As a Bulgarian, good job, mate! Don't worry everyone's first attempt at banitsa goes In the trash, the important thing is you used authentic ingredients. Also mad respect for doing the coiled kind! We also have a kind of banitsa that you stack like lasagna that is much easier.
Also don't worry, we all use store bought pastry for the last 50 or so years, it's a real bitch to make at home and to roll it so thin. You need real grandma energy to do it.
Just went googling for Bulgarian yogurt and cheeses, and unfortunately I don't think it's available in my area (I did learn you can get yogurt starters though, so that's interesting). Any ideas for a decent substitute?
If you only blend the yogurt with the water and a little bit of salt, you will make airian. That's the ultimate drink that goes perfectly with banitsa. Greetings from Bulgaria ❤
Thank you! I get airian at a local store. It was called kefir, but it tastes different than the kefir I've had. So many cultures daily products, too few starter cultures available
@@blondeenotsomuch Real Kefir is made of alcohol fermentation by Kefir mushroom, and it is not common in Bulgaria. Yogurt is milk fermentation by bacteria called Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus... depending their concentration(and type) yogurt will be more or less sour ;)
I’m not Bulgarian, but a few years ago I discovered tikvenik, a wonderful Bulgarian pumpkin filled pastry that has now replaced pumpkin pie on our Thanksgiving table. The construction is much like the banitsa. Anyways, if you revisit Bulgaria or decide you want to shake things up for Thanksgiving, I highly, highly recommend tikvenik!
Bulgaria has such a rich, and beautiful culture. Their orthodox tradition, food, clothing, music (especially the women's choirs). What a fascinating place
Thank you, it makes me happy seeing people around the world appreciating our culture! Yes the women's choirs sometimes have moved me to tears, they're beautiful.
I was in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 5 years ago. Wonderful place with delicious food and great wines. That cheesy pastry was everywhere, so freekn tasty. It's great you are putting world foods out there. Thank you.
Everyone’s first attempt at banitsa is trash so don’t worry! I was so excited to see you make the foods of my childhood tbh. Tarator is an ESSENTIAL to summertime lunches and my family usually adds ice to it so it’s extra cold and refreshing ❤
I watched all of Jamie and Julia and even tried a few. I am truly enjoying this series as well! Your attitude of "I have no idea what I am doing right now, but let's make the best of it" really makes your videos shine! Love you and all that you do! Never stop cooking and I will never stop watching. You are an inspiration to me to continue trying new things. Thank you!
My dad's Bulgarian and we make banitsa like every 2 weeks, sometimes every week. Takes about 30 minutes to make, and it's delicious both freshly baked and the next day as a breakfast/brunch food. We're lucky that we have plenty of Bulgarian stores nearby, even though we live in western Europe, for those ingredients. If we go on holiday, we always make it on the day before, because it's such a good, savoury snack for roadtrips or plane rides. Some pronunciation tips: the stress in on the first syllable in 'banitsa' and 'sirene'. Bulgarian doesn't really have long vowels, so sirene is pronounced with a short i (as in 'with') followed by two e's that are both short, as in 'pet'.
Ah, the Balkans! We make extremely similar pies to banitsa here in Greece in both sweet and savory versions! I would suggest more filling the next time and in fillings that have yogurt, cheese and eggs, I like to add a little dry mint as well! It cuts through the richness! Wonderful video, as always!
My face lit up when I saw the flag in the thumbnail!! Glad you enjoyed our food ❤🇧🇬
ปีที่แล้ว +21
I spent a year in the Balkans some time ago, and I've got to say, cheese is their speciality. At first I thought "oh fresh cheese" but they all taste different and they're SO GOOD. Banitsa and Tarator combine well together and I loved them in summer; satisfying but not heavy on the stomach. Great video as always! These recipes are joining my collection. (^-^)
The hilarity of saying: "Sirene is creamier than feta." is that no feta is alike, and I suspect the same is true of sirene. Each region of feta has its own subtype, the only guarantee is that: a) it is supposed to be made mostly of ewe's milk (between 60% and 100% of the milk must be from ewes), the remainder legally being allowed to be goat's milk; b) and it has to have a fat content of no less than 43% in dry matter, and a maximum humidity of 56%. I am not saying that feta is creamier, though, because what distinguishes sirene (and makes it pretty popular in Greece as well) is that it can be legally made even with cow's milk, which drastically drops the hardness and crumbliness of the cheese (feta with high goat's-milk content is notably quite hard and crumbly, and it is really considered more of a niche version).
A former pastry chef that I know watched Jamie crack his eggs by clacking them together and gave a thumbs-up. "Do you know how many people I've seen cracking them by banging them on the edge of a bowl or a measuring cup? That's the perfect way to drive pieces of the shell through the membrane and into the egg. I like this guy."
As a Bulgarian and an avid follower of your channel, I have to say Well done, sir! Most foreigners I know love banitsa but are not crazy about tarator :D I'm really glad you like both!
Dude I literally found your channel yesterday and decided to subscribe cause of the Julia child content AND THEN! you make a video about my countries cooking on the same day!??! The level of shock and confusion I hade when this popped in my recommendations. Also I'm glad you enjoyed some of our traditional dishes. You should try making biscuit cake as well (nit for a video of course but for your own pleasure), I think you might like it!
