it's so weird that I enjoy watching foreigners try/do things that we do every day and are so used to here in Bulgaria

I don't know if anybody from Sofia commented about the thunderstorm, but Sofia is kinda famous for its sudden summer thunderstorms. They happen because the city is located in a valley and surrounded by high mountains on all sides. So it's a regular pattern that in the summer, when the air in the city has been heated by the sun during the day and the cold mountain air comes crashing down in the afternoon, sudden thunderstorms happen. They happen very quickly, they're very harsh and they're not very long (only 20 minutes on average). Some people from Sofia love them. These are also why the city is so green, the vegetation gets enough water during the summer.

I am English and been Living in Sofia for a few years now. I love this country, the city is amazing. The food is incredible. So Glad you liked it here. I consider it more home than London these days.

That soup tarator soup looks and sounds delicious 😋! I'm adding Bulgaria to my list of places to visit. I was raised by my Czech 🇨🇿 grandparents in US and grew up with alot of yummy food , different from other kids in class lololol. Bulgaria looks like a magical place ✨️ gorgeous place and the mountains and blue lakes . Looks like Switzerland, but way way better place.

I just randomly stumbled onto one of your vlogs here in Bulgaria and I've got to say that I really love how you enjoyed yourselves here in our small and humble country and in this video - my hometown. There is something really powerful and eye opening when a foreigner comes to visit your country and you see it through their eyes. It gives you a new perspective and makes you appreciate the country you live in, a lot more. Thank you for visiting and and enjoying Bulgaria. You are welcome anytime.

Bulgarian food blew us away too! We can’t wait to go back 😄🇧🇬

Watching someone tasting boza for the first time always brings a smile on my face. I'm Bulgarian and I love it, but it is rare to see a foreigner who likes it :D

You tried boza , rakia and tarator and you enjoyed it - you are honorary Bulgarian in my eyes 😂 Thank you for trying so many dishes and being so respectful towards our national cusine and our beautiful country ❤️ There are different types of banitza , make sure you try some of them next time you have a chanse. I can recommend the pumpkin and the spinach one.

Texas! Is bulgarian underground graffitti artist.

Да Ви е сладко с българска национална кухня! Това е закуска за шампиони. Баница, боза, мекици, качамак, пататник, палачинки, шопска салата, мусака, кюфте и кебапче и много други, са наша, българска кухня и традиция. Храна за делник и празник! Бъдете здрави и пак елате в България!

Greetings to my Bulgarian neighbours.Being Serbian (from the south), Bulgaria sounds like home, and the most of the food is something what an average Serb would eat on the daily basis.I hope you decide to visit Serbia as well if you didn't.You got my subscription :)

The recipe for tarator is: main ingredients - yogurt diluted with water (some times in the hot summer days, just ice cubes) and cucumber. The added ingredients are walnuts, dill, garlic and sometimes oil, but any of those can be omitted according to preference. There are some good videos how to prepare it. Its the perfect cold summer "soup".

You said Sofia correctly! Really good! Most words have their stress on different syllables than an English native speaker would expect: it’s bozA, bAnitsa, Veliko taRnovo, taratOr. Also, a tip - Bulgarian is entirely phonetic, so you pronounce every letter that is written and it doesn’t really change its sound. So, when a word ends with “e”, it is still pronounced as an “e”, like in “end”. The cheese is called sirene - it’s white brine cheese and it’s the default Bulgarian cheese.

I envy you nobly because you have the honor to walk in the most ancient European lands, where European civilization begins. Bulgaria is so steeped in history and spirituality that you can feel it even in the air.

As a Bulgarian living abroad (and away from these treasures) for most of the year, this series just warmed my heart and reminded me of how happy I am for having been born here. Thank you so so much for researching, exploring and sharing our cousine, it really made me observe and appreciate it in a whole new way! This video was such a pleasure to watch, I loved your reactions. You are always welcome back, Bulgaria has much more to offer!

I'm from Bulgaria and I'm happy for two influencers from another country to come and explore it and see the Bulgarian culture and appreciate the Bulgarian

Reminder that the Balkans region has a lot of shared culture including food: Sarmi/ Sarma and Dolmas/Dolmades are the same with slight regional/national variations from Romania to Bulgaria, to Greece and Turkey. For example Sarma is derived from Turkish and means something like wrapped. Tripe soup in Romanian is called ciorba de burtă ( in Turkish iskembe ciorbasi )and ciorbe are a type of sour soups hence the vinegar. Similarly white brined cheese (mostly from sheep but also cow milk) is typical for Balkans and will be called differently depending on country: Sirene in Bulgrian, Feta in Greek, Telemea in Romanian etc.

