Modern Bulgarian cuisine is the result of influence from neighboring countries. Bulgarian cuisine has common features with Serbian, Greek and Turkish cuisines, as well as some Italian ones. It is closer to the Mediterranean than to Central and Western European. Bulgarian cuisine is understandable and close to Russian people. Many dishes are vaguely similar to those prepared in Russia and Ukraine.
What to try: salads
There is always an abundance of vegetables on the menu, I could be wrong, but it seemed to me that the main salad in Bulgarian cuisine is “shopska”. All my friends who vacationed in Bulgaria said that it was served at least once a day in the places where they stayed.
I was no exception. When I got from the road to my hotel restaurant, the first thing the waiter brought was Shopska salad and a glass of juice. Thanks to fresh vegetables and cheese, the salad is light and at the same time nutritious, and goes great in hot weather!
Bulgarians place salad ingredients in such a way that they repeat the colors of the flag.
The vegetables are fresh, it is not customary to salt salads there. Cheese cheese is used instead of salt. The basis of many dishes of Bulgarian cuisine is cheese - this is feta cheese, which in Bulgarian is called “sirene”, and yellow cheese “kashkaval”. Salty, filling and healthy.
Sirene comes from sheep, cow and goat milk. And as an option, a mixture of all three types of “Dunavia”. In my opinion, the most delicious is “siren”. Cheese cheese goes into all salads to which it can be added.
I can also recommend “Shepherd’s Salad” (blg. “Ovcharska Salata”), a vegetable salad with ham. It will appeal to those who are tired of salads based on mayonnaise and boiled potatoes. The Bulgarians, without bothering too much, added some mushrooms, ham and cheese to Shopska, and this is how a new salad turned out.
“Olivier” is called “Ruska Salad” here. Also, in almost every restaurant in Bulgaria you will find many other famous salads of European, Mediterranean and Russian cuisine. The average price for a salad is 2 euros (4 leva).
What to try: first courses
In Bulgaria you can try excellent national soups. The average price per serving is 1.5-2 euros (4 leva).
I recommend “shkembe chorba”. This is a hot soup made from sheep by-products. It is served with the hottest garlic sauce and fierce red pepper. Pour the sauce into the soup, season generously with pepper and bon appetit! Really delicious.
In the summer, Bulgarians often eat “Tator”, this is an analogue of our “okroshka” on a fermented milk basis, similar to kefir.
But in our understanding, you won’t find kefir here. There is “sour mlyako”. Tasty. Thick, sour. It is eaten with spoons. There is no sour cream here either. Do not do. There is imported, Polish. But you still need to look for it in stores.
Bulgarians cook chicken soup very tasty (blg. “soup dumpling”). It differs from its Russian counterpart in its special richness.
What to try: hot dishes
The most common:
- Shish- aka shish kebab (they say both this way and that, it means the same thing). When ordering kebab, you need to carefully assess your strength, since the skewer will be 2.5 times larger than in Russia, and there will be not five or six pieces of meat on it, but much more. I was always wary of ordering pork skewers at home because instead of meat, you might get a skewer with lard. In Bulgaria, such cases did not happen to me; I always received juicy, tasty pieces. 9 euros (18 leva).
- Moussaka- a dish more likely of Greek cuisine, which is baked minced meat with potatoes or eggplants with egg and milk filling. In Bulgaria, each housewife has her own moussaka, some make it with tomatoes, other housewives do not, but add pepper, some add eggplant instead of potatoes. In general, the recipe for this dish is “a place for debate,” but it’s worth a try. 3.5 euros (7 leva).
- Kavarma– baked meat with onions and spices. In any restaurant in Bulgaria you will find this amazing dish on the menu, because it can be said to be the calling card of the country. 3.5 euros (7 leva).
- Sach– can be meat or vegetarian. Served on a hot frying pan with very wide sides. This frying pan does not allow the dish to cool for a long time. They usually put meat, potatoes, green peas on it, they can put sausages and ham, and sometimes sweet peppers. 5 euros (9.5 leva).
