the birthplace of the classic Shopska salad made from fresh vegetables and feta cheese, although it is also popular in other Eastern European countries. By the way, if you look closely, you will notice its great similarity to the Greek salad with feta cheese. The salad got its name from the word “shops,” which was the name given to one of the ethnic groups of Bulgarians living near Sofia.
There are two known ways to prepare this salad. Vegetables are cut into fairly large pieces, seasoned with olive oil and mixed, after which they are sprinkled with pieces of cheese. In the second option, they are laid out in layers. White cheese combined with red peppers or tomatoes and green cucumbers in their color scheme identify the Bulgarian flag, which contains these colors.
Shopska salad goes well with any vegetable side dishes, baked meat, and fish. In the Baltics, it is traditionally served with the national and favorite alcoholic drink called rakia, which is made from fresh fruit. As for the cheese included in the salad, feta cheese is most often used, and soft feta cheese is used much less often.
Ingredients for two servings of salad:
- Cheese cheese – 50-60 gr.,
- Bell pepper – 2 pcs.,
- Tomatoes – 2 pcs.,
- Onions – 1 pc.,
- Cucumbers – 1 pc.,
- Olive oil.
- Salt - optional
Shopska salad - recipe
Wash bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. Peel the onions. Cut it into half rings.
Cut the tomatoes into small slices lengthwise.
Cut the cucumber into quarters.
Cut the bell pepper into thin strips.
Place all chopped vegetables - tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and cucumbers - in a bowl.
Pour in olive oil, add a pinch of salt. Stir the salad with a spoon.
Place the seasoned vegetables on a plate. Grate the cheese on a fine grater or crumble it with your hands, as for the beet salad with arugula and cheese. Bulgarian Shopska salad is ready.
Making pepper salad
Wash the pepper and divide into two parts. Remove seeds and membranes. Cut into medium sized pieces. Pour oil into a frying pan and put on fire. When it warms up, add the bell pepper and simmer for fifteen minutes. Then reduce the heat and fry until cooked under a tightly closed lid until the pepper is soft.
While the peppers are stewing, you need to prepare the pickled onions. To do this, remove the peel from the onion, chop it into small pieces and place it in any bowl. Pour in wine vinegar and leave to marinate for fifteen minutes. Place the fried red pepper on a nice plate and let it cool.
Drain all the onion marinade and combine the pickled onions with peppers. Pour the remaining oil in the pan and stir. If desired, you can add salt and pepper. Bulgarian pepper salad is ready. This appetizer can be served both on a weekday and on a holiday table.
Shopska salad. Photo
Quite often it is prepared with baked bell peppers and olives. I also offer you this recipe.
Ingredients:
- Bell pepper – 1-2 pcs.,
- Tomatoes – 2-3 pcs.,
- Cheese cheese – 20-30 gr.,
- Shallot (purple onion) – 1 pc.,
- Cucumber – 1 pc.,
- Pitted olives – 30-40 gr.,
- Parsley - a couple of sprigs,
- Olive oil.
Shepherd's salad recipe with photos or preparing traditional Bulgarian shepherd's salad
Ovcharsky salad recipe
Ovcharsky salad (in Bulgarian it sounds a little different - ovcharska salad, and in Russian it translates as “shepherd’s salad” - a traditional Bulgarian dish, Bulgarian salad. Many people believe that “ovcharska salad” is a modification of Shopska salad. So is this?
In fact, this is a fair remark - “Ovcharsky salad” is an enriched version of Shopska salad. To prepare you will need cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, parsley, baked or fresh bell peppers, a couple of boiled eggs, cheese ("kashkaval" in Bulgarian), feta cheese, salt, and butter. If desired, add pickled mushrooms to the salad. The classic version of the salad is vegetarian (which makes us very happy). But there are also recipes with meat ingredients.
Sheep salad in the shadow of history
Shopska salad with baked peppers - recipe
Wash all vegetables. Dry the bell pepper with napkins. Place it on a baking sheet and bake in the oven, heated to 190C-200C for 15 minutes. Place the baked peppers in a bag and leave for 15-20 minutes. During this time, it will steam well, and the skin will easily come away from the pulp. Peel the skins off the cooled peppers using a knife. Cut it into cups. Cut the tomatoes and cucumbers into small cubes, and the onion into half rings.
