[align=center:2x35ilwr][size=150:2x35ilwr]Bulgarian cuisine prefers long simmering, especially in the lid covered earthenware in the oven.[/align:2x35ilwr]

Historic influence

Slavic tribes inhabited the area of present Bulgaria in the 6th century, and in the year 680 the first Bulgarian state is formed, a part of which falls under the Byzantium in 971, and part under the country of Samuil. After the liberation the second state is formed which in 1393 becomes a part of Turkey. In late 18th ct. the struggle for independence starts, and in 1878 the Great Bulgaria is founded, which is soon divided in two countries, and they are again reuniting in 1885. After the 1st Balkan War Bulgaria defeated Turkey together with Serbia, Greece, Montenegro due to territorial claims, after which it is fighting its allies and Turkey and Romania. After the 2nd World War in 1947 Bulgaria accepts the socialist constitution and in 1955 it joins the Warsaw Pact. Due to unsuccessful economic policy in 1989, the supremacy of the communist party is terminated, and Bulgaria accepts democracy and market economy.

Cuisine

Bulgarian cuisine is authentic and very interesting, despite of the fact that culinary influences of Turkey and Greece are recognized in it, but also some Slavic, Oriental and Mediterranean countries. It is based on numerous traditional, simple, aromatic and tasty meals able to please different tastes. The basis of the original Bulgarian cuisine are natural and fresh victuals that even today, just like in the old times, come from the fruitful fields and grassy pastures, but also gardens, orchards and back yards. Bulgaria can truly be proud of the abundance of vegetables and fruit, meat and milk and its by-products.

[size=150:2x35ilwr][align=center:2x35ilwr]The connection between the longevity of Bulgarian peasants and eating yoghurt was studied and proven by the scientist Ilya Metchnikoff, the father of probiotics and the winner of the Nobel prize[/align:2x35ilwr]

Bulgarian meals are based on good quality vegetables that is exported, potato, egg-plants, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, pickles, cabbage, carrot, onion, beans and baby beans, but also on wheat, barley, rye, corn and rice. Vegetables are so popular that many meals exist in two versions, with and without the meat. Among fruit which is eaten fresh, but also in various desserts and processed in compotes and jams, favourites are apricots, peaches, apples, pears, cherries, strawberries, melons, water-melons and grapes. Although the Bulgarians eat meat as much as two times less than other peoples in the Balkans, the cuisine uses various kinds of meat: pork, lamb, sheep, beef, poultry and game, but also their giblets and other products, and naturally fresh water and sea fish and seafood.

Bulgarians are also big fans of milk and milk products from cows, sheep, buffalo and mixed milk. Apart for drinking, milk is used for the production of various kinds of cheese, butter, cream, yoghurt and kefir, consumed on their own or used as ingredients for numerous traditional meals. Very popular kind of cheese is fetta, soft white cheese made from cow or sheep milk eaten separately or used in other meals, and kashkaval, yellow cheese from sheep milk, also called Balkan cheddar. Bulgarian cuisine uses numerous spices, so there is practically no kitchen without the garlic, onion, ground pepper both sweet and hot, and you can also find parsley, thyme, rosemary, savory, but also rose petals water, aniseed and nutmeg. For many invigorating, greasy and heavy meals apart from the sunflower oil, the oil of walnut and sesame is also used, and along the coast also the olive oil. Apart from coming to the table from the local cultivation, meat, vegetables and fruit are also pickled according to traditional recipes, so the diet is rich in pickled vegetables, marmalades and compotes and various meat products. Bulgarian cuisine prefers long simmering, especially in the lid covered earthenware in the oven, as well as barbecuing of meat and vegetables. The victuals are first shortly barbecued to get a special aroma, but also to keep all of their ingredients and then they are put in a pan and finished on the stove or in the oven.

Traditional Bulgarian meals

Baniza - spirally folded strudel of thin pastry stuffed mostly with crumbled sheep cheese, eggs, sauteed leek or spinach, but also pumpkins, apples and marmalade, coated with plenty of butter.

