Introduction Bulgarian
cuisine
Many centuries of tradition have gone into what
is now considered 'Bulgarian' cuisine - there are many influences from
throughout this time, in particular the neighbouring countries of Greece and Turkey. Many of the ingredients produced in Bulgaria are world famous - the herbs
grown here are exported all around the world, Bulgarian yoghurt (kiselo mljako)
is considered by many to be the best in the world (indeed some 200,000 tons of
Bulgarian yoghurt are sold in Japan every year!) and the
organic fruit and
vegetables are legendary
... many of our subscribers write to us with tales of how
‘the fruit tastes like it did when I was a child’, and this is perfectly true
... no pestisides here ... everything grown naturally and one can certainly
taste the difference.
Whilst
there are some delicous meat dishes in Bulgaria,
many of the dishes are ‘meatless’ - in fact the Bulgarians eat only half the
amount of meat as people in other
EU countries, which is
partly down to
their Orthodox beliefs where many
celebrations require a fasting
from meat - in
this respect, the country is a perfect place for vegetarians to visit
... the salads and fruits are wonderful and everyone should try to experience
the open air fruit and vegetable markets on a visit here. Every month in Quest
Bulgaria Magazine we feature a Bulgarian recipe, always trying to make the most
of the organic vegetables. Most recipes are ‘traditional’ however, as it’s me
personally who cooks these dishes every month whilst photographing them for the
magazine, they have all been slightly ‘personalised’ to suit my own and Jain’s
tastes! Here we have selected a few recipes from recent issues which
include, soups, salads, main
dishes (both vegetarian
and with meat)
and desserts. We do hope you try some of them out ... and enjoy the
results!
DID YOU
KNOW ... BULGARIAN HERBS
Are known
worldwide. Bulgaria
is the fourth largest producer of medicinal herbs in the world, exporting a
total of 12,000 tons per year, most of it to the European Union and the United States.
Around 350,000 people are employed in the herb industry in Bulgaria. 3,000
different types of plants grow on the mountainsof Bulgaria. Over 300 of these plants
are used in the pharmaceuticals industry, while 750 types are used in
alternative medicine. Some of the most popular herbs are lavender, mint, thyme,
chamomile, wild marjoram and St.
John’s wort.
Traditional Bulgarian Recipes
tarator
A very simple and traditional Bulgarian dish ...perfect
for cooling down during the warmer days!
RECIPE OF THE
MONTH
Serves
4-6:
Ingredients:
1 litre yoghurt (Bulgarian if possible)
2 cucumbers
Walnuts, about 10
1 cup sunflower oil
Fresh Fennel
Garlic (if you are not going out for the afternoon!)
Instructions:
Finely chop the walnuts and fennel (and garlic)
Grate the cucumbers (or dice if you prefer)
Combine all the ingredients, mix and serve
That’s it... enjoy!
As soon as
the winter months have faded and we start to enjoy the warmer months of summer,
one can’t help thinking of the fabulous Bulgarian salads - with all that
wonderful fresh produce Shopska salad (shopska salata) is one the the most
popular salads in Bulgaria and also my mother’s personal favourite during my
parents’ many visits here to Bulgaria.
Serves
4
Tarator can be served as a starter (if so, you can add
a cupful of water before serving), or makes a fabulous vegetarian main meal.
shopska salad
Ingredients:
4 spring onions
4 medium size tomatoes
half a cucumber
2 green peppers
100g of bulgarian ‘cerene’ white cheese (or feta)
chopped fresh parsley
olive oil
salt
optional: olives
Grill the
peppers until the skin starts to darken and crisp. Let cool, covered, for a few
minutes. Then remove the skins and the pips.
Tip: here in Bulgaria, rather
than heating the grill, the peppers are often browned on an electric hot plate.
Cut them into small cubes, along with the onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. Place
the prepared ingredients into a large salad bowl. Season, add chopped parsley,
olive oil and mix well. Cover in grated white cheese and enjoy! If it takes
your fancy, throw on a few black olives. Whilst most Bulgarians would normally
accompany this with a traditional glass of rakia - I prefer a glass of chilled
Bulgarian Chardonnay -Perfect!
Panagurishte poached eggs
The town after which this dish is
named is Panagurishte (pronounced pan-a-gyoor-ish-te), and if you wanted to order
this dish in a restaurant or bar then you would ask for‘yaitsa po panagyuski’, but to be honest, it could
possibly take longer to learn the correct pronunciation as it would to prepare
the actual dish!
 |
| Poached eggs |
Ingredients:
Serves
4
8 eggs
4 soup spoons of butter
600 g of natural yoghurt (Bulgarian if possible!)
5 or 6 cloves of garlic
5 soup spoons of vinegar
2 teaspoons of paprika
One third of a teaspoon of chilli powder
Freshly chopped dill
Salt
Instructions:
Crush the
garlic and mix this together with the yoghurt and half a coffee cup of salt. Bring
a full pan of water to the boil (with salt and the vinegar). Break the eggs one
by one into a bowl, then poach them in the simmering water. After three minutes
of cooking, remove the eggs. In a serving bowl, place the yoghurt and then the
eggs on top. Heat the butter, add paprika and the chilli powder. Mix together
for a few seconds and remove from the heat. Drizzle over the poached eggs. Sprinkle
with freshly chopped dill and serve with a dry white wine and fresh crusty
bread for a delicious and quick meal.
sarmi
Bulgarian
Sarmi are leaves of various kinds, stuffed with a mixture based on either meat
or rice. Certain regions use lettuce or vine leaves and the most common
variation is pickled cabbage leaves. Unlike
other countries that know and use ‘choucroute’ in Bulgaria the cabbage is pickled
and preserved whole, rather than chopped ... this makes it perfect for creating
both meat and vegetarian versions of ‘sarmi’ at any time during the year.
Ingredients:
Serves
6
1 kg pork (beef) mince
1 whole cabbage
1
large onion
1 cup of rice
Paprika
Fresh parsley
Chilli powder
Oil
Salt
Pepper
Instructions:
Finely chop the onion and fry in a tablespoon of oil
until softened. Stir in a teaspoon of paprika and remove from the heat.Stir in
the meat, rice, a handful of finely chopped parsley and a pinch of chilli
powder. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover
with warm salted water and simmer until the water has been absorbed by the
rice. Select around 40-50 large cabbage leaves and dip them in boiling, salted
water for around a minute. Place one soup spoon of the pork and rice mixture in
the centre of each leaf. Roll the leaf tightly and arrange them in a saucepan
(see photograph). Pour over a cup and a half of warm water (or use the water
that you dipped the cabbage leaves in earlier) and a drizzle of oil, cover and
simmer on a low heat for two hours. Serve hot with vegetables of your choice
and a glass of Mavrud ... delicious!
