Buy & Sell Bulgaria Insight Newsletter

In just three years time, 2011 will see IWD’s Centenary - 100 years of women’s united action for global equality and change. Organizations around the world have already commenced planning for their celebrations.

The first International Women’s Day was launched on 8 March 1911 in Copenhagen by Clara Zetkin, Leader of the’Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany. This followed many years of women’s campaigning dating back to British MP, John Stuart Mill, the first person in Parliament calling for women’s right to vote.

IWD is now an official holiday in Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally !! Make everyday International Women’s Day.

Baba (Grandma) Marta is one of the most observed traditions, and marks the end of winter & the beginning of spring. In the North, the winter seasons are personalised as a family of two brothers Golyam Sechko (Big Axe — January) and Malak Sechko (Small Axe — February) who wreak havoc in people’s lives by stopping all normal activities. Their grandma Marta is known to have a rather volatile temper — laughing one day (and then it’s sunny & warm) and fuming & angry the next (cloudy & cold). On 1 March everyone wears a ‘martenica’. The traditional martenica is a bracelet made of interlaced red and white cotton/wool strands. “Red & white” is the traditional desciption of a healthy person, red is for rosy cheeks, white is for unblemished skin. So by giving you a martenica, people wish you health and prosperity. An interesting note is that in BG psyche health & prosperity are the two sides of the same thing; you can’t have prosperity without health. There are many popular shapes of martenici as two cherries or a man and a woman (called Pizho and Penda respectively), while kids wear plastic figurines that have red and white strands. You do not buy yourself one, you receive from & give to other people (family, friends, colleagues and neighbours), and end up with a lot of bracelets & lapel buttons. The tradition says we should wear them until we see a stork (as a migrating bird, this is the true sign the weather has turned). Undoubtedly, the child delivering fame of the stork plays a role in its selection (the allusion of children as the new spring in the life cycle). Once you see a stork, you tie your martenica to a fruit tree (again, the perpetuation of the idea of harvest & riches). More practically, we wear martenici until about 1 April. This is a unique custom. If you see a person with martenica, he/she is either Bulgarian or received it from a Bulgarian. Ask them!

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine’s Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. The legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”. Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball.

Valentine Traditions

Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on Valentine’s Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they sang was:

Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine —
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.

In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, “You unlock my heart!”

In the middle ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling. In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.

Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.

Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have. If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will once again know how many children you will have.

Ingredients:
Serves 2

2 medium size onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves - chopped
3 medium tomatoes peeled and chopped (or half tin chopped tomatoes)
chopped parsley
2 cleaned and boned mackerels or 1 carp
1/2 cup white wine
2-3 tbsp oil

How to cook:

Sauté the onion in oil for 5 minutes, add the tomatoes, wine, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Spread 1/2 of the sauce evenly in a baking dish. Place the mackerels on top. Cover with the remaining sauce. Preheat oven to 190C and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

13/1/08, by Richard Payne

I had a wonderful festive Xmas and New Year with my friend in Sofia, Varna and my family in UK, which consequently lead to too many festive dinners, Xmas pudding and chocolates. With this behind us, it is time for a dreaded diet session.

On the last day in Sofia I had a meal in a restaurant with my good friend. He refused to believe I can diet to a target weight, so I wrote it down on a 50 Lev note and gave it to him. If I fail to achieve the target weight before next Xmas, he can keep it. This meant I had to keep away from nice restaurants around Varna until I discovered the Le Bacon Restaurant.

Le Bacon Salad Saloon is a new restaurant, recently opened, just before Xmas. As the picture shows: a stylish modern restaurant with comfortable atmosphere and large window facing. It is behind the blue tourist information office on a street which you can’t miss because it has a very attractive red light show outside.

While the menu is in Bulgarian, it offers a very wide selection of salads (about 40 of them) at a reasonable price. It includes pizza and pasta as well. My good friend ordered a pizza while I ordered a custom salad (chicken, bacon, cheese, etc). Taking a great care of my diet, I tried out his pizza slice and yum! yum!…it was most excellent! I was generally surprised how much I enjoyed the well presented fresh salad dish. The menu offers choices of roughly 50 different add-on bits which makes up custom salads of your desire. The wine and drink selection is comprehensive. I had a discussion with the restaurant’s friendly supervisor who promised to provide English menus in a few weeks time.

