Foreigners who choose to spend their vacation in Bulgaria enjoy the beautiful nature and good cuisine, a recently conducted study shows. It turned out that tourists like very much the traditional Bulgarian dishes, made with good products and according to old recipes. Culinary tourism has become a profitable business across the world these days but still Bulgaria lags behind the latest trends in this industry.

© Photo: Veneta Nikolova

Foreign guests appreciate authentic cuisine

© Photo: BGNES

According to experts, traditional Bulgarian cuisine is as healthy as the world-renowned Mediterranean cuisine. The problem is that a number of restaurants in Bulgaria just do not offer well-prepared traditional dishes. “Is it normal to offer badly prepared Italian cuisine to tourists in the mountain town of Bansko?” asks Joro Ivanov, chairman of the Bulgarian branch of the European culinary association, called Euro-Toques. According to Mr. Ivanov, one of the issues is that there is no existing culinary map of Bulgaria, which could be very helpful to tourists. A step in this direction is a new recipe book, published by Euro Toques and entitled “Traditional cuisine from the region of Lovech.” In order to write the book, experts visited more than 40 towns and villages in the region.

“The big issue was that for the past 20 years people have forgotten what were the traditional local products. This is very bad for the development of the culinary tourism but overcoming such negative effects is related to recovery of the Bulgarian agriculture, which has suffered a harsh blow.”

Experts aim to protect traditional Bulgarian products and preserve old recipes, saying that authentic Bulgarian cuisine offers a great way for living more healthy lives. There are truly unique food products and dishes in Bulgaria, which cannot be found anywhere else.

© Photo: www.euro-toques.bg

A minced meat saussage specialty called "Drobenitsa" from the village of Divchovo near Teteven, Central Bulgaria

“Bulgarian yogurt and cheese, the Bulgarian types of salami are all unique," Chef Ivanov goes on to say. "The taste of Bulgarian roasted lamb is unique and the Shopska Salad is one of the emblematic dishes. Culinary tours in Bulgaria have gained more popularity than wine tourism. Bulgaria has invested a lot in promoting its wine production but now it also has to do more to support the development of the culinary tourism in the country.”

English: Alexander Markov