Taste of Bulgaria

The food of Bulgaria is a mixing pot of Slavic, Greek and Turkish traditions, making way for interesting flavours and recipes that are passed down through the generations. We take a bite into the Bulgarian cooking culture...

By Camilla Kaas Stock

Bulgaria is not a rich country but it is blessed with long, warm summers and fertile soil, thus providing excellent growing conditions for fruits, vegetables, herbs and cereals. By early May the cherry trees are heavy with fruit, and in the autumn you get cabbages bigger than footballs. This is a stroke of luck for Bulgarians, as many of the villagers have little money and mostly depend on livestock and what they can grow. This is an agricultural country that relies heavily on its land.

Traditional restaurant food

Despite increasing Western influences, the Bulgarians still tend to eat very traditionally. You'll find certain ingredients used again and again in a variety of different dishes. Lamb, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, onions, aubergine, a white cheese (similar to Greek feta) and yoghurt are all very popular.

Like in Greece, the traditional restaurants all tend to have similar menus. Almost certainly they will serve shopska salad, similar to a Greek salad, this comprises sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, parsley and is topped with grated cheese, made from sheep or cows' milk. Tarator is also likely to be on the menu, a traditional cucumber and yogurt soup, which is served cold and is perfect for hot summer days. Other typical items include kebapcheta (minced meat rolled into sausage shapes and grilled), kavarma (casseroles of pork or veal, onions and mushrooms), shishkebab (stuffed vine or cabbage leaves) and moussaka.

Dairy products are often made from sheep and goats' milk. There are many different cheeses in Bulgaria and they are popular with the locals, who use them a lot in their cooking. Westerners, on the other hand, tend to find the smell and flavour rather unappealing!

Bulgaria is still quite a poor country and this means adjusting expectations accordingly. You are not going to eat a five-star meal here, but you will enjoy simple, traditional meals and hardly pay anything for them. The best Bulgarian food comes from the fresh markets. Processed foods are often made from cheap ingredients and aren't always so good. Supermarkets still have limited choice and the fruit and vegetables are not as fresh and perfect looking as we have come to expect. But then people don't come to Bulgaria expecting hauté cuisine. They come to get away from it all. It's like stepping back in time fifty years, and while some would hate to be without their M&S deli foods, others yearn for a more organic way of living.

Bring on the bread

Bread holds a special place in Bulgaria's heart and is served with everything, from salads to main meals and cheese. In the shops you find mostly white bread, which is rather heavy and flavourless, but many villagers still bake wonderful traditional breads.
There is an old saying, "No one is taller than the bread", implying that nobody has greater power than the bread, which shows its importance to the Bulgarians! You will also find a wide selection of savoury pastries. Banitsa is probably the most popular. It's prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of white cheese between filo pastry and then baked in the oven. Banitsa is often served for breakfast with plain yogurt. It can be eaten hot or cold. Some varieties include banitsa with spinach or the sweet version, banitsa with milk or pumpkin.

Time for wine

Wine productions have long traditions in Bulgaria. In fact, according to historic and archeological research, it may well be the place wine making began. There are five wine producing regions, each sector making wine with its own distinct features and peculiarities. They produce all the well-known wines such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvingnon, Chardonnay and Sauvingnon Blanc, as well as some interesting, lesser known ones that are great to test, such as Pamid and Rkatsiteli (for more in-depth information, see our article about wine).

Now, we can't write about food and wine and not mention Rakia, which is considered to be the national drink. It is made by distillation of fermented fruits, most commonly plums and grapes. Its alcohol content is normally 40 per cent but home-produced Rakia (and in the villages every self-respecting Bulgarian produces their own) can be stronger, typically 50 to 60 per cent. So go easy when drinking it!

If you would like to sample Bulgarian cuisine for yourself, then why not try one of these recipes.

RECIPIES

Courgettes in yoghurt sauce
(Serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

2 courgettes cut in thin slices

Olive oil

60g plain white flour

500g plain Greek-style yoghurt

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Chopped fresh dill

This dish is best served cold, so it needs to be prepared at least a few hours in advance. After cutting the courgettes into slices, season with salt and leave aside for 10 minutes, then dip each slice into the flour and fry in a pan. Leave to cool. Mix the crushed garlic and chopped dill with the yoghurt. Serve with the yoghurt as a dip or arrange in a dish wiyh a layer of yoghurt, followed by a layer of fried courgettes. Place in the fridge and serve a few hours later.

Mince meat stuffed peppers
(Serves 4)

8 mixed peppers (red, green, yellow)

500g minced meat (beef, pork or chicken)

60g rice

2 onions, finely chopped

Chopped parsley

1 tin chopped tomatoes

3tbs olive oil

Paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 190C

De-seed the peppers by cutting a hole in the top and pulling the stalk out. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chopped onions for about three minutes, add the minced meat and cook for five minutes. Then add the rice and tomatoes (keep the tomato juice for later), season with salt, pepper and paprika, cook for another two minutes and take off the hob. Stuff each pepper with the mixture (about three-quarters full), arrange in an ovenproof deep dish. Pour in the tomato juice and top up with water until the dish is half full, cover with foil and cook for about 30 minutes in the oven, uncover and cook for another 15-20 minutes until the peppers are cooked. You can serve them on their own or with Greek style yogurt.

Baked apples with vanilla syrup

8-10 apples

1/3 cup crushed walnut kernels

3/2 cup sugar

50g soft, beaten butter

vanilla and cinnamon according to taste

Syrup:

Cup sugar

Cup water

Vanilla to taste

Peel and carefully hollow the apples. Prepare a stuffing from the beaten butter, sugar, vanilla, crushed walnut kernels and cinnamon. Stuff the apples and place in a lined dish, pour over two spoonfuls of water and bake at 190C. Pour the water, sugar and vanilla into a pan, and heat up until the sugar starts to go golden. Serve cold, sweetened with the syrup and perhaps a dollop of cream or ice-cream. The same recipe may be used for quinces and pears.