04:03 "Sofiiska Banica"....a very good choice....I absolutely love their food (the banica with pumpkin or with apple is amazing) and boza. It is also a very old shop, founded in the early 1950s. Thank you for visiting Sofia and showing it to other people. Stay safe and have an amazing day ❤

Bulgaria has always got a special place in my heart!!

As a Bulgarian, this honestly makes me so happy. You guys are not afraid to try anything. I've watched many people trying Bulgarian foods and snacks and let me tell you, most, if not all were so skeptical at the start and were kind of acting like our food is some alien food or something. Or they wouldn't really do the proper research and would get non-bulgarian foods and snacks. You guys start off with a positive mindset and let that positivity actually make the food tasty to you. Everything you tried was a staple here and every grandma would be jumping from joy looking at you guys appreciating what you eat. Because that's what you'd normally be served in a Bulgarian home. It's what we normally eat. I haven't finished the video yet as I want to share this video with my fiance who's also, like you, from the states. Let me tell you, he also loves our food. So much that his jacket barely fit him at the end of winter hahah.

Banitsa and boza ? A classic but you have to try Bulgarian baba or grandma's homemade ones alot of variations - cheese,cheese and spinach,sorrel, with rice which is called klin , potatoes -Patatnik ,we also use pork suet sometimes especially with leek ,we have with sauerkraut too and Zelnik with mixed greens

Really didn’t know what to expect of Bulgarian food but it looks delicious! Thanks for the tour o Bulgaria 🇧🇬

Most of us grew up with mekica banitsa and boza. Back in the days when i was a kid 90s early 2000 we had banitsa with boza everyday in school and mekitsa every weekend, nobody cared much about healthy food, there were not that much computers and no mobile phones, so everyone was out playing for whole day...no fat kids, no eye problems, everyone was healthy and strong.

Bosa is a non-fermented or slightly fermented drink prepared by boiling cereal mash, then mashing (to remove the bran), diluting it with water and sweetening it with sugar. In addition to taste, boza also has nutritional value, as it contains a lot of carbohydrates (10-17%), proteins, mineral salts, vitamins from the B complex, etc. According to the raw materials used, bosa is either simple - made from rye or wheat or mixed - from millet and rye (wheat) in a ratio of 50:50. Recently, Bulgaria has also produced cocoa - mixed bosa, produced with the addition of cocoa powder. A good-quality bosa should be a uniform colloidal suspension without signs of sedimentation and clarification. Immediately after production, the bosa is unfermented and must contain a minimum of 10% sugar (cocoa - 14.5%). As a result, the bosa can slightly ferment and become carbonated. Commercially available boza must contain a minimum of 8.3% sugar (cocoa - 13.5%) and have a maximum alcohol content of 6%. The boza is exported for sale packed in gummies or in wide-necked bottles closed with plastic or cardboard stoppers. During the winter period, the durability of the boza is up to 48 hours, and during the summer (from May 1 to October 10) - up to 24 hours. During this period, it is not allowed to sell the boza without it being cooled.

You cant go wrong with banitsa/boza combo or mekica for breakfast, or afternoon... or midnight snack when you went out with your buddies specifically for that banitsa haha

Thanks guys for the gorgeous video and for the good words. Wishing you best luck and success for all what you doing. 🤗💖🍀

Just a tip for others that arrive here. These two were obviously in Sofia (the capital) and visited places around the center. Everything you ate is MUCH tastier, if you get it at the right place and the right person. What they tasted is the commercial version with the cheap products (even though the restaurant it expensive, it still orders products in bulk). Home-grown and home-made stuff is much better. I can guarantee that a bulgarian tomato's taste is going to blow your mind, if it's real.. there is nothing like it outside of the balkans.

Hey yall, just randomly stumbled on this video and I'm so happy you enjoyed Sofia, Bulgaria - my hometown. Loved your video, and I have to say, back in 2018 when I was in high school I lived in Dallas, Texas for one year and had the time of my life, so I'm really happy to see you enjoying my home, just like I did yours!

Just a side note about the baniza and the cheese in it. Sometimes it's white cheese (similar to Feta), sometimes it is curd, and sometimes it's a mix. It really depends where you buy the banitza from. Also the drink - boza - in most places it is with sweeteners, but sometimes you can find one or two places that still has one with sugar (which is better in my opinion). So next time when you visit you can try and find one. And because it is fermented - might give a positive on the alcohol check for cars (of course varies from person to person) for DUI. On the blood tests it is usually a false positive, unless you drank a 1L or more :D.