Banska kavyrma - casserole of various kinds of meat and vegetables prepared in earthenware.

Baklava - a cake of thin pastry sheets with poppy, bread crumbs and almonds, poured with syrup from water, honey and sugar with cinnamon and clove.

Bob tschorba - bean soup.

Dobrudzhanska supa - soup from fresh water fish and clams (from the Danube).

Garasch - cake made with eggs, chocolate, walnut and coconut flour.

Giuvetsch - meal of pork, lamb or baby beef meat with potato, ocra, green beans, tomato, onion, with added sweet pepper and parsley prepared in an earthenware in the oven.

Kavarma - a stew made from meat, liver, mushroom, potato, onion and tomato puree prepared in an earthenware and in an oven.

Kozunak - sweet bread from dough with eggs, butter, raisins and almonds traditionally prepared for holidays, specially Easter.

Kebabtsche - oval fritters from ground beef and pork meat baked on a barbecue, with added cumin.

Kjopolo - fried egg-plant pate with garlic, parsley and ground pepper.

Kjufte - round fritters from mixed minced meat, beef and pork, baked on a barbecue, served with mustard (if kjufte, but also kebabtsche are deep fried, minced meat is mixed with chopped onion, eggs and old bagel soaked in water and spiced with pepper, parsley and savory).

Kringel - triangular bagel from puff pastry.

Lozovi sarmi -vine leaves stuffed with minced meat and rice or sheep cheese and rice.

Ljuteniza - paste of tomatoes and hot peppers.

Lukanka - traditional dried sausage.

Malebi - corn bread cake with milk and sugar sprinkled with rose water, served with ice cream and strawberries.

Melba - ice cream with fruit.

Misch-masch - scrambled eggs with tomato, peppers and cheese.

Mussaka - mussaka of minced meat and potato in earthenware from the oven.

Paleni tschuschki - paprika stuffed with eggs and cheese.

Piperki palneni - paprika stuffed with minced meat and rice or rice with sheep cheese.

Pirogge - pasta with marmalade or cheese.

Rodopsko cheverme - lamb on grill.

Schkembe tschorba - thick tripe soup.

Shopska salat - salad from cucumbers, tomato, hot peppers with plenty of crumbled sheep cheese.

Selevi sarmi - cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and minced meat or sheep cheese and rice.

Sireve po schopski - casserole from sheep cheese, tomatoes and peppers prepared in earthenware in an oven.

Sudschuk - traditional dried sausage.

Sneshanka - salad of strained yoghurt with sliced cucumbers, chopped walnuts and garlic.

Tarator - cold soup of yoghurt and fresh finely chopped cucumbers garnished with chopped dill.

Tikvenik - strudel with pumpkins, ground walnuts and cinnamon.

Turschia - a type of vegetable for the winter, salad made from various kinds of vegetables, carrot, cauliflower, celery marinated in oil and vinegar.

Thank you nets this is real interesting so all I need to do now is try and find the recipes

Thank you very much for the very good selection of Bulgarian cuisine very interesting.

davshaz wrote:

Thank you nets this is real interesting so all I need to do now is try and find the recipes

Netsniperthefirst wrote:

Misch-masch - scrambled eggs with tomato, peppers and cheese.

My own recipe for Mish-Mash (which my Bulgarian neighbours said was spot on), something you can all try even if you're not in Bulgaria yet ...

Ingredients: (4 people):

8 eggs (free range or Bulgarian!)
1 onion (large white, or Bulgarian!)
2 cloves garlic
2 green peppers
2 medium tomatoes
200 gr. of sirene (or feta cheese in the UK), crumbled
50g butter
Vegetable oil
Chopped fresh parsley
Paprika
Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Instructions:

Chop the onions, peppers, parsley and garlic. Peal the tomatoes and dice (personally I don't peal them).

In a bowl, beat the eggs and add to the mixture the crumbled cheese.

Melt the butter in a frying pan, add a splash of oil and cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes.

