The Italian Part of One Pilgrim

Passport & Plate - Tarator

Bulgaria | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
Tarator
Recipe for one portion:
300g Bulgarian yogurt
150g cucumbers
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 clove garlic
150ml water
salt
walnuts
dill

 

How to prepare this recipe
Peel the cucumbers and cut them into small cubes. Sprinkle some salt, stir them and put them away. Smash the garlic
and chop it if necessary. Stir the cucumbers with the garlic. Mix the water with the yogurt until you get homogeneous
mixture. Mix all the ingredients so far. Serve with some oil, shredded walnuts and chopped dill.

 

The story behind this recipe
A little boy, having his whole life ahead of him to explore the world and feel the pleasures of it (including the wide variety of tastes and delicious meals) was crushed when the doctors said he had a food allergy. Since I was that baby boy, my organism has not been able to process most of the food products – chicken, pork, dairy products, white flour and many more.
For more than the first seven years of my life my parents have been preparing special bread for me and have been cooking stuff like rice and potatoes in any possible way. Relatives have been sending us diet products from abroad – Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom – as it was rather hard to find such in our country Bulgaria at that time.
Thankfully, I hadn’t initially tasted the “forbidden fruits” so I did not know what I was actually missing. I considered everything I ate the most delicious things in the world. What’s more, I was a little kid and did not even understand my situation.
I clearly remember the day when my mother was out of town and my father was brave enough and decided to make the Bulgarian cold soup called “Tarator” for me. Prior to that moment, I hadn’t known what the milk tasted like. I tried it. It was incredible. Fortunately, I had no problems anymore. Apparently, I had overcome my allergy. The doctors confirmed it. From then on, I have been able to completely delight the endless flavors of the world. I will never forget what did the cold Bulgarian yogurt taste like for the first time on my lips.