Shopska salad

Shopska salad

A Bulgarian Shopska salad
Origin
Place of origin	Bulgaria
Region or state	Bulgaria
Details
Type	Salad
Main ingredient(s)	Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, sirene, parsley

Shopska salad, also known as Bulgarian salad (Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Serbian: Шопска салата; Croatian: Šopska salata; Romanian: Salata bulgărească; Czech: Šopský salát; Albanian: Salat Shope; Hungarian: Sopszka saláta), is a traditional Bulgarian cold salad popular throughout the Balkans and Central Europe. It is made from tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, raw or roasted peppers, sirene (white brine cheese), and parsley.

The vegetables are usually diced and salted, followed by a light dressing of sunflower oil or olive oil, which are occasionally complemented by vinegar. The addition of vinegar contributes, however, to the sour flavour that the tomatoes impart. In restaurants, the dressings are provided separately. Lastly, the vegetables are covered in a thick layer of grated or diced sirene cheese. This salad is often consumed as an appetiser with rakia.

Shopska salad derives its name from the region called Shopluk. It is a product of early socialism in Bulgaria, the only survivor of 5-6 recipes, written in the late 1950s, whose aim was to impress the foreigners to visit the country. At the time, leading chefs from Balkanturist invented Dobrujan, Macedonian, Thracian and several other salads with similar names, which were associated with different ethnographical regions. It turns out that only the Shoppska salad survived because its unique combination of flavors.

See also

• Greek salad, a similar salad in Greek cuisine
• Serbian salad
• Çoban salatası, a similar salad in Turkish cuisine
• List of salads