Keep stirring and add the peppers. Cook again for another 2 or 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and reduce the liquid for a good 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, and add a good sprinkle of paprika.

Pour over the eggs/cheese mixture and cook for another 3 or so minutes, stirring very gently.

Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.

Serve with big slabs of toast.

This sounds a really good meal my mouth is. watering now will try this tomorrow thanks Chris.

Chris wrote:

My own recipe for Mish-Mash (which my Bulgarian neighbours said was spot on), something you can all try even if you're not in Bulgaria yet ...

Ingredients: (4 people):

8 eggs (free range or Bulgarian!)
1 onion (large white, or Bulgarian!)
2 cloves garlic
2 green peppers
2 medium tomatoes
200 gr. of sirene (or feta cheese in the UK), crumbled
50g butter
Vegetable oil
Chopped fresh parsley
Paprika
Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Instructions:

Chop the onions, peppers, parsley and garlic. Peal the tomatoes and dice (personally I don't peal them).

In a bowl, beat the eggs and add to the mixture the crumbled cheese.

Melt the butter in a frying pan, add a splash of oil and cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes.

Keep stirring and add the peppers. Cook again for another 2 or 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and reduce the liquid for a good 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, and add a good sprinkle of paprika.

Pour over the eggs/cheese mixture and cook for another 3 or so minutes, stirring very gently.

Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.

Serve with big slabs of toast.

Spot on is about rith for this i loved and I'm going to make it a regular dish.

Panagurishte poached eggs


Ingredients:

8 eggs
4 soup spoons of butter
600g. of natural yoghurt
5-6 cloves of garlic
5 soup spoons of vinegar
2 teaspoons of paprika
1/3 of a teaspoon of chilli powder
freshly chopped dill
salt

Crush the garlic and mix this together with the yoghurt and half a coffee cup of salt. Bring a full pan of water to the boil (with salt and the vinegar). Break the eggs one by one into a bowl, then poach them in the simmering water.

After three minutes of cooking, remove the eggs. In a serving bowl, place the yoghurt and then the eggs on top. Heat the butter, add paprika and the chilli powder. Mix together for a few seconds and remove from the heat. Drizzle over the poached eggs.

Sprinkle with freshly chopped dill and serve with a dry white wine and fresh crusty bread for a delicious and quick meal.

I recently contacted a friend of mine in Bg and told them I wanted to write a little about the Bulgarian/Balkan cuisine, so this is what I got back from them, it isn't exactly what I wanted but they got their daughter to write it out in English so I was very grateful anyway and wanted to share it here.

A very big thanks to krasssimira

[align=center:iu3gmldi]Balkan Cuisine[/align:iu3gmldi]

The National Bulgarian Cuisine


Many of the Bulgarian products and dishes are known in various other parts of the world. Bulgarian dishes and drinks have their devotees even among the most refined gastronomes and tasters. Bulgarian yoghourt is an industry, and the Great Roasted Red Pepper - an attraction. Anyone who has tasted a Bulgarian apple, already knows why Eve was tempted by this fruit.

Regrettably, milliards of people all over the globe have lived their lives without ever tasting Bulgarian wine. Worldwide ignorance has veiled the fact that none other than our ancestors, in the person of godlike Dyonisus, discovered wine. And there is no doubt that the importance of this breakthrough goes far beyond the invention of the wheel and the discovery of fire.

It's a pity that few foreigners know how to cook original Bulgarian meals. But for this, the world would have been a much cosier place to live in.

Under this heading we intend to offer you recipes from different parts of the country. You are supposed to fulfil them strictly. The rest is easy enough and pleasant, because Bulgarian cooking is the creation of people agrarian that had no time to linger round the fire and that knew the value of products.

Each dish is related with a certain myth, belief or ritual. It is part of the wonderland tale.

You have the opportunity of not only varying your diet, but also of impressing your guests by offering them an original meal while garnishing it with some wise and exotic story from the Balkans.



