Banitsa is wonderful; sort of a cross between a soufle and a bread. Sonja, shown at the stove, made it in Kovachevitsa and Margarita made it in Veliko Turnovo. It may be the national dish with regional variations. It is certainly a credit to Bulgaria, and would go over big in the US if anybody knew how to make it. In K. Sonja also made stuffed peppers with egg and cheese (trshka burereck?).

The shopska salad is everywhere in Bulgaria. Fresh sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, brined sheeps cheese (feta), parsley, vinegar, sunflower oil and salt.

From Sonja, our hostess in Kovachevitsa, we bought a small, English language guidebook/cookbook for Bulgarian food which included color illustrations (Bulgarian Cuisine, Tourist Promotion and Publicity Centre '90, Editor Ganka Georgieva, 40 pages). With help from Teddy and Sonja we added phonetic pronounciations. The book had a lot of Bulgarian specialties which sounded delicions, but we were not able to find them on the menu in Bulgarian restarurants. The restaurants seem to be pushing western cuisine including such delectibles as french fries (pome frits).

A hint to Mike: We know you could live on french fries alone, but take time to scout restaurants for traditional Bulgarian dishes. You could also just park your customers in Kovachevitsa for a week and let Sonja and Teddy cook everything in the book. They are that good.

We visited Bulgaria and Romania in September when a lot of fresh fruit and vegtables were available. However, I don't think that their farms are producing year around, and I don't think that they import a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables from other countries during the cold months. Some of the guide books warn about food shortages at certain times. Does anybody know?

Tourist pressure on the food supply probably does not cause any Bulgarians to go hungry. On the contrary. It usually peaks when the local supply peaks and tourists bring in foreign exchange which can be used to import food during the lean months.