Food and Drink The variety in Bulgarian cuisine is based on the long history of the country, as well as on the long-lasting migrations of the tribes that founded Bulgaria more than 1300 years ago. The close contact with Turkey and Greece have helped form very attractive and to some extent exotic national cuisine, including some dishes which cannot be called national but which are typical of Bulgaria only. Why not try out some of the recipes and experience the taste of Bulgarian cuisine
Shopska Salad
A traditional Bulgarian salad
Ingredients
1 onion
500 g tomatoes
4-5 peppers
150-200 g ripened cow or sheep cheese in slices
1/2 dl oil
1 small hot pepper
1 cucumber salt vinegar Method Peel onion and chop finely. Bake, peel and seed the peppers. Cut into small strips and add the diced tomatoes, peeled cucumber cut into cubes and onion. Add salt, oil and vinegar, and mix. Serve Shopska Salad in the shape of a pyramid, top with finely chopped parsley and grated cheese with small hot pepper cut into rounds.
Musaka (moussaka)
Ingredients
1 kg potatoes
400 g ground meat
1 large onion chopped
4 eggs 20 g grated cheese
300 ml milk
salt
pepper oil Method Heat a little oil in a pan. Add onion and cook until golden brown. Add meat, salt and a lot of pepper. Fry until meat browns. Remove the pan from the heat.
Cut potatoes into slices. Layer potatoes and meat in a casserole dish. Mix together 4 eggs and the milk, then pour over potatoes and meat, sprinkle with grated cheese and put in oven 220 degrees gas mark 6 for about 40 minutes or until potato on the top gets brown.
Tarator A traditional cold soup
Ingredients 2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
500 gr. plain milk yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
500 ml. iced water or mineral water
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed with salt
50 g ground walnuts, crushed
10-20 g oil
dill Method Beat the yoghourt, add the crushed garlic with salt, crushed ground walnuts, finely peeled and chopped cucumbers and oil. Stir and dilute with cold water. Refrigerate Tarator at least 2 hours. Serve sprinkled with finely chopped dill.
Meatball Soup Ingredients 250 gr. mince meat
1/2 teaspoon each salt & pepper
1 spoon choobritza (savory)
1 onion chopped
1/2 grated carrot
1/2 chopped celery stalk
1 chopped capsicum
1 spoon parsley
1/2 cup rice Method Combine, mince, salt, pepper, choobritza and 1 spoon parsley. Mix well and then shape into small balls and coat with plain flour. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Now place 1.5 litres of water in saucepan bring it to the boil when boiling add the onion, celery, carrot and capsicum. When the vegetables are boiling add the prepared meatballs. When the vegetables are nearly cooked add 1/2 cup calrose rice and 1.5 spoons of parsley. To thicken in a small bowl add 1/2 cup milk, 1 spoon of plain flour mix, then add 1/2 lemon juiced, whisk all together now and a bit at a time of soup to the small bowl whisking, then return it all to the large soup.
Serve Meatball Soup with crunchy bread or fried bread and cold beer.
Kyopolou A traditional Bulgarian starter Ingredients
2-3 aubergines / eggplants
4-5 peppers red and green
2-3 medium tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
fresh bunch parsley
red wine vinegar
sunflower oil
salt Method Bake/roast the aubergines, tomatoes and peppers on a hot plate or in the oven, peel their skin and cut into small pieces. Add the crushed garlic. Mix well, add oil and vinegar, salt to taste, stir again. Arrange into a serving dish, top.
Garnish with finely chopped parsley. Serve Kyopolou with toasted bread.
Sarmi Traditional Bulgarian meal with stuffed vine or cabbage leaves.
Ingredients 800 g pork
500 g veal liver
5 peppers
4 onions
2 tomatoes
250 ml tomato juice
one cupful mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
savory
paprika
pepper
parsley
sunflower oil Method Fry the finely chopped onions in some of the butter and some water, stir the paprika and take off the stove. Add the meat, rice, pepper, mint and finely chopped parsley. Pour over warm salted water and simmer until the water has been absorbed by the rice. Scaled the vine or cabbage leaves with salted hot water and put 1 teaspoon of the mixture on each leave. Roll together and arrange in a saucepan, pour over 3/2 cupful of warm water and 1 teaspoon fat, close with a lid and simmer on a low fire for about 1 hour.
