Bulgarian Foods
If there were 10 million tour and travel pages on the Internet, 15
million times you would read "The most delicious food you have ever
tasted." So I won't tell you this because you expect it and the food is
only but one thing which will impress you about this land. The
Bulgarian menu will vary according to the annual rotation of the
seasons. The vegetables, fruits and spices are spread around the
different seasons and are to be consumed fresh. In a similar manner,
the use of meat also depends upon the season; lamb is more common in
spring, light meat such as chicken, veal and vegetarian meals are
prevalent in summer. During the entire winter, pork meat is prevalent.
Fresh fish is consumed during the entire year. One could say the
Bulgarian cuisine is rather "meat-less" than "meat-full". Statistics
say that Bulgarians consume 2 times less meat compared with the new
members of the EU. The average meat consumption in Bulgaria is 3.06 kg
per capita per month. Everything here is FRESH and nothing tastes like
plastic or cardboard: Milk and cheese come straight from the cow or
goat, fruits and vegetables are straight from the garden, eggs come
straight from the chicken down the street! Oh, and you must try the
honey which the Bulgarian Bees have so lovingly prepared for your
morning tea! The point is --- here the food is much better and tastier
than you ever expected it to be.
Bulgaria is a land of traditions and there are three very special food
item varieties which are unique to Bulgaria and have been a part of it
back through the earliest of Thracian times
1. Cheese
White Cheese - a particular variety of the increasingly-popular Greek
Feta cheese now popular in many places. It originated on the Balkan
Peninsula in a region called Trakia, which is the current day Southern
Bulgaria. This Bulgarian sirene has much the same texture as the Greek
feta. It is a brined cheese, produced from sheep or cows milk, and is
both used on the table and as an essential part of other foods from
Shopska Salad to Banitza. Feta Cheese is produced in many different
countries, but it is widely known that Bulgarian-made Feta is the best
addition to this white cheese, another common Bulgarian cheese is
Yellow Cheese or "Kashkaval". This hard yellow table cheese, made of
sheep's milk, may otherwise be called The Cheddar Cheese of the
Balkans. It is frequently served as "fried cheese" .The Kashkaval
(Kashkaval Pane) is especially good when freshly breaded (dipped in egg
then rolled in bread crumbs) and deep-fried. You'll find it's not gooey
and much more flavorful than mozzarella.
2. Yoghurt
Yoghurt - again, a particular variety produced by the Lactobacterium
Bulgaricum bacteria. It grows no place else in the world. Yoghurt
("kiselo mlyako" - literally meaning sour milk) has found an important
part in many Bulgarian foods. Bulgarians are also fond of "Arjan" a
beverage of water mixed with yoghurt. Yoghurt can be purchased in many
different grades and qualities, each characteristic of the quality of
the milk to which the bacteria culture has been added. Yogurt junkies,
this is your promised land - the quality, taste and choices for yogurt
you'll find in Bulgaria are unsurpassed!
The most
common commercial brand is "Danone" (Bulgarian humor reminds us that
"da" = "yes", "no" = "but", "ne" = "no"). Be sure you try the
wonderfully-rich, buttery-tasting "Bivolsko mylako" produced from the
milk of water buffalo. It is by now found everywhere in Bulgaria, but
most commonly in the mountain areas around Shipka village and the town
of Gabrovo. The ancient people that inhabited the territory of
contemporary Bulgaria - the Thraceans - would consume a lot of "thick
milk" that in their language sounded like "yog urt." Bulgarians eat
yogurt in some form practically every day throughout their life. It is
a matter of fact that the ecologically clean dairy products made in the
Rhodope mountain region has anti-cancer effect, according to a resent
survey over the biodiversity in the region of the Middle Rhodopes. The
results of the survey were reported by Professor Dr Venelin Kafedjiev
in the outset of a UN-sponsored eco project under the title "The
Rhodopes for protecting biodiversity".
The team of Prof Kafedjiev found that during the process of dairy production in
the Rhodopes region of southern Bulgaria, a specific acid is being
synthesized which came into the focus of scientists with its supposedly
anti-cancer effect. Researches said that it might be because of that
specific acid that local people are famous for their longevity.
Some 200,000 tons of Bulgarian yoghurt are sold in Japan each year,
Shigetaro Asano, President of MEIJI Dairies Japanese Corporation,
announced during his visit in Bulgaria. The considerable increase in
the sale of Bulgarian yoghurt in Japan come as the trend for healthier
lifestyle has been gathering momentum in Japan for the last five-ten
years. In 1973 MEIJI launched production of Bulgarian yoghurt using
Bulgarian technology and LB Bulgaricum license. For more than 30 years
now the company has been Japan's biggest producer of yoghurt and
sponsor of various events related to Bulgaria.
Millions of people around the world, who do not have the slightest idea where
Bulgaria is, happily swallow the content of packs labeled Bulgarian
Yogurt every day. They believe this food will make them strong and
healthy and with a good reason since the benevolent bacterium which is
used to produce yogurt - Bulgaricum - has been proven to have wonderful
effect on human organisms. At the dawn of the 20th century, the French
scholar (of Bulgarian origin) Iliya Mlechnikov was awarded the Nobel
Prize for his research after he noted Bulgarian villagers living mainly
on yogurt often reached more than 100 years in age.
3. Spices
Chubritsa- this plant, which botanists claim to be a species of the herb
Satureia hortensis appears to grow particularly well upon Bulgarian
soil. It also shares certain characteristics with Oregano (Origanum
vulgare). The dried leaves are crushed and sprinked on top of soups in
the last few minutes of cooking or ground into a fine powder and used
on bread like butter
Parsley- This is
probably the most widely used spice in Bulgaria since ancient times.
Its leaves are applied fresh or dried to flavour and add vitamins to
soups, broth and main courses, as an ingredient of vegetable preserves,
or to decorate salads, roasted meat or fish in all seasons.
Thyme
- It is also called granny's soul or shepherd's basil. Fresh or
dried, it is used for seasoning meat and vegetable dishes or soups, and
bean, pea or bread-bean stews, and sauces; Thyme is also added to
salads and pickles.
Onion- While some
dieticians consider it to be a spice, others do not. In either case, it
is worth mentioning that onions are grown everywhere in Bulgaria and
are widely applied in Bulgarian cookery. The onion stimulates our
appetite and secretion of gastric juices. The onion is used in the
preparation of salads, sauces, stews, vegetable and meat dishes,
preserves. Fresh onion is a basic ingredient of many salads.
The abundance of mineral waters may be seen as one other important factor
in the healthy nature of the Bulgarian people. Most notable are the
spring-fed water sources quite close to Plovdiv in the towns of Hisarja
(Hissar) and Brasigovo. In Hissar, the total outflow of the springs
exceeds 4500 liter per minute. The water is very low in dissolved
solids, about 230 mg per liter, with a temperature ranging from 37° to
51°C. People travel to Hisarja from a wide area to take a supply of
water from a specially erected fountain near the Momina salza
pavilion. This water is also useful for treatment of predominantly
gastrointestinal disorders. There are many other similar springs
throughout Bulgaria and a large portion of their waters is bottled
commercially and consumed in homes and restaurants in preference to the
chemically-treated municipal water.
For your fresh salad, you will always find
oil and vinegar on the table. The westernized palate may feel a bit short-changed as
few restaurants will have Bleu Cheese, Roquefort, Ranch or Thousand
Island. These manufactured dressings are not usually a part of
Bulgarian cuisine.
Native spirits are highly
potent and not expensive. The most popular local product is rakiya, or
brandy. Slivova rakiya is made from plums, Kaisieva rakiya from
apricots, and grozdova from grapes - Pomorska rakiya is the best
example of the latter. Rakiya is usually accompanied by a soft drink
and a salad or appetizer. Imported whisky is cheaper than in the West,
but much of it is counterfeit. Buy it from the bigger outlets, and
avoid the stuff sold at the smaller kiosks and by street traders.And
then there is the popular "boza". This is a thick fermented beverage
with a sweet-sour taste. Boza is made using roasted flour which gives
it a brownish or rosy color. It almost has the appearance of chocolate .
As the beverage is fermented, it has a slight (4% or less) alcohol
content. Millet-flour boza is preferred, but it may be made from wheat,
barley, oat or corn flour.
[Boza, the translation of
which is sometimes given as "millet ale," and which is accented on the
second syllable, looks just like Amizake Almond Rice shake. The taste?