HOW TO PREPARE YOGHOURT AND WHITE CHEESE

As is known, the Bulgarian yoghourt is unique and familiar to customers all over the world. Moreover, the Bulgarian people produce also delicious white cheese, curds and other products of fresh milk. This time we are going to give you several recipes for preparing such products.

Although milk is a drink, it contains 12.5 per cent of solid substance and more than 100 components. In one liter of cow milk there are 35 g of proteins, 46 g of sugar, as well as almost all kinds of microelements and vitamins. Besides being wholesome, fresh milk is very easily assimilated by human organism. Various milk products are made of milk - yoghourt, white cheese, cheese, cream, curds, butter, etc. - and they are widely used in the national Bulgarian cooking practice.


YOGHOURT

The Bulgarian sour milk is an original national product. Outside Bulgaria it is known by the name of “yoghourt”. It is supposed that the Bulgarian sour milk was connected with sheep-breeding, which can be traced back to Thracian times. Shepherds made a great variety of products using the large output of milk. It is believed that the best masters of yoghourt came from the Razgrad district. Yoghourt is obtained from full-cream milk after lacto-acidic fermentation at a temperature of 40-45o C. Depending on the type of milk used, the sour milk may be sheep, cow, buffalo, or mixed yoghourt. The greatest amount of fats is found in buffalo yoghourt - 7.5 per cent, followed by sheep yoghourt - 6.5 per cent and cow yoghourt - 3.6 per cent. Here follows a description of how you yourself can produce Bulgarian sour milk, fulfilling the recipe of the Razgrad masters:



Ingredients


1 liter of fresh milk
1 spoonful of sour milk to start fermentation

Directions:

Boil the milk and let it cool to 38-40o C (it should be a little warmer than your hand).

Pour 1/4 teacupful of it on the portion of sour milk required to start fermentation and mix well. Then add this mixture to the fresh milk. Stir well, cover the pot with a lid, wrap it with a woolen blanket and leave it in a warm premise.
The temperature of 38-40o C should be maintained for three hours, while the sour milk fermentation develops.

The yoghourt thus obtained is kept in the refrigerator.



WHITE CHEESE

The white brined cheese is a concentrated milk food with varying taste and flavour, depending on its production technology. It has been home produced since ancient times. Its is served as an appetizer, or as an ingredient of many dishes of the Bulgarian cuisine. Here follows a recipe for the preparation of brined sheep cheese, which is a basic diet of the Bulgarian people. It can be consumed separately or in combination with other products.



Ingredients

10 liters of fresh sheep milk
20 drops /20 ml/ of rennet
salt /200 g per 1liter of water for the salting brine, and 120 g per 1 liter of water for the preservation brine/.

Directions:

Filter the milk.

Warm it up to a temperature of 70o C for 10 minutes, not allowing it to boil and then cool it to 33-34o C.
Add the rennet diluted by boiled and cooled water in a proportion of 1:10, stir well the milk and leave it at the same temperature for one hour to turn into cheese.

The cheese thus produced should be drained in a cheese-cloth /gauze/ for 2 hours in order to remove the whey.

The cheese obtained and drained should be placed in a strainer and pressed by weights for at least 6 hours.

Then you can cut it into lumps and put them in a salting brine. It is made of 1 liter of water and 200 g of salt. The cheese should be steeped in the brine for not less than 24 hours, in order to become lightly salty in taste. Finally, arrange the cheese lumps in the utensils where they will be preserved and pour preservation brine /120 g of salt per 1 liter of water/ on it.

The cheese will be ready for consumption in 60 days and during this time temperature in the room should measure about 10o C. Later you can store it in a refrigerator.


BOZA/Millet-Ale/

This is a popular Bulgarian drink also typical of other Balkan countries. The boza is a thick, fermented beverage (containing up to 4 percent alcohol) with a sourish or sweetish taste. The boza is made of various kinds of flour (barley, oats, corn, wheat), but boza of best quality and taste is made of millet flour.

Here follow instructions for making boza at home. The recipe is meant for 5 littres.



