The delicious Bulgarian cuisine/ Bulgarian food: starters (part 1)

 

One of the things I miss the most as a Bulgarian living abroad is the Bulgarian...cuisine! Thats why today I would to talk about/ show you (some of) the delicious and healthy dishes I have grown up with:-) In this entry I will start with the starters, as we have many (both cold and warm). You need to know that the Bulgarians eat extremely a lot of vegetables, I dont refer only to salad, as almost every meal starts or contains a salad. A lot of the ingredients or often the whole dish is just veggies (not that we dont have meat and fish dishes), even if one does not see it at first glance..

 

One of the most famous cold starter is the mix of baked peppers, aubergines and tomatoes (known as  "кjopolu"(bg. "кьопоолу"). The yoghurt salad made out of yoghurt, cucumber s, walnuts and dill is called "Snejanka" (as the girl in the fairy tale ). Both starters (as presented and served at one of best traditional restaurants in Sofia, "Pod lipite") are on the third picture. Another typical Bulgarian starter are the baked red peppers, peeled and served with oil.

 

The white cheese baked in the oven, together with honey and fresh thyme, is very yummy warm dish or starter, depending on your hunger. A dish, that symbolises the arrival of the warm months is the grilled courgettes-plate. It is always served with yoghurt sauce, granished with garlic and dill...I enjoyed the plate below this weekend in the very good restaurant "Manastirska magerniza" in the center of Sofia.

Viktualienmarkt in München...

It does not matter if one just want to spend some nice moments, to have a rest in the sun and a beer or to enjoy a fresh pressed fruit juice: "der Viktualienmarkt" (the market for food and drink /victuals) is a place not to be missed in Munich...Located in the heart of the city center, just behind the new town hall, this market offers an incredible amount of food specialties, snack bars and fresh fruits and veggies from all around the world.

My personal must-do (when i am passing by) is to have a fresh pressed juice: always difficult to choose between the possible mix of mango/strawberry/pineapple/kiwi/cocos/mandarine/orange/banana:-) Another stand which always brings a smile to my face is the one with animals made out of straw and decoration items of dried herbs. The cute hedgehogs, the looking almost like real geese, the funny pigs...

In the middle of the Viktualienmarkt is standing proud "der Maibaum" (the tree of May) depicting typical scenes of every day Bavarian (beer-)life.

...about Greek food...and Bulgarian food...

The Greek food is yummy and ...how do I say it...somehow extremely similar to the Bulgarian food. Lets take as an example the famous Greek salad. It has the same ingredients as the Bulgarian "shopska salata", the only difference is that the feta cheese is in one or two pieces while the "shopska salata" is covered with grated feta cheese. Somehow the cuisine of all Balkan countries ends up of offering several dishes which one can find and enjoy no matter if you are in Turkey, Bulgaria or Greece.

The grilled squid (picture above) is though something we dont have...and the portion above (with plenty of vegetables hidden under the squid) I have enjoyed at a very trendy place in Athens called "Tzitzikas kai Mermigas". But to continue with my comparison, I grew up with "sarmi", wine leaves filled with rice. The Greek call them "dolmades" and say its Greek dish...but my grandma cooked it already for some 50 years:)

One of my favourite dessert is the joghurt with honey and walnuts on the top. Well, the Greek have it too and yes, it tastes good and no, there is no one single difference to the Bulgarian version...I suppose the fact that we are so close has as an end result, that Bulgarian dishes are not only found in my home country but also in the neighbours...And i am happy that like this more people can enjoy these delicious specialties:)