A historical look at Bulgarian cuisine

The life expectancy of our grandparents is more than fabulous and probably almost everyone has a relative lived to 90 and older. Undoubtedly this longevity is the result of the lifestyle they had. Physical activity was an integral part of their daily lives, and consumed food - organic in every sense of the word. But what was the quality of their menu and do it correspond with the modern concept of health?


Bread and bakery products
Bread has taken the most important part of the menu of the Bulgarians, and in some poorer areas was the only means of livelihood. Proof of this are the many other expressions of the past as "If there is some bread, we have everything" or "making bread is making a living", meaning food security. The composition of bread varied according to the nature of the geographical region - in Trakia and Dobrudja is produced mainly from wheat, in the mountainous regions of rye, and somewhere just maize. In rich fertile areas mainly bread was white and described as "nice", and in areas with harsh soil - black and "unsightly". Hominy was another very popular in the past pastry piece, prepared entirely from corn flour, boil and stir until thickening. Consumed directly or seasoned with cheese, meat, milk or jam. In addition to living in certain regions were used katmi, prepared from rare wheat porridge, which is grilled on a hot stone or on a metal plate and cakes - cakes fried dough risen disc. Ate porridge and bread, most of the grits - coarse, pre-wetted and dried wheat. Bulgur used by the poor as a substitute for rice. Dried sheets of wheat flour and eggs, known as noodles, the menu component were relatively small portion of the population. Pie was the most complex and sophisticated pastry made of dough sheets, between which is placed filled with cheese, eggs, cheese, vegetables and lard.


Meat and meat products
In the past, meat was relatively rare in Bulgarian cuisine. The most usually eaten was pork, preserved in various ways until the meat of other animals were consumed fresh. The most common preservation methods were:
• frying - poor quality meat that is salted and stored in large containers for winter
• drying - used for making jerky, sausage, etc..
• salting and forgery - used for storing meat, making sausage, black pudding and more.
For consumption meat being prepared most roast - on live coals on a spit, wrapped in corn leaves and boiled vegetables - so called "mandja". Typical of any dish is that it was prefered very fatty and spicy.


Fish
The consumption of fish among the population was very limited. The only exception is people living in areas around the Danube river in the lower reaches of the larger rivers and the Black Sea. The fish is cooked mostly baked coals or fried in oil. Rarely was consumed raw after preliminary salting.


Vegetable products
Compared to meat, vegetable food occupied significantly greater among the Bulgarian population in the past. Studies from the late XIX century shows that people living in northwestern Bulgaria, subsist almost entirely of vegetable products - bread, hominy, crushed pepper, salt, onion, garlic, peppers, beans, and fresh sauerkraut, pickles. The menu of the poor population was composed exclusively of bread and garlic.

Milk and milk products

Every household bred milk producing animals and milk products were a permanent part of the Bulgarian food menu. Milk was always consumed cooked, sometimes were prepared dishes like rice milk or milk and cereals - noodles, grits and more. Usual characteristic of Bulgarian lands was preparing milk using  Bacillus bulgaricus. Obtained by this method yogurt attended the everyday meal.
From milk using different technologies was produced oil, feta cheese and curd, which were eaten year-round.

Spices

Overall use of spices was not common in Bulgarian lands in the past. Often the only spice  to bread was salt and in poor families this combination constituted a major livelihood. In some cases salt was supplemented with herbs - mixed with red pepper, savory, crushed roasted corn and more.. When cooking is mainly adding paprika, mint, parsley and spices, and in rare cases, and fenugreek.