Great to see those two recipes. Not Bulgarian myself, but had a Bulgarian flatmate, and she introduced me to tarator, delicious !! Then when i went to Bulgaria to visit her last year , I discovered Banitsa ! Very good memories. Love to Bulgaria from France ♥
Thank you for the video. I think many people in the US and Canada might experience this treat for the first time. I live in Germany and I know these foods well because we have a significant Turkish population here and they also make the feta stuffed "Schnecke" (German for "snail") and it is known as "Borek". That term can encompass a few different foods though and it can be with or without meat. The Turkish markets and restaurants here offer a snack that is translated to "cigar" or "cigarette" which is filo dough with sheep's cheese and spinach or parsley rolled and fried crispy. There is another fine thing of Turkish origin called Pogaca. It is so good. It is a yeasted bread roll filled with a creamy (must have high fat content) feta (paneer like the Indian word for cheese) and parsley. It is given an egg wash before baking and strewn with black cumin (Kümmel in German. It is not black sesame. It has Avery particular delicious taste and can be mixed with regular sesame.) I hope you might try one of these sometime since they are very tasty and worth the small effort to make them. I love your channel! Peace❤️
Ok ,interesting!I don't know what the taste of the Tarator that you made was but this is the first time me seeing this done with a blender!The soup can be eaten at any time of the year,depending on your taste of food,but there are two methods in dealing with the cucumber.If you have the time and the motivation here is how you do it:1 method-chopping the cucumber in a semi square shape like cutting a carrot in small bits,ask Bobbi ,he may know what I mean,2 method(easier by the way)use the biggest shaped holes of a grater to grind the hole cucumber.Good luck and bon appeti!!!
Tarator is an absolute must in the summer, it's so simple to make and so refreshing, especially if you've spent all morning on the beach and it's so hot that you're too lazy to even eat 😅
I've been living in Bulgaria for the past 4 years and so happy you're doing this!! Can't wait for Portugal (probably in a few years xD) and Senegal where my family is from. From Portugal you definitely need to do something with Bacalhau and just so you know Senegal is the home of the original jollof rice. We call it Thieboudienne. Much love ❤
Bulgarian here: we do use feeling a lot as you adjust as you cook. My mother puts the baking soda in the yogurt and once it has been combined properly she mixes it with the cheese. You can also bult the filo pastry in the dish instead of rolling it on the counter first. 😊 Also we do use sparkling water as well.
I've to Bulgaria twice and the people are wonderful, not to mention the food. I love their banitsa, but have you ever made their stuff grape leaves? They're to die for. I just started watching your channel and I have about five years of great cooking and baking ahead of me. Thank you.
You’ve just put the biggest smile on my face. It’s great to see foods from my home made and getting some love and fame lol the banitsa looks perfect, the tarator seems to be on the thicker side. If you’re ever making the banitsa again we usually have it for breakfast with ayran (a yogurt drink which is basically 1 part thick yogurt and 1 part water), which go really well together.
Yeah, it was great for me too when he made Brazilian "feijoada" (black bean stew), especially since it's one of the major dishes from my state (though not just from my state). He truly nailed it!
Not quite the way we do it but I'll accept. You definitely dont need a blender to make tarator. Cut the cucumber to cubes or use a grater. Few garlic gloves pressed. Then add kiselo mlqko about 400g,500g mix with water untill soup consistency. Dont overdo with cucumbers or water. And at the end drop some olive oil mix it up. As far as the banica i don't blame you for using premade pastry. We do that as well.But your filling is too little. And add more cheese. Also dont crunch the cheese too much so it turns into dust. Regardless i appreciate anyone taking a notice at Bulgarian cuisine.🙂
I've been waiting patiently for your Bulgarian attempt. Well done Jamie! I've never seen such a weird way of making Tarator but hey will accept it. Regarding the banitsa your fillings was a bit runny,less yoghurt and more "sirene" ,no need of baking soda. Personal tip more filling between the filo makes it better and whatever is left in the bowl you can pour it on top and bake it. Love your channel❤
As a Bulgarian I'm impressed with your video. The banitsa looks amazing. But I need to note that I have never seen such approach for tarator in my life 😅. We usually peel the cucumber and just cut it in small cubes by hand, chop the walnuts by hand and we add some oil, my preferred is a little bit of olive oil. There is no need of the blender as the yogurt will just mix with the water really well with a spoon. But this version looks quite nice and appetising so I might try it as well. Well done. ❤
Hey, banitsa is difficult, even through if you ask my grandma it is a piece of...well banitsa! Thank you for cooking something from my home country, love your videos!
The tarator recipe he gave you is not how it is traditionally made, but that’s ok. We don’t use blender to make it. We chop to small pieces, or grate the cucumbers, dill, garlic, walnuts and mix with the yogurt and a lil bit of Sunflower oil. A bit more work than the blender, but less mess in your case ;) The banitza is usually covered with a towel after taken out of the oven, to soften it. It is also best eaten warm, soon after. You can eat with honey, Bulgarians tend to eat it with onions, cucumbers , etc. or on it’s own, sold as street food.
We in the Balkans are this funny case where you can practically see the similarities and differences, and you have to be dumb to claim there hasn't been some sharing and going about, you know? Love from Greece to you and to our Bulgarian neighbours!
Geia sou re, malaka! Emeis, Woulgares, agapoume Ellada. And we have very similar cousine. But I gotta say, after trying both many times, our moussaka is better :D
My favorite things in Bulgaria were mekitsa (kind of a crispy-chewy fried langosi), and ljutenica/lutenitsa (kind of like zacuska, which is kind of like chunky ajvar). Mekitsa with berry jam and a cappuccino are great for a sweet breakfast.
Ironically, zacuska in Bulgarian literally means breakfast. Bulgarians and Romanians have 10,000+ words which are identical. But they were the same country for many centuries so that can be expected.
