Pickled Hermelin – a Czech summer snack for bike trips and evenings 🧄🧀

Summer is coming, and with it a Czech classic people love for bike trips, weekends away, or relaxed evenings outside: pickled Hermelín. It’s simple, fragrant, and once it’s ready, all you need is bread. 

This year it’s even easier thanks to a ready-made seasoning: Vitana Pickled Cheese (Nakládaný sýr) 18 g. You don’t need to hunt for individual spices or worry about the balance. The mix seasons it for you, so you don’t have to figure out what belongs in the jar. 

And one more thing we love about it:
Do you love edible gifts too? They work all year round, not just at Christmas. And that feeling when you give someone food you made yourself? It’s the best.

Below you’ll find two recipes:

1. a mixed cheese jar
2. classic pickled Hermelín

And if you want the easy, practical route, CzechiaFood also offers the Tescoma DELLA CASA Pickled Hermelín Set, which helps you keep the whole pickling process neat and organized. 

1) Mixed pickled cheeses

Ingredients

• 2 Hermelín cheeses
• 200 g Gouda
• 200 g Edam
• 100 g Balkan-style cheese
• 100 g blue cheese (Niva)
• 1 pack Vitana Pickled Cheese seasoning 18 g
• oil (olive oil works great), enough to fully cover everything
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 red onion
• 100 g green olives
• chilli to taste
• 2 garlic cloves

Method

1. Use a clean jar with a tight lid.
2. Cut the cheeses: Hermelín into wedges, Gouda and Edam into cubes, Balkan cheese into larger chunks. Keep blue cheese in bigger pieces so it won’t fall apart too much.
3. Slice pepper, onion, and garlic.
4. Layer cheeses, vegetables and olives in the jar. Lightly sprinkle Vitana seasoning between layers.
5. Pour oil until everything is fully submerged. Close and gently swirl.
6. Rest in the fridge for at least 3 to 5 days. After a week, the flavor is usually at its best.

2) Classic pickled Hermelín (simplified with Vitana mix)

Ingredients

• 2 Hermelín cheeses
• 2 garlic cloves
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tsp sweet paprika (or fresh pepper to taste)
• 1 to 2 onions
• pickled hot peppers (kozí rohy) or chilli to taste
• 1 pack Vitana Pickled Cheese seasoning 18 g
• oil (olive oil works well)

Method

1. Crush garlic with a pinch of salt into a paste. Mix with mustard and paprika.
2. Slice Hermelín lengthwise into two halves. Spread a thin layer of the garlic paste inside and press the halves back together.
3. Slice onions and peppers.
4. Layer onion, peppers and the prepared Hermelín in a clean jar. Sprinkle Vitana seasoning between layers.
5. Pour oil to the top so everything is fully covered and no air gets in. Seal the jar.
6. Rest in a cool, dark place for 10 to 14 days. Serve with bread.

Small safety note

⚠️ Keep everything clean and make sure the contents stay fully covered in oil.

Wherever you are, we’re happy to bring a little taste of Czech home to your table.