Traditional Bulgarian Food

Delightful and Delicious Choices

Mmmm ... I love traditional Bulgarian food, especially shopska salad washed down with Rakia (homemade brandy that blows your socks off when you drink it)! I can feel my head spinning ...

Anyway, let’s continue talking about traditional Bulgarian food, which is a mixture between the Slavonic, Greek, and Turkish cuisines. The basic ingredients used in the Bulgarian foods are beans, milk, yogurt, cheese, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, watermelons, grapes, etc. Bulgarians eat also pork, beef, lamb, chicken, and fish.

National specialties include Shopska salad (sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and parsley - topped with grated sheep's cheese, and tarator (a cold soup of chopped cucumber, walnuts, and yogurt). White sheep's cheese baked with eggs is another favorite. Other typical items

on the menu include kavarma (individual casseroles of pork or veal with onions and mushrooms), shishkebab, stuffed vine or cabbage leaves, and moussaka. Yogurt, too, tastes better in Bulgaria, its country of origin.

Another Bulgarian specialty is banitza (pastry). Banitza is prepared from homemade or ready pastry with different fillings, white cheese, spinach, apples, pumpkin, and leeks.

It is usually prepared for Christmas Eve, New Year's, and other special occasions and, very often, it gathers the whole family around the table. Banista is very popular for breakfast, and you will see literally hundreds of pastry shops in Bulgaria selling this delicious treat.

Bulgaria is a land of traditions, and there are two very special food item varieties which are unique to Bulgaria and are considered the gastronomical pride of the nation for all time - the yogurt and the white cheese.

White cheese is the main national food of the Bulgarians. This is a concentrated milk product with a variety of tastes and flavours, depending on the production technology that is used. It has been homemade since ancient times. This cheese is used both on the table and as an essential part of other meatless foods from the Bulgarian national cuisine. Bulgarian yogurt is very tasty and wholesome.

The yogurt is produced from warm milk that has endured lactic acid fermentation at 40-45 degrees C. Depending on the milk, it is produced from sheep milk, cow milk, and buffalo milk. Buffalo yogurt is the richest yogurt, having 7.5% fat content. Following that is sheep yogurt with 6.5% fat and cow yogurt with 3.5% fat. Yogurt is a traditional Bulgarian food product and is suitable for any meal.

The choices are wide for Bulgarian sparkling wines, which are perfect companions for traditional Bulgarian food. Original local red grapes,

Mavrud and Melnik, are grown in Bulgaria and are very interesting to the wine connoisseurs. Beer is also popular in Bulgaria but not as popular as in England!

And remember, if you want to cook a Bulgarian dish when you return home, make sure you bring some Bulgarian herbs and spices home with you.They are the secrets of enchanting tastes and flavours.

Oh! Don't forget to bring back a bottle of wine or two as well.

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