Very nice first attempt. But I'm going to tell you a few tips that will elevate your Banitsa game to another level - Fist add 80g neutral oil (sunflower) directly in the egg-yogurt cheesy mixture, than put the phyllo sheets by 2 pcs and the mixture as you did, but directly in a SMALLER tray, and do not roll them, just make it plane as a lasagna. When you finish all the mixture cover with 2 final sheets and cut the whole thing through in rectangular pieces. Mix 100mil fresh milk and 2 more eggs and spill it on top. Finally melt 100g butter and also spill it on top. Than bake it 392 F at the bottom oven rack for 1 hour :) PS: For the Tarator you also need to put some neutral oil (sunflower or grape seed).
My Dad was from western Ukraine and the feta-like Bulgarian sheep-milk cheese, still relatively cheap here in the USA but for a while a real bargain, came the closest to what he grew up with. Great stuff!
@@milaenlommer9732since I started buying it as an adult it has been sold as Bulgarian. But I think that that was after the Communist days ended. Maybe it was sold as Bulgarian even before then.
There are many variations of banitsa, the one you did is called " vita banitsa " which would translate to twisted or smth, since you twist to make it that way, lol. There is also triangle banitsa and probably the most universal one, where you just stuff the sheets and like wrinkle them, idk how to describe that, but imagine you're making a rose out of the sheet, then put them side by side and then spread the filling around
@ANTI-CHEF Hey Jamie, love this episode, looks delicious and perfect for summer! We recently moved to Manhattan: where did you score your Bulgarian yogurt??
Can I just say, Bulgarian yogurt is FANTASTIC! I am not a fan of Greek yogurt (stuff it, personal preference is a thing, y'all), but when I found this at the store... instant LUV! ❤
The Bulgarian yogurt is called кисело мляко, which literally means sour milk :) The taste is sour because it is full of good for your health fermenting bacteria. In Western countries they usually kill most of those and and sugar when making yogurt.
Being of Slovak descent, I am looking forward to when you do Slovakia and the dish “Halushki v Bryndza@.
ปีที่แล้ว
This is so heartwarming, mate. Just wanted to write a comment to Jamie that I'm looking forward all the way to S. Since bryndza might not be available, the version of halušky with stewed sauerkraut w/ onion and fried bacon (a.k.a. strapačky s kapustou) is also pretty nice in cold weather and gives you that healthy dose of vitamin C :) for an added challenge and a nice snack or dessert, there's Bratislavské rožky, or "Bratislava crescents", a delicious buttery dough filled with velvety walnut or poppy seed goodness. There are tons of recipes floating around the Interned but feel free to bump into me if you need any guidance, folks.
That cucumber soup is probably going to be a thing for me this summer. It sounds delicious, and any way for me to avoid turning on the oven is a bonus for me!
Let me tell you how to make Tarator right, because he made it look like vomit ! This is a very delicious and refreshing summer soup. First put the yogurt in the blender, roughly chop the cucumber and put it in the blender, roughly chop the dill and put it in the blender, put 1 or 2 garlic cloves, little bit of water or ice cubes and salt. Blend everything, but don't make it into mush, there should be little pieces of the cucumber. Serve the soup in bowls, take the walnuts and chop them into little pieces and sprinkle them on the soup in each bowl...and the last step is to put couple of drops of extra virgin olive oil in each bowl. Bon Appetit ! :)
You got to my home country! The banitsa looks great, it's my favorite pastry. Sometimes we would eat it with icing sugar, so eating it with honey is a step in the right direction.
You did a very good job!!! As a bulgarian i really had fun watching you try to make those traditional dishes we all know and love and actually measure the ingridients trying not to do anything wrong as if it is possible. Everyone makes these recipes eyebolling everything. And with that said my first attempt at banitza even tho I grew up watching my mom making it on a weekly basis was disastrous - the pastry was falling apart, it came out so dry (but we ate it anyways). And for the difference between our sour milk, white cheese and other milk based products we have our own bacteria that makes that specific taste and consistency sooo we are very touchy when someone calls our cheese feta and the sour milk yogurt 😁😁😁
You should not be calling it "sour milk" in English though because that literally means spoiled milk. Все едно някой да ви каже че в неговата страна ядат развалено/прокиснало мляко. Не е добър буквалният превод! 😅 Bulgarian yogurt IS a type of yogurt, and yes it is different but that doesn't mean it's not yogurt.
@@fff5081 That's right, the literal translation doesn't really sound nice, but the lacto fermentation is what makes our "yogurt" so different, cuz other types of yogurt don't really go through such process. I think that anyone who wants to can get more information and as a disclaimer I will say - we DO NOT eat spoiled yogurt 😁😁😁
hi! this was a delight to watch! here are a couple of optional tips from a lifelong banitsa + tarator eater: tarator alternative: chop the cucumber into small pieces separately and add it to the soup, no blending. it makes for a nicer texture. also the walnuts go on top kind of like croutons. about the banitsa, you don't need to bother with the offset spatula, just sprinkle the filling around, it will be fine! and if you want it a bit less dry you can whisk an egg with like half a cup of milk and pour it over the top before baking. both recipes benefit greatly from a few pinches of salt.
Hey good job cooking bulgarian cuisine you did well for a non bulgarian so all around I would say 10/10 would watch again ( : oh and also try the banitsa with spinach.
Good attempt. But if your filo is not fresh or breaks up just layer it instead of coiling. Same effect. Also for Tarator - you can chop the cucumbers by hand (first into 4 spears and then into sectors 1/4" thick) and just use a wrisk to much everything. You can even add oil (sunflower or olive) and wrisk before adding water.
Looks great! I've done the same thing with a smoothie in the Vitamix. Messy as hell. I expected an introduction when that mixer came out. I haven't seen it before. It's an awesome piece of equipment. Love your channel 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
That tarator needs a lot more liquid, like the full jar of yoghurt + almost equal amount of water. It's a soup after all, not a dip. Also tastes better with a sqeeze of lemon and a dash of olive oil.
