• Janáček's sponge tray cake, Buchta D, Main Train Station, platform 1 
• Janáček's starter of brains with mayonnaise,  Kohout NA VÍNĚ, Malinovského nám. 2
• Janáček's butter pastry tubes, Cukrářství Martinák, Veveří 14 / Etažér, Poštovská 4  
• Janáček's butter strudel with quark, PANEOLIT, Bratislavská 82 
• Janáček's doughnut à la redcurrant cake, Kobliha Brno, Pekařská 68 
• Janáček's fine black coffee, qb scuk, Česká 19 / qb coffee roasters, Veslařská 179
• Janáček's sponge cake ring, Zemanova kavárna a cukrárna, Josefská 4
• Janáček's meringue kisses, Cukrárna Tutti frutti, Mendlovo nám. 18 / Jiráskova 1a
• Janáček's sweet buns with custard,  Mlsná holka, Poštovská 1

• Janáček's cherry tart, Punkt., Starobrněnská 16 / Bayerova 7

Janáček's sponge tray cake

Buchta D, Main Train Station, Platform 1

140g sugar, 140g butter, 4 egg yolks, grated zest of 1 lemon, a pinch of salt are creamed for half an hour. Then, 120g fine semolina flour, 140g plain flour and 4 stiffly beaten egg whites are added and mixed in with the flour. The batter is covered with fruit and immediately put in the oven to bake.

"The mistress would come back from shopping and we'd start cooking. We'd put on bright aprons, Slovácko embroidered bonnets and divide the work; she'd do the meat, I'd do the desserts."

Janáček's starter of brains with mayonnaise

Kohout NA VÍNĚ, Malinovského nám. 2

Brains with mayonnaise

2–4 veal brains, 8 peppercorns, 8 allspice berries, a large onion, salt, and a little vinegar with water are boiled for 20 minutes. The cooked brain is left to cool in that water. Three tablespoons are diluted with water to about ⅛ litre. ½ teaspoon of sugar is added, along with 4 egg yolks and a piece of butter or a little oil. This is then whisked and cooked, stirring constantly, until it rises. It is then transferred into a container of cold water and stirred until it cools. Then mustard and a little white pepper are added to taste. 1–2 egg whites are whipped and folded into it. The cold brain mixture is cut into small cubes and mixed into the mayonnaise. It is placed onto scallop shells and a quarter or half of a hard-boiled egg may be placed on each.

"He liked meat. The three of us strictly observed the fasts, especially on Fridays, but the master didn't. He wanted meat and would say that he had fasted enough at the monastery foundation."

Janáček's butter pastry tubes

Etažér, Alfa Pasáž, Poštovská 4

Butter pastry for the tubes

1/2 kg of butter, 1/2 kg of flour. Divide the flour into two parts, add 20g of butter and the juice of a lemon to the first part along with a little salt and knead together with an egg and a little water to form the dough. Chop the rest of the butter into the second part and work in with a rolling pin, then roll it out flat, add the first part to it, fold in and leave to rest till the next day. Then fold it over three times and make it into little tubes or turnovers.

"Our master insisted on good food. There were no elevenses or snacks, but at midday and in the evening he ate a lot and with gusto."

Janáček's butter strudel with quark

PANEOLIT, Bratislavská 82

On a pastry board prepare the dough: 140g flour, rub in 140g fresh butter, knead together with two egg yolks beaten with about two tablespoons of cold water. Quickly work the dough and put aside in a cool place. Meanwhile, prepare the quark filling as follows: mix ¼ kg of quark with two egg yolks, add three tablespoons of sugar, 50g raisins, 50g shelled and grated almonds and mix together well. Form the dough into two equal parts. Roll them out lengthwise, place one on a baking sheet, spread it with the filling and cover with the other piece of dough, press down the edges after smearing with egg white. Glaze the whole strudel with beaten egg yolk, sprinkle with chopped almonds and sugar and bake until golden brown.

"The desserts we made as special treats for the master were quark cakes, quark strudel or crepes cut into strips, sprinkled with walnuts in sugar and then baked in a cake tin."

Janáček's doughnut à la redcurrant cake

Kobliha Brno, Pekařská 68 

Jewish doughnuts (Doughnuts with almonds)

In a bowl cream one eighth (100g) fat, one eighth (40g) sugar, one eighth (5) egg yolks and then dissolve 3 kreutzers' worth of yeast in ¼ lukewarm milk. Then put in a handful of almonds, blanched and cut into slivers, 2 tablespoons of rum, a little sugar and salt and enough flour to make a dough as for ordinary doughnuts. Work this thoroughly and then leave to rise. Once they have risen, form them into little balls and let them rise again, then fry them, and once you have finished frying them, coat them in vanilla sugar and serve. 

