Gastro tour “Green cheese, krokmach and Teteven fish – come, taste!”

In the past, thousands of flocks of sheep were raised in the Teteven Balkans. The inhabitants of the Teteven village of Cherni Vit have made cheese from their milk, which they have stored in wooden vessels. When the tub opened in the spring, mold formed when it interacted with the cool moist air. In the 1970s, wooden vessels have been replaced by plastic cans, and natural mold cheese almost disappeared. In 2007, experts from the international organization Slow Food organize an expedition to searching for the former green cheese. They came across a piece the size of a matchbox, forgotten in an old wooden vessel. They present green cheese from Cherni Vit at the World Cheese Fair in the Italian city of Bra.

Thus, the Bulgarian green cheese is rediscovered and highly valued, thanks to its quality and uniqueness. It is the focus of our gastro tour, as the green molded cheese is not an industrial product and cannot be found in stores. We will meet with its producers and will taste different types of it in a combination with proper wines.

The recipe for the mythical dish from the Bulgarian North – krokmach, is preserved in the Lukovit region. It is made from pure sheep’s milk only in the period August-September when the milk is thickest. We will meet with the producers of the krokmach. Lukovit is the only place in the world where early in the morning the probiotic Bulgarian sourdough for the traditional yogurt was extracted from the dew of the grasses. Dairies in the past were built in the mountains, not only because the cattle were there, but because the leaven was the purest and most useful there.

We will try Balkan trout and the famous for this region fish soup called Teteven brine. The dessert, of course, will be local halva. Its production began in the early nineteenth century and it has long served as food for the local population. Sesame halva, which is produced here, is white in color. In addition to sesame halva, tahini halva is also produced, which is brown and is made from sunflower seeds.

We will walk around Teteven and to the beautiful Stone Houses near Karlukovo. We will also visit the Prohodna Cave, known as God’s Eyes, where many films have been shot. We will go to the beautiful Glozhene waterfall, we will also visit the Glozhene monastery, perched on an inaccessible rock – higher and older than the monastery complex Meteora in Greece.

What to expect?

Gastro tour “Green cheese, krokmach, and Teteven fish – come, taste!” is an exciting culinary meeting with the only green mold cheese in the Balkans, with the mythical dairy specialty krokmach, with the centuries-old recipe for apple halva, with the spicy Teteven fish soup, and fresh mountain trout.

Journey to the past of Bulgaria to the majestic Glozhene Monastery, perched on an inaccessible rock – older and higher than the monastery complex Meteora in Greece, through the heroic history of Teteven, to the times when the leaven for Bulgarian yogurt was collected early in the morning from the dew on the meadows near Lukovit, until almost 70 million years ago, when the Prohodna cave, known as the Eyes of God, appeared. It is the longest cave tunnel in the country, naturally lit by huge entrances and natural openings in the ceiling – “windows”. A number of films have been shot here. We will visit also the rock churches and the bizarre stone houses near Karlukovo and Lukovit, and the Glozhene waterfall.

We will meet the people and stories behind: