Category: Bulgaria

GLOSSARY OF FOODS AND FOOD TERMS

Banitsa or Banitza: Bulgarian national dish made with phyllo pastry filled with cheese, spinach, pump-kin, meat or fish mixtures. May be shaped as square or round pies, or small twisted shapes. For New Year’s Day it contains small charms.

Bulgur Pilaf: dish made from rice browned in butter with onion and chopped calf’s liver. Broth is poured over to complete the cooking.

Guivech: an oven-baked stew.

Selska Tchorba: slightly sour soup made with lamb broth, rice, and celeriac.

Sharan Sawrehi: festive Bulgarian New Year’s dish and eaten on festive “meatless” days; a whole baked carp stuffed with rice and ground nuts, well seasoned, or with raisins, walnuts, and onions.

Shopska Salata: simple salad of layers of fresh greens and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers (or other fresh vegetables) sprinkled with walnuts and grated sirene cheese.

Sirene: fresh white goat’s cheese, similar to the Greek feta.

Slivovka, Slivova or Slivovitsa or Slivovitza: potent plum brandy.

Soupa: soup.

Tarator: Middle Eastern chilled soup of cucumbers and yogurt.

Taskebap: stew similar to a goulash, made of veal, tomatoes, and seasonings.

Tchorba or Chorba: sour soup made of any greens cooked in water and finished with a delicate sauce ofegg yolks and cream (or yogurt), flavored lightly with onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. The sourness is achieved with the addition of lemon juice, vinegar, or yogurt or sometimes sauerkraut juice added to taste.

Tokfozelek: delicious dish of strips of summer squash lightly cooked with butter, a little water, vinegar, sugar, and dill. Just before serving, the dish is blended with sour cream. Other vegetables and yogurt may be prepared in the same way.

Turlu Guivetch: basically a dish of stewed lamb to which a number of fresh cubed or sliced vegetables are added. The dish may be baked in the oven. Frequently served in soup plates with rice or pilaf.

Zelen Haiver: typical Middle Eastern appetizer of cooked, seasoned (much garlic and pepper) and pureed eggplant, which is spread flat on a large plate and eaten by dipping bread into it.

Foods and Culture of Bulgaria

Famous for its exports of fine fruits and attar of roses (used in perfume blending), Bulgaria is probably most renowned for the legendary vigorous health and longevity of its inhabitants. The Bulgarians themselves modestly attribute their health and long life to the properties of yogurt, which they claim was invented in Bulgaria. But a closer examination of their general dietary pattern shows it to be one of the healthiest in Europe, basically consisting of varied wholegrain, legumes, cheeses, yogurt, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Whether this diet is due to tastes, tradition, or to the almost “semi-permanent shortage of meats and meat fats” is difficult to assess.

Bulgaria is located in the heart of the Balkans bounded by Romania, Turkey, Greece, the former Yugoslavia, and the Black Sea. Bulgarian is the official language. Differing ethnocultural groups such as the Gypsies and Macedonians speak Turkish and several other languages. Bulgarian Christian Orthodox is the traditional church of Bulgaria, engaging more than 85 percent of the population, with smaller groups of Muslims (13 percent), Jewish (0.8 percent) and others (1.1 percent).

A continental climate of cold winters and hot summers prevails over the mostly hilly and mountainous terrain, but the fertile areas of the Dambian Tablelands and the Thracian Plains produce rich harvests of wheat, rye, corn, rice, and legumes, as well as orchards and vineyards famed for their quality fruits.

Bulgar means “man of the plow,” and the predominantly agricultural people who call themselves Bulgarian are actually a blend of many ethnic groups: tribes from the Asiatic Steppes, and early Slays who later melded with smaller groups of Turks, Greeks, Macedonians, Romanians, Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, Armenians, and Russians. In fact, most of the Bulgarians who came to North America before the Second World War were peasants and laborers of Macedonian origin from the Balkan Mountains. Later immigrants (after the Second World War) were mostly urban professionals and intellectuals who found themselves dispersed throughout Europe and were unwilling to return to their homeland because of Communist domination.

The long history of Bulgaria included acceptance of Christianity by King Boris I in the mid-800s, which led to the development of the first written Slavic in the form of church liturgy and the birth of the Cyrillic alphabet, also used by the Russians. Subsequent wars fought by the Russians and Serbs all left their mark, but it was mostly the 500-year domination by the Ottoman Empire that left Bulgaria with a Turkish imprint on its traditions and food customs.

