Categories
czech republic Snacks to beer

Snacks to Beer: Czech-style nakladaný hermelin

Nakladaný hermelin is, as far as we can fathom, a soft Camembert-type cheese (hermelin) steeped in oil with various flavourings.

We had several rounds of it in pubs in the Czech Republic (Pivni Filosof seems to live off the stuff) and thought it looked like an easy recipe to recreate at home.

You need

  • One Camembert cheese or similar
  • An onion (we used red onion)
  • Juniper berries
  • Paprika (sweet, hottish)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Red pepper
  • Pickled chillies

To make it…

  1. Cut the cheese in half horizontally, like a sponge cake ready for filling. Spread a teaspoon of paprika, several slices of onion, and salt and pepper inside, and then press it back together.
  2. Put more slices of onion, a pickled chilli and three or four juniper berries in a dish and then put the cheese on top.
  3. Put more slices of onion and another pickled chilli on top of the cheese.
  4. Cover the whole lot with olive oil.
  5. Clingfilm it and stick it in the fridge.
  6. After a few days (three’s probably a safe bet — any more and you’re dicing with death when it comes to preserving in oil) take it out and drain off the oil. Remove the juniper berries.
  7. Serve it on a plate with all of the onions and chillis from the dish, plus some small slices of red pepper.
  8. Eat it with a nice beer and some crusty bread.

Happy Christmas!

7 replies on “Snacks to Beer: Czech-style nakladaný hermelin”

Only three days! I’ve been to a few pubs that would not serve it to you unless it’s at least three days old and look at how healthy I am….:) Nice recipe BTW.
There is one pub here that spreads it inside with something similar to pesto, lovely….
Happy Christmas!!!

Great recipe!
Looking at your photo I can nearly smell this fabulous cheese. It’s the perfect snack to have with a smooth and dry Czech lager.

I love pest, too, so I won’t be a long time to try myself, too.

BTW, Happy New Year!…

The only thing that goes better with beer than nakladany hermelin is pivni syr – beer cheese! a mush of cheese, beer, mustard, paprika and onions – not recommended if you are on the pull.

Hi. I think you missed one necessary ingredient – garlic. It’s not a good nakladany hermelin without it. When you’re filling the two halves of cheese just put several slices of garlic there too.
And about the waiting time: It’s good to leave it for two or three days at house temperature first and then put it in the fridge for the rest of the time. You can eat it after those three days or you can wait even for two weeks. The cheese would be almost liquid and very spicy then. And many people love it in that way the most. Me too. 🙂

Comments are closed.