If you’re bored with the Happy restaurants or other fast food chains, I would certainly recommend this place as it offers much more choices. They’re of good value due to a balanced combination of presentation, price and low energy healthy food, which gives your diet a better chance to succeed!

Rating 9/10

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg spinach
• 60 g butter
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 500 ml milk
• pepper
• salt

How to cook:

Boil the chopped spinach in salted water for about 15-20 minutes, drain, leave to cool for 10-15 minutes, then puree. Heat a pan, melt the butter, add the flour, stir well, fry for 1-2 minutes, then add the pureed spinach. Add the milk and 200 ml of the water in which the spinach was cooked. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and season with pepper.

Serve with croutons (bread cubes fried in butter).

In Captain Cook, you can enjoy one of the best sea specialties offered in Bulgaria. The menu includes over 50 kinds of fish and dishes for those who are fond of the healthy cuisine. Only here you can taste sea delicacies from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and from the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans also. In the nice atmosphere of Captain Cook you will always feel like desired and precious quests, because you’ll be welcomed with a smile and served professionally and the dishes you order will be prepared right in front of your eyes in the special “show-kitchens”. For all connoisseurs of seafoods, Captain Cook offers always-fresh meals, which would satisfy the most refined taste.

Rating: 9/10

About 30 000 fans gathered at Alexander Batenberg Square Friday night under pouring rain for the concert of pop princess Rihanna. The superstar sang her top hit Umbrella together with all the exalted fans trying to find some cover in the shower. Rihanna also performed her hits Pon De Replay, S.O.S, Good Girl Gone Bad, Unfaithful, Don’t stop the music, and Shut Up.

The show in Sofia was a part of the European tour of the star, promoting her album Good Girl Gone Bad. The event at Batenberg square was entry-free, organized by Bulgaria’s third mobile operator Vivatel. Rihanna was accompanied by a team of 37 people, and protected by more than 300 guards during her stay in Bulgaria.

The 19-year-old star made her big break-through at the age of 15 when one of her friends introduced her to music producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in singer’s home Barbados. Currently, the singer is working with great stars such as Justin Timberlake and the hit producer Timbaland.

Eurolink Investment Group joins in wishing you a Happy Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year!

• An old wives’ tale says that bread baked on Christmas Eve will never go mouldy.

• At midnight, a certain rose slowly opens and re-closes its petals to salute the birthday of Jesus.

• Also at midnight, all the sheep in the fields turn and bow towards the East.

Father Christmas once dropped some gold coins while coming down the chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate and been lost if they hadn’t landed in a stocking that had been hung out to dry. Since that time children have continued to hang out stockings in hopes of finding them filled with gifts.

It is not possible to stay indifferent and not to feel the Bulgarian spirit and music, while you are there, to feel the way of life and traditions from the ancient time. There’s nothing better than joining the ring dances with the Nashenci Orchestra live music and having a hearty meal, prepared like….in our memories!!! Nashenci - a rich cuisine, strong brandy, heroic spirit, haidouk songs!

Rating: 8/10

The correct name of this dish in Bulgarian is actually yaitsa po panagyurski (say it, “yite-SA po pan-a-GYOOR-ski”), but learning to say the name correctly so that you can serve the dish without resorting to cue cards may take longer than the cooking time. Then again, the town for which the dish is named is the tongue-twisting Panagyurishte. If you were to cheat and call the dish “poached eggs with yogurt”, I don’t think your guests would complain, particularly after trying it.

What do you need:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup strained yogurt
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 pinch of paprika
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)

How to make it:

Add the vinegar and a pinch of salt to about 1 liter (1 quart) of boiling water. Break the eggs directly into the water. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how runny you like your eggs. Strain the eggs and set them aside to cool. Stir the yogurt together with the crushed garlic and very little salt. Pour it over the eggs. Meanwhile, heat the oil and sprinkle the paprika on top, but be careful not to burn it. Immediately pour the oil over the yogurt and serve. Enjoy!

The restaurant above, called “Sold bride”, is located in the registry office’s building, an old, authentic Bulgarian house at 1 Krali Marko Str. The restaurant is very cozy, there is a huge selection of wine – the bottles are lined up on a wall and you choose from there, as they would not fit on a menu. The staff is always ready to help with the wine choice. The food is very good; the menu is varied, ranging from typical Bulgarian dishes to Chinese cuisine. There are 2 halls, one which is cosier and the other furnished in an aristocratic style.