BOZA Ingredients

5 l water
2 teacupfuls flour
2 teacupfuls sugar
1 teacupful boza or home-made ferment

Directions:

Slightly roast the flour (to become rosy in colour). Take care not to get it burnt. Mix it with only a bit of lukewarm water. Pour the mixture into the pot filled with the rest of the water and put it on the plate. Add the sugar and leave the liquid to boil stirring it once in a while. Keep boiling for 5-6 minutes still stirring. Remove the pot from the fire and let it cool. Add 1 teacupful boza or home-made ferment. Leave the mixture in a warm place for 2-3 days to cause fermentation. When the boza is ready, pour it in bottles and store in a cool place (refrigerator).



Home-made boza ferment Ingredients

1-2 spoonfuls slightly roasted flour
1 teacupful tepid water
1 spoonful sugar

How to make the boza ferment:

Mix the slightly roasted flour (take care to keep it from burning) with the water and stir well. Add the sugar. Leave the mess in a warm place for 2-3 days to ferment, stirring it from time to time.

Note: The teacupful of boza or home-made ferment can be replaced by 6-7 moistened and crumbled slices of wholemeal bread /or toast/, or by 6-7 spoonfuls leaven. In this case before storage the boza has to be filtered (without pressing).

There is reason to suppose that for causing fermentation it is also possible to use a mixture of a little bit of yeast, water or milk, and a teaspoonful of sugar, left beforehand to rise.

Obviously, to become a good boza maker one has to experiment

BULGUR DISHES /Groats meals/

SAUERKRAUT WITH BULGUR , MILK SOUP WITH BULGUR , LEEKS WITH BULGUR , MUTTON WITH BULGUR


Bulgur is a product largely applied in the Bulgarian national cuisine. Bulgur is a Turkish word meaning hulled wheat grains broken into fragments. In the past it was mostly used as a substitute for rice, but in modern-day cooking is preferred for its own nutritious value.




SAUERKRAUT WITH BULGUR

Ingredients


1 kg sauerkraut
1 teacupful of bulgur
120 g lard
1 spoonful of red pepper

Directions:

Boil the sauerkraut (cut in small pieces) together with the bulgur.
Add the fat and the red pepper. Mix well and stew all on medium heat.

In case you have no sauerkraut available, you can use fresh cabbage, but it will take longer to get done.



MILK SOUP WITH BULGUR

Ingredients


1 l fresh milk
1 teacupful of bulgur
40 g butter
salt to taste.

Directions:

Boil the milk and add 3 teacupfuls of warm water. Then add the bulgur and boil it until cooked. Salt the soup to your taste and relish with the butter.




LEEKS WITH BULGUR

Ingredients


1 kg leeks
1/2 cupful of vegetable oil
1 teacupful of bulgur
1 teaspoonful of red pepper
150 g dried plums
salt to taste

Directions:

Cut the leeks into circles and stew them in the vegetable oil and a small quantity of water. Add the red pepper, the bulgur and water to cover it. Stew the dish. When done, put in the plums /previously steeped in cold water for a while/. Add salt and then stew again till the plums soften.



MUTTON WITH BULGUR

Ingredients


750 g mutton
100 g butter
250 g bulgur
salt.

Directions:

Cut the meat into pieces and boil it. Add the bulgur, the butter and 3 teacupfuls of water. Stew on low fire. Before the bulgur has absorbed all the water, remove the dish from the plate and leave it covered in order to get steamed.


LIUTENITZA /Pepper Relish/

In Bulgaria, liutenitza is produced in canning factories (and sold in stores), but is also made at home. Even home-made liutenitza, however, is usually prepared in large amounts and preserved in glass jars to use in winter time, when there are no fresh vegetables. It is used for garnishing or for spreading on bread. They also use it as an ingredient for other spreads and sauces (e.g. mixed with white brined cheese, curds or mayonnaise).

In some regions, local people call liutenitza a dish of stewed onions, peppers and tomatoes (in various proportions). Some hot peppers might be added to this meal. In Bulgarian the name of liutenitza comes from liut [ljut], which means hot.

