Colours, Textures & Flavour of Bulgarian Cuisine

[Iberostar Hotels & Resorts]

The seasoned traveler knows that one of the greatest pleasures in crossing borders and discovering new places is in sampling different countries’ cuisine; giving oneself up to the endless smells and flavorus that flood the senses and imprint lasting memories on the taste buds. Not all destinations are the same of course, but some are particularly special when it comes to the culinary contrast of colors, textures and sensations.  And Bulgaria is one of them.

Bulgarian cuisine is replete with Slavic and Mediterranean influences, and its wide diver1sity reflects the rich agricultural produce which results in magnificent vegetable dishes, soups (tarator) and salads (chopska).  The country’s agriculture also ensures that meat is a key ingredient in many dishes. The kavarma, an eastern-style kebab, and roast lamb or suckling pig, play a starring role in Bulgarian cooking alongside spices and aromatic herbs such as garlic, onion, mint and dill.  Herbs which, when combined with meat and the passage of time, result in exquisite sausages.

But the Bulgarians do not only eat food from the land. The country’s rivers offer a large quantity of fish, such as carp, trout and perch, which dissolve in the mouth with delicious ease.  The Black Sea is also a rich source of food, which may be saltier, but is by no means less tasty for it!

And no culinary review is complete without a list of traditional desserts. Pastries and donuts feature alongside a large number of milk-based sweet dishes. Curdled or fresh, milk greatly influences the country’s gastronomy; indeed, Bulgaria’s yogurt is considered one of the best in Europe.

As for drinks, an aperitif, such as a rayika or a mastica, is obligatory for whetting the appetite. But when the food arrives, it is wine that takes pride of place at nearly all dinner tables, whether white (misket, dimiat, madara) or red (merlot, cabernet sauvignon, mavrud, gamza). Wine is essential in understanding a cuisine which, while not among the most popular or well known internationally, certainly makes it onto the list of the most interesting.

 

“The IBEROSTAR Sunny Beach Resort is an all-inclusive 4-star hotel complex on the Black Sea. This hotel, located on the beach front at Sunny Beach, is the perfect option for visiting Bulgaria on a family vacation. “