Bulgarian cuisine, 10 traditional Bulgarian dishes.

bean soup

A traditional dish made from boiled beans, vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, peppers, onions) from spices usedjojen (garden mint), hammer th red pepper and salt. Often sausage or chopped bacon is added to this soup. Bean soup is prepared as a ritual dish on Christmas Eve (beans).

beans in a pot

Banitsa

P yor for baked in the oven layered very thin sheets rolled dough or from ready-made x thin sheets for the pie. H most common The topping is a mixture of cheese and eggs. In different regions of the countries, you make this cake with different stuffing:from pumpkin and sugar (tikvenik), stuffed with cabbage (zelnik), can add onion, spinach, rice, meat. Banitsa usually includes on the breakfast menu a .

Banitsa - Bulgarian pie

Tarator (summer Bulgarian soup)

cold summer soup is one of the most popular dishes. Cooking his from sour milk(Bulgarian yogurt), water, finely chopped on cubes or grated cucumber, vegetable oil or olive oil, salt, dill and finely chopped garlic. Chopped walnut kernels can be added to them if desired. Some Bulgarians chill this soup with ice, sometimes they serve the soup in a large beer glass.

Tarator - Bulgarian summer soup

Guvech (general name for various Bulgarian dishes)

Prepared in a clay pot for baking. In fact, guvech is the name of the court, and when it is small and fits in one serving, it is called guveche or guveje. Guvech is prepared according to different recipes, and can be either with meat (pork, beef, lamb or rabbit) or withouth, only with vegetables (onion, carrot, tomato s, potato, eggplant, prunes).

Guvech in Bulgarian

Sarmi (stuffed pigeons, in Bulgarian - sarmi)

In the summer, Bulgarians make mostly grape cabbage rolls. AT vegetable oil stew onions, minced meat is added there, then rice, spices, salt and black pepper are added. There you can add carrots, mushroomsand cheese. The dish can be lenten, then to the leaves from the grapes add rice and vegetables. In autumn and winter, the dish is made most often with leaves from fresh or sauerkraut - cabbage sarmi (stuffed cabbage).

Sarmi - cabbage rolls in Bulgarian

Shkembe (the best Bulgarian soup, for lovers of spicy cuisine)

The soup is boiled in a steep, finely chopped veal and or pork offal.Some people add milk. ATadd to the finished soup garlic, vinegar and hot peppers chili to taste. Soup is served with croutons (Filiyka pastries).

Shkembe - Bulgarian soup

Polneni ingots(stuffed pepper)

Prepared from fresh or dried peppers. The stuffing can be mincemeat with rice or only from rice and spices, black s th pepper, thyme - (thyme, savory - sature). Minced meat is made from a mixture of beef and pork.

Stuffed pepper

Kapama (meat in pots)

Bulgarian national dish from the southwestern part of Bulgaria,from the region of the city of Razlog. Kapama is one of the most popular dishes. In Bulgaria . It can be prepared from next products: several types of meat - pork, chicken, beef, rabbit, sauerkraut, add need also sausage or black pudding and rice. In order to achieve the unique aroma and taste of kapama, there are three important conditions. first oh spices: black, red pepper, Chubrica, bay leaf, second e then: correctly lay out all the products in layers, and in the third - a dish needs to be baked long, at least 4-5 hours, over low heat and intightly closed with lid dough pot.

Patatnik (potato casserole)

D For its preparation, potatoes and cheese are used. Could be like Lenten only with potatoes or add meat. Classic recipe only made with potatoes added therecheese, egg, onion, spices - salt, pepper, fresh mint and fat. At serving, you can add Bulgarian yogurt (sour milk) or vegetables to the dish.

Patatanic

Cheverme (spit)

O bottom of the surviving brands of Bulgarian cuisine cheverme is made from whole lamb roasted on a spit. This dish is typical for the Rhodope Mountains, but hisprepared in other parts of the country.

