Banitsa Recipe (Traditional Bulgarian Food) - Happy Foods Tube (2024)

FAQs

What is banitsa made of? ›

Banitsa is prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs, plain yogurt, and pieces of white brined cheese between filo pastry and then baking it in an oven. Traditionally in Bulgaria, lucky charms are put into the pastry on certain occasions, particularly on New Year's Eve.

Meshana Skara

It is a combination of grilled meat in various forms and versions. Generally, it consists of kebapche, kyufte, pork steaks and skewers of pork meat. It's basically the crème de la crème of Bulgarian food.

Photo: We have 4 different types of banitsa (typical Bulgarian pastry): - with cheese; - with lentils; - with spinach and cheese; - with ham.

Main courses are very typically water-based stews, either vegetarian or with lamb, goat meat, veal, chicken, or pork. Deep-frying is not common, but grilling—especially of different kinds of sausages—is prominent. Pork is common, often mixed with veal or lamb, although fish and chicken are also widely used.

Banitsa and burek (the Yugoslavian name for Börek) are very similar in that they are phyllo-based savory dishes, often filled with a form of cheese. While banitsa is usually made with cheese, burek can be made with other fillings such as spinach or meat.

Bulgarians call their Bulgarian-style Feta 'Sirene', which means simply 'a cheese', it is still correct, in English, to call it 'Bulgarian Feta' even though it is a different subtype of Feta than the Greek one. The cheese has several different variations, depending on the milk used.

In 2022, Bulgarians consumed an average of 12.3 kilograms of poultry meat per capita. Pork ranked second with 12.2 kilograms consumed per person.

Rakia. If you are invited to a Bulgarian home, you are almost 100 percent sure to be offered a generous glass of rakia. This strong alcohol is distilled from fruit, such as grapes, plums, pears, apricots and others. It's infused with Bulgarian national pride, since many people still produce their own homemade rakia.

Bulgaria

Coming in at number 3 of the cheapest countries to visit in Europe is yet another Balkan country, Bulgaria.

Sirene (Bulgarian: сирене [ˈsirɛnɛ]; Serbian: сир/sir; Macedonian: сирење; Albanian: djathë i bardhë), also known as "white brine sirene" (Bulgarian: бяло саламурено сирене), is a type of brined cheese originating from Bulgaria. It is made of the milk of goats, sheep, cows, buffalo or a mixture thereof.

What is a traditional Bulgarian breakfast? ›

Not to be missed are traditional items like tutmanik (a cheese bread), katmi (Bulgarian pancakes), and homemade biscuits. An interesting tidbit is the term “mekitsa,” historically the opposite of “tvarditsa,” a word for thin, crispy bread baked on a clay cooking slab known as a sach.

Food and Drinks

As eating out is not expensive in Bulgaria, you won't have to budget much for this part of your trip. A meal for two at a mid-range restaurant with desserts and a bottle of wine will cost between $20-50. A simple meal with a beer might even be less than $15.

Bulgaria is Famous for its Roses

This is because rose oil is Bulgaria's biggest export and a vital part of the country's economy. The unique species of rose called Rosa Damascena grows well across much of the country, but it grows particularly well in The Rose Valley — an area south of the Balkan Mountains.

Bulgarian Yogurt is a dairy food that is made by the fermentation of dairy milk which is triggered by two bacterial strains only – Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus.

Bulgarian Feta: Made from sheep's milk. Creamier texture, but the saltiness varies. Sometimes it has a little bit of a grassy or "sheepy" flavor mixed in with a yeasty, tangy finish.