BULGARIAN SUMMER
It’s a colourful place, Bulgaria in summer. Almost as if Mother Nature is making up for giving her those long, cold, grey winters.
It’s a poor country, and the produce is limited, but, my goodness, the quality is remarkable. Tomatoes that are solid, meaty and tasty, peaches and apricots bursting with juice, fabulous peppers, aubergines of every colour from pure white to deep purply black. The Bulgarian staples, that flavour all their food, dill, lovage and parsley, are everywhere. Similarly, the flowers…it’s too cold in winter for many perrenials to make it through (apart from roses, which are all over), so the gardens are bursting with annuals, cosmos, giant zinnias, marigolds, and big bright yellow daisys. All considered rather naff in England, but here, they just look happy!
The family all arrive today and I’m shoping for dinner. Tonight we’ll be having aubergines with yoghurt and walnuts, grilled marrow with the feta-like Sireni cheese, barbecued peppers and chillis, and rabbit roasted with several heads of garlic on a bed of lovage. And dessert? a big plate of those peaches… Can’t wait!