I was shocked at how much of a mess you made while cooking and often thought…. How could you not see that spill coming?? Then while I was attempting to cook….. I did the same thing. I think watching your videos has caused me to cook in your slap- happy, spill-often way!😅 Now….. for the blender explosion…. Epic Jamie! Love your wit and bravery!
I laughed so hard at the scene of you pouring the soup into the bowl with surrounding spattered soup mess. Flipping the blender power switch with the lid off is an experience! Been there, done that.
I never have any luck using frozen fillo pastry, I always buy it fresh. I’m sorry but your face when you turned the blender on was shocked and then laughter and then a bit of I’m glad I’m not cleaning up the mess. I love filo and feta with honey but ran out of honey and used pomegranate molasses yummmmmmm
Aside from being deathly allergic to nuts, everything looked delicious! I’m now kind of hoping when you get into the “H’s” you will try Hungarian Meggyleves (Cherry) soup. My late mother-in-law used to make it. Very different.
You can totally skip the nuts. In my household we chop/grate the cucumber, put dill and garlic and a little bit of sunflower oil (but, again you can use olive oil, just a little bit), mesh everything together, then add the youghurt, mesh again and then you can start adding water to make it to your liking of thikness. We like it 50/50, but you can make it more or less watery. Also, the cucmbers and youghurt do take a lot of salt to balance it out as the Bulgarian youghurt is indeed sour.
If you think making your own filo dough is hard, try finding a store-bought filo that is even close to tasty XD Seriously using the tablecloth method you can make filo quite easy. Getting the dough right might take you a year or so of practice but totally worth it ;)
There many variations of banitsa in Bulgaria. One of them is a lazy banitsa. It’s done quick and easy - butter a tray, fill it with crumpled filo leaves, pour the egg-cheese-yogurt mixture over the leaves, sprinkle oil and bake it. I never added baking powder or yogurt to my banitsa but I like the idea. I’m going to try it.
Awesome stuff. If you ever want a simple Bulgarian dish, try kuftete. It's just pork meatballs with regional spices and is similar to Turkish kofte or other similar meatballs from the region. It's very flavorful and hearty.
The Bulgarian pastry looked like a giant cheese danish. It sounded somewhat easy to make but then I looked at the disaster with the pastry Filo dough. Must have fresh Filo dough. I liked the cucumber soup.❤
dice the cucumber into small cubes add them in a bow season with garlic powder black pepper salt dill oil and wine vinegar mix well add the yogurt and if you put 500ml of yogurt you put 300ml water, stir it well then some more serve cold in a bowl if you like add fine chopped walnuts as a garnish on top its an old tradition mainly used to check if the yogurt is good if its not good when you mix it with the walnuts it will turn purple and you know its not okay to eat it
As a Bulgarian, good job, mate! Don't worry everyone's first attempt at banitsa goes In the trash, the important thing is you used authentic ingredients. Also mad respect for doing the coiled kind! We also have a kind of banitsa that you stack like lasagna that is much easier.
Also don't worry, we all use store bought pastry for the last 50 or so years, it's a real bitch to make at home and to roll it so thin. You need real grandma energy to do it.
@@KristianJordanov real grandma energy 🤣
I love the Around the World cooking! Bothe of those dishes look delicious! Another great job!
My favorite kind tbh. Soooooo good. My stepmom also makes banitsa with flour burrito shells for some easy comfort food
Just went googling for Bulgarian yogurt and cheeses, and unfortunately I don't think it's available in my area (I did learn you can get yogurt starters though, so that's interesting).
Any ideas for a decent substitute?
Great to see you back doing your world tour playlist. It’s not what you’re known for, but it’s my most favourite series of yours.
Agreed! Love the world tour episodes.
Mine too
If you only blend the yogurt with the water and a little bit of salt, you will make airian. That's the ultimate drink that goes perfectly with banitsa. Greetings from Bulgaria ❤
Thank you! I get airian at a local store. It was called kefir, but it tastes different than the kefir I've had. So many cultures daily products, too few starter cultures available
@@blondeenotsomuch Real Kefir is made of alcohol fermentation by Kefir mushroom, and it is not common in Bulgaria. Yogurt is milk fermentation by bacteria called Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus... depending their concentration(and type) yogurt will be more or less sour ;)
Is it more common in Lebanon area? It was from a Lebanese store.@@resistbodyy
I’m not Bulgarian, but a few years ago I discovered tikvenik, a wonderful Bulgarian pumpkin filled pastry that has now replaced pumpkin pie on our Thanksgiving table. The construction is much like the banitsa. Anyways, if you revisit Bulgaria or decide you want to shake things up for Thanksgiving, I highly, highly recommend tikvenik!
just googled this and i will absolutely be making this for thanksgiving this year, thank you for the suggestion!
Tikvenik is sweet banitsa. We have many variants of banitsa.
very happy to hear somebody stumbled upon tikvenik! :D It is indeed awesome!
Thank Bobby!!
Bulgaria has such a rich, and beautiful culture. Their orthodox tradition, food, clothing, music (especially the women's choirs). What a fascinating place
Thank you, it makes me happy seeing people around the world appreciating our culture! Yes the women's choirs sometimes have moved me to tears, they're beautiful.
Not to mention the Bulgarian Orthodox Basso Profundo, shakes my soul.
@@heatherwolmarans8287 the orthodox church has a method for installing fog horns into some of their singers, I am convinced.
I was in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 5 years ago. Wonderful place with delicious food and great wines. That cheesy pastry was everywhere, so freekn tasty. It's great you are putting world foods out there. Thank you.
