Houska

The houska is a small round roll of wheat flour, water, yeast and salt. Before baking it is plaited and shaped into a plump round knot and topped with coarse salt, caraway or poppy seeds. Baked, it is pale, with a crisp crust and a soft inside, and is often eaten for breakfast with butter, marmalade or spreads. Czech Decree No. 18/2020 does not name it; ordinary bakery ware (běžné pečivo), where such rolls usually belong, is defined there by less than 8% anhydrous fat and less than 5% sugar on flour weight.

In Bohemia the word houska also had a second meaning: according to the Czech Language Atlas it (and the variant husce) was used there for the vánočka, which is plaited in a similar way but larger and richer.

The houska differs in shape from the Austrian Kaisersemmel. The Kaisersemmel is a round wheat roll with a five-part star; as ‘Handsemmel’ the Austrian Codex defines it as hand-shaped with a dough time of at least two hours; the minimum baked weight of 46 g applies to all Semmeln.