Bulgaria
Grilled Mackerel
Скумрия
Whole mackerel salted and grilled over coals, or salt-cured and eaten cold with onion and vinegar.
eastern-europe
Bulgaria
Explore 106 foods connected to Bulgaria, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
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Bulgaria Essentials
12 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from Bulgaria.
106 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Sofia Region, Bulgaria
Gyuveche
Гювече
A single-portion earthenware pot of vegetables, cheese and often egg or meat baked until the top browns and the edges catch.
Bulgaria
Izvara
Извара
Bulgarian whey cheese, similar to Romanian urda
Albania
Kadaif
Кадаиф
Shredded filo dough wrapped around walnut filling, baked until golden, then soaked in sweet syrup, crispy shredded texture with generous nut filling and good syrup absorption, a beloved dessert.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Kamenitza
Каменица
Pale lager brewed in Plovdiv since 1881, Bulgaria's oldest beer brand and the default half-litre in a Thracian tavern.
Bansko, Bulgaria
Kapama
Капама
A Bansko winter dish: layers of sauerkraut, pork, chicken, sausage and rice sealed in a pot with dough and baked overnight.
North Macedonia
Kashkaval
Кашкавал
Kashkaval is a firm, pale-yellow Balkan cheese, usually made from sheep’s milk or a sheep-and-cow blend and eaten sliced or melted.
Bulgaria
Kashkaval Pane
Кашкавал пане
A Bulgarian dish of thick slices of kashkaval cheese dredged in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, deep-fried until golden and gooey.
Rhodopes, Bulgaria
Katak
Катък
Drained sheep's yogurt whipped with garlic, savory and hot pepper into a tangy, salty cream — a Rhodope preservation trick from before refrigeration.
Bulgaria
Katino Meze
Катино мезе
A hot Bulgarian starter of chopped pork, onions and mushrooms sautéed in butter with paprika and herbs, served sizzling.
Bulgaria
Katma
Катма
Thin, yeasted breakfast flatbread/pancake.
Bulgaria
Kavarma
Кавърма
Pork or chicken slow-cooked in a sealed clay pot with onion, peppers, mushrooms and paprika until the meat falls apart in its own fat.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kačamak
Качамак
Coarse cornmeal beaten with water and salt into a thick porridge, then loaded with kajmak, young cheese or cracklings.
Bulgaria
Kebapche
Кебапче
Finger-length roll of minced pork and beef worked with cumin and black pepper, grilled over charcoal until it splits along its length.
Greece
Koliva
Κόλυβα
Ritual wheat/poppy/honey memorial porridge
Bulgaria
Kozunak
Козунак
Easter bread of egg-rich dough braided into three or four strands, scented with lemon zest and rum, sometimes studded with raisins or Turkish delight.
Bulgaria
Kurabiiki
Курабийки
Crunchy butter biscuits.
Bulgaria
Kurban Chorba
Курбан чорба
Lamb offal and meat boiled long with onion, paprika and mint, cooked in vast cauldrons at village saints' days and shared out to everyone present.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Kurtovska Kapiya Pepper
Куртовска капия
Long, thick-walled sweet red pepper from the Plovdiv plain — the pepper that lyutenitsa, kyopoolu and chushki burek are all built on.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Kyopoolu
Кьополу
Aubergine and roasted red pepper mashed with garlic, walnuts and vinegar into a coarse, smoky spread. A Thracian autumn preserve eaten cold on bread.
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lokum
Локум
A soft, chewy confection made from starch and sugar, flavored with rosewater, lemon, or mastic, and often studded with pistachios, hazelnuts, or walnuts. Known internationally as Turkish Delight, lokum has been produced since the Ottoman era and mass production began in 1777. A few pieces are traditionally served alongside Turkish coffee.
Bulgaria
Lokum Roll
Кифла с локум
Soft bakery roll wrapped around a bar of rose lokum, which melts into a sticky ribbon in the oven.
Bulgaria
Lukanka
Луканка
Flat-pressed dry sausage of pork and veal with cumin, black pepper and savory, air-dried in winter and rolled flat between boards as it cures.
Bulgaria
Lukanka Panagyurska
Луканка Панагюрска
Lukanka Panagyurska is Bulgaria’s PGI flat-pressed dry sausage from Panagyurishte, made from minced meat with cumin and savory. Pressing gives it a broad, firm shape as it air-dries.
Bulgaria
Lyutenitsa
Лютеница
Roasted red pepper and tomato cooked down for hours with carrot, sometimes aubergine, into a thick relish. Every household jars its own in autumn; the whole country smells of pepper roasting.
Varna, Bulgaria
Mastika
Мастика
Anise-and-mastic spirit around 47%, drunk very cold and neat or over ice, where it clouds white.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Mavrud
Мавруд
Dark, tannic red wine from the indigenous Mavrud grape grown around Plovdiv and Asenovgrad, traditionally aged in oak.
Serbia
Meat Aspic
Пихтије
Pork trotters and head meat boiled until the stock sets, poured into dishes with garlic and paprika and chilled to a firm savoury jelly.
Bulgaria
Meatball Soup
Супа топчета
Small pork-and-rice meatballs poached in a light vegetable broth soured with lemon or yogurt, scattered with parsley.
Bulgaria
Mekitsi
Мекици
Yogurt-slackened dough torn by hand and deep-fried into irregular puffed discs, eaten hot with icing sugar, jam or white cheese crumbled over.
Bulgaria
Menta
Мента
Bright green peppermint liqueur, served over ice or mixed half-and-half with mastika as a drink called 'clean and dirty'.
Bulgaria
Meshana Skara
Мешана скара
Meshana skara is the Bulgarian mixed grill platter of kebapche, kyufte, pork neck and often liver.
Bulgaria
Milinki
Милинки
Small rolled buns of filo or soft dough brushed with butter and cheese, baked touching each other so they pull apart in a sheet.
Bulgaria
Mish-Mash
Миш-маш
A Bulgarian scrambled egg dish with roasted peppers, tomatoes, onions, sirene cheese and sometimes feta, cooked in one pan.
Armenia
Mountain Tea
Τσάι του βουνού
Greek herbal tea of sideritis (ironwort) flowers, dried and brewed in hot water. A national and healthy drink, aromatic and soothing, a winter and home staple, served with honey and lemon.
Rhodopes, Bulgaria
Mursal Tea
Мурсалски чай
Infusion of Sideritis scardica, a mountain herb picked in the high Rhodopes, drunk hot with honey and credited locally with curing everything.