My hometown is Plovdiv 😊 but now i live in US,i miss Plovdiv so much❤
Actually the last time i went back there was 5 years ago 😊
Everyone’s first attempt at banitsa is trash so don’t worry! I was so excited to see you make the foods of my childhood tbh. Tarator is an ESSENTIAL to summertime lunches and my family usually adds ice to it so it’s extra cold and refreshing ❤
I watched all of Jamie and Julia and even tried a few. I am truly enjoying this series as well! Your attitude of "I have no idea what I am doing right now, but let's make the best of it" really makes your videos shine! Love you and all that you do! Never stop cooking and I will never stop watching. You are an inspiration to me to continue trying new things. Thank you!
My dad's Bulgarian and we make banitsa like every 2 weeks, sometimes every week. Takes about 30 minutes to make, and it's delicious both freshly baked and the next day as a breakfast/brunch food. We're lucky that we have plenty of Bulgarian stores nearby, even though we live in western Europe, for those ingredients. If we go on holiday, we always make it on the day before, because it's such a good, savoury snack for roadtrips or plane rides. Some pronunciation tips: the stress in on the first syllable in 'banitsa' and 'sirene'. Bulgarian doesn't really have long vowels, so sirene is pronounced with a short i (as in 'with') followed by two e's that are both short, as in 'pet'.
Ah, the Balkans! We make extremely similar pies to banitsa here in Greece in both sweet and savory versions! I would suggest more filling the next time and in fillings that have yogurt, cheese and eggs, I like to add a little dry mint as well! It cuts through the richness! Wonderful video, as always!
My face lit up when I saw the flag in the thumbnail!! Glad you enjoyed our food ❤🇧🇬
I spent a year in the Balkans some time ago, and I've got to say, cheese is their speciality. At first I thought "oh fresh cheese" but they all taste different and they're SO GOOD. Banitsa and Tarator combine well together and I loved them in summer; satisfying but not heavy on the stomach. Great video as always! These recipes are joining my collection. (^-^)
The hilarity of saying: "Sirene is creamier than feta." is that no feta is alike, and I suspect the same is true of sirene. Each region of feta has its own subtype, the only guarantee is that: a) it is supposed to be made mostly of ewe's milk (between 60% and 100% of the milk must be from ewes), the remainder legally being allowed to be goat's milk; b) and it has to have a fat content of no less than 43% in dry matter, and a maximum humidity of 56%. I am not saying that feta is creamier, though, because what distinguishes sirene (and makes it pretty popular in Greece as well) is that it can be legally made even with cow's milk, which drastically drops the hardness and crumbliness of the cheese (feta with high goat's-milk content is notably quite hard and crumbly, and it is really considered more of a niche version).
A former pastry chef that I know watched Jamie crack his eggs by clacking them together and gave a thumbs-up.
"Do you know how many people I've seen cracking them by banging them on the edge of a bowl or a measuring cup? That's the perfect way to drive pieces of the shell through the membrane and into the egg. I like this guy."
As a Bulgarian and an avid follower of your channel, I have to say Well done, sir! Most foreigners I know love banitsa but are not crazy about tarator :D I'm really glad you like both!
I can't be the only one who gives the thumbs up a click before the video starts....
As a Brit living in Bulgaria I'm loving this episode, Banitsa is my second favourite breakfast
Which is the number one than
@@yovkoyovkov9005 We'll never know
Dude I literally found your channel yesterday and decided to subscribe cause of the Julia child content AND THEN! you make a video about my countries cooking on the same day!??! The level of shock and confusion I hade when this popped in my recommendations. Also I'm glad you enjoyed some of our traditional dishes. You should try making biscuit cake as well (nit for a video of course but for your own pleasure), I think you might like it!
Great to see those two recipes. Not Bulgarian myself, but had a Bulgarian flatmate, and she introduced me to tarator, delicious !!
Then when i went to Bulgaria to visit her last year , I discovered Banitsa !
Very good memories. Love to Bulgaria from France ♥
Thank you for the video. I think many people in the US and Canada might experience this treat for the first time. I live in Germany and I know these foods well because we have a significant Turkish population here and they also make the feta stuffed "Schnecke" (German for "snail") and it is known as "Borek". That term can encompass a few different foods though and it can be with or without meat. The Turkish markets and restaurants here offer a snack that is translated to "cigar" or "cigarette" which is filo dough with sheep's cheese and spinach or parsley rolled and fried crispy. There is another fine thing of Turkish origin called Pogaca. It is so good. It is a yeasted bread roll filled with a creamy (must have high fat content) feta (paneer like the Indian word for cheese) and parsley. It is given an egg wash before baking and strewn with black cumin (Kümmel in German. It is not black sesame. It has Avery particular delicious taste and can be mixed with regular sesame.) I hope you might try one of these sometime since they are very tasty and worth the small effort to make them. I love your channel! Peace❤️
I’m so glad you’re still doing this series, I love it!
I still love that you did Belize, I feel like people forget that country because it’s not one of the main Spanish speaking countries
Ok ,interesting!I don't know what the taste of the Tarator that you made was but this is the first time me seeing this done with a blender!The soup can be eaten at any time of the year,depending on your taste of food,but there are two methods in dealing with the cucumber.If you have the time and the motivation here is how you do it:1 method-chopping the cucumber in a semi square shape like cutting a carrot in small bits,ask Bobbi ,he may know what I mean,2 method(easier by the way)use the biggest shaped holes of a grater to grind the hole cucumber.Good luck and bon appeti!!!
Cools tips! I'm a Brazilian living in Germany and if I find the yoghurt here I'm going to try to make this recipe in some warmer day 😊
I’m am Bulgarian! I’m so excited to see you liking our food.
