culinary selection, especially when typically hot food is adjusted to accommodate local tastes.
The festival gave spice lovers a place to enjoy food with a flair and for sellers to serve a curated selection of spicy foods to a receptive audience.
Although the Hot & Spicy Food Festival only happens once a year, Prague hosts multiple food and drink festivals throughout the year, focused on wine, beer and cultural cuisines. Other festivals are happening at Smíchovská Náplavka all the time.
Anyone curious about gastronomical experiences in the area can look at upcoming events on https://eventland.eu/prague/.
