I was wondering why the Bulgarians serve out food the is between cold and lukewarm, It's very annoying that when you want to eat a hot steamy meal to have it served cold. We went out to eat to local ( Bulgarian folk restaurant) last night and the food was really good , but guess what ? It was cold again. So why is it that food that should be served hot is NOT!! So what's your experience ?

never had a meal hotter than lukewarm here in 21yrs....you get used to it
dont say you like it ..but get used to it

I think they maybe like the Turks, they say hot food is not good for your stomach. We have eaten with many of them and also some as guests, and they always wait for it to cool if I have cooked.

It seems likely to me that the preference is cultural. We like hot foods because our foods tend to be cooked, and that led to certain cultural expectations and practices that seeped into our culture and inform our tastes. The most popular flavors of ice cream in the late 18th and early 19th centuries were savory flavors: beef ice cream, oyster ice cream etc. Today most people would reject that out of hand, but in other parts of the world, fish ice cream, tongue ice cream, even reports of horse-meat ice cream We seem to like things at extreme temperatures (without venturing into any painful extremes) perhaps because of the sensation generated by the extreme difference and because we have certain expectations. That said, I do not know that I prefer a hot or cold ham sandwich to a room temperature one.

My dear old Mum used to hate the way I used to let my food cool before eating, she used to want her food as hot as possible. But I feel I enjoy my food better if not too hot.

So should be OK in Bulgaria!

Mrs Eq

I have never been served the traditional bulgarian meal chicken kebab cool. always served hot and its one of the few bulgarian dishes i really like. my partner has to suffer cold chips yuk. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I ate out with two Bulgarian friends in a good restaurant last week. We all started with a shopska salad followed by a hot main course. I had finished mine in 15 to 20 minutes and it was still warm, my two friends were still eating their's after one hour. It seems to me that the Bulgarian culture is such that to go out and eat in the evening is a social habit and it has to last all evening, even to the extent that some get up from the table and go for a walk in the middle of a meal
Needless to say I like my food hot

Let me just say I am a foody! I like my food hot and never have been fond of salads although I will eat them and enjoy them depending on whether they encompass potatoe salad.I aalwys eat my veggies first as I cannot abide cold cabbage or sprouts then the potatoes ending with the meat.I like my food hot in temprature not the curried variety and to my palet coool or luke warm food looses it's taste to some degree.

As some of you know, my wife Tanya is Bulgarian, and whenever we have Bulgarian friends around wether its in uk or bulgaria, try as I might I cannot make my meal last the 3 hours or so that they can especially if it is supposed to be hot food.

Another strange thing I've noticed, in restaurants, is the timing of the dishes coming out.

It seems that no matter whether starter, salad, main, etc., it just turns up when it turns up! I've often had starters served after a main dish, or somebody's main dish arriving 15 minutes before somebody else!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] yes, we had lunch out yesterday, ordered 2 starters and a main meal, the main meal 1st, one starter later and even later the 2nd starter. im glad i did not order a pudding.

Chris wrote:

Another strange thing I've noticed, in restaurants, is the timing of the dishes coming out.

It seems that no matter whether starter, salad, main, etc., it just turns up when it turns up! I've often had starters served after a main dish, or somebody's main dish arriving 15 minutes before somebody else!

I've over come that problem. I order my starter, when I have finished that and my plate is cleared away I order the main course and likewise with the desert, so I am eating out on my terms not theirs

Doesn't it depend on where you eat? However, I have noticed that Bulgarians do make their food, whether salads or warm food. last much longer than British people do. It is a social habit. The Greeks, too, preferred their food cool or cold. Many Brits used to complain about cold chips especially.
In the very few restaurants I have eaten in the food has been hot but sometimes served erratically which is embarrassing if you are in company but Bulgarians don't seem to mind.
When attending village fiestas involving a meal it is invariably cold although obviously meant to be hot originally. I have never been a fussy eater but I admit to dreading an invitation now to eat cold roast chicken with liberal amounts of cold lutentsia and Russian salad especially in winter. Similarly the ubiquitous kebabche which is okay bbq'd and hot, but not cold! Sorry Bulgaria but I will always be polite and say its lovely!
Having got that off my chest, I am amazed that British food now seems to always contain chilli in some form or another. So they have gone the other way.