- Güvece- This meat stew, cooked in a clay pot with a lid, is very tasty and satisfying. It’s interesting that guys call girls “gyuveche.” I can’t remember any analogues of such an address to ladies in Russian. 5 euros (9.5 leva).
- Bulgarians usually cook their meat on the grill. Including cutlets. Be sure to try the kebabche, it costs 2 euros (4 leva). This is a small sausage made from minced meat with spices.
And how nice it is to sit in the evening in a fish restaurant on the shore under the sound of the surf, feeling the light breeze and “click” safrid instead of seeds, wash it down with cold Traminer or Chardonnay, pick up mussels, tsipura, sea bass, shrimp and other fresh sea stuff in pleasant company. For example, we collected different dishes, just one portion per brother, and they brought us clean plates, so everyone could appreciate all the dishes and enjoy. I recommend the grilled fish, especially the sea bream for 7 euros (12-15 leva).
You can also try “tsatsa” - sprat, “popchetu” - bulls. The Black Sea shark “katran” is not for everybody. And I have never met such lovers. Although everyone tries it once out of interest. I don’t like it because of its consistency, it doesn’t look like fish, more like soft cartilage and taste... I don’t know what words to choose, something soapy and fishy, maybe I’m not a gourmet and don’t understand anything, excuse the person who completely I agree with the saying: “The best fish is sausage.”
What to try: alcoholic drinks
During a feast in company, it is customary to drink local vodka - rakia, which costs 1.5 euros per 0.5 liter or (2.5 leva). They drive her out of everything. The best of the grapes “Grozdeva” from the word “grozde”, that is, a bunch of grapes. Peach and apricot “Praskovi” and “Kaysia” are also good. Not bad plum. Some people prefer apple brandy. This drink differs from vodka in its noble aftertaste.
I also recommend Bulgarian grape brandy - pliska, price per bottle from 5 euros or (10 levs). Thanks to contact with the wood of the barrels, pliska acquires a characteristic dark golden color, a pleasant aroma and a complex, soft and well-balanced bouquet with nutty tones, as well as notes of oak barrel, vanilla, caramel and dried fruit.
A little more about local drinks.
A good souvenir from Bulgaria will be a sweet liqueur with the wonderful name “Mentovka”, “menta” is mint. I also advise you to try this thing - “Mastic”. It's not what you think. You are unlikely to find an analogue of this drink - anisette vodka - in our stores. For beer lovers, of which I consider myself, I recommend Zagorka. 0.7 euros (1.3 leva).
Great inexpensive lager. Sold in all supermarkets and served in many bars and restaurants. You can also try one of the oldest lagers in Bulgaria, Kamenitsa.
Bulgarian breakfasts
For breakfast in Bulgaria, princesses are prepared - these are sandwiches baked with minced meat or cheese with an egg. You can also enjoy just toast or an omelet with coffee. They drink a lot of coffee there, and it is always strong. I personally have never encountered porridge in the usual sense.
A few years ago, buckwheat could only be found in specialized dietary departments, and it was called quite indecently - “elda”. Now, with the influx of Russian tourists, it can already be found in large supermarkets.
Children can enjoy pancakes for breakfast; they are prepared in almost every restaurant.
Sacred Bulgarian pastries
Not a single holiday in the country passes without the traditional Bulgarian “banitsa”, a layer cake with cheese. In some regions of Bulgaria it is prepared in different ways from dough rolled out in layers or ready-made sheets with a wide variety of fillings.
The classic one is made from butter, eggs and feta cheese, but can also be made from cottage cheese, spinach, onions, cabbage, sorrel, pumpkin, nettles or meat. “Banitsa” can be varied in shape and method of preparation - curled, pulled, lazy, layered, gypsy, etc.
