Old traditions in dry sausage making

published on 12/28/11 12:59 PM

Photo: www.bg.wikipedia.org

© Photo: www.bg.wikipedia.org
Gornooryahovski sudzhuk, a kind of dry meat sausage made in the town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Northern Bulgaria became the first Bulgarian entry to the European register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications. The Regulation to that effect was carried several days ago by the Official Journal of the European Union.

Protected geographical indications are issued after long lasting procedures. The manufacturers ought to prove that their product has been made in the region for several centuries under a special recipe, and has been related to the traditional breeding of livestock. Bulgaria has a lot to offer in that respect. The processing of meat has reached the heights of culinary mastery in these lands. Bulgarians have a huge variety of dry meat (pasturma, sudzhuk, veyanitsa, sushenitsa, lukanka) to choose from, made by various kinds of chopping and mincing with the right amount of spices, followed by stuffing, drying and the elegant pressing with a glass bottle or a wooden stick of the future culinary masterpiece, before it becomes everybody’s favourite appetizer.

The making of durable meat products has a long history in Bulgaria. According to archeologists, the caves near Dryanovo and Kozarnika in Northern Bulgaria, and near Belogradchik in Northwestern Bulgaria are famous not only for being the oldest places inhabited by humans in Europe. The many artifacts, such as arrow points, spears, and various tools for the processing of meat and animal hide, and above all, the existence of fireplaces, are proof that the oldest pre-historic ‘barbecue’ in the Balkan peninsula existed in Bulgaria. Historian Dimiter Angelov argues that for several millennia the Balkan Peninsula was a drawing magnet for over 33 tribes and peoples. Nomads and soldiers dried their meat on horseback. The paleontologists can’t stop wondering at the rich menu of our primitive ancestors. They processed bovine, sheep and goat meat, as well as meat from horses and donkeys. They say that because of the air current that passes through the town of Elena on the northern slopes of the Balkan Range, the local dry venison - file Elena, is exceptional. However, the truth is it is made of pork.

More to the southwest, the towns of Bansko and Razlog lie only a few kilometers from each other. In culinary terms however each of them merits its own encyclopedia. Bulgarian and foreign tourists can only profit from that. They are famous for their kapama dish.

We go further southeast, to Strandzha Mountain, and the famous strandzhanski dyado. It is made of the wild boar meat and venison, spiced with black and red hot chilly pepper, summer savoury, sugar and salt.

Ecology is pretty much on everybody’s lips nowadays. But back in time the Bulgarian shepherds took their flocks to special clean pastures, called sovat. The name comes from the locality of Sovata, the Owl, a magnificent meadow abundant in flowers, herbs and water near the Danube locked between the present-day riverside town of Svishtov and the town of Gorna Oryahovitsa. A few centuries ago the locality was very popular and it is there that the meat processing workshops began operating that led to the glory of the Gornooryahovski sudzhuk.

Another traditional dry sausage, smyadovska lukanka, won a gold medal at the 1933 International expo in Bari, Italy. But how could the jury possibly know that as early as 1621 a Polish poet and future diplomat Samuel Tvardovski would note in his travel notes on his way to Istanbul what wonderful dry sausages the people in Smyadovo made? Now the economic crisis has put to the test the preservation of the Europe-registered smyadovska lukanka. Another interesting sausage is called navpavok. It consists of thick slices of meat dried on burnt charcoal. It is made under an old technology in the village of Gorno Dragalishte, located among the three mountains of Rila, Pirin and the Rhodopes. It is supposed to last 2 years. But no one can tell, because it has always been voraciously devoured prior to the designated expiry date.

English version by Radostin Zhelev

По публикацията работи: Petra Taleva

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Old traditions in dry sausage making

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