Country 26 - Bulgaria

 The Republic of Bulgaria is in south east Europe. It is bordered by Serbia, Romania, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkey as well as the Black Sea. The capital is Sofia.

Culture in Bulgaria dates back to 6,500 BC. It has been a battleground for Persians, Celts, the ancient Macedonians and was conquered by the Roman Empire in AD45. The Bulgars formed the first Bulgarian Empire in AD681, following this there were years of multiple wars and feudal strife until the Ottoman rulers took over in 1396. Finally in 1991 the country became democratic with a sovereign and a parliament.

An essential part of Bulgarian culture comes from folklore with fire being used to banish evil spirits and illnesses. The food is similar to the other Balkan states and has strong Greek and Turkish influences. In 1989 it was the world's second largest wine exporter, most being sent to Romania, Russia and Poland. The national drink is Rakia, a fruit brandy.

Bulgarian food is fresh and hearty with pork and chicken being the most popular meat. Many of the staples are also found in Turkey, Greece and Serbia but they are given their own flavours. Banista can be found in bakeries all over the country, it is a pastry stuffed with cheese - usually feta. Kebapche is an elongated piece of minced meat - similar in shape to a hot dog. It is usually a mixture of beef and pork with spices such as black pepper and cumin. Lyutenitsa is a thick relish of peppers and tomatoes which can be spread on toast.

After considerable debate we decides that we would make banista and palneni chushki, which are stuffed peppers.


First of all the peppers. 
We knew we had a lot of peppers in the fridge so we didn't get more when we were out shopping for this meal. We'd bought a big bag of misshaped peppers last weekend but what we hadn't accounted for was that none of them would stand up - they are misshapes obviously!!!! and so we had to find a pan that we could wedge them upright in, a bread tin was just right. We cut the tops off, removed the seeds and stuffed them with ground beef, onion, some herbs and rice. Then we filled the pan half full of water and covered with foil. This was roasted for 45 minutes. We expected this to be bland - there really wasn't much in it!

The peppers ready for the oven. 

Now onto making the banista. Someone had forgotten to take the filo pastry out of the freezer so we had a bit of a panic while we debated whether it could be defrosted safely in the microwave - it could, lucky!!!!!! 😀

So we cut the thin pieces of pastry and melted the butter and started layering. It was like making lasagne. After every 5 layers of pastry we put a layer of crumbled feta which had been mixed with milk and egg. 

Finally it was ready to go in the oven for 25 minutes.

The Banista is ready.

The Palneni Chushki is ready.

Our Bulgarian meal ready to be eaten. It is served with tomato puree.

The Verdict

Well once again we were surprised that so few ingredients and such simple food could be so tasty. The Banista was like a quiche with really flakey pastry. The herbs in the filling of the peppers really added flavour. Although I don't think we will make these dishes again I think we might be making quiche with feta rather than cheddar in the future - maybe with some olives or spinach too!

Country 25 - Brunei

The Nation of Brunei - The Abode of Peace, is on the northeast coast of the island of Borneo in southeast Asia. Apart from its coast line with the South China sea Brunei is surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak - it is actually split into two parts by Sarawak!

Brunei has been part of Spain and Britain and was occupied by the Japanese during WW2. It became independent in 1984 with its wealth coming from petroleum and natural gas. It has a population of just under half a million with most people living in urban areas. 65% of the population is Malay with 10% being Chinese, Malay is the main language but English and Chinese are also widely spoken. The country is mainly Muslim with some Buddhists and Christians.

Bruneian food is mainly influenced by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia cuisine, with China, India, Thailand and Japan also being important. Fish and rice are staple foods, beef is also used but is expensive. Because the country is Muslim pork is banned and all food is halal. Alcohol is also prohibited.

Food is often spicy and is accompanied by rice or noodles. Ambuyat is popular - it is a sticky ball of flavourless sago starch that is wrapped around a bamboo fork and dipped into a sour gravy!!!! mmmm.

We struggled to decide what to make this week in the end we returned to the blog of Sasha Martin (the instigator of the whole World Food Adventure and author of the Global Table Adventure Blog). 

We made Sayur Lodeh - shrimp and vegetable curry, with Lontong - rice in banana leaves (without the banana leaves as we couldn't find any in Nova Scotia!) 😁

Rempah - the curry paste.

First to make the curry paste. Cashews, garlic, onion, lemongrass, anchovy puree, turmeric, chilli, and ground coriander.



Put all the ingredients in a blender and bend!

Now onto preparing the Sayur Lodeh ingredients. Raw prawns/shrimp, cabbage, green beans, carrots, mushrooms all sliced into bite sized pieces and a mixture of coconut milk and water.

First the Rempuh - curry paste is cooked in oil - we used coconut oil. The coconut milk and water are added followed by the vegetables which are cooked until nearly done. Finally the prawns are added for a few minutes. 

Meanwhile, we cooked the rice in coconut milk and water. In Brunei once the rice is cooked it is cooled, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. Then the tubes of rice are sliced into small discs.

Our finished meal

The Verdict!!!!

It was delicious! It was lovely and coconutty and very fresh tasting. 

This is one of the few meals that we will cook again - next time maybe adding fresh chilli  and cilantro to make it a bit spicier. It would also be good with chicken or beef.

You should try this!!!! 😀