Carp for Saint Nicholas Day

One of the traditional Bulgarian feasts is Nikulden, the day of Saint Nicholas, which is celebrated every year on the 6th of December. Icons of this saint can be seen in nearly every Bulgarian church. The name Nikola is one of the most popular Bulgarian names. St. Nicholas is the patron of the sailors and fishermen, but also of the bankers and all the people working in the financial business, so many people celebrate today. 

Bulgarian tradition postulates that there shall be carp on the Saint Nicholas dinner table. 

Carp, cooked in dough, the so-called Ribnik, is one of the most popular dishes for this day.

Some people, who do not like the specific taste of this slow-water fish buy other types of fish, but carp is a rule according to the tradition. Carp with many scales. Because the more scales the carp is covered with, the more money will bring Saint Nicholas to the family throughout the coming year. Some scales are thoroughly washed and everybody put one scale in their wallet with the purpose to attract money.

Fish bones shall not be thrown in the garbage, they shall be buried or thrown into water in order the harvest to be good next year.

Saint Nicholas is also the patron saint of Russia and protector of all children. 

Every year children throughout the world clean their shoes the evening before the 6th of December, because they know, all the good children receive small gifts, sweets and candies in the morning.

Roasted Hot Peppers

How hot should a hot pepper be? According to me - very, very hot. 

There is the so called Scoville scale method, measuring the amount of the capsaicin - the chemical compound, which irritates our mucous membranes and wakes our pain receptors. 

It is said, the burning sensation, provided by capsaicin is addictive. According to the theory, the pain induced by eating chilies makes our brain produce endorphins, which create a temporary feeling of euphoria. Heart rate increases, metabolism increases, salvation increases - the whole body is involved.

This mild addiction makes me want to have hot peppers with every meal (even with the breakfast sandwich, I admit).

There are many hot peppers varieties in Bulgaria - a real treasure for the lovers of the hot taste. Roasted chilies are served in nearly every restaurant as an appetizer or a spicy addition to the main course. 

The taste of roasted hot peppers is softer than the fresh ones. Peppers for roasting should be fresh and crisp and for this recipe chilies should have soft skins, bearing in mind they are not peeled after roasting.

Sarmi (Sauerkraut rolls with chopped meat)

"Sarmi" is a popular Bulgarian dish, which stands for sauerkraut rolls prepared as a vegetarian dish (stuffed with chopped onion, rice and spices and served traditionally on Christmas Eve) or the other popular variety, for the meat lovers (stuffed with onion, minced meat, little rice and spices). The recipe I share with you today is called "Tsarski sarmi", which mean sauerkraut rolls for the King. The reason for that - they are prepared with chopped meat insted of minced meat and you can feel better the taste of the meat. There is leek instead of onion, which adds a slightly sweet taste to the dish and matches so well with the pork. No rice, no onion, just some crushed dry peppers - hot if you like the sweet taste and sweet if you do not. So this is a dish for special occasions. Bulgarian sauerkraut is not sweet and shredded, as it is in Germany and some Central-European countries - the whole heads of cabbages are prepared without any additional flavours and we enjoy the sour taste of the cabbage. 

Many families still prepare homemade sauerkraut in Bulgaria, but this is a long and hard process which requires a lot of patience and results depend a lot on the quality of the cabbage, on the temperature in the place where the fermentation takes place and of course on the skills of the housekeeper. The good thing is, that these days there are lots of vendors who sell heads of sauerkraut cabbage in plastic bags on every farmer's market, so I can enjoy the tasty Bulgarian sarmi without making all that efforts.

Fried roasted peppers with tomato sauce

This light vegetarian dish is very common in Bulgarian homes at the beginning of autumn. The sweet taste of roasted red peppers, the spicyness from the garlic and the freshness of the rape tomatoes make it one of my favorites for October. 

Bean and nettle soup with wild plums

We escaped from the heat in a large forest yesterday. The excursion took some hours along a fast flowing river under the shades of old trees and I was surprised to see new nettles  - fresh, soft and young. So I collected some handfuls. No, I did not have gloves, but my craving for nettles was so huge, that I took the risk. Yes, my finders have pins and needles now and they are covered with tiny red spots. But it was worth it. Coming home with my plunder, I decided to prepare a cucina povera dish from the Bulgarian cuisine - bean and nettle soup with wild plums. Although this dish consists only of simple ingredients, it has a rich and diverse flavor. With grassy softness of the nettles, fresh and sour taste of the wild plums and velvet base of the beans, it is deffinitely something to remember. The perfect warm weather bean dish - good for vegans, vegetarians and everybody else. Recipe calls for crushed beans - the only reason for crushing beans is making them faster soft, if you prefer you can keep them whole. 

