The cuisine of Bansko is unique for the borders of the town. The answer to that is in the development of Bansko as a town of merchants in the 18th century. While traveling to Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy and Germany with their caravan, the tradesman of Bansko were bringing back influences and inspiration.
Thanks to the ladies of the town, who had to run the household throughout the year, specific dishes were prepared in Bansko and nowhere else. Nowadays those recipes are part of the traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

Ingridients for four portions:

1 kg sour cabbage, 2 onions, 3 coffee cups of rice, dill seeds,1 sausage, beef cuts, chicken, pork cuts, olive oil, salt, pepper.

Preparation and cooking:

Chop all ingredients. Slowly simmer the onions, add the rice. Season it. Get a big pot and do layers of cabbage and rice topped with sausage, beef, chicken and pork. Leave in hot oven (180 C) for four hours for slowly cooking.

Serve and enjoy:

Get yourself a nice a glass of red wine. Today, the 14th of February is the day of Saint Trifon. He is the protector of vines and wine producers. Enjoy this dish with a big company as it is the typical winter dish of Bansko.

How Bansko celebrates the first day of the New Year? Parade of costumed men and kids are going through the town for whole day.

This is a tradition that is going on for ages now. All bansko districts are sending groups of costumed man to battle against one another. The over all goal is to chase the evil spirits away.

The carnival start at 11 am on the main square of Bansko. Locals are gathering the cheer their team, so don’t miss it. Pick a side and head for the local fun.

This tradition is ongoing all over Bulgaria and the neighbouring Balkan countries. Here is our comparison to Star Wars. Kukeri actually do look a bit like Chewbacca.

Tsvetan Bizev BFT Founder / Bansko's recipes hunter

The cuisine of Bansko is unique for the borders of the town. The answer to that is in the development of Bansko as a town of merchants in the 18th century. While traveling to Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy and Germany with their caravan, the tradesman of Bansko were bringing back influences and inspiration.
Thanks to the ladies of the town, who had to run the household throughout the year, specific dishes were prepared in Bansko and nowhere else. Nowadays those recipes are part of the traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

We would like to share with you cured meat goodies that Bansko has to offer.

Sudjuck is a sausage that is popular all over the Balkans. In Bansko it could be served dried or grilled. Both will have black papper, salt, cumin and dill seeds.
The Mehana restaurants are serving Sudjuck as part of their menues…. but from where to get it for home?
Here is the best shop in Bansko for cured meats. The place is in the lower part of the town and its not even listed on google maps. Here it is below.
It is open from Monday till Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. In Saturdays it works until 1 pm.

The cuisine of Bansko is unique for the borders of the town. The answer to that is in the development of Bansko as a town of merchants in the 18th century. While traveling to Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy and Germany with their caravan, the tradesman of Bansko were bringing back influences and inspiration.
Thanks to the ladies of the town, who had to run the household throughout the year, specific dishes were prepared in Bansko and nowhere else. Nowadays those recipes are part of the traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

We would like to share with you the recipes of our Bansko grannies. We present you “Chomlek”

Ingredients for a portion for six: …… it’s just that the portions in Bansko can’t be small

1 kg of Beef . If possible with the bone

2 kg Potatoes

2 – 3 Onions, 3 – 4 Garlic cloves

3 glasses of red wine

Salt, black pepper and bay leaf

Preparation and cooking:

Most important for “Chomlek” is to get yourself a clay pot… well a regular one will do the job.
Roughly chop the potatoes, followed by the onions and garlic. There is no need to soften them as all will get into the oven for several hours.

Get a pan and add a sip of olive oil. Place the potatoes with the chopped onions and garlic. On top, put the beef cut. Be careful with sipping the wine. Make a small hole through the layer of potatoes. Pour in so that the wine goes to the bottom. Put the lid on top.

Once you are ready with the preparation, put the pot in cold oven and turn it 200 degrees celsius. After 30 minutes of cooking, lower the temperature to 180 C and let simmer for 4 hours.
This is a holiday or Christmas dish in Bansko, but could be found during the whole year in the traditional Mehana Restaurants in the Old Town. The Unique Bansko mehanas are run by local families and are serving the recipes of their grannies…. so don’t wonder where to go.
Enjoy “Chomlek” with a glass of Bulgarian wine.

The cuisine of Bansko is unique for the borders of the town. The answer to that is in the development of Bansko as a town of merchants in the 18th century. While traveling to Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy and Germany with their caravan, the tradesman of Bansko were bringing back influences and inspiration.
Thanks the the ladies of the town, who had to run the household throught out the year, specific dishes were prepared in Bansko and no where else. Nowadays those recipes are part of the traditional Bulgarian cuisine.

We would like to share with you the recipes of our Bansko grannies. We present you “Katino Meze”

Ingridients for a portion for two:

1 Pork steak – around 150 to 200 gram

2 Green peppers

1 -2 fresh Tomatos and parsley

Preparation and cooking:

Slice the meat in equal sized cuts. Chop the green peppers and grate the tommatos. Get a pan, sip of olive oil and stir the peppers with salt and blac k papper. Once they get soften, add the pork and add a bit of salt.
Tommatos are to be added when the meat is starting to caramelize. Let it simmer for a while.
Overall, the dish is ready in 15 minutes.
Enjoy it with a glass of cold beer in the summer or with red wine during the winter.

Here is the recipe of the grandma of Tsvetan and Nikolay, your favourite twins and guides in Bansko.

We are really excited to start our blog, where we will share our knowledge and experience about the culture and traditions of Bansko. The plan is to dive, research, write and post every week materials about local history, things to do, Bansko recipes and culture and laguage.
Follow our passion about Bansko….. and it’s cuisine mostly….. and history.

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