Easily one of the world’s earliest fusion
cuisines, Bulgarian food has everything from Roman and Turkish to Greek
culinary influences thrown into the pot. What better way than a free food tour
to get acquainted with it?
By Raul Dias
The place I’ve ben told
to meet at for our afternoon rendezvous
isn’t hard to find at all. Almost everybody seems to be a fan of it, including
my hotel’s ever-helpful receptionist who points me in its direction at once.
Aptly named Supa Star, this 10-year-old soup-only restaurant in downtown Sofia
is said to be Bulgaria’s first soup bar. And thus, the perfect place to embark
on a tour that’s said to be the first of its kind in Europe and perhaps even in
the world!
Ever the frugal traveller, I had signed up online for a free food tour of Sofia after hearing about it from a fellow backpacker a few days earlier. Organised by a company called Balkan Bites, the two-hour long guided walking tour takes place every day at 2pm and stops in at around five places where one can get acquainted with the unique flavours of Bulgaria bite by bite...or perhaps in the case of our first stop, sip by sip.
And so, my initiation into the realm of Bulgarian cuisine will always be the taste of refreshingly chilled tarator soup that our guide Lila hands out to us in tiny, bright red paper cups. Though late March is still early spring in Bulgaria, the rather sultry weather totally warrants this yogurt-cucumber-dill summer soup that tastes like a watered down cross between the Greek dip of tzatziki and our very own raita with the tiny bits of cucumber providing texture.
Ever the frugal traveller, I had signed up online for a free food tour of Sofia after hearing about it from a fellow backpacker a few days earlier. Organised by a company called Balkan Bites, the two-hour long guided walking tour takes place every day at 2pm and stops in at around five places where one can get acquainted with the unique flavours of Bulgaria bite by bite...or perhaps in the case of our first stop, sip by sip.
And so, my initiation into the realm of Bulgarian cuisine will always be the taste of refreshingly chilled tarator soup that our guide Lila hands out to us in tiny, bright red paper cups. Though late March is still early spring in Bulgaria, the rather sultry weather totally warrants this yogurt-cucumber-dill summer soup that tastes like a watered down cross between the Greek dip of tzatziki and our very own raita with the tiny bits of cucumber providing texture.
Significant
Servings
It’s barely a few minutes into the tour and I’m already being made acutely aware of the great significance food has to almost every aspect of life in the Balkan country. We stop by a tiny hole-in-the-wall kiosk at the Zhenski Pazar Women’s Market in the heart of Sofia for a bite of the city’s famous on-the-go breakfast combo of the double ‘B’—bozo and banitsa. While the former is a fermented wheat and millet drink that tastes like mildly flavoured, sour chocolate milk, the banitsa is almost a national obsession.
Similar to both the spinach and feta cheese stuffed Greek spanakopita and to the Turkish börek, the banitsa is a coiled breakfast pastry of eggs, a yellow cheese called kashkaval, and yogurt, all ensconced between phyllo layers. Interestingly, every Easter, grandmothers across Bulgaria bake a banitsa for their grandkids with a coin hidden in its folds. The lucky finder of which is bestowed with an extra-special blessing from the matriarch of the home.
Another seemingly simply, but greatly significant dish is what Lila has us try next at the chaotic Central Food Market, diagonally opposite the ancient Roman historical site of the Serdika ruins. According to Bulgarian tradition, shopska salata or shopska salad is what newlyweds sit down to eat as their first meal together after the ceremonies. The recipe may seem straightforward, with just a few freshly chopped vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and capsicum as ingredients, but the taste is almost Mediterranean when coupled with a sprinkling of the crumbly, salty sirene cheese and oregano.
It’s barely a few minutes into the tour and I’m already being made acutely aware of the great significance food has to almost every aspect of life in the Balkan country. We stop by a tiny hole-in-the-wall kiosk at the Zhenski Pazar Women’s Market in the heart of Sofia for a bite of the city’s famous on-the-go breakfast combo of the double ‘B’—bozo and banitsa. While the former is a fermented wheat and millet drink that tastes like mildly flavoured, sour chocolate milk, the banitsa is almost a national obsession.
Similar to both the spinach and feta cheese stuffed Greek spanakopita and to the Turkish börek, the banitsa is a coiled breakfast pastry of eggs, a yellow cheese called kashkaval, and yogurt, all ensconced between phyllo layers. Interestingly, every Easter, grandmothers across Bulgaria bake a banitsa for their grandkids with a coin hidden in its folds. The lucky finder of which is bestowed with an extra-special blessing from the matriarch of the home.
Another seemingly simply, but greatly significant dish is what Lila has us try next at the chaotic Central Food Market, diagonally opposite the ancient Roman historical site of the Serdika ruins. According to Bulgarian tradition, shopska salata or shopska salad is what newlyweds sit down to eat as their first meal together after the ceremonies. The recipe may seem straightforward, with just a few freshly chopped vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and capsicum as ingredients, but the taste is almost Mediterranean when coupled with a sprinkling of the crumbly, salty sirene cheese and oregano.
Saying
Cheese
Speaking of cheese, at our next stop which is the hipster-chic Mekitsa & Coffee shop in downtown Sofia, we sample a yummy cream cheese and fig jam smeared mekitsa. It is no great surprise that like most world cuisines, Bulgaria too has its own iteration of fried dough. Made with a wheat-based dough enriched with yogurt and eggs, the deep-fried mekitsi (p) can also be had in their savoury avatar. And that’s exactly what the very generous counter staff ply us with next—a scrumptious slice slathered in another Bulgarian dairy staple, the salty-sour cream called smetana.
