Week 2: Bulgaria

Sdrawei! Gladen sam. (Hi! I'm hungry)

 So the second destination on my food adventure was Bulgaria. Cindy did all the research and recipes on this one. We put Bulgaria on the list because their cuisine is generally representative of Southeast Europe. Their food is composed of a variety of hearty vegetables and rich dairy products. A variety of salads are customary along with vegetable soups and meats.  There's a good article on Bulgarian Cuisine on wikipedia.

We kept this one simple and Cindy chose the following foods:

Simple Bulgarian meal

• Bob Chorba - A very simple soup with tomato base with white beans, carrots, peppers, and onions. Mint sprigs contribute a lot to the flavor as well as paprika, salt and pepper. The soup looked so boring I had to add some grilled pork to it.
• Mekitsa - A basic kneaded bread with yogurt then deep fried like a scone. I assumed that the yogurt would add a tangy taste, but it didn't. So again, just a bland boring scone.
• Ayran - Cold watered down plain yogurt, salted to taste. Milk isn't typically consumed in Bulgaria and this drink is pretty popular and can be ordered at fast food restaurants. This was disgusting, but in the spirit of adventure, Cindy and I both finished our glasses and did our best not to vomit.

Yogurt! Yogurt! I hate yogurt! Even with strawberries!

In conclusion, Bulgarian food is as boring as it comes. Very hearty but very bland. If I'm ever traveling through Bulgaria, I'll have to remember to bring my own food, or at least my own chocolate milk.