FOODS FROM BULGARIA

DAIRY PRODUCTS

Sheep’s and goat’s milk are made into many types of cheeses or used as sour cream, milk, or yogurt. Yogurt itself may be used as a cooling refreshment or as a drink either plain or diluted with cold water. It is also used in soups, vegetable dishes, and served with cooked wholegrain, meats, and fish. Sometimes yogurt is used in desserts or served with fruits. Whatever the form of the dish, Bulgarians enjoy dairy products at every meal.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Fruits and vegetables are also an important part of daily menus. Many main dishes are thick vegetable stews, sometimes including legumes, and sometimes served with cooked grains or hearty wholegrain breads. A meal is considered incomplete without at least one side dish of fresh greens, sliced onions, pickles, radishes, cucumbers, or tomatoes; in win-ter, olives and many types of pickles may be used instead. A usual dessert is fresh fruit or a compote of fruits cooked in a syrup.

There is wide variety and excellent quality in apples, plums, cherries, peaches, melons, watermelons, apricots, figs, and pears. The grapes are so famous that much of their crop is exported. Fruits may be eaten fresh, as jams or jellies, or as very thick spoon sweets to be served with glasses of cold water or Turkish coffee, made into fruit compotes, and occasionally into fruit drinks or fruit soups.

When it is necessary to export much of the fresh vegetable produce, the Bulgarian staples become beans, onions, potatoes, and rice. But fresh salad vegetables are eagerly enjoyed when available, and fresh seasonal vegetables become the center of the meal: eggplant, okra, squash, pumpkin, onions, potatoes, cabbage (sauerkraut is prepared and used widely). When possible, many vegetables are pre-served with garlic and brine to create many interesting pickles for condiments, hot peppers being a great favorite.

MEATS AND ALTERNATES

Arguably, Bulgarians are mostly vegetarian by necessity rather than by choice, but if available, lamb and mutton are enjoyed. Pork and veal are seldom used, though pork may be part of a special occasion meal. Fish is mostly consumed near its source: the Black Sea and Bulgaria’s rivers. Varieties include turbot, carp, shad, sturgeon, crayfish, mussels, and snails. Eggs are generally in poor supply but are used often as a custard to bake over the top of a vegetable casserole. Legumes are an important part of the diet in good times and had: small white beans, yellow, red and brown lentils, other beans, and peas eaten fresh and dried. Very occasionally game may be enjoyed roasted or in casseroles with other vegetables: hare, duck, venison, partridge, pheasant, and quail. Nuts of all kinds are an important source of protein. They are chopped or crushed or ground to a fine powder and may be used in soups, salads, meat and fish dishes, with vegetables or with desserts. Locally grown nuts include: green and ripe walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds.

BREADS AND GRAINS

Many breads are made with white wheat flour, whole-wheat flour, rye flour, and cornmeal. Rice may he cooked into soups, mounded into pilafs, sweetened and made into desserts. Crushed wholewheat bulgur and kasha (buckwheat) may be cooked as a base for vegetables or as a side dish. The type of cereal or flour preferred depends on the area; nearer Romania, cornmeal prepared as a baked pudding or as a coarse bread can be as much a staple food as the Romanian mamaliga. Grains are also used to stretch the meaty flavor of rarely used meats (in the same way that meats and vegetables are often combined), especially in meatballs and many types of vegetables stuffed with ground meat and grain filling, then slowly simmered for deep flavor.

FATS

The most-used cooking oil is sunflower seed oil. Olive oil is also widely used both in cooking and as a dressing with garlic, onions, and lemon juice to add zest to crisp fresh salad vegetables. Cold cooked legumes may also be dressed this way and served as a side dish. Butter may be melted and used to prepare the sugary, nut-filled layers of phyllo pastry in many forms for rich desserts, and butter may also be eaten with vegetables, but breads are often just broken and eaten plain or with cheeses.

SWEETS AND SNACKS

Bulgarians love to nibble on seeds of all kinds that have been toasted and/or lightly salted, as well as nuts of all kinds. Sweets are very much enjoyed, from a spoonful of fresh honey to thick sweetly preserved fruits with a glass of cold water or a tiny cup of strong Turkish coffee. Special occasions demand the presence of these rich sweets as well as the full range of delectable crisp and sweet nut-filled Middle Eastern pastries based on phyllo dough.