Cheverme - skewer in Bulgarian

Today we will go on a culinary journey through Bulgaria and find out what dishes of Bulgarian cuisine you should definitely try during your trip to this sunny country.

Bulgarian cuisine has developed under the influence of the cuisines of neighboring Balkan countries and Turkey. Bulgarian dishes are always full 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 menta. But first things first! I suggest you first 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 compiler of the menu 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 a detailed description.

Bulgarian salads

I'm sure everyone has tried it at least once. Shopska salad (Shopska salad)- a traditional Bulgarian salad of ruddy Bulgarian tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, herbs, sprinkled with soft bryndza (siren). This salad is a great light addition to hearty meat dishes and beer.

Ovcharsky salad (Ovcharska salad)- Bulgarian salad with almost the same ingredients as the Shopska salad, but with the addition of eggs, ham and mushrooms for greater "satiety" of the salad. If you order a salad, keep in mind that it can replace the main course, as the portions of salads in Bulgaria are simply huge, and literally they will bring you a bowl of salad.

Salad Snezhanka (Salad Snezhanka)- lovers of light snacks will like this salad, because its main ingredients are cucumbers, yogurt, walnuts, and garlic.

I want to add here my favorite baked peppers (pig liver) are red peppers baked in tomato sauce. I recommend to try! In general, if you have a large company, you can try to take different dishes and thus get acquainted with many Bulgarian dishes at one time.

One of the most popular ingredients in salads is soft cheese (sirene), 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 dishes are brought to you, you can order hot cakes fried in oil - pyrlenki. Lutenitsa sauce - chopped tomatoes with peppers and spices - is well suited for pyrlenkas.

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 (banicarnitsa) large puff pastry pie with cheese called Bannitsa. An excellent breakfast for your family will be provided. It is possible that a bannitsa can also 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 soup tarator, whose main ingredients are yogurt and cucumbers. Salad "Snezhanka", which I wrote about above, is a kind of tarator soup. I want to say that, in addition to Bulgaria, the tarator is also common in other Balkan countries. In Greece, for example, it is known under the name "Tzatziki".

Another popular soup is trampling. This is a very hearty variation of our Meatball Soup.

Soup shkembe chorba- many people eat this soup with 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 separate restaurants that served only this soup ( girls from shkembeji).

The next soup the teleshko 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 chorba- a soup of beans, onions, and tomatoes, and soup loaf- It's chicken broth.

Meat dishes

Most meat dishes in Bulgaria are prepared from pork ( swine meso) or chicken meat ( pileshko meso). Dishes are baked, steamed or grilled, or stewed.

Menu items are often classified according to how they are prepared. For example, fried in a pan is on scara, baked in the oven on furna. fried is pierced, 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.

Polneni 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- Shish kebab from pieces of different meat with vegetables.

Meshana scara- a very popular dish among tourists, which includes various types of grilled meat. Served in a large sizzling skillet.

Sach with pileshko- a large skillet with fried chicken, peppers, potatoes, etc. A very satisfying meal for 2-3 people.

Kebapche - grilled minced meat sausages.

Being on vacation in Bulgaria for the first time, tourists ask themselves the question: what is the Bulgarian national cuisine and what should you definitely try?
Bulgarian national cuisine has been formed over the centuries. Food processing methods, seasonings and technologies used in cooking are a mixture of European and Asian cuisines.

Features of national Bulgarian cuisine

Bulgarian Salads and Snacks

is a national Bulgarian dish that is on the menu of any restaurant or cafe in Bulgaria. The composition of this salad includes: baked peppers, fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, parsley. The salad is seasoned with vegetable oil, vegetables are generously sprinkled with grated cheese on top, or cut into cubes. Optionally, you can ask to add hot pepper.

Salad Snezhanka This is a very light and low calorie salad. It consists of finely chopped cucumbers, walnuts, dill and garlic, seasoned with yogurt (in Bulgarian - "sour sour milk"). Salad Snezhanka refers to cold salads, it is served after holding it in the refrigerator.

