What on Earth's That? Oh, it's Nudle s Mákem..

It's lunchtime. The children are patiently waiting for their food, although that does not preclude them getting up, fidgeting, walking about, going to the toilet and generally chattering away as the food arrives. The lovely lady who serves the children arrives carrying cutlery and drinking glasses which a designated helper of the day hands out.

There is always soup. And the children are deft soup-eaters with little or no spillages. It must be genetic – Czechs love soup. So, the soup gets consumed, often with relish. There are no fussy eaters, thank God, like there might be in other classes in other countries. What is served is eaten. In delightful Oliver Twist moments, they regularly ask for more. Then bowls and spoons are stacked, a useful skill for 5-year olds.

And then the main meal arrives. Every day the plates are loaded with one local dish or another; meats and sauces and lots of mashed potato. The quality is generally good. At least, it's certainly better than I remember from my primary school days where each child prayed for chips, hideous mountains of lamb liver remained uneaten, boiled cabbage didn't leave the plate, and if there was no sloppy jelly and ice cream then the pink from the pink buns would be nibbled off.

But then the other day something unexpected turned up: pasta covered in something that looked like grey gravel. Some of the children eagerly anticipated this delicacy, whereas others turned disapproving eyes at the strange fayre – strange to me, that is. Some of them piped up that it was  nudle s mákem. None the wiser, I tasted this terrible-looking food. My face must have disclosed my feelings; they kindly explained that it is made from poppy seeds and sugar. Oooooh!!!...

So, now I am wiser to another aspect of Czech cuisine, albeit a slightly dubious one. Along with nudle s mákem (noodle), which was awful, there is also šulánky s mákem (potato gnocchi or dumplings). And then it gets into weird perverted territory using chocolate and all sorts. I suppose this dish will come around again, and it certainly provokes some interesting responses from Czechs who either love or hate it. School dinners round here are never dull.