Serve Sarmi warm with garlic and yogurt.
Shoppe Style Cheese Traditional Bulgarian Vegetarian Meal Ingredients 500 g brined sheep's cheese
40 g butter
1-2 tomatoes
1-2 peppers black pepper
paprika 5 eggs Method Cut the cheese into five equal slices and place into butter-lined earthenware bowls. Top with tomato slices, pepper rings and some butter. Bake in a hot oven some 5-6 minutes. Break an egg on top of each bowl and add the remaining butter melted with pepper and paprika. Bake until a crust is formed.
Serve Shoppe Style Cheese hot, garnished with slices of tomato, parsley and a chili as desired.
Gyuvech Ingredients
600 g meat (lamb, veal or pork)
100 ml sunflower oil
onion
200 g tomatoes
salt
pepper
200-300 ml warm soup from cub
300 g fresh mushrooms
150 g paprikas
100 g olives
100 g rice
100 ml wine
1 bunch of parsley Method Wash meat, wipe and cut meat into big pieces. Fry it quickly in heated oil, add finely chopped onion, cook gently until slightly soft, add half of the tomatoes peeled and cut into small pieces, add salt and pepper, pour in soup from cube (or bone stock), then simmer. When half tender turn into a fireproof or earthenware dish, add mushrooms trimmed, washed, and cut into thin slices and paprikas cut into strips. When mushrooms and paprikas are tender, add olives and rice picked over and half-cooked. Add more salt and pepper if necessary, pour in wine and some warm water as needed. Bake in the oven preheated to 175-200 degrees centigrade. After 10-15 minutes add the rest of the tomatoes cut into rounds and bake until brown. When done, sprinkle gyuvech with chopped parsley and pepper.
Skembe Chorba A traditional Bulgarian Soup Ingredients 500 g beef, pork or sheep tripe (belly)
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon red pepper
pepper
salt
garlic
vinegar
hot chillimethod Scald the tripe for 2-3 minutes and immediately after that scrape the inner side with a sharp knife. Clean the outer side as well and either wash the dirty spots or scrape them with a knife together with the film. Wash again, put it in a pot and pour on with cold water. Boil adding water constantly. Boiling beef it will take 3 to 7 hours, veal - 2 to 3 hours, lamb - 30 to 60 minutes. While boiling, take care that the tripe is all the time covered with water. Take out the cooked tripe from the pot and mince it into pieces. Salt the bouillon and boil it for 15-20 minutes more adding red pepper, milk and sunflower oil. When serving into plates put the minced meat and pour on with the hot bouillon. Serve Skembe Chorba, with a little bowl vinegar with brayed garlic and hot chilli.
Mish Mash A traditional Bulgarian Light Meal
Ingredients 3 medium tomatoes
3 red peppers
1 onion
2-3 spoons of sunflower oil
200 g cheese
3 eggs
chopped parsley
salt and pepper to season Method Cut the ingredients into small pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions, then the peppers and the tomatoes and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add the cheese and eggs and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Serve Mish Mash sprinkled with parsley.
Stuffed Peppers With Egg and Cheese (Chushki biurek) A light meal or starter
Ingredients
1 kg red peppers
6 eggs
salt
250 g brined sheep's cheese
parsley
10-20 ml sunflower oil Method Bake, peel and seed the peppers. Mix the crumbled cheese with 4 beaten eggs. Stuff the peppers with the mixture, roll in breadcrumbs and beaten eggs and fry in hot oil. Serve Chushki biurek sprinkled with finely chopped parsley.
Kavarma Traditional meat dish
Ingredients
800 g pork
500 g veal liver
5 peppers
4 onions
2 tomatoes
250 ml tomato juice
one cupful mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
savory
paprika
pepper
parsley
sunflower oil salt Method Cut the meat into small pieces and fry in sunflower oil and a little water.
Add the onions and when tender – the cooked and diced liver, sliced mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, peppers, savory, wine, salt and the tomato juice. Stir, pour into an earthenware dish or bowls and bake in hot oven for 30 minutes.
Serve Kavarma sprinkled with finely chilled parsley.
Baklava: A traditional Bulgarian pudding
Ingredients:
500 g thin layers of dough for the pie
400-500 g ground walnuts
100-150 g raisins
250 g sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar
oil for sprinkling dough layers and for greasing
For syrup:
400-450 g sugar
1 dl water
1 vanilla-bean or 1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 lemon Method Grease a cake tin and place 2-3 dough layers in, sprinkle with oil. Mix walnuts, raisins and vanilla sugar. Spread some of the mixture over the dough layers, then again place a couple of dough layers sprinkled with oil, then walnuts. Repeat until all the dough layers and walnuts have been used and finish with 2-3 sprinkled dough layers. Before baking, cut the pie in the tin into small squares.
Bake in oven preheated to 200 degrees centigrade until nicely brown.
In the meantime, prepare syrup: pour water over sugar, add vanilla and lemon cut into rounds. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the syrup is nearly thick.
Pour hot syrup over baked pie, put back into the lukewarm oven and leave for a further 15-20 minutes to absorb the syrup. When cooled turn the pie onto a plate to leave to stand for 1-2 days until completely dry. If it is kept in a dry and cool place Baklava can be kept for up to 10 days.
Banitsa A traditional Bulgarian Dessert
Ingredients
1kg flour
1 kg spinach
300 g white brined cheese
1 1/2 cupful of yoghourt
200 g butter
one spoon sunflower oil one spoonful of vinegar salt Method Cook the cleaned and finely cut spinach in some of the butter. After having cooled, stir in the crumbled cheese and yoghourt. Knead hard dough from the flour, oil, vinegar, salt and water. Roll into five sheets. Line a baking dish with butter, place one sheet on the bottom and top with the spinach filling. Add a second sheet, filling, and so on. Baste the uppermost pastry sheet with melted butter. Bake Banitsa in a moderate oven
Kozunak A traditional Bulgarian Dessert
Ingredients 1 kg plain flour
1 cup milk
1 ½ cups sugar
6+ eggs
200gms oil/melted butter
Yeast for 25c
Grated lemon skin
Few drops lemon juice
Vanilla essence Method Dissolve sugar in warm milk. Mix yeast with 1/3 cup of warm water, ½ of sugar milk solution, 1 cup of flour and leave in warm place for 30-40 minutes to rise. Place flour in a big bowl, make well and add yeast mixture, well beaten 6 eggs, sugar-milk solution, lemon skin and drops, vanilla, stirring with spoon until it becomes soft dough. Knead well with oiled hands until oil/butter finishes and bubbles appear in texture of dough.
Leave the Kozunak for 1-2 hours in a warm place. Then put in oiled trays with different size and shape (round, rectangular, heart shaped) and put on the top 35 coloured boiled eggs. Bake in preheated oven 2000 C for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Traditional Bulgarian Beverages
Ayran A beverage of yoghurt and water. Bulgarians drink ayran in one form or another practically every day throughout their lives.
Bozha This is a thick fermented sweet beverage (having a sweet-sour taste) prepared from roasted flour, which gives it a brownish. Bozha (boza) may be made from wheat, barley, oat or corn flour.
Mineral water There are various kinds of mineral water in Bulgaria. Most notable are the spring water sources from the region quite close to Plovdiv - in the towns of Hissar and Bratsigovo. In Hissar, the water is very low in dissolved solids, about 230 mg per litre, with a temperature ranging from 37° to 51°C. Rakia A strong drink usually brewed at home, and made from grapes or plums.
Gamza Red Wine - the most widespread sort produces earthy, light bodied red wine good for simple fare. In Romania and Hugary it is known as Kadarka.
Mavrud Red Wine - is a full bodied wine, spicy red that can age to more than 8 years
Melnik Red Wine - grown in the southernmost part of the country makes hefty red wines that age very well
Pamid Red Wine - rustic and hardly unforgettable but still good enough "commercial" for daily drinking.
White Bulgarian wines are produced from renowned varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling as well as from the local: Misket, Ottonel, and Dimiat. White Bulgarian wines are not nearly as good as Red Bulgarian Wines but they are rapidly improving and recently some very nice surprises from Rouse winery have appeared. It appears to be the fastest growing new-comer on the market. |
