When asked about the most popular Bulgarian soup, foreigners will probably answer that it is tarator. But the Bulgarians, who are always ready to argue on any topic, will call the soup under the sonorous name “shkembe-chorba”.
In fact, both are quite popular and loved in Bulgaria, only tarator is preferable in summer, because it is eaten cold and even very chilled, and shkembe-chorba in winter, since it is tasty only hot and even scalding. . Tarator is still good both in winter and summer, because it is solid vitamins, calcium, phytoncides and all sorts of other useful substances. Shkembe-chorba may not be so useful from the point of view of modern science of proper nutrition due to the use of offal in it, but in the winter cold it warms so much that it can cure any cold. And one more useful property of these two soups: you can often see a Bulgarian in eateries, having breakfast early in the morning shkembe-chorboy or tarator, because they are a proven tool if you need to ventilate your head before work after a long feast, when a lot was drunk, especially after midnight .
Both soups are quite simple to prepare and have a very small amount of ingredients, but they are strictly defined, as in most Bulgarian recipes. After all, Bulgarian cuisine is quite conservative and does not really like variations and unnecessary additions.
Let's start with the tarator. From the products you need:
Bulgarian sour milk
fresh cucumber of any variety
sunflower oil
walnuts (optional)
The number of products depends on personal preferences, but for about 500 grams of sour milk, 500 grams of cucumber, a large clove of garlic or a pod of green garlic, a few sprigs of dill, two or three walnuts are enough, and salt and sunflower oil - this is already to taste and diet. Other greens, except for dill, are not needed here, it will only spoil the taste, onions are also not good here, all sorts of eggs, avocados and other additions that are found in the vast expanses of Runet in tarator recipes are also superfluous and not from Bulgarian cuisine, although they are undoubtedly tasty .
You can cook a tarator in a matter of minutes - after all, everything in it is used raw and you only need to wash and peel the cucumber, if it has a thick peel and large seeds, and then finely chop or grate. Garlic also needs to be peeled and washed and, if it is green, chopped finely with a knife, or crushed with a little salt (salt is needed so that the slices do not jump all over the kitchen). We do the same with walnuts, if we add them. Next, put cucumber, garlic, sunflower oil, nuts, finely chopped dill and salt in a bowl or in a tureen, mix and pour all this with sour milk diluted by half with water. Once again, mix everything well and our tarator is ready. If you want it to be very cold, then you can leave it in the refrigerator for a while or add pieces of ice, although ice is already a modern trend, in the old days no one was engaged in such pampering.
If we talk about variations on the tarator theme, then in some regions of Bulgaria you can still find a similar dish that is prepared without milk and vinegar and water are added to the tarator instead. But in fact, in the old days it was the tarator of the poor, it was eaten by those who could not afford to buy a cow or just milk. In some places, such a combination of products without milk can be found already in the form of a salad and as an appetizer. There are simply no other options for the tarator.
Don't confuse tarator with another Bulgarian dish called Snezhanka Salad. I don’t know how and where it appeared, but it is most likely not from traditional Bulgarian dishes, although it is present on the menu of all Bulgarian restaurants. The main difference is that tarator is a soup, it is liquid and is eaten with a spoon. And the Snezhanka salad is an appetizer, it resembles Olivier salad in consistency and can be eaten with a fork if cooked properly. In addition, only fresh cucumber is used in the tarator, and in the Snezhanka salad, in theory, it should be salty, although it is now most often made from fresh cucumbers. And in "Snezhanka" milk should be well filtered through gauze and have the consistency of fermented sour cream.
And now about another most popular Bulgarian soup, namely shkembe-chorba. In Bulgarian, the word “shkembe” means belly, stomach, and in our particular case, the stomach of the animal from which the soup is prepared. The stomach can be beef, pork, mutton or lamb, it doesn't matter. It is important that it be cleaned and washed well so that there is no unpleasant odor. Then it should be boiled very well, for at least an hour and a half, or even more. It should be noted here that “shkembe” needs to be salted, and also cut only after it has boiled soft (otherwise it cannot be processed at all). For chorba, it is cut into small ribbons across the fibers and then returned back to the broth. True, today, so that the housewives do not bother with all this fuss, “shkembe” is sold everywhere already cooked and even cut into the necessary small pieces. It remains only to boil it and add seasonings and dressing to it. Dressing is also very simple - you need to fry flour in sunflower oil, add sweet red pepper and immediately dilute it all with fresh milk. Pepper does not need to be fried, but simply put in hot oil, otherwise it burns very quickly and gives an unpleasant bitter taste to the dish. The finished dressing is poured into a pot with soup and boiled all together for 5-10 minutes. In principle, fresh herbs are not added to shkemba-chorba, since this is mainly a winter soup, but bay leaves, allspice and black pepper can be added from dried spices, for example, I add cumin, and also, if the soup is from a lamb stomach, you can add wild, or spearmint, which in Bulgarian is called “jojen”. And you can not add any seasonings, it will still be delicious. Because that's not all. The most important and delicious attribute of shkembe-chorba is mashed garlic with salt and vinegar, which is served along with the soup in a separate cup or bowl and everyone puts as much as he wants into the soup. And finally, the highlight is bitter red pepper, capsicum or in powder form. The soup is served hot, and in winter - straight from the fire. With such a burning combination, no flu is terrible.