SEASONINGS

Onions, garlic, and oil are found in almost all dish-es except desserts. Fresh herbs are used abundantly and often just munched out of hand as they are plucked from the fields. Mint, dill, savory, and a native tarragon called ciubritsa are all used generously. In fact, a combination of salt and pepper with freshly chopped ciubritsa is used as a dip for bread instead of butter.

BEVERAGES

Plain yogurt or yogurt diluted with cold water is the favored drink with meals, or is enjoyed as a between-meals refresher. Wine may be used with meals on special occasions. Mastika, a grape brandy, and Slivovka (plum brandy) are taken as a potent aperitif with a variety of meze (appetizers) before dinner or for special occasions. Turkish coffee, brewed in a special pot and served in tiny cups, is taken at the end of a meat or served frequently as a refreshment for guests.

DOMESTIC LIFE

The traditional Bulgarian kitchen is bright with homespun and hand-embroidered table linens and curtains, hand-painted pottery dishes, and carved wooden mugs. Strings of peppers and mushrooms of many varieties add color and aroma as they hang drying from the rafters. In country or city, the eating area is the heart of the home; hospitality centers around food and people and the sincere enjoyment of both.

In general, the present standard of living, though rising, is still low. The general housing shortage often means that two families live in a one-family residence. Average salaries provide for the necessities of life. Food shortages are common and kitchen facilities and dining areas meager. Food storage is not a problem since most foods are purchased on a day-to-day basis; and with most women working outside the home, there is little time for preserving and pick-ling, though Bulgarians are very fond of pickles and thick, sweet preserves.

MEALS AND CUSTOMS

Most Bulgarian meals are simple, hearty, and nourishing. Breakfast is usually bread with coffee; occasionally cheese and fruit may be added. Lunch would be a salad of chopped or sliced fresh vegetables mixed with nuts and cheese or lightly dressed with oil and lemon juice, followed, if available, by a meat or fish dish, and then by a dessert made with milk and cereal (e.g., rice pudding) or fruit and yogurt. A dinner may begin with an aperitif of Slivovka, black olives, and cheeses, a tchorba (stew of meat and vegetables), a side dish of cold dressed beans or lentils, all accompanied with wine and followed by fruits and Turkish coffee. The main difference between urban and rural meals would be the variety of foods presented and the presence of meat.

SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Although the more than 8 million Bulgarians include a variety of ethnic groups, almost 90 percent of them belong to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, a branch of the Eastern Orthodox Church; about 9 percent are of the Muslim faith, and these include the Turks and the Pomaks (the name given to Bulgarian converts to Islam), and a part of the remaining l percent are of the Jewish faith.

When possible, Christmas is celebrated with a roasted suckling pig, while a young roasted lamb forms the highlight of the Easter dinner. Fish is especially important in festive menus for “meatless” days: the traditional baked carp, sharan sawrehi, stuffed with a rice and nut filling, or with raisins, walnuts, and onions.

Weddings often occur in civil ceremonies, but with the bride and groom in full traditional dress. A merry time with singing and dancing the circular horo or the famed couples’ dance ruchenitsa, accompanied by heaped platters and full glasses – especially of Slivovka – complete the festivities. The wedding feast itself usually centers around a guivech (an oven-baked stew) of cubed lamb and succulent vegetables (an everyday guivech would be of seasoned vegetables only) to be followed by salads, condiments, and pickles, and a display of selected fruits in season, baklava, semolina puddings with rosewater, and finally Turkish coffee.

FOODS COMMONLY USED

The Bulgarian cuisine is mainly adapted from Turkey and Greece but many native dishes can be traced readily to each of the neigh-boring countries. The staple and plentiful vegetables, dried white beans, peas and lentils plus yogurt, though seemingly simple foods, are used with such ingenuity that they become a variety of hearty and nutritious dishes: guivech, dolmas, pilafs, tchorbas, musaka (made with potatoes or the more traditional eggplant). And though onions and garlic are very much favored, Bulgarian dishes are not highly seasoned, but seasonings and natural herbs are used with a deft hand to bring out the inherent flavors of the food. As well as a love for pickles, olives, and peppers as condiments, Bulgarians enjoy tartly sour dish-es, and in these the acid from lemon juice, natural yogurt, or sauerkraut add tang. Names of dishes vary slightly from one area to another, but the largest percentage of meals is based simply on wholegrain cereals, vegetables, cheeses, and yogurt.