I found when I visited Prague a few years back that the Czech cuisine that I grew up with had apparently managed to be completely unmodified from the original in its American version. The same cannot be said for Mexican cuisine in the US. I suspect part of that might be that very few people without Czech heritage (or Czech-adjacent, it seems the cuisine is fairly uniform across much of the old Austro-Hungarian empire) eat Czech food in the US.
My theory is that the descendant generations from immigrants to America don't care to modify the family recipes at all, to keep traditions going, and there are generally not any outside influences to change this, so the food stays frozen in time from 100-200 years ago. Like, your Irish American neighbors are not going to weigh in with ideas on how to improve or evolve the squash strudel.
For what it's worth, Germans from the Bohemian/Sudetengau area make some dishes much the same as Czech. There's no substitute for bread dumplings with pork and sauerkraut! Or plum dumplings the one month in the year the right kind of plums are available. But when you get to other areas of Germany, they all have different ideas about how to make dumplings.
Foreign foods are modified by the locals according to a lack of ingredients, and on the basis of the local palates.. in Austria, for example, I've gotten used to eating ultra-bland Asian or Mexican food, since Austrians rarely have the disposition to weather the more exotic spices.
>Overall, Prague is a must if you’re going to be in Europe, just be aware of the time of year you go. We had a surprisingly decent Mexican meal at a place called CzechMex. We also ate a ton of goulash which was a tasty, hearty way to stay comfortable in Prague’s blistering, windy February cold. Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge are the main sites and you can easily complete the whole trip in no more than two days. -- Keenan
>Think Innerview: Federico Salas, Mexican Ambassador to the Czech Republic
>THINK: So, where do you go for Mexican cuisine in Prague?
>SALAS: My House. It’s the best place to have Mexican food. I don’t cook but fortunately enough, there is a person who has been cooking at the residence for 15 years now. She cooks Czech very well, but she also knows how to cook Mexican. So we’re developing a new style of cuisine which I’m calling CzechMex.
>THINK: Have you tried some of the Mexican restaurants here?
>Yes, but the places in Prague are more in the nature of TexMex, less traditional. Good Mexican food is not just about the spices, it’s also the nature of knowing how to mix the ingredients. The one thing that does surprise me is that Mexican Food is really popular – authentic or not. And it seems that people are drinking more and more tequila...which is a good thing.
>Czech-Mex Bakery & Cafe is famous for it's amazing breakfast and brunch menu with Texas and Czech tastes. We're kind of a big deal at lunch time in Corpus Christi. Come see what the fuss is about!
>Best Kolaches in Texas. We've been accused of that title. And Texas is a big place. Our delicious kolaches are what made us a Corpus Christi favorite! They bring out the Czech-Mex in all of us!
