Traditional cuisine3

The green salad is prepared from cut-up

lettuces, spring onion, radishes,

cucumbers, eggs and olives, and is

flavored with salt, vegetable oil and vinegar.

Green salad

The Shopska salad is prepared from cut-up

tomatoes, cucumbers, raw or baked

peppers, onion, parsley and crumbled

cheese. It is flavored with vegetable (or

olive) oil and vinegar.

Shopska salad

The baked peppers are an original and

delicious salad – a certain quantity of

green or red peppers is baked, peeled

and cut in a salad plate. The peppers

are flavored with vegetable oil,

vinegar, salt and garlic and/or parsley

at will.

Baked

peppers

Kyopoolu

Kyopoolu is a characteristic appetizer for the Bulgarian cuisine, which is prepared from a

mixture of grinded or finely-cut baked eggplants and red peppers, flavored with

tomato sauce, garlic, vegetable oil, salt and vinegar. Parsley and crushed walnuts can also

be added.

The pepper borek is a traditional Bulgarian appetizer, which is prepared from baked and peeled peppers, filled with a mixture of crumbled cheese and beaten eggs. The peppers are rolled in bread crumbs and the remainder of the

beaten eggs and are fried in hot cooking oil.

Pepper borek

The tarator is a cold soup, which is

prepared from yoghurt, water, fine-cut or

grated cucumber, vegetable or olive oil,

salt, dill and fine-cut garlic. All the

ingredients are mixed up together.

Crushed walnuts can be added at will.

Tarator

Beans soup (Monastery recipe)

About 300 grams of beans is cleaned, washed and soaked in water. The beans are left

overnight in the water. Before cooking the liquid is removed, white the beans are placed in a pot and poured with about a liter and a half of cold water. The mixture is left on slow fire. Three tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil are added after it boils. The

mixture is cooked on slow fire until the beans soften. The

pot should be covered.1-2 carrots, 1 slice of celery, 1

onion, as well as 1-2 red peppers (may be hot) are added. Then the dish is

cooked until all the vegetables are ready. 2-3 cut

tomatoes are added along with parsley, mint and salt to

taste. The pot is left for another five minutes and is

removed from the fire.

The tripe soup is a traditional Bulgarian dish, which is

prepared from well-boiled and fine-cut beef or pork tripe with bound bouillon. Half a kilogram of the tripe is carefully cleaned

and boiled on brisk fire for about 3 hours in salted water,

which should be kept from boiling away. After the boil the tripe is finely cut and returned in the bouillon. 2-3 tablespoons

of butter are fried with 1 tablespoon of paprika and are mixed with the tripe along with

200 ml of milk. The dish is flavored with vinegar mixed with crushed garlic and spicy

paprika or pounded hot pepper at will.

Tripe soup

The stuffed peppers are a traditional Bulgarian dish,

prepared with rice stuffing.The rice is fried along with stewed onion ,minced minced meat is added and the entire mixture is

fried until half-ready.A certain quantity of the stuffing is placed in the

peppers, after which they are arranged in a pot or a baking dish and poured with water. The peppers

can be “closed” with pieces of tomatoes or a mixture of flour and eggs.

After the dish is ready it can be served with a sauce,

prepared from yogurt, eggs and flour.

Stuffed peppers

Grilled kebabches

This dish requires about 500 grams of minced meat, preferably only pork pr beet. The meat is

mixed well with about 2 teaspoons of cumin, salt and pepper to taste and, at will, savory and/pr 2

cloves of crushed garlic. The kebabches are shaped by hand (which should be clipped in water with a little bit of vinegar). They are grilled to taste

– half-baked or hard-baked.

For four earthen pots: About 600 grams of cheese is divided in four equal parts and placed in the pots.

About four tomatoes are peeled, smashed to paste and added equally to the cheese, along with about 100 ml of vegetable oil, savory to taste and one

hot pepper in each pot. The dish is baked for about 25 minutes in the oven. In each pot an egg is spread on top and is sprinkled with paprika. The pots are

baked until the eggs are ready, and are served hot.

Cheese

(Shopp recipe)

About 800 grams of pork meat is cut in

morsels and fried in 3-4 tablespoons of

cooking oil (or lard) along with two onions,

1-2 carrots and q slice of celery, all cut in thin

slices. 5-6 cut stalk leeks are added along

with 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, 1 cup of

hot water, and salt, pepper and paprika to

taste.

The dish is left to stew for 15-20 minutes on

slow fire, q teacup of red wine is added,

along with 1-2 bay leaves and 2-3 spicy

peppers at will. The dish should remain

almost entirely on the grease.

Kavarma

Cheverme

Traditional Bulgarian cheverme requires one lamb, a bunch of fresh parsley, about 200 ml of

vegetable oil and spices to taste.

The lamb is washed and cleaned, with the bunch of

parsley put inside its belly. A long wooden spit is carved

(from cornel or hawthorn) and the meat is put on it.

Fire is started and the spit with the lamb is placed on two steady forks stuck in the

ground. The lamb should be hung about two spans from the

embers.The spit should be revolved slowly in order to bake the

meat equally. The meat should be occasionally greased with suet or vegetable oil. In case

the embers catch on fire, they should be put out with drops of

water.The lamb should be ready in

about 4-5 hours.

This is a delicious Bulgarian dessert,

which is prepared from a fine-cut peeled

pumpkin, arranged in a baking pan and

liked with one cup of water and one cup

of milk. The dessert is baked on high

heat and is removed from the stove

before reaching brown. All pieces of the

pumpkin are evenly garnished with

honey and sprinkled with crushed

walnuts. The dessert is put back in the

oven until the walnuts are ready.

Baked pumpkin with honey and walnuts

The stuffing for one package of pastry consists of four beaten eggs mixed with 200 grams of

crumbled sheep or cow cheese, one teacup strained yoghurt

and paprika at will. In addition about 170 grams of butter is

melted. One package of pastry is distributed in an oiled-up baking pan as follows – one

layer of pastry is placed on the bottom, one layer of the stuffing and the butter is placed on top

and is covered with another layer of pastry. This procedure continues as long as there is

any pastry left to place. The top layer of pastry is only covered with part of the butter and, at will, with a mixture of yoghurt,

eggs and soda. The dish is baked about 20 minutes and is served hot. At will some castor

sugar may be added on top.

Banitsa with

cheese

Wild strawberries and blueberries are added to taste to the traditional

Bulgarian yoghurt. Another option is to add wild berries

jam to the yoghurt.

Yoghurt with

wild strawberries

and blueberries