Salad Snezhanka

Kashkaval Pane is a classic Bulgarian dish. It is a hard breaded cheese. The peculiarity of this dish is a special kind of cheese produced in Bulgaria, which does not melt when heated. Kashkaval pane is often served with sweet jam.

Kashkaval Pane

Soups of Bulgarian national cuisine

Tarator- it's not easy soup, it's business card Bulgarian national cuisine. The ingredients for its preparation are: Bulgarian yogurt (sour milk), chopped walnuts, finely chopped cucumbers, necessarily a mixture of dill and garlic and a spoonful of olive oil. Tarator is a cold soup, it does not need to be cooked quickly.

Traditional Bulgarian dish - cold soup tarator

Second courses of the Bulgarian national cuisine

Moussaka- this national Bulgarian meal resembles a Russian casserole, the main products for its preparation are potatoes cut into small cubes and minced meat, but various vegetables are used in addition to them: tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants. Before cooking, moussaka is poured with a special sauce made from eggs and milk with the addition of toasted flour. There are variants of moussaka without potatoes with other vegetables, such as eggplant and tomatoes, or with pasta.

Guvech- national Bulgarian food, which is cooked in special clay vessels (pots) called gyuvech. This dish is a vegetable platter with the addition of small chopped meat, most often pork, chicken or beef. Guvech can also be vegan. In some restaurants in St. Vlas, rice is added to its composition.

Imambayaldy

Imambayaldy- This is eggplant stuffed with vegetables, cooked in the oven or oven. For stuffing, tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, greens, onions are used.

Under a strange name kyopoolu hides a wonderful appetizer of baked eggplant, pepper and tomato seasoned with garlic, parsley and vegetable oil.

Traditional appetizer - Bulgarian baked eggplant

Shopska Sirene – Bulgarian National Cuisine

Sirene Shopska- This national Bulgarian dish is cooked in clay pots. All ingredients are laid out in layers: cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs, eggs. The dish can be prepared with or without hot pepper, it is important to pay attention to this.

What you should definitely try from the Bulgarian national cuisine

Each mehana and restaurant in St. Vlas offers its own signature dish. It is difficult to mention all the dishes in one article.

What must try in Bulgaria, of course

Sach is both a clay pan and the name of a traditional national Bulgarian dish. Meat cooked with vegetables or mushrooms on sacha, believe me, will leave an unforgettable experience. The dish must be served on a hot frying pan. Sach can be meat or vegetarian, it all depends on the recipe of the cook and your preference.

Chushka burek- Bulgarian baked pepper, peeled from seeds and skin, stuffed with a mixture of cheese, cottage cheese, greens and eggs, fried in breadcrumbs until golden brown. Parsley, garlic and ground black pepper can be added to the filling. Properly cooked chushka burek has a flattened shape and thin breading.
Banitsa- This is a flour product made from thinly rolled unleavened dough with various fillings. The dough should have a thin, parchment-like structure. A filling is placed on each layer of dough, most often it is hard cheese or feta cheese. They also offer banitsa with other types of fillings: nuts, herbs, vegetables, fruits, honey, etc.

Menu in St. Vlas restaurants

In, the menu is written everywhere in 3 languages (Bulgarian, Russian, English), not always correctly, but there will be no problems understanding what to order. To make it easier to navigate, below is a translation of the main Bulgarian words from the menu:

eggplant - patlazhani;
bell pepper - pigs;
zucchini - tikvichki;
tomatoes - domati;
cheese - kashkaval;
feta cheese - to the siren;
pork - pork meso;
chicken meat - saw;
veal - teleshko;
lamb meat - agneshko;
thick soup - chorba;
cutlets - kufteta;
short sausages - kebapcheta.

