Bulgarian cuisine

Bulgarian cuisine () is a representative of the Mediterranean cuisine of Southeast Europe. It shares characteristics with other Balkan cuisines. Bulgarian cooking traditions are diverse because of geographical factors such as climatic conditions suitable for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruit. Aside from the vast variety of local Bulgarian dishes, Bulgarian cuisine shares a number of dishes with Persian, Turkish, and Greek cuisine.

Bulgarian food often incorporates salads as appetizers and is also noted for the prominence of dairy products, wines and other alcoholic drinks such as rakia. The cuisine also features a variety of soups, such as the cold soup tarator, and pastries, such as the filo dough based banitsa, pita and the various types of börek.

Main courses are very typically water-based stews, either vegetarian or with lamb, goat meat, veal, chicken or pork. Deep-frying is not common, but grilling - especially different kinds of sausages - is very prominent. Pork is common, often mixed with veal or lamb, although fish and chicken are also widely used. While most cattle are bred for milk production rather than meat, veal is popular for grilling meat appetizers (meze) and in some main courses. As a substantial exporter of lamb, Bulgaria's own consumption is notable, especially in the spring.

Similarly to other Balkan cultures the per capita consumption of yogurt (Bulgarian: кисело мляко, kiselo mlyako, lit. "sour milk") among Bulgarians is traditionally higher than the rest of Europe. The country is notable as the historical namesake for Lactobacillus bulgaricus, a microorganism chiefly responsible for the local variety of the dairy product.

Bulgarian cuisine shares a number of dishes with the Middle Eastern Cuisine as well as a limited number with the Indian, particularly Gujarat cuisine. The culinary exchange with the East started as early as the 7th century, when traders started bringing herbs and spices to the First Bulgarian Empire from India and Persia via the Roman and later Byzantine empires. This is evident from the wide popularity of dishes like moussaka, gyuvetch, kyufte and baklava, which are common in Middle Eastern cuisine today. White brine cheese called "sirene" (сирене), similar to feta, is also a popular ingredient used in salads and a variety of pastries.

Holidays are often observed in conjunction with certain meals. On Christmas Eve, for instance, tradition requires vegetarian stuffed peppers and cabbage leaf sarmi, New Year's Eve usually involves cabbage dishes, Nikulden (Day of St. Nicholas, December 6) fish (usually carp), while Gergyovden (Day of St. George, May 6) is typically celebrated with roast lamb.

Turkish influence
As in many areas of the Balkans that were formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, food in Bulgaria is influenced by Turkish cuisine and Ottoman cuisine—ayran, baklava, gyuvech, and moussaka are all of Ottoman derivation.

Traditional Bulgarian foods

Bulgarian breakfast
 Banitsa — breakfast pastry of eggs, white cheese, and yogurt between phyllo layers

Cold cuts
 Banski starets (also banski staretz) — spicy sausage, native to the Bansko region.
 Elenski but — air-cured ham sausage, seasoned with herbs
 Lukanka — spicy salami of minced beef and pork
 Pastarma — spicy beef sausage; a variant of Anatolian dried meat, called pastourmas to Greeks, bastirma in Azerbaijanis, and basterma to Arabs
 Sujuk (also soudjouk, sukuk, sukuk, or sucuk) — flat cured, dark red sausage, common in the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and North Africa

Soups and stews
 Gyuvech — spicy vegetable stew, cooked in a clay pot
 Supa ot kopriva (nettle soup)
 Tarator — cold soup of cucumbers, garlic, yogurt and dill 
 Shkembe chorba — spicy soup made of tripe, reputed in Bulgaria to be a "hangover cure" 
 Bob chorba — hot bean soup
 Smilyanski fasul — Smilyan bean soup
 Pacha — a sour lamb's-trotter soup," with sour ingredients such as pickles, bitter fruit, or vinegar in the broth
 Zelenchukova supa — a vegetable-based soup
 Gubena supa — forest mushroom soup
 Ribena chorba — a fish soup made with thyme and fresh lovage

Salads
 Ovcharska salata (shepherd's salad) — shopska salad, with the addition of grated egg, mushrooms, and sometimes ham.
 Ruska salata — salad with potatoes, carrots, gherkins, and mayonnaise
 Shopska salad — a common salad of chopped cucumbers, onions, peppers, and tomatoes with white cheese 
 Snezhanka ("Snow White salad") — chopped cucumbers with yogurt, dill, garlic, and often walnuts
 Turshiya (also torsi) — pickled vegetables, such as celery, beets, cauliflower, and cabbage, popular in wintertime; variations are selska turshiya (country pickle) and tsarska turshiya (king's pickles).

