Bulgaria’s diverse cuisine exposed to Greek and Turkish influence accounts for my quite demanding palate. Local dishes such as: kavarma - kebap with pork meat in a clay pot, salads with white cheese rich in spices and dense yoghurt in which you can carve with a knife, bring thousands of foreign tourists to my native country. However, moving to a top culinary destination like Italy has been a real challenge. Italy is the only place in the world where you can be awakened in the morning by scents from the nearby bakery or coffee shop tickling all your senses. La dolce vita starts with a sweet breakfast – some milk and biscuits or a croissant with chocolate filling. At lunch Italians from the south of Italy prepare pasta for 15 people in an enormous casserole and you can hear the sound coming out from their forks and spoons three floors above their kitchen. The smell of the sizzling garlic, tomato sauce and tuna fish lingers in the corridors of the building, inviting all neighbors to greet the cook. A pizzeria in Italy is a gourmet temple where the customer is the king. You don’t need any flashy advertisement to find one for dinner; your nose knows the way. Take a bite of pizza Quattro Stagioni and close your eyes. Imagine the Italian cook delicately spreading the tomato sauce over the pizza dough as if he is an artist working on his picture. He puts a verdant basil leaf in the center which must be the cherry on the cake. Then he adds his signature on his masterpiece with extra virgin oil. His palette is comprised of the colors of olives, mushrooms, artichokes and prosciutto crudo. The latter he puts standing, mimicking a mountain chain, thus ensuring some air enters in when it is in the oven. Then he decorates the pizza with mozzarella covering all its borders to secure a crispy crust. Any dessert?
Ice-cream, chocolate or tiramisu - you are in the right place. Buon appetito!