Redcurrant tart

Cut 140g flour, 87.5g butter and 70g sugar together on a pastry board, add 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons milk, quickly work together into a dough, form a tart with a raised edge and bake. Put the currants on top of the baked base, sprinkle with lots of sugar, then decorate with "Spanish breath" pastry (make a lattice over the tart) and leave to dry.

Spanish breath: 70g sugar to one egg white.

"He took great pride in our doughnuts. If he wanted to push the boat out, he would order us to make doughnuts."

Janáček's fine black coffee

qb scuk, Česká 19

qb coffee roasters, Veslařská 507/179

How to brew good black coffee

Brew 80g of the best-quality coffee in 1 litre of boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes without chicory.

"Lunch ended with black coffee, the master went to lie down for a while on the sofa, the mistress and I washed the dishes."

Janáček's sponge cake ring

Zemanova kavárna a cukrárna, Josefská 4

Sponge cake ring

5 whole eggs,  ¼ kg sugar, grated zest of half a lemon are beaten together for 1 hour. After half an hour, the juice of half a lemon is added. Then 220 g plain flour is added and everything is mixed well. The batter is poured into a mould and baked.

"Thursday at our place was "jour fixe" – visiting day. That's when I made an extra effort with the cleaning in the morning; I beat the carpets and cleaned the windows. The mistress also had more shopping to do, and we hurried with the cooking, preparing refreshments. We served sponge cake ring with coffee, and in summer, ice cream."

Janáček's meringue kisses

Cukrárna Tutti frutti, Mendlovo nám. 18 / Jiráskova 1a

Meringue kisses I.

70g sugar to one egg white. Whip the egg white till it forms stiff peaks, then add the sugar and beat it again until it is very stiff, then make small meringues and dry them out in the oven at a low temperature. Place on a wax-coated baking sheet.

"From the start of December we'd bake a big tray of confectionery, we'd make up to seventeen different kinds." 

Janáček's sweet buns with custard

Mlsná holka, Poštovská 1

Yeast buns with custard

Custard: Put ½ litre milk, 4 egg yolks, 60g sugar, a little vanilla and 20g potato flour on the stove and stir constantly until the custard thickens. Then take off the heat, keep stirring for a little while longer and then pour over small yeast "ducat" buns.

"Before her wedding, the mistress learned to cook at the renowned kitchens of the Old Brno Monastery. Apparently, twelve brides and one soldier went there, who was learning to cook for the officers' mess. A fat cook taught her – the brides soon found out he was skimming off for himself – and a thin dessert chef, fräulein Máli."

Janáček's cherry tart

Punkt., Starobrněnská 16 / Bayerova 7

Cherry tart

Cream together 140g butter and 10 egg yolks. Add 140g grated roasted almonds, 140g sugar, grated zest of 1 lemon, and a little cinnamon, and mix thoroughly for 1 hour. Then add 140g finely grated and sieved breadcrumbs, and the stiffly beaten whites of 2 eggs, along with 420g good cherries. Grease a cake tin and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs, pour in the batter, and bake slowly. It may also be baked on a baking tray as a pie.

"I knew best the restorative effect the master's favourite food had on him."

What did the most frequently performed Czech opera composer like to eat? Find out by delving into the cookbook of Marie Stejskalová, the Janáčeks' housekeeper (in Czech language only).

Marie Stejskalová (1873-1968) was the Janáčeks' housekeeper for over forty years. One of the items preserved in the Leoš Janáček Archive of the Moravian Museum is her book of recipes, mostly for various desserts and sweet dishes. This in itself would not be of such interest had the observant Mářa (as the Janáčeks called her) not interspersed the recipes with notes concerning the life and work of the master, which she called A Chronicle of Our Life. As a result, the cookbook contains unique information about the genesis of some of Janáček's works and brief descriptions of events from the housekeeper's viewpoint, as well as that of Janáček's wife Zdenka, to whom Mářa was a constant source of support. The publication includes numerous editor's notes on the people and situations mentioned as well as illustrations by the artist Vendula Chalánková depicting scenes from the life of the Janáček family as recalled by Mářa.

Marie Stejskalová's recipe book is kept in the Leoš Janáček Archive of the Moravian Museum, which is part of UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

Publisher: TIC BRNO and the Moravian Museum. 

On sale in information centers TIC BRNO and in the e-shop darkyzbrna.cz