The restaurants of a popular food chain in Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv and Burgas are to offer during the whole month of November a food menu with twelve culinary recipes from the region of Bulgarka Natural Park. The initiative is part of the campaign of WWF-Bulgaria entitled Culinary Secrets of Nature which aims at bringing rare sheep breeds back to the mountains such as sheep reared in the Balkan Mountain Range.

The idea started from a food chain which is popular in this country with its Kenar salads based on typical Bulgarian recipes, Rayna Popova from WWF Bulgaria told Radio Bulgaria. The company asked WWF Bulgaria for a list of farmers who make natural products.

“This idea developed while talked. We decided to try something interesting and ambitious", Rayna Popova explains. "Thus, we launched the initiative entitled Culinary Secrets of Nature which links environmental protection with urban cuisine. We launched twelve traditional recipes which we discovered while talking to local people. We also hunted for food ideas in the old culinary books. We wanted to make the taste of our grannies’ meals accessible to the urban people whose everyday life is quite busy. We should not forget our old traditions.”

Most of the food recipes were taken from the region of Tryavna (Balkan Mountain Range). That is why the word Tryavna was written in front of the name of each salad, bake and mixed grill. Other meals combine pork with potatoes, prunes and leeks, or even butter beans and olives. The last specialty is Rayna’s favorite one.

Now back to the complicated link between granny’s recipes and the rare sheep breed typical of the region of the Central Balkan Mountain Range. In this case we are talking about the benefits for the modern society stemming from biodiversity conservation.

“The whole idea is based on the preservation of a specific sheep breed from the region of the Central Balkan Mountain Range, which is endangered of extinction. In the past this sheep breed was typical of the region of Bulgarka Nature Park”, Rayna Popova explains. 10 percent of the revenues from meals made under traditional recipes will be transferred to a fund which will be used for the purchase of lambs of the abovementioned sheep breed. These lambs will be given to local farmers who will later rear them on the pastures of Bulgarka Natural Park. Thus, they will protect the grazing grounds in the mountains, because these lands are gradually seized by the spreading forests, if no sheep graze there. The pastures are important habitats of some emblematic animal species such as the European Ground Squirrel for example. It is important to preserve these animals.”

On the other hand, The European Ground Squirrel feeds some birds of pray, which are also endangered. The return of this animal on these lands will bring back some rare eagles and vultures back to the mountain as well.

“Thus, a local occupation which has been slowly decaying due to the depopulation of the regions and the falling apart of the Bulgarian animal husbandry will be revived. We hope that one day we would be able to close the chain and that the end products - milk, cheese and butter made of this rare sheep breed will later reach the food market and the kitchens of K-Express food chain as well.”

The Culinary Secrets of Nature is part of the initiative of WWF Bulgaria entitled The Hidden Favors of Nature which practically demonstrates opportunities of fulfillment of private payments for ecosystem services in this country within the frameworks of the project named Let Us Bind Nature Preservation and Steadfast Development of Rural Areas.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov