Hello From Bulgaria

[Arcana]

Hi,
I just joined this forum today and I'm hoping that all the wonderful cooks on this site will help me recreate some of the foods I miss. I'm from the USA and will be living in Bulgaria probably forever and there are just so many things I miss!!!! I really don't like cooking but I'm willing to change that attitude in order to please my tummy I'm a picky eater and a total junk food junkie. I'm not fond of gourmet or healthy cooking so it might be a big challenge to help me out lol. Anyway, nice to be here and I really will appreciate any help anyone can give me

 

[texasgirl]

A challenge to help you with junk food? Are you kidding? This forum has junk food lovers, me included!! LOL

Welcome to DC, Arcana!! You will enjoy being here!

 

[licia]

You will certainly find some of whatever food you are looking for here. My sister lived in Germany for 8 years and she got very homesick for her native food and had trouble locating some of them, if they were available at all. We have all sorts here - healthy and some not quite so much, but they are all good. If it isn't here, someone will certainly help you find it. Hope you enjoy your time spent here. Welcome!

 

[GB]

Welcome to the site Arcana. I guess you haven't seen the recipes for deep fried mars bars on this site if you think junk food will be a challenge for us

Are there any foods you have tried in Bulgaria that you particularly like? I would be curious to learn what types of things you have there.

 

[buckytom]

welcome arcana,
(cool username, plural for arcanum. a secret or mysterious bit of knowledge, or a secret elixir).

it's a good thing you don't like health food. bulgaria is famous for tasty but relatively unhealthy things, or so my neighbors say. i hear local cheeses are excellent too.

we'll try to help you make whatever you miss, if you'll tell us of things bulgarian.

 

[Arcana]

Thanks for the welcome everyone I'd be happy to fill you all in on Bulgarian foods. When I say "challenge", I mean that I'm rather picky and want recipes that are either exact or very close in taste to what I'm looking for and also that there are ingredients that either I can't get or haven't found yet so that might be limiting.
As far as Bulgarian foods. They are very big on pork here, especially ground pork and ground pork/beef mixtures that they use in many recipes. They also have pork patties called Kebabche that sort of have a sausage flavor but are more finely ground yet, very solid. They also love chicken but are not big on beef. You go to the beef section and there is very little to choose from and cut differently than in the USA. They love "salads" and soups. Salads can be cold and have veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, etc or be mayo based with small pieces of veg and such. Salami is also a big deal here. They have a million kinds although I haven't found anything close to the Genoa that I used to get in America. Pizza can be found absolutely everywhere here, even frozen but it is almost nothing like what I'm used to, it's been Bulgarianised lol...just like we've done to most foods back home lol. There are basically two kinds of Bulgarian cheese made from various animal milks. The most popular is White Cheese (Serene) which is like feta and most popular from cow milk in varying intensities of sourness/saltiness lol. Yellow cheese (kashkaval) is supposed to be their version of cheddar but it also comes in varying degrees of sourness/saltiness and is nothing like cheddar. I can handle some brands of kashkaval but I'm not fond of Serene at all. We also get some import cheeses including cheddar and mozzarella but they are expensive. I buy them anyway lol. If anyone would like some exact recipes, let me know and I will do my best to get them. Oh and just for the record, I think Bulgaria has the best bread I've ever had and some of the best cookies and cakes ever!!!

 

[pdswife]

Hello! Welcome to our little corner of the world.
We'll help you out anytime. Just ask!

 

[callie]

Welcome to DC, Arcana! I enjoyed reading your posts about your food challenges in Bulgaria. I am certain you will get lots of help from the great folks here. I have yet to see a question go unanswered!

 

[licia]

Perhaps you could post some recipes of the breads, cookies and cakes that we could make or adapt with ingredients available here. I don't know what would be different about what is available here than there, but you could tell us. Thanks. I don't know that I've ever had any food that was Bulgarian.

 

[middie]

welcome to dc ! you must try deep fried oreos !!!
it's posted on here somewhere.

 

[Arcana]

Bulgarian Recipes

I'd be happy to share any recipes I can find if you guys want to give me a category like sweets, side dishes, sauces, etc. The cakes and cookies I've had here are all store bought although they are homemade quality. I must say though that the cakes here are so fancy that I wouldn't attempt making them with a ten foot oven lol. They are those really thin layers with different creams inbetween and different sauces and such on top. I would say that you could probably duplicate just about anything here with the exception of a few of the important spices. Not sure you can find them there but then again, it's the usa so anything is possible. I do know that my husband's uncle and some other people he knows that live in the usa are not happy with the so-called "Bulgarian" food imports they have seen there. They don't think the tastes are the same at all-especially the White Cheese. Oh, and we don't have oreo's here lol. I can't believe I found them in China-both name brand and Chinese brand but can't get them here. I think it's cause we don't get Nabisco products here. We have Kraft, Coca Cola, Frito-Lay and Nestle but no Nabisco-at least not that I've seen((((( And thanks again for all the offer of future help

 

[jkath]

Arcana, welcome!