Bulgarian national cuisine - Menu in one of the restaurants

Bulgarian national cuisine - cooking methods

Skara is usually a dish cooked on a grill. But scara is also a frying pan;
Parzheno - fried;
Liver - liver;
Strangled - stewed
Vareni - boiled.

The TOP 10 traditional Bulgarian dishes includes a set of dishes and ingredients from the everyday life of the Bulgarian people. Most of the dishes of the national Bulgarian table, which is also present among other Balkan peoples.

The soup is made from well-cooked and sliced beef or pork, minced especially for the soup.

Garlic, vinegar, cayenne or chili peppers are added to season the soup.

7. Paleni with oryz - stuffed peppers with rice

(Chushki scorched with oriz)

The dish is prepared from fragrant, fresh or dried peppers. Peppers are stuffed in different ways both with meat and without it in a vegetarian way - only with rice and spices.

chushki paleni with oryz - stuffed peppers with rice

In the meat version, as a rule, a mixture of beef and pork is used, or one of the two.

8. Kapama

Kapama is a traditional Bulgarian dish from the region of Southwestern Bulgaria. The history of the region of Bulgaria - Razlog.

It is prepared from a variety of products: several types of meat - pork, chicken, beef, rabbit, sauerkraut, and sausage or black pudding and rice are added to this mixture. To achieve the unique aroma and taste of kapama, three important conditions are met.

Since ancient times, gourmets have greatly respected the Bulgarian traditional cuisine, unanimously agreeing that all its dishes are tasty, spicy and varied. And really, how can you not like the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, juicy meat fried on skewers or stewed in spicy sauces, mouth-watering vegetable vegetarian dishes, melt-in-your-mouth banitsa (layered cheese cake) or the famous Bulgarian yogurt?

At its core, Bulgarian cuisine is South Slavic, but it was significantly influenced by the culinary traditions of the Balkan and Turkish peoples. The relatively warm climate and diverse geography create ideal conditions for growing various vegetables, herbs and fruits, which, together with home-grown meat, form the basis of the Bulgarian traditional cuisine.

Another feature of the national cuisine is the widespread use of various dairy products. In particular, yogurt is consumed very actively in Bulgaria - it is served with a wide variety of dishes, used in cooking and eaten just like that. Some sources claim that yogurt was even invented in the territory of modern Bulgaria - and this seems to be true, given the great love of local residents for yogurt. In addition to yogurt, cheese is very popular, which is usually added to many salads or pastries.

A traditional Bulgarian meal usually starts with a salad, less often with a soup. As a rule, this is the famous Shopska salad. Among the soups are both cold and hot, the most famous of which is tarator - cold cucumber soup, which is especially good in the summer heat. Also popular is chorba, a hot, thick soup usually made with beans and meat, though sometimes with other ingredients.

The main dish on the table, as a rule, is meat. The meat is usually cooked in the oven, steamed, stewed like a stew, or fried on skewers. The most popular meat is pork. Chicken and fish are also popular. But beef is rarely eaten in Bulgaria, since cattle are bred here for milk, not meat.

Signature Bulgarian main dishes are gyuvech (vegetable or meat stew), yahnia (a dish of meat and vegetables), plakia (meat or fish with onions in the oven), kavarma (again, meat and vegetables), kebab (stew with red pepper), moussaka (baked minced meat with eggplant and egg filling). Hot dishes are served, usually with pita bread. The meal usually ends with dessert. It is most often halva, Turkish delight, baklava or kozunaki.

And, of course, wine is an integral part of most Bulgarian meals. The country has been famous for its winemaking for many centuries, and therefore it is not customary to drink Bulgarian dishes with any other drink than wine. An exception can only be made for the sake of such drinks as rakia (strong drink, from 40 to 60% alcohol) or mastic (47%).

In general, it can be noted that the main secret of the Bulgarian traditional cuisine is the use of mostly fresh and natural products (vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy products), as well as the skillful addition of suitable spices and herbs to the dishes, which give the dishes a delicious taste and aroma.