Place vegetables in a bowl. Add finely chopped parsley and olives. Season the salad with olive oil. It is not necessary to salt the salad, since the cheese is salty. Place the finished salad on a flat dish. Crumble the cheese with your hands and sprinkle it on top of the salad. Bulgarian Shopska salad should be served immediately to the table. I also recommend preparing a salad with radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes and cheese.
Sea salad in Bulgarian style
The recipe is not a fully Bulgarian dish, rather it is a Russian adaptation of the appetizer, prepared from local products.
List of ingredients:
- Small shrimps – 200 g.
- Salad mix – 400 g.
- Brine cheese (Prometheus, feta cheese, Adyghe) – 150 g.
- Black pepper.
- Red onion – 1 pc.
- Fresh parsley – 50 g.
- Dried paprika – 1 tsp.
- Vegetable oil - 50 ml.
- Surimi crab sticks – 200 g.
- Lemon – 0.5 pcs.
- Sweet paprika powder – 1 tsp.
- Tomatoes – 4 pcs.
- Olives, black olives – 15 pcs.
- Salt.
- Mustard paste – 1 tsp.
Cooking method:
- Grind a third (50g) of brine cheese in vegetable oil with the addition of paste-like mustard, pepper, sweet paprika and salt.
- Boil shrimp with spices. Coarsely chop the surimi sticks.
- Fillet a quarter of the lemon and cut into small pieces. Divide the olives into rings.
- Ripe tomatoes, pickled cheese, lettuce and red onion cut into cubes.
- Combine onions, tomatoes, surimi sticks, cheese cubes, olives, shrimp, salad greens and parsley in a salad bowl. Top with cheese sauce.
- Salt the appetizer after adding cheese and sauce, since the products are highly salted and the taste of the dish may turn out to be unbalanced.
The most famous Bulgarian salad in the world is called Shopski. It consists of fresh and baked vegetables, as well as cheese, preparation does not take much time, you can see for yourself by reading ours. But Bulgarian cuisine is rich not only in Shopska salad. In it you can find many interesting recipes, including a variety of salads.
Due to its geographical location, Bulgarian cuisine has adopted some Greek and Turkish traditions. Fresh vegetables and cheeses are widely used in cooking. Many salads in Bulgarian cuisine have a vegetable base.
To prepare this national Bulgarian dish you will need 500 grams of tomatoes, 250 grams of cucumbers, one hundred grams of baked (you can also use fresh) bell peppers, 100 grams of pickled mushrooms, one onion, two boiled eggs, 100 grams of feta cheese, parsley, olives. For dressing, vegetable oil and vinegar.
Try cutting tomatoes into small triangles, and cucumbers, mushrooms and peppers into circles. Finely chop the onion and greens. Add salt and vinegar to the chopped vegetables and stir. Sprinkle with grated cheese. This salad must be decorated with large slices of egg on top. We also offer this one for those who like a win-win combination of cheese and vegetables.
Bulgarian salads, like the cuisine of this country in general, are very sensitive to beans. Beans must be purchased fresh, collected at the moment the seed begins to form. Instead of beans, you can also add green beans to the salad (but the taste will be different). Ingredients: 400 grams of beans, one onion, parsley, vegetable oil and vinegar, two pickles. Boil the beans, mix with finely chopped pickled cucumber and chopped parsley, season with vegetable oil and vinegar.
Bulgarian salad with cheese is a classic. The tradition began, of course, with the popular Shopska salad. But in Bulgarian cuisine there are salad options that do not use cheese. To pamper your guests or family with this national salad, you need to take 400 grams of potatoes, one onion, parsley and olives. Traditionally, vegetable oil and vinegar are used for dressing. The potatoes must be boiled unpeeled. After cooking, peel and cut into small cubes. Add olives and herbs, season with oil and vinegar.
This is interesting!
When preparing most Bulgarian salads, which include tomatoes, bell peppers or cucumbers, it is customary to remove the skin from the vegetables.
