Shopska salad explained

Shopska salad
Alternate Name:
  • Bulgarian salad
  • Letna salata
  • Summer salad
  • Village salad
Country:Bulgaria, Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, Druzhba resort, "Chernomorets" restaurant[1] [2] [3]
Type:Salad
Main Ingredient:Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, sirene

Shopska salad (Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian: Шопска салата; Croatian: Šopska salata; Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Salata bulgărească; Czech: Šopský salát; Albanian: Sallatë Fshati; Hungarian: Sopszka saláta; Greek, Modern (1453-);: Σαλάτα σόπσκα) is a cold salad popular throughout Southeastern Europe.[4] [5] [6] It is Bulgaria's most famous salad and national dish.[7]

Ingredients and serving

The dish is made from tomatoes, cucumbers, onion/scallions, raw or roasted peppers, and sirene, a white brined cheese similar to feta.[8] [9] The vegetables are usually diced and salted, followed by a light dressing of sunflower oil (or olive oil, which is less authentic),[10] which is occasionally complemented by vinegar. The addition of vinegar contributes, however, to the sour flavour that the tomatoes impart. In restaurants, the dressings are provided separately. Lastly, the vegetables are covered in a thick layer of grated or diced sirene cheese. This salad is often consumed as an appetizer with rakia.

According to food anthropologist Rayna Gavrilova, the dish is commonly accompanied by a shot of apricot or other fruit brandy.

Background and history

Tomatoes appeared in Southeastern Europe in the mid-1800s.

In the post-war socialist era, Balkantourist focused on marketing Bulgaria's Black Sea coast as a tourist destination for Bulgarians and for western tourists as a way of showcasing the socialist "good life".[11] This included reinventing and remarketing regional dishes to identify them as Bulgarian rather than simply Eastern European. The Shopska salad is a variation on a Greek salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta; Balkantourist in 1956 named their version Shopska salad.[12] The salad's colors, which mimic those of the Bulgarian flag, were a happy coincidence that was seen as a positive for evoking a national sentiment.[13] [14]

Despite the fact that the salad's name comes from the westernmost Bulgarian region called Shopluk, it first appeared at the Black Sea coast, in a resort near Varna, called Druzhba in the restaurant "Chernomorets".[15] [16] It can be found in one of the first state-approved cookbooks from 1956 (Sbornik recepti 1956, vol. 1, p. 50).[17] The development and popularization of the salad is attributed to a leader in Bulgarian tourism Petar Doychev (1924–2019).[18]

The dish was initially served in Bulgaria only in the hotels of Balkantourist. It is the only survivor of five or six recipes similarly created for and marketed by the tourism industry.[19] It became an emblem of Bulgarian tourism.[20] It was approved as a national culinary symbol during the 1970s and 1980s.[21] In 2014 Shopska salad was Bulgaria's most recognizable dish in Europe. It was the most popular recipe in a European Parliament initiative called A Taste of Europe.[22]

Origin dispute

According to the Bulgarian edition of Deutsche Welle, the Balkantourist recipe spread from Bulgaria to the cuisine of neighboring countries.[23] Deutsche Welle noted a restaurant in Croatia claimed the salad as a Croatian national dish. According to Radio Bulgaria and the Sofia News Agency, Serbian newspaper Politika in the 2000s claimed the salad as Serbian rather than Bulgarian, Macedonian or Czech.[24] [25] Although the salad was promoted on the Black Sea coast, because its name refers to the area of Shopluk -- which is divided among Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia -- after the breakup of Yugoslavia chefs in those areas began to contest the Bulgarian origin of the salad.

Bulgaria requested protected geographical indication from the European Union; Serbia objected.

