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Getting to know Bulgarian
Cuisine
(reflections on tasty eating)
One of the characteristic features of Bulgarian cuisine is the concurrent cooking of products on low heat. This preserves the ingredients from loosing
their nutritional qualities and gives the cooked food great taste and diverse
flavor. Vegetables are used in great quantities and in different surprising combinations. Spices are used
moderately.
We decided
to compile a small thesaurus of Bulgarian cuisine dishes:
One of the most popular Bulgarian national
dish (in fact it’s a salad) is «Shopska salata». It is typical for West Bulgaria and is named after the inhabitants of this region — Shopi. The salad is made from fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, parsley,
dill, onion and feta cheese. It is consumed either with «Rakija»(hard liquor usually made
from grape or other fruits)
or with anisette. The most popular
soups are «Shkembe chorba» — tribe
soup, usually served with garlic and vinegar, «Agneshka supa» (lamb soup), «Bob»
(bean soup with plenty of herbs)
and «Leshta» (lentil soup). There is also a great cold soup called «Tarator», its ingredients are
cucumber, yougurt (bulgarians call it «kiselo mliako», meaning sour milk), parsley, walnuts.
Despite the strange combination of products «Tarator» is worth trying. In almost every menu one will find «Kebapcheta» — sausage shaped grilled minced meat,
«Shishcheta» (Shish kebap), «Kiyfteta» (spicy meat balls). «Parjoli» is in fact steak usually pork either grilled («Na gril») or roasted. From the river fish in Bulgarian menu, good ones are «pastyrva» (trout),
«som» (sheat fish), «sharan» (carp); as to the
sea fish, worth trying are «lefer, chernokop» (blue fish), «popcheta, kaya»
(gobies), «saphrid»(scad). Traditionally some dishes are cooked and served
in clay pots, for example — «Gyuvetch» (braised meat with stewed
potatoes and vegetables) or «Kavarma» (made of meat, mushrooms and onions). Another intriguing dish
is «Sirene po shopski», that is cheese with chopped tomatoes and peppers, poured with
whisked eggs, cooked and served in a clay pot. In order to stick to the original recipe you should eat it with a small chilly pepper. «Pylneni piperki (chushki)»
stands for stuffed peppers with minced meat and rice. «Sarmi» is similar to that — stuffed vine or cabbage leaves.«Moussaka» is a a delicious ragout from minced meat,
potatoes and onions, coated with stirred eggs and yougurt.
For
breakfast you are usually offered «Kashkaval» — a certain type of yellow cheese. This cheese is also used for a main course — «Kashkaval pane» («kashkaval» is dipped in egg, rolled in bread crumbs and then fried). A good snack is «Banitza» — baked thin sheets of pastry (phyllo pastry) with white cheese. It is served with yougurt. Bulgaria is the country of «Bacillus Bulgaricus». It is thought that Bulgarian yogurt is a reason
for healthiness and long living. Trying yougurt is a must!
Bulgarian wines
The history of traditional winemaking in Bulgaria dates back to some 5000 years ago. Thracians brought the grapevine to these lands from Asia Minor. From that
ancient time till present «Pamid» has been cultivated — one of the oldest grape variety in the world. From dry red wines worth mentioning are
«Gamza» and «Mavrud», «Cabernet Sauvignon» and «Merlot». Some of the best dry white wines are
«Reisling», «Misket», «Traminer», «Chardonnay». The red wine «Kadarka» and the
white wine «Donkey’s milk» are worth trying from the semisweet
wines.
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