Sauces, relishes, and appetizers

 Lyutenitsa (also lyutenitza) — purée of tomatoes, red peppers, and carrots, often served on bread and topped with white cheese
 Kyopulu (also kyopolou) — roasted eggplant (aubergine) and bell peppers, mashed with parsley and garlic and other ingredients<ref>Kay, p. 57, Sachsenroeder, p. 143; DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Bulgaria (DK: rev. ed. 2011), p. 233</ref>
 Ljutika — spicy sauce
 Podluchen sauce or yogurt sauce — yogurt with garlic, oil, paprika, salt and sometimes dill.
 Katino meze—Hot starter with chopped pork meat, onion, mushrooms with fresh butter and spices.
 Drob po selski — chopped liver with onion and peppers
 Ezik v maslo — sliced tongue in butter
 Sirene pane — breaded Bulgarian brine white cheese bites
 Kashkaval pane — breaded kashkaval bites
 Mussels in butter — with onion and fresh herbs, traditionally from Sozopol

Skara (grill)

 Kyufte (meatballs of minced pork meat, seasoned with traditional spices and shaped in a flattened ball)
 Kebapche (similar to meatballs, but seasoned with cumin and shaped in a stick)
 Parjola (pork steak, chop or flank)
 Shishcheta (marinated pieces of chicken or pork and vegetables.)
 Karnache (a type of sausage with special spices)
 Nadenitsa (a type of sausage with special spices)
 Tatarsko kyufte (stuffed meatballs)
 Nevrozno kyufte (very piquant meatballs)
 Chicken in caul
 Cheverme (used in celebrations such as weddings, graduations and birthdays: a whole animal, traditionally a pig, but also chicken or a lamb, is slowly cooked in open fire, rotated manually on a wooden skewer from 4 to 7 hours.)
 Meshana skara (mixed grill plate): consists of kebapche, kyufte, shishche and karnache or nadenitsa 
 Grilled vegetables (usually a garnish or a side dish)
 Grilled fish (salt water or freshwater)

Main dishes

 Gyuvech
 Yahniya
 Plakiya
 Sarma
 Drob Sarma
 Wine, Tepsi or Tas kebab
 Kavarma
 Kapama
 Mish Mash (Popular summer dish made with tomatoes, peppers, onion, white brine cheese, eggs and fresh spices)
 Pilaf (Rice with chopped meat, vegetables or mussels)
 Moussaka
 Chomlek
 Mlin
 Stuffed courgettes
 Pulneni chushki—Bulgarian stuffed bell peppers
 Peppers börek
 Roasted beans
 Beans with sausage		
 Pork with rice
 Roasted Chicken with Potatoes		
 Pork with Cabbage		
 Chicken with Cabbage
 Roasted Potatoes
 Drusan kebab
 Rice with chicken
 Tatarian Meatball
 Meatball(s) with White Sauce Stew
 Kjufteta po Chirpanski (Meatballs with potatoes; a recipe from Chirpan)
 Meatloaf 'Rulo "Stephanie"'
 Potato balls with Sauce
 Panagyurishte-Style Eggs
 Fried Courgettes with Yogurt Sauce
 Chicken in katmi (Popular in a "Thracian" variety)
 Fish Zelnik (With Sauerkraut and Rice)
 Fish in pastry (Usually in celebration of St. Nicholas)
 Stuffed Carp or Nikuldenski Carp (Prepared for the Feast of St. Nicholas)

Breads and pastries

 Pita
 Sweet Pita
 Pita with Meat (Variably with Mushrooms or with Tomatoes and Onion.)
 Pogacha (Usual ritual bread.)
 Kravai (Usual ritual bread.)
 Kolach (Usual ritual bread.)
 Banitsa (The most popular pastry in Bulgaria with a number of varieties.)
 Tikvenik (Banitsa with pumpkins)
 Zelnik (Banitsa with white brine cheese and cabbage, spinach, leek, scallion, parsley or sorrel)
 Baklava
 Saraliya
 Parlenki
 Patatnik
 Kachamak
 Byal Mazh
 Tutmanik
 Milinka
 Gevrek
 Kozunak
 Mekitsi (Deep fried kneaded dough made with yogurt and eggs)
 Marudnitsi
 Katmi (a variety of pancakes)
 Palachinki (a variety of crêpes) 
 Langidi
 Tiganitsi (Similar to Mekitsi)
 Dudnik
 Popara
 Sulovar
 Parjeni filii, "fried toasts"
 Kiflichki with jam or white cheese
 Solenki
 Yufka
 Trienitsa or Skrob
 Trahana

