Bulgaria

Shopska salata

Tomato, cucumber and pepper under a snowfall of grated white brine cheese.

Banitsa

Coiled filo pie with cheese and egg, baked with a fortune hidden inside at New Year.

Tarator

Cold yoghurt soup with cucumber, dill, garlic and walnut, drunk in summer.

Kavarma

Pork and vegetables stewed and served in the clay pot they cooked in.

Kyufte

Flat grilled meatballs seasoned with cumin and savoury, eaten with lyutenitsa.

Kebapche

Elongated grilled mince rolls, ordered by the pair with chips and cheese.

Lyutenitsa

Roasted pepper and tomato relish, spread on bread or spooned beside grilled meat.

Sirene

White brined cheese, crumbled over salad and baked in pastry and eggs alike.

Kashkaval

Yellow sheep's cheese, fried in breadcrumbs or grated over everything baked.

Bob chorba

Bean soup with mint and savoury, the meatless everyday staple.

Shkembe chorba

Milky tripe soup with garlic and vinegar added to taste, eaten to recover.

Sarmi

Vine or cabbage leaves rolled around rice, served with yoghurt at Christmas Eve.

Musaka

Potato and minced pork baked under a yoghurt-and-egg topping, not aubergine.

Mish-mash

Peppers, tomato and cheese scrambled with eggs in one pan for a quick supper.

Principessa

Open toast with minced meat spread and cheese, sold at every bakery counter.

Mekitsi

Fried dough eaten hot with icing sugar or white cheese at breakfast.

Baklava

Walnut filo in syrup, an Ottoman legacy kept on every holiday table.

Kiselo mlyako

Yoghurt fermented with a locally named bacterium and credited with long lives.

Rakia

Grape or plum brandy drunk with the salad, at the start of the meal.

Boza

Wheat drink, thick and sour-sweet, sold at bakeries with banitsa at breakfast.