What foods do you miss the most? Also, where in the US are you from?
I'm thinking you need someone to send you a case of Taco Bell sauce.

 

[Arcana]

Faves

Hahaha Jkath, I actually hate Taco Bell taco sauce but thanx for the thought. I could definitely use a case of many other things lol. Funny thing about mentioning Taco Bell is that I use a so-called copy cat recipe for the meat spice mix. It's not exact, although that may be cause I can't find regular chili powder here so that is one thing I would like to find is a good taco mix for the meat. I found a great taco sauce here imported from mexico. Some of the other things I miss most can't be duplicated but I'm hoping to find some replacements that are similar. I miss many fast foods and frozen foods such as Jack In The Box super tacos, corn tortillas in general since I can't get them here, ARBY'S, Reese's Pnut Butter Cups, Sloppy Joe mix (I make my own but it isn't anything like the mixes in the USA), Frozen Jeno's Pizza Rolls, onion rings, good ice cream, peanut butter, english muffins, regular old boring hot dog buns (we have hamburger buns but they are a bit different and a pain to use with hot dogs lol) simple white cake and frosting and a million other things. Some of these things I can live without and just enjoy when I someday go back and visit home but some of these things I really need to learn how to make myself or I'm going to go crazier lol.
I'm from SoCal and Las Vegas

 

[urmaniac13]

Ciao from Rome Arcana, so I am a little closer to you than most of others
As you may have found out already, it will be a lot of fun hanging here... though it can be too addictive for your own good at times
Hope to see you around often, glad you are here!!

I'm from SoCal and Las Vegas

then you and Jkath will have tons to talk about

 

[jkath]

I'm guessing Bulgaria doesn't have Masa Harina, right? I'd die without mexican food! Urmaniac's right - I've been in So Cal forever, and we're in Vegas a few times each year.

The good thing is that if you're searching for a particular recipe, you're pretty much guaranteed that if it exists, one of us will find it for you.

 

[cara]

welcome, Arcana!!
I'm sure you will find your way.. ;o)
If you are looking for beef, try to find some farmer who has beef.. I'm sure they can sell you some parts or even a half ;o)

 

[aradiva]

Hi Arcana..

I'm new here too. I spent about 5 weeks in Bulgaria in 2003, and really loved it, although I imagine I'd start to miss US junk food if I moved there permanently. I found a decent Bulgarian cookbook on Amazon, and I made kebabche at home one time (my husband loved them!). I also make a facsimile of shopska salad sometimes, using feta cheese instead of the Bulgarian white cheese (sorry you don't like it, I love it, as well as kashkaval). I was in Plovdiv in July, and since cucumbers and tomatoes were in season (and truly wonderful, by the way), they were served every day for breakfast. I did get a little tired of eating salad for breakfast every day, so I ended up keeping some muesli and milk in my hotel room fridge.

I look forward to hearing more tales of Bulgarian food. I hope to go back someday.

 

[Michelemarie]

Welcome Aracana! I've enjoyed reading your posts! I think you will like it here - I know you are well liked already. Keep posting!

 

[Arcana]

Sorry for the late replies, I was off in another city having a baby and didn't have internet.

urmaniac13, thank you for the welcome Are you also Italian? My grandma was 100% Sicilian so I grew up with Italian food and it is my ultimate favorite. Italian food though is easy to make here since they have all the ingredients. It's the Mexican food and the junk food I'm having a hard time doing without lol.

Cara, since ground beef is my favorite, that's not a problem here since most stores have it and if I get it at a meat store, it's really extra good. Cream on the other hand is another story. They don't use cream here except the kind made of vegetable fat which is ok but definitely not the same. They have one brand of real cream from Russia I believe but it's very expensive so not in my budget very often.

Jkath, they have corn flour and corn meal here but I'm not sure that's the same as Masa Harina. I really don't know what masa harina is since I never had to use it in the USA.

Aradiva, glad you liked here and do come back I do like several things here but at the same time, I sure miss my junk food.

MicheleMarie, thanks for the compliments and since I always have alot to say, the posts will keep coming lol.

 

[Arcana]

Sorry for the late reply. I was off in another city having a baby

urmaniac13, thanks for the welcome. Are you also Italian? I grew up with a Sicilian Italian grandmother so Italian food is in my blood and is my favorite Good thing the ingredients for that are easy to find here

Cara, beef is easy to find in all the stores here, just not all the cuts I'm used to but it's not really a big deal since ground beef is my fave and I can get that easily.

Aradiva
Glad you liked it here, do come back
Jkath
I'm not really sure what masa harina is since I never had to use it in the USA. I know there is both corn meal and corn flour here but I'm not sure the texture is right for corn tortillas since mine came out so awful.

MicheleMarie, thanks for the compliments. I do my best to keep posting