The history of this amazing Bulgarian dish goes back to ancient times. It is known with certainty that around the 10th-11th centuries. “Banitsa” was already a stable part of the Bulgarian holiday meal. They believe that initially the Lord made the Earth flat and smooth, like a flat cake or rolled out dough for a banitsa. But when he decided to cover it with a “vryshnik”, it turned out that the Earth was no longer going under the cover. In order to somehow correct the situation, the Lord pushed it from all sides, and so the Earth wrinkled and became covered with folds, like a “banitsa”. This is how, according to the ideas of medieval Bulgarians, mountains and valleys appeared.
Where to eat
- Street kitchen, snacks. Pizza, and it will be different from the pizza we are used to, where there are 2-3 ingredients on a thin crust. In Bulgaria it is more like an open pie, sold both whole and in pieces. One serving is enough for an adult to have a good snack. Shawarma is basically the same as everywhere else, sausages in dough, boiled corn. Nothing so exotic, about the same as at the resorts of the Krasnodar region. The price of Bulgarian fast food is on average 0.5 euros (1-2 levs). International fast food restaurants are also well represented.
- Cafes and restaurants During the season they are open on every corner in tourist places. For the most part, they are faceless and resemble a summer cafe in Anapa or Gelendzhik, only the menu includes Bulgarian dishes and drinks. In most bars and restaurants, waiters speak reasonable Russian and can serve you a menu in Russian. The price in a mid-level establishment is less than 10 euros (20 leva) per person for food and drinks.
- Z and for the Bulgarian flavor you better go to the mehana. Mehana is a traditional Bulgarian restaurant, just like in Russia - a tavern, in Ukraine - a tavern, in Greece - a tavern, in Serbia - a kafana. Basically just a place to have a drink and a bite to eat. On the other hand, mehana in modern Bulgaria has a number of features. The characteristic attributes of mehana are stone walls or walls lined with stone, solid wooden furniture, painted dark brown or black. The tables are covered with red or white-red tablecloths with national ornaments. Very often, modern mechanics are decorated with old household items: cart wheels, old dishes, some kind of agricultural items. You can often find a fireplace. Almost every winter resort has it. There is no general scheme for constructing mechanics. Owners, as a rule, are simply trying to recreate the feeling of antiquity, and everyone achieves this in their own way. As a rule, folk music is played in the mechana. Musicians play on weekends. Food is often served in dishes with national designs.
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To summarize, I can say that Bulgarian cuisine makes a good first impression. Large portions, fresh vegetables, cooking method - just what a hungry tourist needs. But people who spend their holidays in Bulgaria for more than 2-3 weeks first get tired of Shopska salad, then all the cheese. Ladies are starting to get upset that, due to large portions and high-calorie dishes, swimsuits are becoming tight. The men want borscht. And now, after a month or two, rakia goes with Russian appetizers.
Today we will go on a culinary journey through Bulgaria and find out which dishes of Bulgarian cuisine you must try during your trip to this sunny country.
Bulgarian cuisine developed under the influence of the cuisines of neighboring Balkan countries and Turkey. Bulgarian dishes always contain a lot of vegetables and herbs, various herbs. The cuisine is also famous for the variety and high quality of dairy products, Bulgarian wines, and spirits such as rakia, mastic, and mentha. But first things first! I suggest first taking a look at the menu in Bulgarian restaurants.
In Bulgarian restaurants, the menu, as a rule, is compiled in several languages, including Russian. However, it often sounds clumsy, and it is not always clear what the menu compiler had in mind. For example, in the case of this menu :)
That is why in my article I will write the names of dishes with translation and detailed descriptions.
Bulgarian salads
Surely everyone has tried it at least once Shopska salad (Shopska salata)- traditional Bulgarian salad of ruddy Bulgarian tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, herbs, sprinkled with soft cheese (sirene). This salad is a wonderful light addition to hearty meat main courses and beer.
Ovcharsky salad (Ovčarska salata)- Bulgarian salad with almost the same ingredients as Shopska salad, but with the addition of eggs, ham and mushrooms to make the salad more filling. If you order a salad, keep in mind that it can replace a second course, since salad portions in Bulgaria are simply huge, and they will literally bring you a bowl of salad.