Ever since this place was called Thrace, which was quite a while ago,
foreigners have been trying to describe Boza to the folks back home. It
tastes kind of like mushed-up Quaker Puffed Wheat, mixed with that
liquid that's on the top when you first open a can of kidney beans.
Plus the faintest hints of kerosene and mothballs. There is, of course,
a generational divide over Boza, many younger people gravitating toward
lighter, smoother Western-style drinks such as Windex and Pine Sol.]
Honey
is another traditional Bulgarian product; it has been produced here for
more than 3,000 years. You may be surprised to learn that Honey bees
did not exist in England's American Colonies, so the new settlers had
no "sweets" in their diet. Unfortunately, some Americans put the
existence of sugar in the same category as air and water, but the facts
are that sugar was an imported expensive luxury from the South Pacific
in 17th century Europe and was not even introduced into the U. S. until
1751 in Louisiana, just 25 years before Jefferson wrote the Declaration
of Independence. There are many small independent beekeepers found in
the rural Bulgarian communities, and often more honey is produced than
is demanded by local consumers. Because pure natural honey is the only
food that will never spoil, the excess honey is stored, sometimes for
years, in whatever containers the beekeeper has available until a
broker shows up to buy it. Also, bee pollen (collected when the honey
bee walks through a pollen trap that is placed underneath the main
beehive) is sold in the local markets.
Bulgaria
exports an average of 5.5 metric tons of honey per year, mostly to
Germany, Greece and Russia. Our agricultural diversity results in many
varieties of honey, including product from the blossoms of sunflower,
conifer (pine), acacia, linden, oak and various herbs and other
flowers. One variety of the honey produced in Bulgaria has the effect
of Viagra. In a sensational article published in "The Times of India"
newspaper, it is reported that Bulgarian bee-keepers produce honey from
thistle. The product is a natural and cheaper alternative of any
medicine for impotence, the article reads. "Honey really works;
thousands of Bulgarians consume it and nobody said it wouldn't work,"
Georgy Iliev, head of the Bulgarian Bee-Keepers' Association said in an
interview published by the newspaper.The
day of St. Haralampi, the Orthodox patron saint of bee-keepers, is
marked on February 10th. It is believed that this saint was the first
one who discovered the healing powers of honey and bee products. See
also this
photo of an open market stand selling honey and fresh spices.</p>
<p>So
these are some of the characteristic features which lend their specific
taste and flavour to the Bulgarian national dishes. Perhaps because
they are memorable, those features have helped to make the cuisine
popular far beyond the country's borders. It is the style of the
Bulgarian cook to see the concurrent heating of products on a low fire,
knowing that the food must simmer gently on all accounts - boil, roast
or stew. That is the way to retain the nutritive qualities, while
achieving correct flavor and taste. The same effect is also achieved
through the variety of products, which agree well with the seasonings
and fats. Seasoning is usually subtle and unobtrusive. Food is normally
served only warm, not piping hot
As to methods of
preparation - since times immemorial the Bulgarians have favoured
stewing, roasting, boiling and the earthenware dish. The roasting of
food on charcoal embers is also widespread, leaving the meat
deliciously tender and succulent. Often many of the stews and
casseroles are delivered to the table in a lidded brown crock called a
gyuvech. If many of the dishes you find here seem Turkish, why not?
Bulgaria was occupied by the Ottomans for five centuries.
When the
Turks retreated, they both borrowed from the Bulgarian ways and left
some of their own tradition behind
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Subject: Special Christmas food/drinks or cakes from our contries 
Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:46 pm
Here you can tell us about things you eat or drink in the Christmas and if you can, it could be funny to get a recipe how to make the food, cake or drink. 
The Christmas brew plays a major roll in many of the traditional Danish luncheons that every single company with more than one employee carry out every year in December. Most hotels, inns and restaurants offer special Christmas dishes on their menus and every single canteen from Skagen in the far North of Denmark to Gedser in the far South is occupied with this very important question: -What are we going to have for our Christmas luncheon? 
As Christmas approaches all kinds of preparations accelerate in each and every Danish home. Remarkably, the old Scandinavian tradition has survived more og less untouched even in these modern times. Cerlainly, Christmas has been commercialized like everywhere else but all Danes - even young and hard core computer freaks - give in to their heritage at this particular time of the year. Everybody tries to participate in the preparation for Christmas Eve, however humble the effort! 
