country Essentials · 12 foods
Bulgaria Essentials
A considered first route through Bulgaria: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Bulgaria foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
12 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Serbia
Shopska Salad
Шопска салата
The first thing on any Bulgarian table, ordered with rakia before the hot food arrives.
Bulgaria
Banitsa
Баница
Hand-stretched filo and brine cheese, eaten warm for breakfast with a cup of boza.
Bulgaria
Tarator
Таратор
Cold yogurt, cucumber, garlic and walnut soup that carries the country through July and August.
Bulgaria
Kebapche
Кебапче
Charcoal-grilled cumin mince, ordered in twos from the grill counter with chips and white cheese.
Bulgaria
Lyutenitsa
Лютеница
Autumn's roasted pepper relish, jarred by every household and spread on bread with sirene.
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Yogurt
Кисело мляко
The yogurt whose bacterium is named after the country — sour, thick and eaten unsweetened.
Bulgaria
Shkembe Chorba
Шкембе чорба
Milky tripe soup with vinegar-garlic on the side, eaten at 3am to fix the night before.
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Musaka
Мусака
Potato, not aubergine, under a sour yogurt-and-egg crust — the Bulgarian version of the dish.
Bulgaria
Kavarma
Кавърма
Clay-pot pork and peppers cook slowly until the meat is tender and the sauce is rich.
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Rakia
Ракия
Grape or plum brandy poured cold with the salad course, and often distilled in someone's yard.
Bulgaria
Elenski But
Еленски бут
Elena dry-cured pork leg is shaved thin and served as a savoury Balkan meat.
Sofia, Bulgaria
Garash Cake
Гараш
Dense walnut-and-dark-chocolate cake with no flour in it, invented in Ruse and sold everywhere since.