This recipe is from the northern part of the Czech Republic, the part concentrated around the Jizera River, which has a spring in the Jizera Mountains (which take their name from the river). The Jizera Mountains are located in the Liberec region, near the border with Germany and Poland. The highest peak is Smrk, and the easternmost part of these mountains leads to the Krkonose, the highest mountain range in the Czech Republic. As in every mountainous area, the conditions for life here are very tough. Usually the only vegetables, fruits, or cereals that can be grown here are potatoes, carrots, beetroot, and apples. Most of the people here raise chickens and some pigs, but those are the only livestock. The usual meals from this area consist of ingredients that can be grown or bred here.

For more information about the Liberec Region, from which this recipe comes, click here.

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Ingredients

1 whole chicken
10 potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbs ground paprika
ground caraway seeds (can be ground in an electric coffee grinder)
ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste

Instructions

First, peel the potatoes and then slice them into squares. Put the potato slices next to each other on a tray. Then coat the potatoes with salt and caraway seeds. Next, put the carved chicken on top of the potatoes. Then sprinkle a generous amount of paprika and a little bit of black pepper on top of the chicken. Finally, pour cream over the chicken and potatoes, put a lid on the tray, and place the tray in the oven (preheated to 360F). Cook for half an hour with the lid on and another half an hour uncovered.