Salad Snezhanka (Snejanka salad)- This salad will appeal to lovers of light snacks, because its main ingredients are cucumbers, yogurt, walnuts, and garlic.
I also want to add my favorites here baked peppers (pig liver)- these are red peppers baked in tomato sauce. I recommend trying it! In general, if you have a large group, you can try to take different dishes and thus become familiar with many Bulgarian dishes at one time.
One of the most popular ingredients in salads is soft cheese (siren), which is sprinkled on many salads. Sirene is always very tasty and fresh, be sure to try it.
Bread products
In Bulgarian restaurants, before the main course is served, you can order hot flatbread fried in oil - dusty flies. The sauce “lyutenitsa” - crushed tomatoes with pepper and seasonings - goes well with the dusters.
If, for example, you rent an apartment in Bulgaria and cook yourself, you can buy it in almost any store or in special kiosks selling (banicharnitsa) a large puff pastry pie with cheese called Bannitsa. An excellent breakfast for your family will be provided. Perhaps bannitsa can be ordered in restaurants, but I personally have not seen it on the menu.
There are other hearty pastries to choose from in the banicharnitsa. For example, such a roll. The price of kalachi varies from 0.5 to 1 leva (10-20 rubles).
Bulgarian soups
The most popular summer soup is cold tarator soup, whose main ingredients are yogurt and cucumbers. The Snezhanka salad, which I wrote about above, is a type of tarator soup. I want to say that, in addition to Bulgaria, tarator is also common in other Balkan countries. In Greece, for example, it is known as "Tzatziki".
Another popular soup is tramples. This is a very hearty variation of our meatball soup.
Soup shkembe chorba- many people eat this soup when they have a hangover, like our brine :) This is a meat soup with the addition of red pepper, milk, and garlic. The soup was very famous in the 1980s in Bulgaria. There were even some restaurants that served only this soup ( Shkembedzhi girls).
Next soup - the TV is cooked, as you probably already guessed, its main ingredient is veal. Also on the menu of Bulgarian restaurants you can find a soup called Bob Ciorba- soup made from beans, onions, and tomatoes, and a bowl of soup- This is chicken broth.
Meat dishes
Most meat dishes in Bulgaria are prepared from pork ( swine mess) or chicken meat ( Pileshko meso). Dishes are baked, steamed or grilled, or stewed.
Menus often break down dishes according to how they are prepared. For example, fried in a frying pan is na skara, oven baked is on furna. Fried is paryzheny, baked - liver, stewed - souls.
What meat dishes can you find on the menu of a Bulgarian restaurant?
Moussaka- This is a traditional Balkan dish, which includes potatoes, minced meat, and stewed vegetables. We tried something similar in Greece, a very tasty dish.
Pilneni piperki - These are stuffed peppers with the addition of tomatoes, onions, and spices.
Kavarma- a dish of pork or chicken meat, fried in the oven or in a pot, with a lot of onions and peppers.
Shishcheta- kebab made from pieces of different meats with vegetables.
Scara mash- a very popular dish among tourists, which includes various types of grilled meat. Served to the table in a large sizzling frying pan.
Satch with a pill- a large frying pan with fried chicken, peppers, potatoes, etc. A very filling dish for 2-3 people.
Kebapche - Grilled minced meat sausages.
Getting to know Bulgaria is not only about studying history and... It is also an immersion in national cuisine, the dishes of which are famous for their variety and richness of flavors. For many tourists, it is local treats that leave the most vivid impressions of their vacation.
National characteristics
In fact, the national cuisine of Bulgaria related to South Slavic, but quite hard on her influenced by Turkish and Greek motifs. This is due to the historical past, as well as the similarity of geography and source products. But, in addition, the traditions of Armenia, Georgia and even Italy found their response, so Bulgarian culinary art can be considered an individual direction.