Similar dishes in other cuisines

Notes and References

  1. Per Petar Doychev, at that time he and his colleagues were assembled in the restaurant "Chernomorets" by the leadership of the resort and it was said: "Think about something new, we can not offer only several salads to the guests." The chefs brought different products and began to offer variants for a new salad - fresh vegetables: cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, onions, parsley, chopped cheese, etc. But it turned out that the offer was the so-called "Thracian salad". It was needed some other variation. The chefs suggested: "First, we will make the peppers baked! Secondly, the cheese will be grated, not chopped." Anything else? - asked the leadership. Everyone was silent. And I saw a hot pepper on the table, and as I was sitting, I picked it up and put it in the grated cheese, in the middle of the project of the new salad, and said: "Here, let the Shopi in Sofia, rejoice!" And the cooks clapped their hands and said, "Come on, let's it be called a Shopska salad!" So I became its godfather. СУ „Св. Климент Охридски”, „Антропология на Храненето”, Бистра Стоименова, „Шопска ли е шопската салата–или за флуидността на балканската кухня“, София, 2017.
  2. Raymond Detrez, Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria, 3rd ed, 2015,, p. 451
  3. The original recipe for the Salad was invented and established in 1954-55 in the restaurant "Chernomorets" in the resort "St. St. Constantine and Helena" ("Druzhba" 1957 - 1992). Шопската салата била "изобретена" от "Балкантурист" през 1955 г., твърди експерт. В-к Дневник онлайн, 30 дек. 2018 г.
  4. Book: Gavrilova, Rayna . https://books.google.com/books?id=1Dz0srxxDFoC&q=shopska&pg=PA101 . Culinary Cultures of Europe: Identity, Diversity and Dialogue . 2005-01-01 . Council of Europe . 978-92-871-5744-7 . 100–102 . en . Golden fruits from the orchards.
  5. https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC&dq=shopska+salad&pg=RA3-PA67 Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia, Ken Albala, ABC-CLIO, 2011
  6. Mangia Bene! New American Family Cookbooks, Kate DeVivo, Capital Books, 2002,, p. 170.
  7. Abel Polese, Oleksandra Seliverstova, Emilia Pawlusz, Jeremy Morris as ed., Informal Nationalism After Communism: The Everyday Construction of Post-Socialist Identities; Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018;, p .156.
  8. Web site: Simple Treasures in Bulgaria, Martin Miller-Yianni, Martin Miller-Yianni, 2008, p. 11. . 2023-03-16 . 2023-05-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230512060811/https://books.google.com/books?id=11enkZ2weg4C&dq=shopska+salad&pg=PA11 . live . Miller-Yianni . Martin . November 2008 .
  9. Web site: Balkan Cuisine: Shopska Salad . November 21, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121015124314/http://balkan-cuisine.com/2011/06/shopska-salad.html . October 15, 2012 .
  10. Web site: Zhang. Jenny. Shopska Salad: A Bulgarian Necessity. Organically Blissful. 18 December 2016. 20 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220185918/http://organicallyblissful.com/shopska-salad-bulgarian-necessity/. live.
  11. Neuburger . Mary . 2017-11-01 . Dining in Utopia: A Taste of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast under Socialism . . en . 17 . 4 . 48–60 . 10.1525/gfc.2017.17.4.48 . 1529-3262.
  12. Дечев, Стефан. Българска, но не точно шопска. За един от кулинарните символи, Български фолклор, год. ХХХVІ, 2010, кн. 1, с. 130 – 131, 133, 136.
  13. Book: Detrez, Raymond . Raymond Detrez . Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria . 2014-12-18 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-4422-4180-0 . de.
  14. Maria Angelova, "Shopska: The Bulgarian Salad Invented in the Communist Era"; Culture Trip .
  15. Per Petar Doychev, at that time he and his colleagues were assembled in the restaurant "Chernomorets" by the leadership of the resort and it was said: "Think about something new, we can not offer only several salads to the guests." The chefs brought different products and began to offer variants for a new salad - fresh vegetables: cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, onions, parsley, chopped cheese, etc. But it turned out that the offer was the so-called "Thracian salad". It was needed some other variation. The chefs suggested: "First, we will make the peppers baked! Secondly, the cheese will be grated, not chopped." Anything else? - asked the leadership. Everyone was silent. And I saw a hot pepper on the table, and as I was sitting, I picked it up and put it in the grated cheese, in the middle of the project of the new salad, and said: "Here, let the Shopi in Sofia, rejoice!" And the cooks clapped their hands and said, "Come on, let's it be called a Shopska salad!" So I became its godfather. СУ „Св. Климент Охридски”, „Антропология на Храненето”, Бистра Стоименова, „Шопска ли е шопската салата–или за флуидността на балканската кухня“, София, 2017.
  16. The original recipe for the Salad was invented and established in 1954-55 in the restaurant "Chernomorets" in the resort "St. St. Constantine and Helena" ("Druzhba" 1957 - 1992). Шопската салата била "изобретена" от "Балкантурист" през 1955 г., твърди експерт. В-к Дневник онлайн, 30 дек. 2018 г.
  17. Klaus Roth, Ulf Brunnbauer as ed., Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe, vol. 2. Ethnologia Balkanica; Lit Verlag, 2009,, p. 26.
  18. He is known as the creator of the technology of the famous brand "Shopska salad".... For more see: The doyen of Bulgarian tourism, who invented the Shopska salad, died. Newspaper 24 часа 07.08.2019 г.
  19. That Salad was created by professional chefs from "Balkanturist" in 1956 at the restaurant "Chernomorets" in the then resort "Druzhba", now "Saint Konstantin and Elena" near Varna, Bulgaria. For the first time, the salad recipe appeared in 1956 in a "Book of the hostess" of P. Cholcheva and Al.Ruseva and it contained all the components of today Shopska except the cheese. In the following years, there were undergoing series of modifications to the recipe - in 1970 in the book "Recipe for cooking and confectionery" were given four options for Shopska salad - with onion and cheese; without onion and cheese; with roasted peppers and cheese; not sweet, but with chili pepper and cheese. In the early 1970s, roasted peppers and grated cheese were imposed as a mandatory component. Initially, the salad was served only in restaurants of "Balkanturist" and later it became popular in the home kitchens in the country. It became a national culinary symbol in Bulgaria during the 1970s and 1980s. For more see: Albena Shkodrova, Socialist gourmet, Janet 45, Sofia, 2014,, pp. 260-261.
  20. Klaus Roth, Ulf Brunnbauer as ed., Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe, Part 2; Lit, 2009;, p . 26.
  21. Шкодрова, Албена: Соц гурме. Куриозната история на кухнята в НРБ, София, изд. Жанет 45, 2014 г., с.260.
  22. Web site: Europost, Weekly for politics, business and culture, 23 May 2014, Shopska salad wins European vote. . 6 May 2015 . 27 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180127083744/http://www.europost.bg/article?id=10663 . live .
  23. Web site: Engelhardt . Karla . 1 December 2015 . How "Balkantourist" came up with the Shop salad . 2024-04-20 . . bg.
  24. Web site: 11 August 2009 . Serbian Publication: Shopska Salad Is Not Bulgarian . 2024-04-20 . Sofia News Agency.
  25. Web site: Harizanova . Tanya . 7 October 2009 . Shop salad - Balkan disputes and tastes . 2024-04-20 . . bg.

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