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Bulgarian Food :
One of the most pleasant surprises for people when they visit Bulgaria is good quality and tasty food which can be enjoyed all over the country. Fresh produce is plentiful and tasty and is cooked simply yet imaginatively. Some dishes are unique to Bulgaria while others are to be found all over the Balkans.
One of the most pleasant surprises for people when they visit Bulgaria is good quality and tasty food which can be enjoyed all over the country. Fresh produce is plentiful and tasty and is cooked simply yet imaginatively. Some dishes are unique to Bulgaria while others are to be found all over the Balkans.
Below are some of the traditional dishes that you can try when you come to Bulgaria.
Salads
1. Shopska salad
Ingredients: 3-4 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 4-5 peppers, 1 onion,
150g brined sheep's cheese, parsley, vinegar, sunflower oil
and salt. Bake, peel and seed the peppers. Cut into small
strips and add the diced tomatoes, cucumbers and onion. Add
salt, oil and vinegar, and mix. Serve in the shape of a
pyramid, top with chopped parsley and grated cheese and you
cannot be more Balkan than that.
2. Stuffed tomato salad
Ingredients: 1kg tomatoes, 1 medium-sized celery, 250g brined
sheep's cheese, parsley, pepper, vinegar, sunflower oil,
salt(1 cucumber). Peel and dice the celery, boil in salt
water, strain and mix with the grated cheese, oil and finely
chopped parsley. Slice off the tomato tops, core and fill
with the mixture (for an even more appealing appearance place
the tomatoes on top of cucumber slices). Trim with small
pieces of tomatoes and parsley.
3. Mixed salad
Ingredients: 1-2 aubergines, 7-8 peppers(non-Bulgarian size
peppers: 15), 3-4 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 1/3 cup walnuts, 203
cloves garlic, vinegar, sunflower oil, salt. Bake the
aubergines and peppers on a hot plate, peel and cut into
small pieces. Add the diced cucumber, crushed walnut kernels
and garlic, the vinegar, oil and salt, stir and arrange on a
plate. Top with tomato slices and finely chopped parsley.
Sprinkle with some more oil.
4. Snow white salad
Ingredients: 2-3 cucumbers, 2 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup
cream, 1/2 cup walnuts, 2-3 cloves garlic, dill, sunflower
oil, salt (3 eggs). Peel and dice the cucumbers, add the
cottage cheese, cream, crushed walnuts and garlic, the oil,
finely chopped dill and salt. Beat the mixture, pour into a
plate and garnish with hard boiled eggs cut in half.
5. Aubergine puree
Ingredients: 2-3 aubergines, 4-5 peppers, 2-3 tomatoes, 3-4
cloves garlic, parsley, vinegar, sunflower oil, salt. Bake
the aubergines and peppers on a hot plate, peel and cut into
small pieces. Add the finely hopped diced or grated tomatoes,
then the crushed garlic. Mix with a wooden spoon, add oil and
vinegar, salt to taste, beat. Pour into a plate and top with
finely chopped parsley.
Soups
1. Tarator
Ingredients: 2-3 cucumbers, 500g yoghurt, 1/2 walnuts, 3-4
cloves garlic, dill, sunflower oil and salt. Beat the
yoghurt, add the crushed garlic, ground walnuts, finely dies
cucumbers (sliced into small pieces), oil and salt. Stir and
dilute with cold water. Serve sprinkled with finely chopped
dill.
2. Monastery style bean soup
Ingredients: 200g white beans, 2-3 carrots, 1/2 a celery, 1
onion, 1-2 tomatoes, 1-2 peppers, 1-2 chillies (peppers, by
choice), parsley, mint, sunflower oil, salt. Soak the beans
in cold water for 3-4 hours, drain and pour fresh water. Boil
(in an earthware) pot together with oil, finely chopped
carrots, onion and celery. The sliced peppers are added
later; the grated tomatoes and mint, when the beans have
turned tender. Salt and boil for another 15-20 min. Serve
sprinkled with finely chopped parsley.
3. Vegetable soup
Ingredients: 2-3 potatoes, 1-2 carrots, 1/2 celery. 1-2
peppers, 1/4 of a medium-sized cabbage, 1 onion, 2-3
tomatoes, 1 beetroot, 1 spoonful flour, 1 tsp paprika, 100g
yoghurt, 1 egg, 100g kashkaval(yellow cheese), sunflower oil,
salt, parsley. Put the diced celery and carrots into salt
boiling water together with the finely cut cabbage and
peppers. When soft, add the diced potatoes. Boil the diced
beetroot. Stew the finely chopped onion until soft, then add
the flower, paprika and grated tomatoes. Add the mixture to
the boiling vegetables and boil for another half hour. Add
the beetroot at the end. Thicken with an egg beaten in
yoghurt. Serve with finely chopped parsley and grated
kashkval.
4. Spinach or Nettle soup
Ingredients: 1/2 spinach, 60g butter, 2 spoon flour, 0.5l
milk, pepper, salt. Boil the finely chopped spinach in salt
water. Brown the butter and flour, then add the spinach
puree. Dilute with milk and half the spinach water. Boil for
another 5-10 minutes and season with pepper. Serve with bread
cubes fried in butter. The same recipe may may be used for
nettles.
5. Vegetable soup with white
cheese
Ingredients: 250g green beans, 1 onion, 1/2 a medium-sized
cabbage, 1 small cauliflower, 150g white brined cheese,
parsley, sunflower oil, salt. Boil the beans in salt water
and strain. Cook the finely chopped onion, cabbage, and
cauliflower in oil and some water, pour over hot water and
the bean water. When cooked, add the bean mash and crushed
cheese. Boil for another 10 minutes and serve with finely
chopped parsley.