Cooking like a local in Bulgaria

The local dishes are great. Learning to cook them allows you to use ingredients that are in season and helps you cut down on your food expense, as you can cook many traditional dishes quite cheaply.

I have too many favorites to list. But in general, Bulgarians tend to go for heavier meats and cabbage/rice dishes in the winter (stuffed cabbage, baked cabbage, cabbage soups) and lighter, fresh veggie meals during the summer. Many Bulgarians have gardens or have relatives in the villages who give them canned fruits and veggies throughout the year. There are also farmer's markets in most cities and larger villages during the summer and fall, where you can get fresh, tasty veggies at minimal cost.

I learned Bulgarian cooking from my Bulgarian language tutor-- each lesson we cooked lunch together and then had a language lesson. (We made a cookbook together. Not sure if I can post the link). I also learned different styles from my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law. Cooking with them taught me that there are sharp regional differences in the food. As an example, Plovdiv musaka (traditionally) is more meat and potatoes than the northern takes on the dish (which may include tomatoes and carrots).

I would say the "secret" ingredient in Bulgarian cooking is fresh herbs. They make a huge difference in taste.

We feel sorry about the fact that the supply of fresh vegetable is not that good. Sure, there are cauliflowers, some cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, salads, tomatoes, and, thanks to God, always very good mushrooms available. But other things like peas, beans, asperge, sprouts, parsley root, and also fresh herbs like coriander (Cilantro) are hardly, or only very seasonal, available. Anyway, we traveled a lot in the past and we cook a lot of different cuisines. My wife adores Indian and mexican Food in particular, but we also cook portugese, spanish, german, greek, italian and Balkan dishes. For some items which could not be purchased locally for either money, love or fancy words we have an old friend in Germany who sends us parcels with selected items when we ask for it. If you want to know more about our cooking, please do not hesitate to ask!

It can be difficult to obtain some of the veggies that we had in abundance in the supermarkets in the U.K., but it is getting better. For example: I have never seen "swede" here. Parsnips are sometimes available, and when they are, I buy in plenty and par-boil to freeze, the same with sprouts. Asparagus I have see now and again in Lidl, but it's expensive!  I prefer to grow what I can anyway, tomatoes cucumbers leeks carrots courgettes butternut squash strawberries potatoes beetroot, as a lot of the locals use a weed killer similar to round up around their vegetable garden, which has put me off buying in the farmer shop markets- I like to be as organic as I can. Last year I started off growing asparagus, only another two years before I reap the rewards!
I love cooking and also do many international dishes. Curries, chillis, goulash, pasta dishes as well as all the usual English dishes and various salads. I make my own naan breads / chutneys as it's not easy to find here, plus it's tastier and I have the key ingredient "time".
I have cooked Bulgarian pork & pepper dishes too.
And it's easy to grow coriander on the windowsill from seed, it's one of my favorite herbs! I have created a herb garden for the more robust herbs: thyme, mint, chives,rosemary, even have some horseradish in there.
Pinterest has some great ideas for whatever dish you fancy conjuring up too.