All the salad recipes listed in this article go perfectly as an appetizer with traditional Bulgarian vodka raki. You can also try to snack on them with our regular vodka. But above all, these salads are interesting recipes from national cuisine that will look great on any table, even a non-alcoholic one.
- French salad recipes: a combination of simplicity and sophistication
- Simple and delicious recipes for salads with Chinese cabbage
Posted by:
mayusik89
Comments
30.10.2014 / 21:41
Zoya
I couldn’t stay away from the topic of Bulgarian salads...I’ve been living in this sunny country for the second year now, so I’m very familiar with the names of such salads as Shopski, Ovcharski, Greek. Almost all salads contain feta cheese, olives, cucumbers and tomatoes. By the way, in Bulgarian cuisine, mayonnaise is practically not used when preparing salads; they are seasoned with olive or linseed oil, and the latter is very healthy and I like it with wine or apple cider vinegar. The famous bell pepper is held in high esteem, and for most salads it is simply baked and then peeled.
09.11.2014 / 23:25
Anna
I really love Bulgarian cuisine. All their dishes are hearty, but at the same time, harmless to your figure. Of the Bulgarian salads, Shopski is my favorite. It reminds me a bit of Greek salad, only a more homemade version. I often cook it in the summer for myself and my family. I season the salad with low-fat yogurt or sour cream, and put a minimum of salt, since feta cheese gives the salad natural salt.
28.01.2015 / 15:17
Igor
Bulgaria is a sunny country and the Bulgarian cuisine is sunny, light, always cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers. Here is a recipe for shepherd's salad with mushrooms, great salad guys!!! And another correct remark is the use of yogurt in salads, which is characteristic of all Mediterranean cuisine from the Bosphorus to Gibraltar, we have a continuous stream of mayonnaise, and then where does the excess weight come from, and yogurt is a light product, and it also helps digestion, there are constantly advertisements for it on TV spin. I would like you not to forget the Bulgarian theme, salads are very healthy food, and Bulgarian cuisine is still Slavic cuisine
28.02.2015 / 15:33
I myself adore Bulgarian cuisine, and not only me, my whole family. Previously, we went exclusively to restaurants with Bulgarian cuisine. With the help of this site, I discovered the hidden potential in myself, cooking is not easy, but Bulgarian cuisine, my wife could not repeat my preparations. I especially liked preparing shepherd’s salad with pickled mushrooms and feta cheese. This salad doesn't have much of a taste of feta cheese, but it's still a tasty salad. Also a Bulgarian yogurt-based salad, very tasty and not a difficult recipe. What we like most about the kitchen is that all food is low-calorie. I advise everyone to try cooking it yourself, you will be pleased.
Bulgarian salad
(or
Shopska salad
) is one of the wonderful dishes of Bulgarian cuisine, which I hope you will also like. Bulgarian salad combines the freshness and juiciness of vegetables warmed by sunlight and the salty taste of feta cheese. This salad, like , is at the same time light and satisfying, healthy and tasty - be sure to try it!
Ingredients:
- 1 onion (you can use regular or red onion)
- 2 bell peppers
- 200 gr. feta cheese or cheese
- 300 gr. cucumbers
- 300-350 gr. tomatoes
- lemon juice (or natural wine or apple cider vinegar) - to taste
- parsley
- olive oil
- If desired, you can add 4-5 pcs. olives
Preparation:
- Wash cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, parsley.
- Peel the onion and bell pepper and rinse. Cut the onion into half or quarter rings.
- Cut the cucumbers into halves or quarters.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the tomatoes into slices or halves (if the tomatoes are large).
- Cut the bell pepper into short strips.
- Three feta cheese or cheese on a coarse grater.
- Combine chopped onions, cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes. If desired, add finely chopped olives. Salt the salad, season with lemon juice (or grape / apple cider vinegar) and olive oil. Mix.
- Place grated feta cheese or cheese on top.
- Decorate the finished Bulgarian salad with parsley and serve immediately.
Most often, most of the snacks on our tables are not much different from each other, and therefore have not caused any delight among household members for a long time. Bulgarian salad is an excellent option both for every day and for a holiday menu, and this recipe will also delight people on a diet.
Separately, it can be mentioned that the snack will not require large material costs from you, but it will certainly delight you with its excellent taste.