Here follow three different recipes. You can begin by trying with smaller quantities to see if you like the result.

Liutenitza 1

Ingredients:




5 kg ripe tomatoes
10 kg red peppers
2 1/2 cups sunflower oil

Directions:

Wash and dice tomatoes and stew them well. Then smash and strain them and boil the juice to obtain paste. (Ready-made tomato paste may be used, but the necessary quantity should be estimated.)
Wash the peppers and remove stem and seeds. Cut them into pieces and boil them in water adding a small amount of salt. While still hot, press and strain them. Mix the mess with the tomato paste and add sunflower oil and some salt (to your taste) and simmer the mixture until it is thick and begins to "
fry"
. While still hot put the cooked relish in well-dried small glass jars. When already cool, pour some sunflower oil on top to preserve it.
It is served mixed with smashed garlic, vinegar and ground walnuts.

Liutenitza 2

Ingredients:




5 kg red peppers
8 kg eggplants
2 kg tomatoes
2 1/2 cups sunflower oil


Directions:
Roast the peppers and the eggplants and peel them. Mince peppers and eggplants with tomatoes and stew them stirring all the time until the stirring blade begins to make a "
furrow"
on the bottom of the cooking pan. Pour into small preserve jars. Wait to cool and then store.




Liutenitza 3

Ingredients:




10 kg ripe tomatoes
1/2 kg small /slightly hot/ peppers
2 cups of sunflower oil
1/4 kg sugar
salt
dill



Directions:
Wash, cut and mince or grate the tomatoes and cook them in a large shallow dish. When most of the water has evaporated and the mess has thickened, add small peppers (seed and stem removed) pierced in two or three places. Add oil, sugar, salt and dill. Cook it through stirring continuously. Pour while hot in well-dried and warmed up jars. When mixture cools, add some vegetable oil /1.5 cm deep/ on top.

Based on experience, it is better to can the jars and boil them for 5-10 minutes, as a more reliable way to keep them from getting spoiled.
In some households they also add grated carrots, as well as caraway seeds and pepper for flavouring.


One more way to prepare liutenitza is to use the grated inner "
flesh"
of red peppers, peeling tomatoes and removing seeds. In this case, it would not be necessary to strain them, but the procedure takes more time.


ROUND LOAVES AND RITUAL BREADS IN THE BULGARIAN CUISINE

BATHED ROUND LOAF|HONEYED ROUND LOAF|SMALL FLAT LOAVES WITH CHEESE| PLAITED BREAD


There is no single festival in the Bulgarian folk tradition that can be celebrated without making ritual bread. Ritual bread is distinguished from ordinary bread in its form, mode of preparation and decorative elements. Nowadays the Bulgarian people are not accustomed to preparing ritual breads in their everyday life, but making round loaves is still a widespread practice throughout the country.

Here follow several recipes for preparing round loaves that you could use on occasions of religious or official holidays.



BATHED ROUND LOAF

Ingredients


500 g flour
10 g yeast
1 tea cupful fresh milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful sugar
1 spoonful vegetable oil
salt to taste

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of tepid water and let it rise. Mix the flour, the milk, the egg whites, the vegetable oil, the sugar and the salt and then add the yeast. Shape a ball of the soft dough thus produced. Wrap it in a cheese-cloth and soak it in a large vessel full of water.

Take it out when it comes to float. Spread it in a baking dish buttered beforehand. Punch the loaf with a fork several times and spread the egg yolk on top.

Bake it on a medium oven. After taking the bread out, cover it with a moist cloth in order to prevent its crust from getting too hard.



HONEYED ROUND LOAF

Ingredients


1 kg flour
1 spoonful salt
honey

Directions:

Mix the flour with the salt and some tepid water to work up a smooth and elastic dough.

Spread it in a thin layer of 2-3 cm on a buttered baking dish.

Perforate it with a fork and bake it in a previously heated oven. When it gets ready, spread an abundant amount of honey on the loaf.