Local cuisine is very tasty and filling. It contains a lot of meat, vegetables, herbs and seasonings. All this is cooked only over low heat, even with the simplest recipe. Ready-made dishes have a pleasant aroma and taste, shaded with herbs and spices.
The menu is very diverse. With the onset of summer, old potatoes disappear from the tables and are replaced by rice, pasta, and seasonal vegetables. Tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplants, onions, and garlic are actively served. Added to them sheep and goat cheese, olive and sunflower oil, fruits, nuts, seafood.
Vegetable dishes
Bulgaria is a vegetable country, so only the freshest products are used in cooking. Very popular stuffed vegetables: eggplants, tomatoes, zucchini. They are filled with mushrooms, cheeses, cottage cheese, onions, and minced meat. Interesting cooking stuffed peppers or local - Chushka burek. The filling for it is feta cheese, egg, garlic, finely chopped herbs. The peppers themselves are stuffed, then breaded and fried. The result is an amazing dish that has nothing in common with its Russian counterpart.
Review of cafes and restaurants in Nessebar
Truly a national dish can be called Shopska salad. It consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, baked or fresh sweet peppers, lettuce, parsley - all covered with a blanket of grated cheese. Sheep salad has the same basic ingredients, but also adds ham, mushrooms and egg. Dress salads with olive oil and wine vinegar - the finished dish becomes more tasty and healthy.
The Bulgarian menu also includes cabbage rolls called Sarmi, which are prepared from grape and cabbage leaves. Pieces of marinated pork or lamb, seasoned with spices, are wrapped in them and served with fresh vegetable salad, sliced cheese and wine.
Dairy products
Fermented milk products occupy a special place in Bulgaria; they have no analogues in the whole world. The reason for this Bulgarian lactobacilli is the only strain of lactobacilli of plant origin that does not take root in other regions of the planet. The Bulgarian stick not only gives food an incomparable taste, but also has the property of prolonging life. The main lactic acid product is yogurt or sour milk, often used in cooking.
Salads, soups and drinks are prepared using sour milk. The most famous - Milky Salad, consisting of cucumbers, walnuts, dill and garlic. No less tasty Tarator soup- a light summer soup that has a composition similar to Milk Salad, only more varied. Yogurt-based dishes are easy to prepare, fresh and have a unique taste.
Cheese is added to almost every dish on the Bulgarian menu, most often feta cheese or, in Bulgarian, siren. It is put fresh or fried, baked, stuffed with vegetables, pancakes (palachinki) and much more. Bulgarian cheeses go well with almost all staple foods, but the most famous cheese dish is Kashkaval Pane. Kashkaval is a mature yellow cheese that is breaded and fried in vegetable oil until crisp.
Fish and seafood
Bulgaria is a sea country, and Nessebar is a seaside town. Therefore, seafood dishes are widespread here, always freshly caught, deliciously prepared and offered at fairly low prices.
In Nessebar there are a number of restaurants specializing in “sea” menu. Crabs, octopus, shrimp, shark fillet and other seafood are prepared according to the most original recipes. For example, mussels are offered fried and boiled. They are mixed with rice to form a kind of pilaf, or cooked in a shell with Roquefort sauce. All this is accompanied by a glass of fine wine and excellent service.
Fish dishes are beyond criticism. The fish is baked whole on scars, fried, stewed with vegetables or cooked in pots. Very popular in restaurants shark fillet. It is fried and breaded and served with potatoes seasoned with fresh herbs. A famous fish dish is Plakia, which is prepared from fish fillet stewed with onions, garlic, tomatoes and, of course, cheese. It turns out very appetizing, tasty and satisfying.
Skara
Bulgarians traditionally use special oven with grate, called scara. This is a kind of “grill” with a tray on which you can cook everything: meat, fish, vegetables and even bake bread. The food turns out juicy and aromatic. Any good restaurant or, more correctly, mehana, gives preference to this culinary instrument.
