Bulgaria Travel Forum

Hello,

when we visit a country, we always like to taste the typical food and drinks.

When being in the sea area, we try to enjoy as much fish and sea food as possible, because we like fish and over here, we've less change to eat it.

Which dishes and drinks would you advice as to try (or not to try...) when being in the Sozopol area ?

With thanks,

greetings,

Ilse & Geert

Hello Keti,

thanks for your reply.

It's our habit to eat yoghurt every morning, especially when we're outside Belgium, to keep healty ( it's not scientific, but we guess, different countries, different bacteria's on the food, so the yoghurt keeps the changement less important...).

So we now are going to have the chance to eat the original yoghurt, probably also used in dressings,.... (?).

All the best,

Ilse & Geert

Shopski salad is great
made of vegetables and special bulgarian chese,,, delicious

And Bulgaria is known "wine-county" so don't miss their delicious wine and national vodka Rakija (don't mix with Turkish Raki, it sounds quite similar,, and oth seems to be strong enough) made of plum.

Keti, I drank once bulgarian rakija and it was vodka :))
The most probably Serbian rakija is brandy & bulgarian rakija is vodka.
Taking into account that u r very close to each other, it sounds quite probable :))

I heard about them
Slivovica is also popular in Czech Rep.

Hello Inga and Keti,

we'll check it out this summer and let you know how it tasted (as vodka or brandy).

I myself learned to drink vodka in Hungary in 1979, when it was still russian occupated and russians used it as ' water ' while having a meal.

They liked it to see us (western students) drink it, so.....we got used to drinking vodka, tokay and certainly 'barac' (the spirit) and 'barac' the liquor.

Greetings,

Ilse & Geert

Hi.. Im realy wander .. so many messages but no one bulgarian answered to your question..
May be first to share that the area around Sozopol is my favorite place for summer vacation ..:) it is not expencive as the north side of the shore and im shure you will find planty of places that serve sea food one of the popular is named "tsa-tsa" it is in Bulgarian it is a smal thiny fish usualy fried and it goes will with glas of beer "kamenitsa" ..") about the hard alcohol like "rakija"= brendy there is many kinds of "rakija depending of the fruit it is made for example from plums, grape rakija, or other sweety fruits also it is not to be missed the wines that im you will enjoy to have ... the famosed "Shopska salata" in bulgarian - "Shopska salad" and many many other foods ..

Wish you happy holiday..

Hello Krassimir,

thank you for the food tips. We'll stay in the Dyuni complex, which should have (it's in the travel brochure) at least 1 restaurant reserving Bulgarian food. And otherwise, we'll go to eat in Sozopol.

How are those salads used ? As main dish or as a beginner (= before the main dish like in Spain) ?

Greetings,

Ilse & Geert

Well, the usual starter in Bulgaria is beer, most commonly lager. One or two is a good starting point. The main dish usually cosists rakiya, vodka, cognac, gin, mastika, menta+mastika (oblak), whiskey, whisky, more beer, wine in some areas, all of them, or any of them. The one of the popular dressings is "Nazdrave!", which means "Cheers!" or rather "Zum Wolh!" and could be heard whenever anybody likes to express their appreciation of the moment or is unable to produce any other word. The spices used for the main dish are - but are not limited to - talks about football, smoking, playing belot (cards game), picking on friends, and atempts to approach a person of the opposite sex. Pretty spice, for some tastes.
After the main meal comes the dessert, which may be looking for anything left to drink in the house, coffee (and smokes if lucky) in a semisilent kitchen, where the last deffenders of the tradition tend to begin meaningless conversation, and stop it half way, since no one cares. Then we have the fortune cookie of waiting for the first buses or trams to go out, so people can spread to their houses sleeping in the seats and wake up gd knows in what neighborhood.
I know it was long introduction, but never underestimate Bulgarian cousine. And last - No, Inga - rakiya is rakiya, vodka is vodka. I f somebody sold you vodka instead of rakiya, that's probably because he just finished the last bottle. Don't be picky, people do what they can. And No, Keti, rakiya is not serbian but probaly turkish word, because for unlucky incidents we were all under their rule for quite a while. Albanians have the word raki, which is the same. Otherwise i think rakiya is common among the southerns that are not happy enough with wine.
Grape brandy is called Grozdova rakiya, Slivovica is the same, Peach brandy is kaysieva rakiya, but I recommend Mastika for Sozopol.
Enjoy!

Hello Dankata,

after reading your explanation, we're sure that we will have enough to drink this summer....

All the best,

Ilse & Geert

Hi,
I just want to warn you for some specific issues that distinguish
the typical Bulgarian cuisine from the Belgian one in order to avoid "a cultural shock".
First the idea of eating a raw meat is totally unacceptable i.e.
don't expect something like "filet américain" for example. In general the meat has to be well done.
The second issue is if you want to have chips (the Belgian pride) it doesn’t automatically comes with mayonnaise.

It is also good to know that the beer there is always lager and there isn’t anything like the Belgian Trapists.
Anyway the most of the breweries are owned by Interbrew so that if you like Jupiler you can drink Kamenitza.
If you dislike Jupiler (just like I do) try Astica or Zagorka.

I kindly advise you to have a look at the Bulgarian alphabet. I think you will find it useful. Have a look at:

http://www.geocities.com/joshkatem/mainpages/bulgarian.htm

Kind regards,
Tzonko.

Honey! You have to get some honey! It's the best. I stumbled across a whole market, and the main thing everyone was selling was honey. So, I tried some. It was amazing. I brought a few jars home. I still have one that I taste from time to time. Still is good after 5 years. Hey, they say honey is the longest lasting food, forever I've heard.
Oh, one more thing. I have know idea what it is called since I don't speak bulgarian. If you ever see people standing in line in front of a small window in a wall, stand in line with them. The best I can describe what it is, is a fried cheese log. Very greasy, but the best! Once I had one of those, anyline I saw that ended at a window, I stood in it! :)

Hello Tzonko,

thank you for your answer.

I sure that you're going to try out all the beer, including the 'Interbrew'. We're used to drink the Interbrew with our hot meals over here but late at night, we like to enjoy dark, traditional beers.

About the food, is it safe to eat only washed vegetables (like green salad,....) ? Or also better avoid those ? About the meat, is good to know and we'll take care.

Greetings,

Ilse & Geert

Hello Jason,

be sure that we're going to check out the honey and that we'll be standing in line too when we have the chance.

Does somebody knows what the 'food being sold like Jason describes' is ?

All the best,

greetings,

Ilse & Geert