A Culinary Guidebook to the Eastern Rhodopes

Do you happen to know what gyuzlemi are? Have you ever tasted a rabbit banitsa or a pumpkin stuffed with rabbit meat? Have you ever eaten chicken with katmi or krukmach? Have you heart about a Rhodope kizelnik? Or about a maslenitsa?

Information and the recipes about these dishes you can find in the freshly printed Culinary Guidebook to the Eastern Rhodopes. The official launching of the book is going to be during the Cooking Days with organic and local agricultural produce from the Eastern Rhodopes on 7, 8 and 9 June in Sofia and in the village of Gorno Pole, Madzharovo Municipality organized by the Dutch-Bulgarian project New Thracian Gold (NTG).  During this first ever in Bulgaria culinary event the two Dutch chefs Eric van Veluwen and Carolina Verhoeven – in partnership with their Soul Kitchen colleagues - will make presentations, cook and demonstrate healthy dishes prepared with organic and Eastern Rhodopean products.

The Culinary Guidebook offers 28 recipes and typical and popular local dishes from the region of the Eastern Rhodopes.  The book provides also information about the food products and organic farms where the ingredients can be bought. A list of  places (B&B's, hotels, restaurants) where the dishes are offered to the guests is also included in the book.

The book is a result of several years of hard work by the coordinator on organic farming of the NTG Vladislav Popov in cooperation with colleagues in the project.

More and more producers in the Eastern Rhodopes open their farms to visitors who can taste and buy fresh organic fruits and vegetables. The New Thracian Gold project supports the organic producers in the region. More than 180 people have been trained in organic farming within New Thracian Gold project at nine training events. Three manuals on organic agriculture principles and practices, organic herb production and organic plant protection have been published within the project and have enjoyed great success among organic producers. 16 farmers and processors were financially supported by the project through a scheme that covers 50% of their organic certification costs.  Two model organic farms we established within the project – in the villages of Topolovo and Gorno Pole. At Topolovo model farm open days have been organized two years in a row.

In 2009, the New Thracian Gold project began with seven certified producers. There are currently over 37 producers who are certified or are in transition and three processors, controlled by certification bodies.

Read here more about the Cooking days.