Many tourists are tempted to purchase a scara. For the housewife, this is a simple and functional thing that costs little money - from 2 to 30 leva. On the skar you can bake whole fish, cook shish (shish kebab) or kebapche (small sausages made from minced meat). Kebapche in Bulgaria it is considered one of the most popular dishes, served in almost all restaurants.
Güvech
In essence, gyuvech is fireproof clay pots with lids, used in the preparation of dishes of the same name. The recipe is based on meat with the addition of all kinds of vegetables and seasonings. Kavarma is very popular. Ideally, it should be made from lamb, but in Bulgarian restaurants they prefer to cook it from pork with the addition of onions, peppers, herbs and dry white wine.
Vegetarian recipes for dishes in pots are also common, for example, Shopski-style cheese. To prepare it, take slices of Bulgarian cheese, sliced tomatoes and 1-2 pods of hot pepper. The dish is served in a pot, into which a chicken egg is driven shortly before removing from the oven.
Sach
Sach is unfired clay frying pan with a stand with handles and legs for serving. The frying pan is placed on coals or on an open fire and sach dishes of meat, fish and vegetables are prepared in it. In Bulgaria, sach is usually served from pork or chicken, but there are also recipes made with three types of meat or without meat at all.
Vegetables include mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Potatoes are usually not added, but there are quite a few recipes, so there may be deviations from tradition. The finished satchel is served on the table in the same bowl, as they say, “hot and hot,” where it will simmer and remain warm for a long time.
In addition to its amazing nature, Bulgaria is famous for its national cuisine. Perhaps the most vivid impression of a holiday in this country is the local treats.
National character
Bulgarian cuisine is varied and versatile. It clearly shows the influence of Turkey and Greece. The countries are close geographically and strongly connected by historical ties. In addition, the cuisine of Bulgaria contains notes of the national cuisines of Hungary, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, and Italy. Bulgarian dishes have oriental chic, Slavic flavor, Georgian generosity and oriental piquancy.
Since ancient times, special stoves have been used in this country for cooking. They are called skare. As a result of the tandem of the skillful hands of the cook and this oven, amazingly tasty dishes are obtained, cooked in pots or on the grill (grill). Especially popular here are kebabs, lula kebab, sausages, kharcho soups, and basturma. The fish is generally fried whole on a grill and served on the table.
Vegetable country
Many call Bulgaria this way for the abundance of vegetables that grow here. The climate is conducive to growing tomatoes and eggplants, cucumbers and sweet bell peppers, carrots and potatoes, zucchini and various types of cabbage. This is why Bulgarian cuisine is famous. The salads prepared here are varied, bright and incredibly tasty. Vegetables are consumed in different forms: they are boiled, stewed, fried, baked in the oven or on a grill, pickled and eaten raw.
Bulgarian cuisine always surprises tourists with an abundance of dishes made from stuffed vegetables. Bulgarians are famous all over the world for their ability to cook delicious and aromatic vegetable dishes. What are the stuffed eggplants worth alone! Inside - chopped aromatic garlic, healthy fresh herbs, cheese, hot peppers, tomatoes. Everything is sprinkled on top with a mixture of vegetable oil and spices.
The national dish is Shopska salad, consisting of a variety of vegetables (tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, sweet peppers, green onions, parsley and feta cheese). Bulgarian cuisine is famous for its correct recipes. You will never find high-fat, high-calorie mayonnaise in salads. As a rule, they are all seasoned with a special sauce, which consists of wine vinegar, vegetable (olive) oil and fresh herbs.
Cabbage rolls are also present in the national cuisine of Bulgaria. This dish is called sarmi. Marinated lamb or pork is wrapped in grape leaves in a special way. In addition to the dish, fresh vegetable salad, sliced cheese and red wine are always offered.
Bulgaria is often called a paradise for vegetarians and adherents of proper nutrition. The abundance of vegetable dishes is not conducive to weight gain. This is confirmed by the appearance of most Bulgarian women, slender and harmoniously built.