And here are the necessary products for 4-5 servings:
Stomach - 500 grams
Milk - 300-400 ml
Red bell pepper - 1 tablespoon
Sunflower oil - 50 ml
Wheat flour - 3 tablespoons
Salt - to taste
Dry seasonings (but not necessary) - bay leaf, allspice and black pepper, cumin
head of garlic
Vinegar 50 ml
Hot red pepper - fresh or dried chilli or in powder form
Water - as much as needed for cooking, but at the end the broth should be about 2 liters.
The number of products is again not strict, because this is a matter of taste - whoever likes thicker soups can increase the amount of flour, who likes fat, let him add more butter, and I, for example, like the ratio of water and milk to be equal, but all this - optionally.
Now about the options for your favorite winter soup. In some regions, in the process of cooking the stomach, vegetables are added to the broth - carrots, onions, celery, parsley root. Then you also need to add to these products: one onion, one carrot, half a head of celery, one parsley root, of course, all this is medium in size and finely chopped. And one more option - dressing can be made not from fresh milk, but from sour milk with the addition of eggs or yolks. In this case, you need to take: 200 ml of sour Bulgarian milk, 1 egg or 2 yolks and the above amount of flour and sunflower oil. Flour can either be fried in butter, or baked in a pan and then mixed with butter, and then with milk and an egg. Then all this must be returned to the heated stove and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Then you should dilute the dressing with broth or water, gradually adding a spoonful (otherwise lumps will form), and combine with the soup. And then shkembe-chorba is prepared as described above. That's all you need to treat yourself to a savory and rich Bulgarian soup.
Whatever you cook on a hot summer day and a cold winter evening - tarator or shkembe-chorba - it will be a sweet and tasty memory of Bulgaria and its unique cuisine.
Text: Alisa Praksina
Bulgarian cuisine is very rich, varied, spicy, and Bulgarian soups occupy a very honorable place in it.
Types of Bulgarian soups
Bulgaria has a very favorable climate and fertile lands, due to which the yields of vegetables, herbs and fruits in this country are very high, and therefore Bulgarian soups always very rich, thick, satisfying. For the preparation of Bulgarian soups, various spices are also actively used - onion, parsley, pepper, bay leaf, mint - due to which their incredible aroma is achieved.
Bulgarian soup can be hot and cold, meat, fish, vegetable, green, soup-puree. So, for example, the cold Bulgarian soup tarator with cucumbers, walnuts and spices, seasoned with sour milk, is very popular. Very satisfying and rich is the Bulgarian chorba soup, part of the liquid of which is boiled kvass (borsh). Chorba can be cooked with beans, spinach, eggplant, chicken, pork, lamb or beef. Also popular are Bulgarian soups such as pileshka (chicken soup), ribena (fish soup), bream (lentil), shkeme chorba (ventricular soup) and many others.
Bulgarian soup - recipes
Bulgarian soup from the ventricles (shkembe chorba).
Ingredients: 500 g stomach (lamb, pork or veal), 1 liter of milk, vegetable oil, 1 tsp. paprika, salt, 3 cloves of garlic, hot red pepper, wine vinegar.
Preparation: rinse and boil the stomach in salt water, remove, chop finely, return to the broth, add milk. Pour the paprika into the heated oil, mix and pour into the soup, bring it to a boil. The soup is served hot with a seasoning of crushed garlic and vinegar.
Cold Bulgarian soup (tarator).
Ingredients: 1 liter of sour milk or low-fat kefir or unsweetened yogurt without additives, 600 g of cucumbers, dill, a handful of walnuts, 1 tsp. olive oil, salt, black hot pepper, green salad, 2 garlic cloves.
Preparation: cut the cucumbers into small cubes, crush the garlic, chop the walnuts to large crumbs, chop the dill and lettuce, mix all the ingredients and season with kefir. Drizzle a plate of olive oil on top, garnish the soup with lettuce or basil leaves.
Bulgarian soup with eggplant (chorba).
Ingredients: 1 eggplant, 2 sweet peppers, half a celery root, 3 tomatoes, 3 garlic cloves, 7 tbsp. vegetable oil, ½ tsp. red ground pepper, 4 cups of water, parsley, savory, salt.
Preparation: cut the eggplant into cubes, leave in salted water. Chop pepper, celery, mix with eggplant, salt, pepper, sauté in vegetable oil, add grated tomatoes, crushed garlic, add pepper and pour in hot water. Boil for another 20 minutes over low heat, add chopped savory and parsley.
Bulgarian soups are very easy to prepare, while being very spicy, satisfying and healthy. In the end, the cuisine, which was influenced by the cuisines of Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Italy and Hungary, simply cannot but conquer with its taste.
83 cooking options for the recipe "Bulgarian soup" step by step with photos on the site
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Bulgarian cuisine is very rich, varied, spicy, and Bulgarian soups occupy a very honorable place in it.
