LESSON NOTES

All About S1 #7
Top 5 Bulgarian Foods

CONTENTS
2 Grammar

# 7
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GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Bulgarian Cuisine

Most people have heard of Bulgarian yogurt and Bulgarian wine, but those are just the icing
on a very big cake. Bulgaria is a representative of the cuisine of southeastern Europe.
Essentially south Slavic, it shares characteristics with other Balkan cuisines. Bulgaria's
relatively warm climate and diverse geography afford excellent growth conditions for a variety
of vegetables, herbs, and fruits. That is why Bulgarian cuisine is very diverse. We could easily
do a fifty-part series on this topic, but let's go with an overview.

Bulgarian food is a unique blend of Mediterranean, Oriental, European, and Slavic

influences. A typical Bulgarian meal will have beans, potato, some kind of meat, some kind of
vegetable, salad, and, of course, the yogurt drink, airyan (airan). Most meals are a variation
on this basic theme. And believe me, there are variations. Bulgarians who live inland usually
have pork, chicken, or beef as the meat. Bulgarians who live on the coast often use fresh
seafood in addition to or replacing the pork, chicken, or beef.

Bulgarians also consume a plain kind of bread with almost every meal. Bulgarian white
cheese, sirene, is also a very common addition to the main dish and salad, and its variation,
the yellow cheese kashkaval, is also popular when used for topping or as an appetizer. Lamb
is consumed a lot in spring when Bulgarians celebrate Easter and prepare this special, huge
dish with lamb, rice, and vegetables.

Bulgarians don't typically use recipes when they cook. This means that the recipes you see in
cookbooks or on the Internet, or even in these lessons, are just one (typically simplified)
version of one part of one Bulgarian meal. After having meat and potatoes almost every day
for seven years, I can honestly say that I've never had the same dish twice. Every meal is a
unique experience.

It's also important to know that for Bulgarians, lunch is the most important and largest meal.
Meals are almost always made fresh each day, and from eleven A.M. to one P.M. the sweet
aroma of fresh cooked food fills every home, street, and city in Bulgaria.

Popular Food Items

Everywhere you go in Bulgaria, you'll find banicharnici ("bakeries"). There you'll find banichka

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("white cheese bread, sometimes mixed with leeks"), baklava ("sweet pastry made of layers,
filled with nuts and syrup"), milinka, and any number of sweet and salty breads and cookies,
or even torts. What will never be missing, though, is gevrek ("circular bread"). It is a crispy
bread, plain or sometimes with sesame seeds, which is also very common in Turkey, Greece,
and Serbia.

As a side note, the Bulgarian yogurt-based cold soup, tarator, is one of the best, most
refreshing summer soups I've ever had, particularly with fresh cucumber in it. Why? It is all
vegetables and yogurt, and so healthy! Besides yogurt and cucumbers, it is made with garlic,
walnuts, dill, vegetable oil, and water, and is served chilled or even with ice. Tarator is a type
of summer 'liquid salad' that can be used as side dish or as a refreshing appetizer.

Seasonal Dishes

There are several holidays that are characterized by specific meals in Bulgaria. Christmas is
a big food holiday in Bulgaria. On Christmas Eve, December twenty-fourth, it is a tradition to
have vegetarian food. This tradition is connected with Orthodox Christianity, and many people
do a vegetarian fast for a long period before Christmas Day, December twenty-fifth. But the
Christmas Eve dishes are so plentiful and filling that you won't feel hungry or like you are
fasting at all.

Bulgarians prepare vegetarian stuffed peppers, pylneni chushki, and vegetarian stuffed grape
leaves, sarmi, together with many more vegetarian dishes. Usually the homemade pita or
pitka (traditional bread) has very beautiful decorations and even a lucky coin in it! People say
that the one who gets the coin will be happy, healthy, and rich the whole year.

On the next day of Christmas, Bulgarians start eating meat and dairy products again and the
holiday is celebrated with a filling dish of pork, rice, and cabbage.

Table Etiquette

While it may seem like an unorganized tumult of plates, food, and conversation, table
etiquette in Bulgaria is important. The basic rules apply, such as don't talk with your mouth
full, sit up straight, don't put your feet on the table, etc. There are two other things are
particularly important to Bulgarians.

1. Although you may be the guest of honor, it is polite to insist that the eldest person at
the table start the proceedings.

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2. Glasses will always be refilled, so leave a mouthful at the bottom of your glass if you
don't want more. The same applies to food. Eating more shows appreciation, but
make sure to take little at the initial serving to allow you a second serving.

The Top 5 Bulgarian Dishes

Number 5 – Shopska salata (Shopska salad)

The typical Bulgarian salad dish is made from tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, raw or roasted
peppers, sirene (the white brine cheese), olives, and parsley. Bulgarians usually take it with
the high-proof alcoholic beverage rakiya, which is often homemade and pretty strong.

Number 4 – Banica

This is a very popular variation of the banichka we mentioned above. It is usually homemade
and the filo pastry is the only ingredient you can buy from the supermarket. It is prepared by
layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of the same white cheese sirene between the
filo pastry and then baking it in an oven. It is also the most common breakfast in Bulgaria.

Number 3 – Kyufte

The Bulgarian kyufte consists of balls of minced or ground meat, usually pork or beef, mixed
with spices and onions. There is a vegetarian variety, the kartofeno kyufte (made with
potatoes).

Number 2 – Musaka ("Moussaka")

This is an eggplant-based dish that is popular not only in Bulgaria but in the Balkans, the
Mediterranean region, and the Middle East. The Bulgarian version uses potatoes together
with aubergines, pork mince, and tomato. The top layer is yogurt mixed with raw eggs and a
couple spoonfuls of flour.

Number 1 – Gyuvech ("Meat and vegetable stew")

Gyuvech is an oven-baked pork or beef and vegetable stew similar to ratatouille. It is made
with the main meat ingredient and olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, rice, onions, herbs, and
spices, and it is often served with Shopska salad.

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Top 5 Foods for the Brave

Number 5 – Shkembe chorba ("Tripe soup")

In Bulgaria, a whole pork, beef or lamb tripe is boiled for few hours, chopped in small pieces,
and returned to the broth. The soup is spiced with ground red paprika, which is briefly fried,
and often a small quantity of milk is added. In some areas it is thickened by adding flour to the
paprika during frying. Traditionally the soup is served with mashed garlic in vinegar and hot
red pepper. Bulgarians consider it to be the best hangover cure.

Number 4 – Popara

This is a breakfast meal made with leftover or fresh bread, milk, and sugar (or honey). It is
often eaten with sirene.

Number 3 – Apetitka (Lyutenica)

Lyutenica or apetitka (its spicy version) is a relish-like sauce that includes tomatoes, peppers,
eggplant, onion, garlic, black pepper, vegetable oil, sugar, and salt.

Number 2 – Boza

Boza is actually a very thick drink that most Bulgarians love but foreign visitors to Bulgaria find
difficult to drink. It is made of fermented wheat and has a slightly acidic, sweet flavor.

Number 1 – Lyuta chushka

This is the "hottest pepper in Bulgaria," one of the hottest in the world, and one of the
healthiest. The processed pepper sauces are typically not as hot as eating the pure fruit,
which we find at city markets.

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