On the last weekend of May, Eastern-Bohemian town of Litomyšl hosted an event characterized by traditions, feasting as well as sunny weather: “Gastrofest”, taking place at the Smetana Square and dedicated to the legend of Czech cuisine, Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová. The Food Cup was hosted by Jan Rosák, famous gourmet and TV presenter.
 

This year’s menu consisted of fish and small aquatic animals, being thus a real pleasure for all fish-food lovers. The main ingredient for the third Food Cup regional-level round competition meal was local “Vacek” trout. Local restaurants with Food Specials certification competing in this round included: U Kolji Restaurant, Zlatá Hvězda Restaurant, Faltus Brewery from Česká Třebová and Pivovárek Na Kopečku (Mini-Brewery) from Svitavy, each of them having chosen different type of preparation, including grilling, roasting or light smoking.
The Jury, composed of representatives from the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants, the Czech Association of Cooks and Confectioners and the CzechTourism Agency, evaluated visual aspect of the meal, its originality, treatment of the regional ingredient and, last but not least, the taste. In the end, the winners are chefs from U Kolji Restaurant, already third one that will compete in the grand finale that will take place in September under the International Cooks Day in Prague.
 

1) U Kolji Restaurant, Litomyšl
Competition Meal: Grilled rainbow trout fillet on asparagus ragout with green peas purée and lemon sauce
 


2) Pivovárek Na Kopečku (Mini-Brewery), Svitavy
Competition Meal: Local “Vacek” trout fillets roasted on green spices with apple-lard crust perfumed with apple smoke, cauliflower and potato purée, beer sabayon, green asparagus and saffron cauliflower
 
3) Zlatá Hvězda Restaurant, Litomyšl
Competition Meal: Rolled trout fillet with roasted root vegetable, lemon cream sauce, potatoes with chives and butter
 
4) Faltus Brewery, Česká Třebová
Competition Meal: Lightly smoked trout with parsley foam on cabbage, buckwheat salad with crayfish tails and seasoned spring vegetable sprouts
 
In addition, visitors of the Festival got also the chance to evaluate the competition meals, their winner being Faltus Brewery from Česká Třebová. We would like to congratulate both winners.