There seems to be no escaping the cheese onslaught as we sit down at our final stop of the afternoon—the tongue twister of a restaurant called Hadjidraganovite Izbi or “Hadjidraganov’s Cellars”—for a tiny bowl of the traditional Bulgarian dish of gyuvech. This hearty one pot wonder is a stew made from beef, mushrooms, sweet peppers and onions with some kashkaval cheese grated over it. Lila lets us know that a good gyuvech will always have boiled eggs and a whole lot of paprika in it.
It is here that we all get a parting shot of the traditional Bulgarian drink called pelin. With its base of house wine which can be either red or white, pelin, we were told, is made from a bouquet of 24 herbs along with sugar, chopped apple, quince, and an ancient Roman-time fruit called medlar. Left to macerate for two weeks, the drink is imbued with a mellow, fruity bitterness coupled with a mighty alcoholic punch at the end.
Perfect for raising a toast to all the best things in life that are so apparently free!
Speaking of cheese, at our next stop which is the hipster-chic Mekitsa & Coffee shop in downtown Sofia, we sample a yummy cream cheese and fig jam smeared mekitsa. It is no great surprise that like most world cuisines, Bulgaria too has its own iteration of fried dough. Made with a wheat-based dough enriched with yogurt and eggs, the deep-fried mekitsi (p) can also be had in their savoury avatar. And that’s exactly what the very generous counter staff ply us with next—a scrumptious slice slathered in another Bulgarian dairy staple, the salty-sour cream called smetana.
There seems to be no escaping the cheese onslaught as we sit down at our final stop of the afternoon—the tongue twister of a restaurant called Hadjidraganovite Izbi or “Hadjidraganov’s Cellars”—for a tiny bowl of the traditional Bulgarian dish of gyuvech. This hearty one pot wonder is a stew made from beef, mushrooms, sweet peppers and onions with some kashkaval cheese grated over it. Lila lets us know that a good gyuvech will always have boiled eggs and a whole lot of paprika in it.
It is here that we all get a parting shot of the traditional Bulgarian drink called pelin. With its base of house wine which can be either red or white, pelin, we were told, is made from a bouquet of 24 herbs along with sugar, chopped apple, quince, and an ancient Roman-time fruit called medlar. Left to macerate for two weeks, the drink is imbued with a mellow, fruity bitterness coupled with a mighty alcoholic punch at the end.
Perfect for raising a toast to all the best things in life that are so apparently free!
Travel
log
Getting There
As there are no direct flights from India to Bulgaria, one can reach Sofia by connecting flights from most European cities like Paris, Zurich and Amsterdam. Alternately, one can also fly in to Sofia via Istanbul. Given its compact size, most of Sofia can easily be accessed on foot or by its very convenient and affordable metro train system. Though one needs a Bulgarian visa to enter the country, a multiple entry Schengen visa too will suffice.
Getting There
As there are no direct flights from India to Bulgaria, one can reach Sofia by connecting flights from most European cities like Paris, Zurich and Amsterdam. Alternately, one can also fly in to Sofia via Istanbul. Given its compact size, most of Sofia can easily be accessed on foot or by its very convenient and affordable metro train system. Though one needs a Bulgarian visa to enter the country, a multiple entry Schengen visa too will suffice.
Stay
Offering a range of hotels to choose from, Sofia has accommodation options to suit most budgets. Two such recommended accommodation options are the conveniently located, city-centered Les Fleurs Boutique Hotel (Rs 7,500 for two without breakfast, lesfleurshotel.com) along the city’s main Vitosha Boulevard and the more upmarket Grand Hotel Sofia (Rs 12,300 for two without breakfast, grandhotelsofia.bg) with spacious rooms overlooking downtown Sofia.
Offering a range of hotels to choose from, Sofia has accommodation options to suit most budgets. Two such recommended accommodation options are the conveniently located, city-centered Les Fleurs Boutique Hotel (Rs 7,500 for two without breakfast, lesfleurshotel.com) along the city’s main Vitosha Boulevard and the more upmarket Grand Hotel Sofia (Rs 12,300 for two without breakfast, grandhotelsofia.bg) with spacious rooms overlooking downtown Sofia.
Tip
* Take the metro to the Business Park station in the suburbs of Sofia to visit the Kambanite Bell Park. One of Sofia’s lesser-known attractions, the peace park was built in 1979 as a global children’s monument to commemorate UNESCO’s International Year of the Child. The idea here was to include a bell from every country in the world and to have children ring these as a gesture of peace.
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 14th September 2019 issue of The Hindu Business Line newspaper's BLink section on page 20 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/a-food-walk-in-sofia/article29401443.ece)
* Take the metro to the Business Park station in the suburbs of Sofia to visit the Kambanite Bell Park. One of Sofia’s lesser-known attractions, the peace park was built in 1979 as a global children’s monument to commemorate UNESCO’s International Year of the Child. The idea here was to include a bell from every country in the world and to have children ring these as a gesture of peace.
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 14th September 2019 issue of The Hindu Business Line newspaper's BLink section on page 20 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/a-food-walk-in-sofia/article29401443.ece)
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