Bulgarian Yogurt

In 1905 a Bulgarian medical student named Stamen Grigorov identified the bacterium responsible for the country's yogurt, and it was named Lactobacillus bulgaricus in the country's honour, which Bulgarians have never let anyone forget. Working with the local Streptococcus, it produces a yogurt that is noticeably sharper, thicker and more sour than western versions, and it is eaten constantly: plain with honey and walnuts, thinned and salted into ayran to drink, strained thick as snezhanka salad with cucumber and dill, and above all as tarator, the cold summer soup of yogurt, cucumber, garlic, dill and crushed walnuts that appears on every table from June onwards. Village dairies still make it in clay pots, and the difference from a supermarket tub is immediately obvious.

What's there

• Tarator - the cold yogurt and cucumber soup eaten all summer.
• Snezhanka - the thick strained yogurt salad with cucumber, garlic and dill.
• Ayran - the salted yogurt drink served with grilled meat.
• Village dairies - yogurt set in clay pots, sold at markets.

When to go

Year-round, though tarator belongs to the hot months and appears from around June to September. Markets in any town sell village yogurt in the mornings. Grigorov's museum in the village of Studen Izvor is for the genuinely committed.

What to expect

It is much more sour than most visitors expect and the first spoonful can be a surprise; it is meant to be. Supermarket brands vary widely, and village dairy yogurt from a market is a different product entirely. Tarator with too much garlic is a real risk and stays with you for the rest of the day.

Nearby

Every market and mehana in the country; Sofia's Central Market Hall is a good starting point.