Cold cucumber soup (Tarator)

Tarator is one of the most typical dishes of Bulgarian cuisine. It is a cold soup based on the combination of yogurt, cucumbers and garlic. Some olive oil, dill and crushed walnuts are the recommended additions to this summer dish which slakes the thirst in the hot summer days. 

Scrambled Eggs with Pepper, Feta and Tomatoes (Mishmush)

I used to think, scrambled eggs with peppers, Feta cheese and tomatoes is strictly Bulgarian dish. Called Mish-mush in Bulgaria, which means 'mixture', it is an easy to prepare dish, which is good for a light lunch or a quick dinner. As with many other dishes I tried to google a description of the ingredients only to be sure that this is a Bulgarian national cuisine dish. And that is what I found:
Menemen is a Turkish dish, served for breakfast. It is a fresh tasting combination of vegetables - peppers, onion and tomatoes and simple spices (salt and pepper) with scrambled eggs. 

Shakshouka is a beloved part of the Israeli cuisine, which came from the Lybian and Tuinisian cuisines.
Different names, nearly same ingredients and taste. Obviously, this is a dish, which traces back its roots to ancient Ottoman empire centuries ago. Anyway, I still accept it as a Bulgarian national cuisine dish. Prepared in a cast iron pan, it is served with lots of fluffy bread to mop up the sauce. My Granny prepared it with roasted and peeled peppers, I prefer it with fresh ones, most of them hot peppers. To bold the spiciness I even serve it with some red hot peppers flakes sprinkled above. You can omit the onion and the hot peppers if you don't like it to be too spicy or if you serve it for breakfast. 

Tsatsiki - yogurt and cucumbers appetizer from the Balkans

Tsatsiki or tzatziki is the worldwide popular name of a Greek dip, consisiting of yogurt, grated cucumber, some minced garlic and a little olive oil. In Bulgaria there is a salad with same ingredients, but cucumbers are diced small in Bulgarian version and the texture is little denser than the Greek one. Bulgarian name is little funny - this salad is called Snejanka, which is the name of Snow White in Bulgarian, probably because of its white color. On the other hand, people can easily feel its garlicly flavour, so if Snow White had it on her table, no dwarfs would be around her, much less a prince. Anyway, if you don't have kissing in your schedule, you can enjoy this dish, beacuse it is tasty, healthy and easy to prepare.

Pork and leek stew (Kavarma)

If you sit in a restaurant in Bulgaria and ask for something typical for the country, Kavarma will be most probably one of the dishes offered. It is a rustic stew for meat lovers which pairs soft pork and leek. 

Stuffed vine leaves (Sarma or Dolmades gialantzi)

Stuffed grape leaves are popular dish across the Balkans. Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece - every one of these countries has own variety concerning the stuffing mixture. The two main categories concern the stuffing, which could be meat mixture or rice mixture. The meat varieties are eaten warm and the vegetarian ones - at room temperature. In Bulgaria this dish is called sarma or sarmi, which has Turkish origins - sarmak means 'to wrap' in Turkish. 

In Greece dolmades are part of the Meze platter, in Bulgaria Sarmi is a main dish. The stuffing includes different ingredients - rice, minced meat, pine nuts, raisins, mint and some others. The following recipe is a vegetarian version which includes lemon juice and mint. It could be served cold or warm and is good either ways.  In late spring and summer you can find fresh vine leaves, which should be first boiled for 5 minutes into a salted water.  Choose grape leaves that have very thin veins, which will make the taste less stringy. In February on the Balkans you can only use preserved vine leaves. So did I. This dish reminds me of summer, it is light and tasty. My only regret was I did not prepare twice as much.

Cold Leek Soup with Sauerkraut Juice

One of the very popular winter appetizers in my country is called Army soup.
I don't know whats is the origin of the name, but it is most probably related to the fact, that this is an inexpensive, easy to prepare and simple dish. It is a cold soup and there is no boiling required. Sauerkraut juice, leeks and hot dry peppers are the main ingredients. Army soup has the reputation of one of the best hangover treatments, but I have never tasted these abilities. Sauerkraut prepared in Bulgaria differs a lot from the one from the any Central or Northern European country, which has sweet notes and is very finely shredded and very soft. Cabbage heads in Bulgaria are not sliced before fermentation which yields a harder product with definite structure which remains even after slicing. Sauerkraut and its juice have very typical taste - not only sour, but also tart and sharp.  
Sauerkraut and leek make a perfect match and the addition of roasted dried chillies gives the final touches of this dish. Lacto-fermented foods help boost metabolism, so this soup is good  for the people who want to loose some pounds. Spooning army soup in a company of glass of grape brandy is a  good idea for the winter evenings.