You guys are lovely! I really enjoyed watching your vlogs from Bulgaria and the way you saw the good things that the country has. I love the fact that you liked our food, but I also love how respectful you are towards the architecture and pretty much anything else. I wish you all the best and if you have already left Bulgaria to go on your next adventure I hope you will remember it with good feelings. Feel free to come back anytime, there is much more to see!

Love a good food tour!! Everything looked so yummy and delicious , that veg stew at the end looked incredible! Ashley squeaking up the stairs soaking wet 🥺

This is my favourite travel blog. I usually just watch people visiting Bulgaria from time to time because I find it interesting how others see it. However, I love your approach and vibes and will definitely see many more of your videos. I hope you're having fun!

You guys are awesome! Thank you for appreciating what our country and culture has to offer, we really love when foreign people actually show interest in our culture and cuisines. Just so you know, you can bake you own banitsa quite easily even when outside of Bulgaria, tons of Bulgarian stores abroad where you can get the necessities, and also you can always experiment with flavour to your choosing ( like banitsa with cabbage or meat just as an example ) Wish you all the best

Somebody did their research beforehand, nice! Glad you liked our country and food, be sure to come back and explore more of our nature and other traditional food!!

Really happy that you enjoyed the food in bulgaria that i eat evrey day.I have never seen a tourist enjoying that much bulgarian food .Really happy🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬

Mekitsa and banitsa, you can’t go wrong! We were in Sofia early this year and ate at those same spots. Awesome food tour!

Great vlog! Everything looked sooooo good. Food is such a big part of culture it's a must when traveling.

I'm Bulgarian and I enjoyed watching this vlog so much! :) I love how you guys portrayed it and I'm so happy you had a good time. Thanks for visiting! ^^

HAND'S DOWN THE BEST EDITING OF ANY KZfaqR! Love both of you! We call those delicious yummies Kruffen and make them every Christmas.

Filiq s luteniza! As a bulgarian that is my favorite! You tried someting like it in 19:42 ! It is a slise of bred whit tomato, pepper and aubergine on top! Whit the clasic bulgarian cheese it is purfect!

The real banitsa is made with "извара" or " izvara" in Latin. You hit the most Bulgarian thing in Sofia. Well done, Enjoy the visit in Bulgaria, recommendation to newcomers, try other cities, Sofia is overpopulated and you wont see much of a traditional things. If you have the time try to travel to the middle of Bulgaria, East side, visit small villages, visit mountains and something that is forgotten by the time. There the old people can tell you better than the internet.

Thank you for making a vlog about the delicious food you tried. I loved your descriptions of the tastes and textures, it made me feel like I was right there with you, trying it too. This is a perfect vlog to end your time in Bulgaria, it felt like we were running in the rain right there with you! You really include your audience which makes you Ashley and Jordan my favourite vloggers :-)

Fun fact, the EU tried to stop Bulgarians from making their own rakiq, they saw this is not going to happen, so they are letting it slide as long as it's for personal use. Also some of the grape vines are really for wine :)

Thank you for the wonderful video about our country. Next time, try traditional Bulgarian moussaka. This dish is truly one of our most delicious experiences.

My grandmother used to make me mekitsa when I was little,I never got tired of it!🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬

Also yes, the boza is very divisive, you either love it or hate it, there are many who hate it, many who love it, I'm one of the lovers, to the point where I sometimes use " Boza " as a nickname in games and such, no joke, people presume it's something indian, lmao but yeah :D

Absolutely love the effort and quality put in your vlogs!!you have been so consisten lately guys 🤩

Love that you try all the specialty foods 😋 from a country & even region that you're in. Really adventurous & a major & often overlooked benefit of traveling. Nice !

Thank you for your beautiful videos Greetings from Sofia 🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬

What an amazing content! Very accurate and informative 😍 thank you guys ! ❤ 🇧🇬

Hi folks, thanks for another amazing video! Together with the rest of your Bulgaria series, honestly some of the best vlogging of the country I have seen. Stay as you are engaging, entertaining, informed, and open-minded. Subscribe well deserved :)

Looking forward to your next stop!! Love your videos!

WOW, everything looks so delicious, thanks for sharing 😍🤩

thanks for showing the world our beutiful country! i am happy, that you enjoy the food. My favourite is lutenica!

Thank you for popularizing our beautifull country.

Thanks for the fun day🇧🇬

Good to see people having fun in Bulgaria Sofia ( also as person from Sofia. You are walking so much and jumping from place to place in like no time.) Glad to see you tried banica and tarator.