Types of Bulgarian soups
Bulgaria has a very favorable climate and fertile lands, due to which the yields of vegetables, herbs and fruits in this country are very high, and therefore Bulgarian soups always very rich, thick, satisfying. For the preparation of Bulgarian soups, various spices are also actively used - onion, parsley, pepper, bay leaf, mint - due to which their incredible aroma is achieved.
Bulgarian soup can be hot and cold, meat, fish, vegetable, green, soup-puree. So, for example, the cold Bulgarian soup tarator with cucumbers, walnuts and spices, seasoned with sour milk, is very popular. Very satisfying and rich is the Bulgarian chorba soup, part of the liquid of which is boiled kvass (borsh). Chorba can be cooked with beans, spinach, eggplant, chicken, pork, lamb or beef. Also popular are Bulgarian soups such as pileshka (chicken soup), ribena (fish soup), bream (lentil), shkeme chorba (ventricular soup) and many others.
Bulgarian soup - recipes
Bulgarian soup from the ventricles (shkembe chorba).
Ingredients: 500 g stomach (lamb, pork or veal), 1 liter of milk, vegetable oil, 1 tsp. paprika, salt, 3 cloves of garlic, hot red pepper, wine vinegar.
Preparation: rinse and boil the stomach in salt water, remove, chop finely, return to the broth, add milk. Pour the paprika into the heated oil, mix and pour into the soup, bring it to a boil. The soup is served hot with a seasoning of crushed garlic and vinegar.
Cold Bulgarian soup (tarator).
Ingredients: 1 liter of sour milk or low-fat kefir or unsweetened yogurt without additives, 600 g of cucumbers, dill, a handful of walnuts, 1 tsp. olive oil, salt, black hot pepper, green salad, 2 garlic cloves.
Preparation: cut the cucumbers into small cubes, crush the garlic, chop the walnuts to large crumbs, chop the dill and lettuce, mix all the ingredients and season with kefir. Drizzle a plate of olive oil on top, garnish the soup with lettuce or basil leaves.
Bulgarian soup with eggplant (chorba).
Ingredients: 1 eggplant, 2 sweet peppers, half a celery root, 3 tomatoes, 3 garlic cloves, 7 tbsp. vegetable oil, ? tsp red ground pepper, 4 cups of water, parsley, savory, salt.
Preparation: cut the eggplant into cubes, leave in salted water. Chop pepper, celery, mix with eggplant, salt, pepper, sauté in vegetable oil, add grated tomatoes, crushed garlic, add pepper and pour in hot water. Boil for another 20 minutes over low heat, add chopped savory and parsley.
Bulgarian soups are very easy to prepare, while being very spicy, satisfying and healthy. In the end, the cuisine, which was influenced by the cuisines of Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Italy and Hungary, simply cannot but conquer with its taste.
What do you know about Bulgarian soups? Until recently, it seemed to me that they were not particularly liked here.
Frankly, I always thought that in Bulgaria there are only three varieties of soups. It's about shkembe and chicken soup (in Bulgarian "soup bowl").
By the way, Bulgarian soup will be "soup".
It always seemed to me that no one orders soups except for me in Sofia's restaurants. Not only do I love to eat soups, but I also love to cook them.
And then a soup bar was opened in Sofia! A restaurant in Sofia where you can eat different soups. That is why they called him Supabar.
Supabar is located in the center at the intersection of Serdika and Ekzarh Yosif streets, opposite Lidl, next to the watering place of the Sofia Mineral Bath, which stands on Banski Square, opposite. In short, it is easy to find and the house is bright. By the way, in this house a hundred years ago there was a Grand Hotel Prentan.
This is how it looked at the beginning of the 20th century in 1910-20.
The interior is very pleasant. I would say appetizing. It's much better than glass tables and iron chairs elsewhere. I categorically do not like high-tech in the kitchen - it discourages appetite.
Well, soups, of course, were not wild in abundance))) There are only six barrels, and three of them were various shkembe, but I found a new Bulgarian soup for myself here.
This cream soup is made from cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, in addition, they sprinkled it with some more cheese. To be honest, cheese and tomatoes are my favorite food, so I would love to learn how to cook it myself at home, but the soup bartender was very nervous that I took pictures of everything - he was afraid that the Russians would copy their place, so I did not ask him for the recipe this soup.
It turns out that my soup could also be sprinkled with crackers - at the bar you can take any "corrections" is free.
It's classic shkembe-chorba, which many people do not like and I understand them, but this one is delicious. I took a sample on purpose) Delicious, if you don’t chew the pieces of boiled offal that lie at the bottom there)
In addition to soups, this restaurant also has salads, but not many and not on display. Black school boards hang over the bartender's head, on which the menu is written. All soups in this restaurant cost 3 leva (1.5 euros).
And finally, the toilet: there is no water - none, the mirror is broken. The last circumstance did not please me more than the lack of water. I really don’t like broken mirrors - there is some kind of inferiority in this, but I still wipe my hands with wet wipes. I hope everything has been fixed.