First meal
There is no fat content or nutritional content familiar to Russian people in Bulgarian soups. The warm summer climate determined the absence of fatty meats, rich broths and large quantities of potatoes in the first courses. The first courses of Bulgarian cuisine are light, aromatic salads, which contain an abundance of fresh herbs and a variety of savory spices.
Tarator is a world-famous Bulgarian soup. It has an incredibly pleasant light taste and rich aroma. There are a huge number of recipes for this dish. However, the main ingredients always remain coarsely chopped fresh cucumbers, chopped walnuts, fresh dill and parsley, aromatic garlic and sour milk.
Any Bulgarian restaurant serves soups even in the first half of the day. Bulgarians often eat tarator for breakfast. Most of their soups are somewhat reminiscent of our Russian okroshka. They are served cold and with plenty of fresh herbs.
Meat soups are also present in the national cuisine of Bulgaria. Here they are usually called stews. They are prepared in meat broth with the addition of boiled meat, meatballs, tripe, boiled or smoked sausages.
Cheeses
An abundance of cheeses is also characteristic of Bulgarian cuisine. Cheese cheese is especially loved by local chefs. It is added to most salads, meat, fish dishes and baked goods. Used when stuffing vegetables and when preparing pancakes. Due to the ability of this cheese to be combined with most foods, its use is completely justified and acceptable.
Meat dishes
Despite the fact that Bulgaria is famous for its abundance of vegetables, meat and fish dishes are also popular here and loved by the local population. National Bulgarian cuisine uses pork, lamb, lamb and beef. Meat, of course, is combined with vegetable side dishes. It is stewed, baked, fried on a grill over an open fire, and marinated for making kebabs.
Bulgarian chefs make fantastic-tasting sausages from dried or stewed meat - these are Lukanka, Sushenitsa, Elder, Babek and others. They add vegetables, nuts, mushrooms, onions and garlic. As a rule, sausages are served with vegetable salads and cheese slices. Whether cold or hot, they are amazingly tasty and aromatic.
Bulgarians cook kebabs very tasty, using a wide variety of meats. Shishcheta is a popular dish here, prepared from several types of meat over an open fire with the addition of vegetables. The methods of marinating kebabs show a clear influence of Georgian and Armenian cuisines.
Poultry dishes
Poultry dishes occupy a special place in the cuisine under consideration. It is baked, stews and kebabs, salads and casseroles are prepared from it. Most often, cooking involves a scara, which is a grate placed over an open fire.
Bulgarian cuisine is also popular for sach dishes. This incredibly tasty dish is prepared in a special clay pot. The recipe contains meat, vegetables, sausage and ham. All this is flavored with herbs and aromatic spices. Cooked on coals. Served directly in a clay frying pan.
Fish dishes
Bulgarian recipes in which fish plays a major role are also popular. It is especially often prepared on the south coast. The most famous fish dish is palakia. These are pieces of fish fillet stewed with fresh vegetables.
Baking and sweet dishes
Bulgarians especially respect sweets and baked goods. All kinds of pies and pies, bagels and cakes, pastries and fruit desserts, halva and baklava - there are a huge number of options for sweet recipes.
One of the famous desserts is banitsa. This dish is a layer cake, the filling of which is cheese with aromatic herbs and herbs. Buns with various fillings from fruit jams, marmalade, and cheeses are very popular among Bulgarians.
And, of course, in such a hot summer country as Bulgaria, one cannot help but love ice cream. The most popular option is with fruit.
Spices and herbs
Greens are almost always present in Bulgarian dishes. Even baked goods with cheese filling will definitely be flavored with aromatic fresh herbs. It is put in vegetable salads and first cold dishes, in marinade for barbecue and in a pot of stewed meat.
Bulgarians do not overuse spices, preferring to use them in moderate and judicious quantities. Particularly popular here are thyme, rosemary, smindukh (fenugreek) and all kinds of ready-made herbal mixtures.
