Tasty Tikva

It was nice.

Imagine the object under the cling film (pictured above) before it was eaten. A nice, orange and fleshy slice of baked winter squash, drizzled with honey and covered with walnuts. A Bulgarian autumn snack - or desert - that I found at a street market today.

Next time I might take a 'before' picture. September in Sofia is not short of tikva. The word means 'winter squash' in Bulgarian but can also be used to name a dumb person. 

Text and photos (c) Agne Drumelyte, 2013.

Gabrovian chocolate

People of Gabrovo (Central Bulgaria) are a topic of many jokes. In jokes they have the reputation of being stingy, bargain-loving and overly practical, similarly to, e.g., people of Scotland.

Yesterday in Veliko Tarnovo (also Central Bulgaria) I found this Gabrovian Chocolate. Essentially, it's just pressed smoke-dried black plums, although healthy and tasty.

Actually, it is more expensive than real chocolate. Perhaps it's time to change the brand.

Another popular joke about people from Gabrovo: they cut tails of their cats so that they loose less heat in the house when the cat leaves/enters through the door (a tail-less cat slips through the door faster). Image (c) Ivan Kutuzov, http://www.humorhouse.bg/engl/book.html

   Text and the top photo (c) Agne Drumelyte, 2013.