Tarator is an absolute must in the summer, it's so simple to make and so refreshing, especially if you've spent all morning on the beach and it's so hot that you're too lazy to even eat 😅
I've been living in Bulgaria for the past 4 years and so happy you're doing this!! Can't wait for Portugal (probably in a few years xD) and Senegal where my family is from. From Portugal you definitely need to do something with Bacalhau and just so you know Senegal is the home of the original jollof rice. We call it Thieboudienne. Much love ❤
Bulgarian here: we do use feeling a lot as you adjust as you cook. My mother puts the baking soda in the yogurt and once it has been combined properly she mixes it with the cheese. You can also bult the filo pastry in the dish instead of rolling it on the counter first. 😊 Also we do use sparkling water as well.
I've to Bulgaria twice and the people are wonderful, not to mention the food. I love their banitsa, but have you ever made their stuff grape leaves? They're to die for. I just started watching your channel and I have about five years of great cooking and baking ahead of me. Thank you.
I know this series doesn't get as many views but I love love love it and hope you don't end it
You’ve just put the biggest smile on my face. It’s great to see foods from my home made and getting some love and fame lol the banitsa looks perfect, the tarator seems to be on the thicker side. If you’re ever making the banitsa again we usually have it for breakfast with ayran (a yogurt drink which is basically 1 part thick yogurt and 1 part water), which go really well together.
Yeah, it was great for me too when he made Brazilian "feijoada" (black bean stew), especially since it's one of the major dishes from my state (though not just from my state). He truly nailed it!
Great job with the Banitsa! 💯💯💯💯
Not quite the way we do it but I'll accept. You definitely dont need a blender to make tarator. Cut the cucumber to cubes or use a grater. Few garlic gloves pressed. Then add kiselo mlqko about 400g,500g mix with water untill soup consistency. Dont overdo with cucumbers or water. And at the end drop some olive oil mix it up. As far as the banica i don't blame you for using premade pastry. We do that as well.But your filling is too little. And add more cheese. Also dont crunch the cheese too much so it turns into dust. Regardless i appreciate anyone taking a notice at Bulgarian cuisine.🙂
I've been waiting patiently for your Bulgarian attempt. Well done Jamie! I've never seen such a weird way of making Tarator but hey will accept it. Regarding the banitsa your fillings was a bit runny,less yoghurt and more "sirene" ,no need of baking soda. Personal tip more filling between the filo makes it better and whatever is left in the bowl you can pour it on top and bake it. Love your channel❤
In my family we always use baking soda, so it was accurate to some regions recipe
This video made me want to make this, so I'll definitely remember this advice. Yum!
@@KristianJordanov Same
As a Bulgarian I'm impressed with your video. The banitsa looks amazing. But I need to note that I have never seen such approach for tarator in my life 😅. We usually peel the cucumber and just cut it in small cubes by hand, chop the walnuts by hand and we add some oil, my preferred is a little bit of olive oil. There is no need of the blender as the yogurt will just mix with the water really well with a spoon. But this version looks quite nice and appetising so I might try it as well.
Well done. ❤
Hey, banitsa is difficult, even through if you ask my grandma it is a piece of...well banitsa! Thank you for cooking something from my home country, love your videos!
Every time you do a European country, my 'Fantasy Vacation European Food Tour', which I have been planning for some time now, gets bigger.
The tarator recipe he gave you is not how it is traditionally made, but that’s ok. We don’t use blender to make it. We chop to small pieces, or grate the cucumbers, dill, garlic, walnuts and mix with the yogurt and a lil bit of Sunflower oil. A bit more work than the blender, but less mess in your case ;)
The banitza is usually covered with a towel after taken out of the oven, to soften it. It is also best eaten warm, soon after. You can eat with honey, Bulgarians tend to eat it with onions, cucumbers , etc. or on it’s own, sold as street food.
Well done! Looks great. My partner is Bulgarian and agreed the banitsa looks good! He scoffed at the food processor but he'd definitely use it too 😉😉
Bulgarian food is one of the world's best and most underrated cuisines. So delicious.
To be fair, most is similar to what is in the rest of the Balkans but with our own swing to it.
We in the Balkans are this funny case where you can practically see the similarities and differences, and you have to be dumb to claim there hasn't been some sharing and going about, you know? Love from Greece to you and to our Bulgarian neighbours!
Love to Greece from Bulgaria ❤ We’re lucky to have such a great and influential nation as neighbours 😍
Geia sou re, malaka! Emeis, Woulgares, agapoume Ellada. And we have very similar cousine. But I gotta say, after trying both many times, our moussaka is better :D
My favorite things in Bulgaria were mekitsa (kind of a crispy-chewy fried langosi), and ljutenica/lutenitsa (kind of like zacuska, which is kind of like chunky ajvar). Mekitsa with berry jam and a cappuccino are great for a sweet breakfast.
Ironically, zacuska in Bulgarian literally means breakfast. Bulgarians and Romanians have 10,000+ words which are identical. But they were the same country for many centuries so that can be expected.
Yup, love the banitsa+honey combo, too! Can’t believe you actually thought of it 😀 Great job, Jamie! 🙌
Very nice first attempt. But I'm going to tell you a few tips that will elevate your Banitsa game to another level - Fist add 80g neutral oil (sunflower) directly in the egg-yogurt cheesy mixture, than put the phyllo sheets by 2 pcs and the mixture as you did, but directly in a SMALLER tray, and do not roll them, just make it plane as a lasagna. When you finish all the mixture cover with 2 final sheets and cut the whole thing through in rectangular pieces. Mix 100mil fresh milk and 2 more eggs and spill it on top. Finally melt 100g butter and also spill it on top. Than bake it 392 F at the bottom oven rack for 1 hour :)
PS: For the Tarator you also need to put some neutral oil (sunflower or grape seed).