SMALL FLAT LOAVES WITH CHEESE

Ingredients


1 kg flour
3 tea cupfuls crumbled cheese
500 g yoghourt
3 eggs
100 g butter
1 teaspoonful baking soda

Directions:

Add the eggs, the cheese and the yoghourt - in which the baking soda has been dissolved - to the flour.

Knead the mess and then divide it into 15 balls.

Make a flat loaf of each ball, shape a hole in its middle and put a small pat of butter in it.

Arrange the loaves in an oiled tin and bake them on a medium oven.



PLAITED BREAD

Ingredients


1 kg flour
3 eggs
1 spoonful sugar
60 g butter
1 spoonful yeast
salt to taste

Directions:

Put the flour in a large baking tin, add the yeast dissolved in a little bit of water, the eggs (without one of the yolks which is used for spreading on the bread), water and some salt. Knead the mess and divide the dough into three pieces.

Spread, butter and roll up each one of them.

Plait the three rolls and then shape them into a circle on the bottom of a buttered baking dish. Let the scroll rise.

Spread the reserved yolk on the plaited bread and bake on medium oven.




SHOPSKA SALAD/Mixed Vegetable Salad in the Shopp Style/

One of Shopps' great inventions is the Shopska Salad. In its ultimate form, it is pure white. As is also the Shopp costume. Shopska is like Shopps - pleasant and pungent.
May we say that it is an ancient invention and one of fundamental importance for civilization, although it is not mentioned in any encyclopaedia. Certainly, it is as important as the invention of the wheel and the use of fire. Shopska is beautiful, tasty, juicy, piquant, and flavoury. It is like Nature - indescribable. Nothing but this Salad must have led to the disclosure of dry distillation, after becoming crystal clear that such a fine relish needs a good and strong drink. So, Shopska is the authentic relish for brandy. In turn, the grand Brandy drink (made of grapes, plums, damsons, apples, apricots, peaches, etc.) is the traditional Bulgarian aperitif.
Shopska is also an excellent dish for abstainers. It may be served as a single meal, as the first dish, together with the main dish, after meal, or just as a snack. You can offer it to your guests by way of welcome. You can serve it by way of goodbye.
To make Shopska Salad you need white cheese. Shopska would not be itself without cheese, and you will not be able to realize what we are talking about.

SHOPSKA /ONE WAY/

Ingredients /4-5 portions/:

300-350 g red tomatoes
1 fresh cucumber (about 200 g)
1 small hot pepper
150 g white cheese
2 onions
4-5 green peppers
10-15 olives
a bunch of parsley
vegetable oil (about 1/4 cupful)
salt

Directions:
Cut the onion in small pieces. Remove the stem and the seeds of the green peppers (raw or roasted and peeled). Cut them into stripes and then to smaller pieces. Chop the hot pepper. Cut the cucumber in four lengthways and slice the pieces. (You may leave it unpeeled if ecologically safe.) Mix everything, and add salt. Form a pile of the mixed products in a salad dish or in portion salad plates. Sprinkle with the vegetable oil. Grate the cheese over the salad to form of a "
snow cap"
. Garnish with the olives and the parsley, to please your own taste. You may also sprinkle with vinegar.

SHOPSKA /ANOTHER WAY/
Ingredients:

4 tomatoes
1 small cucumber
0.5 kg fleshy peppers
1 onion /or two spring onions/
1 cupful of grated white cheese
5 hot peppers
a small bunch of parsley
a coffeecupful of vegetable oil
salt



Directions:
Wash and clean the vegetables. Remove the stem and the seeds of the peppers (raw or roasted and peeled). Slice them. Cut the tomatoes and the cucumber into small cubes. Chop the onion and the parsley. Mix everything, add salt and mix again. Shape the mixture into a "
hemisphere"
in the salad dish. Add the vegetable oil. Cover with an even layer of grated white cheese. You may put an olive, a tomato rose or several leaves of parsley on top of the salad. Add a hot pepper to each portion.