Cant wait to visit this beautiful city next month hopefully ❤

Thirty years in the US, and among the things I miss most about Bulgaria is the food. I'm surprised you liked boza -- it's unusual to like it unless you grew up with it. It was the most popular thing to drink when I was growing up, and I still love it. Shopska salad is perhaps the most famous food, and it was created by the communist Ministry of Tourism as a "traditional" salad. But everyone loves it, so there's one thing the communists did right (by the way, cheese fondue was created by the Swiss for basically the same reason). Did you not try the mixed grill (kyufte, kebapche, etc) with traditional sides (lyutenitsa, beans)? If you are still in Bulgaria, don't miss that -- it has got to be among the best things to eat.

Thank you, for visiting my country!! I live in Chicago! Bulgarian food is simple and delicious.

Always nice to see two girls enjoying Bulgaria, have fun and care with the drinking ;)

You guys are awesome and fun! Sad to see you go and hope you enjoyed Bulgaria. Subscribed

Excellent choice actually, banitsa and simple mekitsa! You got it!!! There is nothing better :)

Hello, I'm glad you visited my homeland, I hope you enjoyed it here. If you are still here, I recommend Belogradchik Rocks as a destination - it is a very beautiful place. I wish you a wonderful day.

Texas is the nickname of a local graffiti artist. This banitsa spot is one of the best, I used to work 1 block away and eat there at least once a week

The tripe soup (shkembe chorba) is normally quite rich, the vinegar dressing should have a lot of garlic inside, and the chili flakes make it strong. You are supposed to sweat as you are eating it. It's a hangover cure.

I live abroad, but I miss my Sofia ❤️ Thank you for this delicious video 😘

Thank you for coming in Bulgaria.I would like to recommend you to go to our sea in my opinion you will love it but it's a bit crowded in the summer season. Have a nice trip!

You are awesome guys! You deserve way more subscribers!

As a Bulgarian myself, I do enjoy the ocassional foreigner making a review on food, that many have grew up with or are still eating for breakfast like banitsa with bosa and mekitsi(that's the plural form of mekitsa). Here's an idea-you should try принцеса (printsesa /princess) - an open sandwich with minced meat. Many Bulgarians have grown up with this sandwich. And BTW , there are a lot of Bulgarians, who are actually disgusted by boza and they eat their banitsa with ayran or a drink, made from yoghurt and water.

i love you guys.....you are the best,keep doing what you do!!!Greetings from the rose valley of Bulgaria,Kazanlak !!!!

Watching your video made me homesick...I am from Plovdiv originally, live in Fort Collins CO...if you didn't go to Plovdiv yet go visit, you will love it. Great video, thanks.

Boza is essentially cured wheat smoothy and we love it. Happy you had a great time. Not sure if you had Ayryan during your stay - most foreigners are kind of iffy on Boza, but love Ayryan.

i adore my homeland!!! i loved that video

Браво.Thanksfor Filming Sofia

I love your video and your Bulgarian food tour.

We make our own wine AND rakia. Bulgariangrapes are also delicious to eat. The region south of Rila has some exceptional wines. Rakia can be made of any fruit, but most commonly plums and grapes!

I'm glad you enjoyed the food. ❤️ Most of our recipies vary depending on the region and sometimes personal preferences of the chef. As a Bulgarian, the thing I enjoy most is our traditional cheese and it makes huge difference in salads, banitsa and in combinations with other foods like mekitsa. Some people enjoy it with fig jam on toast or even fresh watermelon. The latter examples are not suited for all tastes and are not commercially used. You can purchase yeast and follow a recipe online to make your own. Same applies to yogurt and once you've had a batch with yeast, you can add only a spoonful of yogurt to the fresh milk and put it on "yogurt" functions if you have multicooker, or about 40C for around 8 hours. The veggie stew from the restaurant looks like a modern fresh take on liutenitsa. You can see all sorts of versions in our supermarkets - with/without sugar, with different veggies (base is always tomatoes and pepper but you can add eggplant, onions, top it with parsley), some more fine and homogeneous than others but it is always good on a toast with cheese. It is beloved and dear to us and people tend to make it at home as well. All of the veggies are cooked separately and they are combined with herbs, oil and stirred for hours (if you are making a batch for the entire year like we do) until the majority of the moisture has evaporated. Then the cook can sift it and make it more fine. You can try and experiment with a mixture of liutenitsa and mayo, I swear by it, it is amazing on a toast. About the mushroom soup, the dressing is vinegar and garlic. Some restaurants don't add salt and pepper before serving the soup and it tends to taste extremely bland when you first try it because it is mostly milk and butter or olive oil. The color is coming from sweet red pepper that is quickly combined with the very hot oil and then added to the milk. Then the cook adds the separately boiled intestine or in this case cooked mushroom. Tarator is a favorite and it is easy to make as well. You chop dill, garlic and the cucumber, then add it to yogurt and water. I would say 1:1 yogurt to water ratio is good unless the yogurt is very watery. Then add salt, oil and nuts to taste. The hardest part would be mixing the water and yogurt, would recommend to add water slowly so you don't get yogurt "clumps" if you ever want to try to make it at home. For especially hot summer days, you can pop the water in the fridge beforehand so your tarator is fresh and cold. Let me know if you would like to find out more about other traditional food recipes. Love from Bulgaria 🇧🇬.