Jamie!!!!! Can't thank you enough for doing an episode on my home country!! You just keep getting better and better
another video to make my day very happy. now i have two more recipes to attempt, thanks to you. my list keeps growing. keep going, jamie!
My Dad was from western Ukraine and the feta-like Bulgarian sheep-milk cheese, still relatively cheap here in the USA but for a while a real bargain, came the closest to what he grew up with. Great stuff!
Was it marketed as Bulgarian cheese there?
@@milaenlommer9732since I started buying it as an adult it has been sold as Bulgarian. But I think that that was after the Communist days ended. Maybe it was sold as Bulgarian even before then.
Im very impressed by the research you seem to put into these, nice!
There are many variations of banitsa, the one you did is called " vita banitsa " which would translate to twisted or smth, since you twist to make it that way, lol. There is also triangle banitsa and probably the most universal one, where you just stuff the sheets and like wrinkle them, idk how to describe that, but imagine you're making a rose out of the sheet, then put them side by side and then spread the filling around
@ANTI-CHEF Hey Jamie, love this episode, looks delicious and perfect for summer! We recently moved to Manhattan: where did you score your Bulgarian yogurt??
This put a smile on my face :) Being balkan a bosnian one :) we also have chees pie (we call it sirnica)
Can I just say, Bulgarian yogurt is FANTASTIC! I am not a fan of Greek yogurt (stuff it, personal preference is a thing, y'all), but when I found this at the store... instant LUV! ❤
Is it similar in viscosity to Kefir? I absolutely love kefir... (not store bought, I have cultures)
@@coffeeconfessor4747 No, it’s not similar to kefir in any way.
@@milaenlommer9732 Hey thanks for the response. I was just curious as my local grocers don't have it...
I buy it at Sprouts....for cheese making. Its thin and tart!
@@coffeeconfessor4747 It has pro biotics like kefir, but it's way thicker than kefir.
Thank you for sharing our culture in your channel!
The Bulgarian yogurt is called кисело мляко, which literally means sour milk :) The taste is sour because it is full of good for your health fermenting bacteria. In Western countries they usually kill most of those and and sugar when making yogurt.
I could live on banitsa for the rest of my life. It is so nostalgic for me, making it with my Tati as a child🤍
Being of Slovak descent, I am looking forward to when you do Slovakia and the dish “Halushki v Bryndza@.
This is so heartwarming, mate. Just wanted to write a comment to Jamie that I'm looking forward all the way to S. Since bryndza might not be available, the version of halušky with stewed sauerkraut w/ onion and fried bacon (a.k.a. strapačky s kapustou) is also pretty nice in cold weather and gives you that healthy dose of vitamin C :) for an added challenge and a nice snack or dessert, there's Bratislavské rožky, or "Bratislava crescents", a delicious buttery dough filled with velvety walnut or poppy seed goodness. There are tons of recipes floating around the Interned but feel free to bump into me if you need any guidance, folks.
That cucumber soup is probably going to be a thing for me this summer. It sounds delicious, and any way for me to avoid turning on the oven is a bonus for me!
Let me tell you how to make Tarator right, because he made it look like vomit ! This is a very delicious and refreshing summer soup. First put the yogurt in the blender, roughly chop the cucumber and put it in the blender, roughly chop the dill and put it in the blender, put 1 or 2 garlic cloves, little bit of water or ice cubes and salt. Blend everything, but don't make it into mush, there should be little pieces of the cucumber. Serve the soup in bowls, take the walnuts and chop them into little pieces and sprinkle them on the soup in each bowl...and the last step is to put couple of drops of extra virgin olive oil in each bowl. Bon Appetit ! :)
You got to my home country! The banitsa looks great, it's my favorite pastry. Sometimes we would eat it with icing sugar, so eating it with honey is a step in the right direction.
You did a very good job!!! As a bulgarian i really had fun watching you try to make those traditional dishes we all know and love and actually measure the ingridients trying not to do anything wrong as if it is possible. Everyone makes these recipes eyebolling everything. And with that said my first attempt at banitza even tho I grew up watching my mom making it on a weekly basis was disastrous - the pastry was falling apart, it came out so dry (but we ate it anyways). And for the difference between our sour milk, white cheese and other milk based products we have our own bacteria that makes that specific taste and consistency sooo we are very touchy when someone calls our cheese feta and the sour milk yogurt 😁😁😁
You should not be calling it "sour milk" in English though because that literally means spoiled milk. Все едно някой да ви каже че в неговата страна ядат развалено/прокиснало мляко. Не е добър буквалният превод! 😅
Bulgarian yogurt IS a type of yogurt, and yes it is different but that doesn't mean it's not yogurt.
@@fff5081 That's right, the literal translation doesn't really sound nice, but the lacto fermentation is what makes our "yogurt" so different, cuz other types of yogurt don't really go through such process. I think that anyone who wants to can get more information and as a disclaimer I will say - we DO NOT eat spoiled yogurt 😁😁😁
hi! this was a delight to watch! here are a couple of optional tips from a lifelong banitsa + tarator eater:
tarator alternative: chop the cucumber into small pieces separately and add it to the soup, no blending. it makes for a nicer texture. also the walnuts go on top kind of like croutons.
about the banitsa, you don't need to bother with the offset spatula, just sprinkle the filling around, it will be fine! and if you want it a bit less dry you can whisk an egg with like half a cup of milk and pour it over the top before baking.
both recipes benefit greatly from a few pinches of salt.
LOVE YOUR CHANNEL, What a humorous attitude you have toward cooking!!
Keep doing it!! 💕
was suppose to sleep but now I gotta eat something with cheese and watch mr. Anti-Chef cook..!