Rating: 8/10

Hollywood star Melanie Griffith is expected to accompany her husband Antonio Banderas during his stay in Sofia, where he will take part in a new movie, called “The Code”. The couple arrived in Bulgaria’s capital in the middle of October, reports say and Banderas will stay in Bulgaria until the end of the shooting in December.

The other star that is to participate in the crime drama is Morgan Freeman, who is also to land in Bulgaria at that time.

The shooting of the movie, which is a production of the US moviemaker Nu Image, will already started in New York. A total of 12 Bulgarian actors are to play together with the two Hollywood stars, Deyan Donkov, Zahari Baharov and Velizar Binev among them. The movie will be directed by Mimi Leder (”The Peacemaker”, “Pilot”, “The Tunnel”).

Oscar winner Freeman and the star from “Desperado” Banderas will play the roles of master jewellery thieves, whose new aim are Faberge eggs, owned by a NY collector of Russian origin.

Ingredients for 3-4 portions:

- 3 medium tomatoes
- 3 red peppers
- 1 onion
- 2-3 tbs. of vegetable oil
- 200 gr. of feta cheese
- 3 eggs
- chopped parsley
- salt and pepper

How to cook:
Cut the ingredients into small pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan and put the onions, leaving them to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the peppers and the tomatoes and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add the cheese and eggs and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. Delicious with some toast.

Recommended by Richard Payne, client and good friend of Eurolink

The restaurant is situated not far from the centre and a few minutes’ walk from Caesar’s Casino. It is not easy to find, since the building is in traditional style and is tucked away by other buildings. I was passing by and was curious with the outdoor table layout and the BBQ at the back, so I cautiously walked in and made a wonderful discovery! It is a full fledge restaurant of two storeys, arranged in wonderful Bulgarian traditional style as the picture above.

As I walked in the central area, there was a large copper chimney with indoor BBQ grill with the bar at one side, but what amazed me was the wonderful collection of wines - lots of them!!! I would assume that indoor BBQ should be very popular in the winter.

Another point goes to the waitress who was very friendly while taking me to my table and happily serving my richly deserved desires. The meal was also very well cooked and juicy, and of very good value (6 Euros) - I can’t wait to try out some lamb meal next time!

For those wishing to experience traditional Bulgarian meal in Varna, I would certainly recommend this place - it is the perfect way to impress yourself and your friends.

Rating 9/10

By Sebastian Kinsman, Ex-partner
of Chris Violaris, MD of Buy & Sell Bulgaria

On the sultry evening of August 8, 2007, our daughter Lara Daphnie Kinsman was christened by the Bishop of Varna and Veliki Preslav, Metropolitan Kyrill, Member of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, at Varna’s Assumption Cathedral.

It was a considerable event. Friends arrived in Varna from across Bulgaria. Victoria’s mother, Valentina, and sister Anya, travelled from Kishiniev in Moldova, and my brother Ivan flew in with his family from Poland. Soderoula, Chris Violaris’s sister, had gone to great efforts to get every detail right for the elaborate ceremony. Chris Violaris also went to some expense buying the various paraphernalia at a special Orthodox Christening shop in Athens. There was a men’s choir to add to the richness of the occasion.

Anyway, Lara Daphne was eventually well and truly dunked in the giant copper bowl filled with water mixed with olive oil. She cried her eyes out, was dressed, and we moved on to the smart Horizont Restaurant for dinner. This took place on the terrace overlooking the Black Sea. This was a hell of a spread: shopska salad with rakia, lavrak, a local white-fleshed fish, accompanied by white wine produced from the grapes grown on “Marina Hills”, and dessert.

Everything had gone perfectly from the moment we rolled up at the Cathedral in Chris Violaris’s Rolls Royce Silver Phantom until the moment Alex, Lara’s half-brother, banged his head into a plate glass window at the restaurant, causing a bloody gash. And everything went perfectly again after a swift visit to the local Accident and Emergency Hospital where he was stitched up.

Lara Daphne Kinsman has quite exotic origins: English father, Moldovian mother - the beautiful Victoria, whose bright blue eyes she has inherited, Bulgarian half-brother, and now she has a Cypriot Godfather.

Clockwise from left to right: Sebastian, Chris, Chris’s wife Assia, Chris’s daughter Stephanie, Lara’s half-brother Alex and Victoria with Lara Daphne