Dairy products

Bulgaria has a strong tradition of using milk and dairy products. Bulgaria even has a namesake strain of bacteria used to make many of its cheeses and fermented foods which gives it a distinct in its flavor. This strain is called Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

 Sirene — soft and salty white brine cheese; appears in many Bulgarian dishes
 Kashkaval — hard yellow cheese, often used in mezes; kashkaval Vitosha is made from cow's milk, while kashkaval Balkan is made from ewe's milk
 Kiselo mlyako (literally "sour milk)—Bulgarian yogurt, produced using Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus; used in many Bulgarian dishes
 Smetana: cream
 Izvara: quark
 Katak — a "traditional fermented curd/yogurt-like product"

Sweets
The name Halva (халва) is used for several related varieties of the Middle Eastern dessert. Tahan/Tahini halva (тахан/тахини халва) is the most popular version, available in two different types with sunflower and with sesame seed. Traditionally, the regions of Yablanitsa and Haskovo are famous manufacturers of halva.

 Pumpkin Dessert (Печена тиква)
 Baklava
 Buhti with yogurt
 Tolumbi (толумби) - Fried schuh pastry cakes soakes in syrup which is usually made with honey 
 Cookies "Peach" or Praskovki
 Fruit bread
 Garash cake ("Torta Garash")
 Katmi with jam or honey or cheese (Today usually with added chocolate)
 Kazanlak Donuts
 Kazanlak Korabii (Казанлъшки курабии) - Scone like pastry that is egg washed and sprinkled with sugar 
 Keks - similar to marble cake
 Kompot 
 Kozunak
 Kurabiiki
 Lokum
 Maslenki
 Milk with Rice
 Oshav
 Tart with cherries or sour cherries (Traditionally from Bobov dol)
 Tart with different fruits
 Tatlii
 Tikvenik
 Tulumbichki

Spices and herbs
Summer savory (Chubritsa)
Spearmint (Djodjen)
Sharena sol

Other staples
 Yoghurt ("Kiselo Mlyako", lit. sour milk)
 Honey ("Med")

Traditional Bulgarian drinks

Wine

 Mavrud
 Pamid
 Gamza
 Melnik wine
 Dimyat
 Misket
 Muskat
 Nohan or Lipa
 Divachka
 Shivka
 Rubin
 Tamyanka

Distilled liquors

 Rakia
 Slivovitsa
 Gyulova Rakia (Rose Rakia)
 Muskat Rakia
 Mastika
 Menta

Beer

Ariana
Astika
Boliarka
Burgasko
Britos
Kamenitza
Ledenika
Lomsko
MM
Pirinsko
Plevensko
Shumensko
Slavena
Stolichno
Zagorka

Fermented beverages

 Boza (Most popular recipes are from Radomir and Lyubimets)
 Ayran or Ayryan
 Matenitsa (Bulgarian Buttermilk)

Hot beverages

 Tea (Usually prepared with one or several herbs or fruits)
 Greyana Rakiya (boiled rakiya; winter alcoholic beverage)
 Greyano Vino (winter alcoholic beverage)

See also

 European cuisine
 List of cuisines
 Cuisine of the Mediterranean
 Eastern European cuisine
 Macedonian cuisine

Notes

ReferencesDK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Bulgaria (DK: rev. ed. 2011).
Jonathan Bousfield & Matthew Willis, DK Eyewitness Travel: Bulgaria (DK: 2008).
James I. Deutsch, "Bulgaria" in Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia (ed. Lucy M. Long: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).
Annie Kay, Bulgaria (Bradt Travel Guides: 2nd ed. 2015), p. 57.
Fiona Ross, "Bulgaria" in Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia (ed. Ken Albala: ABC-CLIO, 2011).
Agnes Sachsenroeder, CultureShock! Bulgaria: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette'' (Marshall Cavendish: 2nd ed. 2011).

 
Category:Balkan cuisine