Your intuitive understanding about what the food is and how is supposed to be eaten are very spot on! You're right, boza is quite divisive. Not all bulgarians like it and many don't like drinking it at all. I personally find it alright and have it on occasion.

I didn't watched this food video because i watched Luke's Martin video about Turkey. You guys totally rocked Bulgaria and you know more than me.Sadly this year for summer i was unable to come back for summer.Also sea festival is amazing in Lithuania always happens in July.Those mouthwatering foods were really mind blowing.I have tried many cuisines,but i cant find more better than Western or European cuisine.Thai food i rarely eat, even if i am in Thailand.Also Japanese food had enough, probably Chinese too.So basically we in Europe dont add bad stuff in food like in Asia.I know in Us people add so much additives into food,but i would say have many healthy options in Us for eat.Those mekitsas oh yes and that stew,then those other foods simply astonishing.Looking forward your video guys from my hometown country Lithuania.

our Beautuful Bulgaria.

Boza is amazing, there is no other drink like it. Could have it with literally anything. Just a quick note, you should always shake it before opening, so it's well mixed. Glad you enjoyed and your whole trip to Bulgaria.

Guys im really glad how you enjoyed in our country. Youve tried mekitsa , banica but i can say the real breakfast for me is piece of bread with some butter , lyutenitsa and bulgarian cheese on the top - i can eat that all day all the time

As a Bulgarian I am really glad to see foreigners enjoying my country. Next time you visit you should go to Plovdiv. It is one of the best cities in the country.

I am Bulgarian and I live in Lithuania, so what a coincidence ☺️ I loved your videos about Bulgaria and I am happy you enjoyed it. Can’t wait to see the videos from Lithuania. I am sure you will love it here. ❤️

Very well done channel,im learning alot from this debs xx

you make me cry sow many of my favourite things to eat in Bulgaria

Finally someone said Sofia correctly!

I just wanna put that out there, there are many variations of Banitsa, home made especially is usually the most distinguished among all :D

Amazing ...thank you for sharing. my daughter lives in sofia and i am regularly visiting her but still I learned new things from your video Well done

Thanks for loving our food.

If you like banica then go to crossing between street Slavyanska and street Shishman This is my favorite place for banica.

I was delighted to see this gastronomic video and I am really happy that you are not reluctant to try tarator, boza... I really recommend you to try "chushki s oriz", which is green pepper stuffed with rice and it may have some minced meat depending on your choice.

Banitsa is done differently in different parts of the country. I prefer the Sofyiska Banitsa. They've really perfected it. They even do deliveries 1kg Banitsa with a 1L Boza xD

I am amazed at how well prepared you were guys. I live in Sofia and I've never been to two of the restaurants you mentioned. I would love to visit them.

How beautiful are these small towns in east Europe. I'm off to North Macedonia in October for my 60th, I might as well check out Bulgaria too. Your vlog is great and your way of articulation adds a spice on the top.

I’m from Sofia and I’d be glad if someone explain to me the Texas graffiti, too. About the boza, most people like drinking it. It is very common for pregnant ladies to crave it. We joke about how in countries where there isn’t any the local women fulfil this craving.

I'm happy that youtube decided to recommend me your videos haha. So about the boza, its definitely a 50/50 and I'm impressed that you liked it. It's more of a - this is your childhood favorite drink and you love it, and when you taste it for the first time as an adult, more often than not, you don't like it. Also yea, people in the commets said it - shake it before drinking lol. P.S. oh my god I'm going out for mekitsa and banitsa RIGHT NOW

You said beans you can't imagine Bulgarian table without it so many bean dishes- salads,stews,soups,mashed dips , etc.

Yet another great vlog guys!!!! By the way you don’t look silly Ashley, you look amazing!!!! 😊.