Bulgarian Cuisine

    Cuisine of Bulgaria is a special subject. The country is one of the world leaders in number of long-livers. And the reason of such high life interval is first of all the healthy food. Abundance of fruit and vegetables, delicious national dishes for which local cooks are famous, turn stay here into a gastronomic pleasures holiday.

    The Bulgarian cuisine is rich in delightful and exotic dishes: Bansko-style kapama (meat and vegetables stewed in an earthenware dish), Rhodope cheverme (lamb roasted on a spit over an open fire), Thracian katmi (a special type of pancake) and Dobroudjanska banitsa, Danube fish soup and Sozopol-style mussels. You can enjoy Shopska salad and chilled grape brandy, stuffed vine leaves or peppers, kavarma the Miller's Way, monastery-style hotchpotch, moussaka and kebab in cosy Bulgarian folk-style restaurants. The air is imbued with fragrance of savoury and oven-fresh bread rolls. Cups of steaming coffee are served with sweet jam, pancakes with honey and walnuts or baklava. And each meal comes to the end with a glass of a good wine. The delicate white wines Dimyat, Misket and Riesling are followed by full reds such as Merlot, Cabernet and Gamza.
    During the summer, the outdoor food markets are a virtual cornucopia of native fresh fruits and vegetables; out-of-season produce and citrus fruits are imported from Greece and Turkey. Desserts tend to be overly sweet pastries and cream-filled cakes, but crepe-like pancakes (palichinki) filled with figs (smokini) are a good alternative.
    A popular snack and breakfast item is banitsa, baked pastry filled with cheese (and sometimes leeks or spinach), washed down by boza, a non-alcoholic malted beverage that dates back several centuries.
    Bulgarian wines are internationally renowned and one of the country’s prime exports. Among the whites, Chardonnay and the fruity Traminer are distinctive; particularly Khan Krum or Targoviste labels. In addition to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, Bulgaria boasts two extremely fine grape strains of their own, Melnik and Mavrud, a dark wine cultivated by the ancient Thracians. Bulgarian beer is also noteworthy, with several regional brands. The national spirit, rakia, is a fiery brandy ritually consumed with a variety of appetizers (meze). Experiment with different brands, several of which produce “otlezhala”, a matured rakia.

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