I love these videos, definitely your underrated series!
Loving this series!!
Good job man, btw tarator is meant to be a bit more watery and also the banitsa is tricky one so dont worry for doing so many attempts
Hi, from Bulgaria, I started watching your videos just recently (in the last 2 weeks), so I am glad I had the video recommended
I put also walnuts..litle olive oil.dill.
Hey good job cooking bulgarian cuisine you did well for a non bulgarian so all around I would say 10/10 would watch again ( : oh and also try the banitsa with spinach.
Love this series, hope you continue it. Silpat under the cutting board, instead of a damp towel = genius!
Good attempt. But if your filo is not fresh or breaks up just layer it instead of coiling. Same effect. Also for Tarator - you can chop the cucumbers by hand (first into 4 spears and then into sectors 1/4" thick) and just use a wrisk to much everything. You can even add oil (sunflower or olive) and wrisk before adding water.
Always a joy, thanks again Look forward to the next one :)
banitsa reminnds me for when my mom would make burek but with cheese so good. we are Bosnian btw
Looks great! I've done the same thing with a smoothie in the Vitamix. Messy as hell. I expected an introduction when that mixer came out. I haven't seen it before. It's an awesome piece of equipment. Love your channel 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I've been a subscriber for a while and I've been waiting for this! I'm from Bulgaria and I'm excited to watch
I'm from Bulgaria! I love your channel and was waiting so much for this video! You did great! Best wishes
That tarator needs a lot more liquid, like the full jar of yoghurt + almost equal amount of water. It's a soup after all, not a dip. Also tastes better with a sqeeze of lemon and a dash of olive oil.
Just when I was missing the early days when Jamie f*cked everything up. Blender! No lid! I'm laughing my arse off.
You fill my heart with happiness!
when I was little, my grandmother used to make me a sweet banista, but with sugar syrup and she syruped it, it was perfect!
I was shocked at how much of a mess you made while cooking and often thought…. How could you not see that spill coming?? Then while I was attempting to cook….. I did the same thing. I think watching your videos has caused me to cook in your slap- happy, spill-often way!😅 Now….. for the blender explosion…. Epic Jamie! Love your wit and bravery!
I go to Bulgaria every year to snowboard and honestly, it’s beautiful!! Epic nature, food, people and drinking! My second home ❤
Looks delicious! Love seeing the dishes from around the world!!
The spirit of Julia Child wasn't impressed with the non French cookery 😂
I'm so sorry, I laughed pretty hard when the blender exploded. Your poor soup!
I laughed so hard at the scene of you pouring the soup into the bowl with surrounding spattered soup mess. Flipping the blender power switch with the lid off is an experience! Been there, done that.
😅
I never have any luck using frozen fillo pastry, I always buy it fresh.
I’m sorry but your face when you turned the blender on was shocked and then laughter and then a bit of I’m glad I’m not cleaning up the mess. I love filo and feta with honey but ran out of honey and used pomegranate molasses yummmmmmm
Aside from being deathly allergic to nuts, everything looked delicious! I’m now kind of hoping when you get into the “H’s” you will try Hungarian Meggyleves (Cherry) soup. My late mother-in-law used to make it. Very different.
You can skip the walnuts and replace with shelled roasted sunflower seeds.
You can totally skip the nuts. In my household we chop/grate the cucumber, put dill and garlic and a little bit of sunflower oil (but, again you can use olive oil, just a little bit), mesh everything together, then add the youghurt, mesh again and then you can start adding water to make it to your liking of thikness. We like it 50/50, but you can make it more or less watery. Also, the cucmbers and youghurt do take a lot of salt to balance it out as the Bulgarian youghurt is indeed sour.
If you think making your own filo dough is hard, try finding a store-bought filo that is even close to tasty XD Seriously using the tablecloth method you can make filo quite easy. Getting the dough right might take you a year or so of practice but totally worth it ;)
There many variations of banitsa in Bulgaria. One of them is a lazy banitsa. It’s done quick and easy - butter a tray, fill it with crumpled filo leaves, pour the egg-cheese-yogurt mixture over the leaves, sprinkle oil and bake it. I never added baking powder or yogurt to my banitsa but I like the idea. I’m going to try it.
I SO LOVE the music on this channel! Plus I love everything else too.
That looks fantastic!
I'm really tempted to make these myself whenever I have the chance, they both look amazing!
This series is so interesting! Waiting for you to get over here to Finland!
Bulgarian yogurt cultures are among the best and the most diverse. Some yield tart cultures, others are milder. Excellent for homemade yogurt makers.
Cheers, Jamie! Тhank you for showing Bulgarian cuisine to the world!
Awesome stuff. If you ever want a simple Bulgarian dish, try kuftete. It's just pork meatballs with regional spices and is similar to Turkish kofte or other similar meatballs from the region. It's very flavorful and hearty.
The Bulgarian pastry looked like a giant cheese danish. It sounded somewhat easy to make but then I looked at the disaster with the pastry Filo dough. Must have fresh Filo dough. I liked the cucumber soup.❤
I just watched this and I have to watch it again!!! It looks fantastic. 🥰
I haven't even watched the video yet and I know it's going to be good! I love watching your videos and this one got me excited!
dice the cucumber into small cubes add them in a bow season with garlic powder black pepper salt dill oil and wine vinegar mix well add the yogurt and if you put 500ml of yogurt you put 300ml water, stir it well then some more serve cold in a bowl if you like add fine chopped walnuts as a garnish on top its an old tradition mainly used to check if the yogurt is good if its not good when you mix it with the walnuts it will turn purple and you know its not okay to eat it
Looks great! I need to check the Phillo in my freezer.
The series i am the most invested in ever 🎉