Czech food can be best described as comfort food. Czech cuisine has influence from surrounding countries such as Germany and Austria but many of the sweets found in Central Europe originated in the Czech lands. Diet food it is not, the main staple of the Czech diet is meat, with pork being the most common (the most popular meal is roast pork with dumplings and cabbage), alongside beef, chicken, goose, duck, and rabbit. As the Czech Republic is a landlocked country, fish is not very popular; however, the traditional Czech Christmas dinner consists of batter fried carp and potato salad. One of the mainstays of every Czech meal happens to be hearty dumplings, made from wheat or potatoes, dumplings are large and filling, perfect for soaking up meat gravy. Czech snacks, which are served in pubs, include fried cheese, pickled sausage (called ‘drowned men’), and fried potato pancakes. Desserts include many fresh pastries and cakes, as well as yummy fruit dumplings, which are yeast or cheese dumplings filled with berries or other fruits and served warm with melted butter and crumbles of sweet cheese. Popular drinks include, of course their world famous beer, Slivovitz (plum brandy that will knock your socks off!), Fernet Stock and Becherovka (herbal liqueurs) and Czech wine. Many fine dining establishments put their own spin on traditional Czech cuisine making tasty creations that are hard to forget.