Bulgaria is a country that may not be on many travelers’ radar screens but this Eastern European beauty has much to offer. It’s a surprisingly diverse destination that has something to suit every traveler’s tastes and budgets, from cheap but delicious meals at local restaurants to luxury resorts fit for royalty.
The country’s cuisine has a variety of influences, with its hearty Eastern and Western traditions blending into a unique style that is all its own. There is also an emphasis on fresh, locally grown ingredients which adds to the flavour and appeal of its dishes.
While baklava may be the most popular dessert in Bulgaria, banitsa is not far behind. A sweet cake made from layers of ground walnuts, egg whites, sugar and yoghurt or feta cheese, this traditional dish is usually served on special occasions. Fillings vary from spinach to pumpkin and the finished product often features sayings or lucky charms on paper inside. It is common to find a piece of sweet banitsa at Christmas or New Year’s, where it is believed to bring good luck.
Wine has long been a staple in Bulgarian cuisine and culture, with references dating as far back as Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. Today, the country’s vineyards produce a wide range of wines from both red and white varieties. One of the most exciting is rubin, a hybrid between Syrah and Nebbiolo that has found its way into the Bulgarian wine scene. It produces wines with darker fruit, pretty staunch tannins and an elegant finish. The best examples are produced in the South Sakar region and showcase layered aromas of ripe fruit, flowers and spices.
Despite the fact that Bulgaria is only a small country, its southeastern location provides access to some of the most diverse wine regions in the world, making it an excellent place for wine lovers to discover the country’s many facets. Across the board, however, there is an emphasis on quality over quantity.
In terms of language, Bulgarian is part of the South Slavic group and possesses a number of similar traits to other members. Like most other South Slavic languages, it is a tonal language with five moods: indicative, re-narrated (reported), imperative, subjunctive and conditional.
Bulgarians tend to have a preference for subject-verb-object word order but the rule is not always followed strictly. Bulgarians also exhibit consonant palatalization before front vowels and substantial vowel reduction in unstressed positions, particularly for the low vowels /e/, /i/ and /o/. This all leads to a fairly distinctive phonology that can be difficult for non-native speakers to pick up on. In general, the Western dialects of Bulgarian show less allophonic palatalization and less vowel reduction than the Eastern ones do.