Alcohol
We looked at the range of dishes that Bulgarian cuisine offers (photos attached). Now I would like to focus on wines. The climate of this country is favorable for growing grapes, which the Bulgarians do successfully. This country is famous throughout the world for its amazing selection of aromatic red and white wines.
Amazing fact: the best red wine is grown exclusively in the south of the country. But the northern regions are famous, on the contrary, for white varieties of this drink.
In addition to wines, strong drinks are also respected in Bulgaria, including rakia, cognac, and mastic. The latter is especially valued, which is an alcoholic drink whose strength reaches 47 degrees.
Rakia is a fortified homemade drink made from plums, apricots, peaches or grapes. Often nuts, honey, various fruits, anise or cherry tree fruits are added to it. This drink is prepared in special oak containers. The minimum preparation time for rakia is six months. Local residents say that the longer the barrels with it remain closed, the nobler and more aromatic the drink will be.
Low-alcohol drinks are also popular. For example, many Bulgarians value a malt drink called boza. Its strength is only one percent. Most often used with kebabs and hot meat dishes.
Bulgaria is an amazingly beautiful and generous country. It is a real paradise for culinary gourmets. But if you can’t visit it in person, then feel its flavor by tasting national dishes. Bulgarian cuisine in Moscow is presented in many restaurants, including Baba Marta, Stage, Vitello, Mekhana Bansko, Pliska and others. Each restaurant employs professional chefs who are well aware of the national characteristics of Bulgarian cuisine.
Bulgarian cuisine or national cuisine of Bulgaria was able to maintain its originality, despite the influence of its culinaryly charismatic neighbors. Although, of course, they still left some imprint, as can be seen by studying the menu of any Bulgarian restaurant or cafe.
The peculiarity of traditional Bulgarian cuisine is the generous use of vegetables in the preparation of all kinds of dishes, as well as cheeses and a variety of fermented milk products. This is what led to such a wide variety of salads. By the way, this category of dishes is best known for Shopska salad or, as the Bulgarians themselves call it, Shopska salad. It is a mixture of cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, fresh herbs and cheese, seasoned with olive or any other vegetable oil. And although this dish seems incredibly simple, this does not affect its taste in any way!
In addition to salads, all kinds of soups are common in traditional Bulgarian cuisine. For example, on a hot summer day, not a single Bulgarian will refuse a refreshing soup called tarator. It is invariably served cold, and its main components are sour milk or unsweetened yogurt (necessarily full-fat) and cucumbers, which are complemented by herbs, garlic, walnuts and olive oil. Tarator is eaten either before the second course or in parallel with it, as a kind of drink. Also quite famous first course is chorba. This is a thick soup, the liquid part of which is kvass. The meat component is lamb or beef or chicken. Chorba soup also includes vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, leeks, dill, parsley, tarragon), which are added fresh, and in no case fried! This Bulgarian soup may also include the following products: potatoes, beans, bell peppers, cabbage, rice. By the way, in addition to Bulgaria itself, this dish is always popular in Turkey, Montenegro, Macedonia, Moldova and Romania.
The most famous national second dishes of Bulgaria include, for example, kavarma (lamb baked with vegetables and spices), kebab (stew, pork or lamb, with hot spices), pasturma or basturma (dried meat with spices), moussaka (meat minced meat baked with pieces of eggplant and potatoes and filled with milk-egg mixture). This list can be continued for a long time, but it’s better to study the photo recipes on our site, and having found the dish you like, cook it and please yourself and your household!
Bulgarians are very fond of all kinds of desserts, as well as pastries. So, for example, in any restaurant or cafe the waiter will offer you to try banitsa. Banitsa is a traditional Bulgarian pie made from yeast-free puff pastry with a wide variety of fillings, most often cheese or cottage cheese.
In general, we can conclude that Bulgarian traditional cuisine is very diverse, and therefore it occupies one of the leading places among gourmets. In preparation, by the way, it is completely unpretentious and uncomplicated, as you can see thanks to the recipes with photos that are given here!
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