Introduction to Bulgarian Food
Bulgarian food is rich in distinctive flavors. It tastes like sun-kissed veggies, deliciously salty, firm cheese and lean meat slowly cooked in a wood oven.

Trying traditional cuisine is a must when visiting a foreign country, and Bulgaria has a lot to offer. Prepare yourself for surprising combinations which may quickly become your new favorites, and use every chance to taste local dishes.
Follow this link to read a free excerpt from the Food section of the book Everything You Need To Know About Living In Bulgaria. This should be a good start of your journey of exploring Bulgarian food. Also, you will probably get some ideas of dishes you definitely want to try.

Recipes
Many of these dishes can be found on most traditional Bulgarian restaurants’ menus. However, if you feel adventurous enough, why not try to prepare them yourself? It will be easier if you do it while in Bulgaria, or at least somewhere where Bulgarian food products are available. It’s just that you can’t get a truly authentic flavor with non-Bulgarian ingredient substitutes, especially when cheese and yogurt are concerned. Yet, if you really want to get a sense of what to expect or just feel like experimenting with foreign cuisine, do give it a try regardless of where you are!
Let’s start with a starter: Shopska Salad (recipe). It’s very simple to make and surprisingly delicious. You need high-quality tomatoes (aka tomatoes that don’t taste like plastic) to get why Bulgarians adore this salad.

Banitsa is another extremely popular Bulgarian food classic. Think of it as lasagna with egg and cheese filling and filo pastry instead of lasagna sheets. Also, it’s not a main dish but rather a snack or a breakfast meal. Check the recipe here.
Moving on to soups, tarator is a traditional cold soup. It’s really easy to make as long as you have Bulgarian yoghurt. Here is the full recipe. Just keep in mind you can skip the garlic, walnuts or dill if you don’t like any of these. The only mandatory ingredients are yoghurt and cucumber.

When it comes to preparing traditional Bulgarian food, my personal favorite is mish-mash. It is super quick and easy to make, and it’s also very nutritious. You can use fresh tomatoes and bell peppers in summer when they’re readily available and canned ones in winter; both options are equally delicious. Follow this link for the full recipe.
Panagyurski eggs is another really quick vegetarian meal. It’s basically poached eggs with cheese in yoghurt sauce. Still, don’t forget the paprika cooked in melted butter (or sunflower oil). This dish wouldn’t be complete without it. Here is the recipe.
Moussaka is a popular dish in many different countries but each one has its own version. The Bulgarian one has two main ingredients: potatoes and minced meat. This is why it’s easy to make even when you don’t have access to traditional Bulgarian food items. Check the recipe on this link.

Another classical Bulgarian dish which doesn’t require local products is kavarma. It can be made with chicken or pork, here is the chicken version recipe.
And the last recipe I want to share with you is sirene po shopski, or shopski style cheese (recipe). The tricky part is you need a special clay pot (called ‘gyuveche’) to make this dish. These are easy to find everywhere in Bulgaria, I’m not so sure about other countries. You can try using another baking dish, but if you’ll miss some of the authentic flavor of this Bulgarian classic.