Food

Local Produce: The Bulgarian villagers live for and from their vegetable plots, smallholdings and orchards. Our immediate Bulgarian neighbours, Maria and Atanos, also kept goats, chickens and bees, sometimes handing gifts of tomatoes, eggs and plums over the boundary fence! Ivan, another doyen of Biser, called regularly at the campsite in his aged Lada, leaving giant watermelons, sweet melons, juicy peaches and nectarines, piles of apples and pears, luscious grapes, plentiful cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers … All his own produce, generously given to share among the campers.

The campsite itself had a small vegetable plot, from which we gleaned corn cobs, cherry tomatoes, seedless watermelons, carrots and parsnips, though it is now being concreted to provide some hard-standing pitches – a more lucrative crop, perhaps!

In addition to all this, we enjoyed potatoes and other produce from the gardens of our new friends, John & Carol, as well as food grown at the home of the campsite owners, Martin & Shirley (who deserve special mention for their marrows!)

Given (literally) all this free-range harvest, the only fruit or vegetables we bought in 3 months was bananas!

Shopping: Small supermarkets supply basic foodstuffs, though they lack the variety and quality that West Europeans take for granted. Butchers are thin on the ground (as are the animals!) The cheese available is either 'sirene', a white cheese like Greek feta, often grated over salads or chips, or 'kaskaval', a bland yellow variety. Tea bags are hard to find, as Bulgarians drink herbal or flower teas, but Nescafe have done a good marketing job for sales of instant coffee.

There is a handy mini-market in Biser village, selling bread, long-life milk, bottled water, alcohol and a few other essentials. The nearest supermarket is about 6 miles away, at the junction in Harmanli. It has a meat counter and an outdoor stall for hot roasted chickens straight off the spit (recommended!) The town also has a Saturday morning market, with a variety of local produce, nuts, honey, sunflower seeds, herbs and pulses - as well as non-food goods and clothing.

More serious food shopping means a 50-mile round trip to 'Kaufland' hypermarket in Haskovo, though rumour has it that Harmanli may soon have a large 'Billa' supermarket. Chains like Tesco, Lidl or French Carrefour have yet to reach Bulgaria, though you will find them over the border in Turkish Edirne or Greek Orestiada.    

Cooking: With so much fresh produce, our summer diet was based on salads, fruit and vegetables – ideal for the hot climate. We had stocked up with tinned meat and fish before arriving in Bulgaria, and Margaret baked our bread, puddings and cakes. Our small freezer is now packed with tomato soup and stewed apples, our lockers groaning with plum jam. But how do you preserve watermelons?

Dining Out: Even the smallest village has at least one café/bar selling coffee, soft drinks and hard liquor. Prices are very low, at about 1 lev (€0.50) for a milky coffee. In Biser, the mini-market serves drinks, while the Central Bar also has snacks (like the ubiquitous 'kufte' burgers). There are also 2 simple restaurants open in the evening, with a limited menu (salad, chips, grilled or fried meat). We did join a party at Yanko's Restaurant once, but preferred home-cooking.

A wider variety of food is available along the highway, at the 24-hour 'Bolarka' Snack Bar in Lyubimets. Catering for truckers, it serves good pizzas, ham & eggs, chips and grills, complete with WiFi internet and an ATM cash machine.

In Harmanli, we occasionally sat outside the café near the post office to eat pizza or pasta, or lunched at Martin's favourite: the Tennis Club, behind the police station. For a really good lunch out, we had to travel to Haskovo, where there is an excellent Italian Restaurant in the centre (opposite the kids' bouncy castle slide).

Wine: This area of Bulgaria around Haskovo and Harmanli is a vine-growing region, specialising in robust reds like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The EU is funding even more vineyards in the Sakar Hills and there are wineries in and near Kolarovo. After a short tour of the smaller winery, Margaret bought a flagon of the local rosé and declared it very smooth.