March 24, 2005
Organs (Put on the Blinders, Vegetarians)
I just learned today, after two years in the country, that Bulgaria has something a lot like scrapple or haggis. Not that I've been desperately waiting for something like scrapple or haggis to be served at dinner so I could wolf it down. In fact, I don't remember having ever tried scrapple or haggis. So I'm really not missing anything at all.
But, as far as things culinary go, I have been willing to experiment in Bulgaria. Shkembay Chorba, for example, is something that I'd never tried before and most likely will never eat again in America. It is, however, pretty good for a late-night restaurant fix here. If you don't have Taco Bell around to get your crap, shkembay's almost just as good. What is it you ask? Well, it's stomach of some kind in a broth. I could never prepare it on my own and have no desire to learn how, but, well, there it is...stomach. Most of the time, it's customary to slop garlic and dried pepper in to make it more palatable. But strangely, I never really see the need.
This Bulgarian scrapple (the name of which escapes me at the moment), is all the usual organs packed into large intestine. If it's placed in front of me at some meal, I'll give it a go, just for tradition's sake, but beyond that...well, let's just say I won't be hunting it down on menus, just for experimentation. It's not really a standard around here and I've found that if I stray too far from chicken breast at Bulgarian restaurants, dodginess begins to come into play.
In fact, this scrapple stuff was only brought up because I mentioned that I'd taken the cultural care to try shkembay. It's like this is some kind of hard drug version of organ-based food. A step-up from stomach being every organ packed into intestine.
Anyway, there's your day's glimpse of the Bulgarian dinner table. Enjoy the picture of the Danube. In the distance you can see Hotel Drustur, the schnazzy new four-star place with terrible exterior design. I'll be going to a banquet there tomorrow to celebrate my school's fifteenth year of pushing students through the system.
Posted by Rob at March 24, 2005 03:58 PM