【保加利亞・食】奇怪嗎？保加利亞小黃瓜優格冷湯 /【Eat in Bulgaria】Odd? Bulgarian Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup

巴士駛入蘇菲亞的巴士站
Getting into the bus station in Sofia, Bulgaria

跨越馬其頓和保加利亞的邊界後，沿途是一畝又一畝的向日葵田還有無止境的綠意及湖泊，然後日落時分，僅乘載著六個人的巴士駛入保加利亞首都的車站。我不太確定之前想像的保加利亞究竟是什麼樣子，也許記憶停格在哈利波特中比爾研究龍的地方，又或是過往曾耳聞的保加利亞玫瑰谷。總而言之，短短幾天後，它的首都蘇菲亞在我心裡成了有美麗雲朵和小黃瓜優格冷湯的城市。
After crossing the border of Macedonia and Bulgaria, acres of sunflower fields, lakes, and endless greens appeared along the way. Then, the bus with only 6 of us arrived the capital city of Bulgaria at sunset. I wasn't sure what images I had in my mind for Bulgaria. Perhaps, it was where Bill did his dragon research in Harry Potter or the famous rose valley. Anyways, after a few days, its capital Sofia has become a city that has beautiful clouds and cold yogurt cucumber soup - Tarator.

Salad made by my host
我的沙發主做的沙拉

到Sofia的第一個晚上，我跟沙發主Miro去超市採購，Miro買了一大袋小黃瓜還有一大袋番茄，對我是說一大袋裝得滿滿滿滿的，沒有在開玩笑的多。回到家之後他弄了一大盆沙拉，裡面有好多好多小黃瓜跟番茄，然後烤了油滋滋又發亮的保加利亞香腸。我問他，小黃瓜是很常被用在保加利亞的菜餚裡嗎？Miro說，「我也不太確定欸，可是我就是很愛吃小黃瓜。」
The first night in Sofia, I went to supermarket with my couchsurfing host Miro. Miro bought bags of cucumbers and tomatoes. Yap I meant huge plastic bags packed with those! When we got home, he made us a huge bowl of salad mixed with lots of cucumber and tomatoes, then baked some delicious Bulgarian sausages! I asked him if cucumber is a stable in Bulgarian cuisine, he said he wasn't sure, but he just loves to eat cucumber.

Supa Star小黃瓜優格冷湯samples
Cold cucumber yogurt soup at Supa Star

結果隔天我去參加由Balkan Bites主辦的免費food tour時，第一站Supa Star端出的就是小黃瓜優格冷湯啊！又鹹又冷又酸但意外好吃的小黃瓜優格冷湯啊！聽起來超怪可是真的超適合在保加利亞乾熱的夏日飲用的，非常的消暑，是說不上來的滋味，加上我本身其實就是會直接把小黃瓜切片來吃的人 ... 所以我剛上網查了小黃瓜優格冷湯裡面到底裝了什麼：
However, the next day I went on a free walking tour with Balkan Bites, this Hungarian cold cucumber yogurt soup provided by Supa Star was the first thing I had! It was salty, cold, and sour all at the same time, but it was surprisingly tasty and refreshing!! I know the combination could sound weird, but it was perfect for the dry, hot Bulgarian summer. Plus, I am the kind of person who would eat sliced cucumber as snack, so I googled how it's made:

兩根小黃瓜（約500克）、原味無糖優格（約500克）、3~4瓣蒜頭（保加利亞菜裡也很愛放蒜）（是要對付吸血鬼嗎？）（想太多）再依照個人喜好加入蒔蘿和核桃。優格要攪拌到變稀，如果覺得不夠稀也可以再加冰水或冰塊，把上述的食材通通丟進去攪拌再加上一小匙鹽跟油就完成了。
Mix 2 diced cucumbers (500g) and Plain yogurt (500g) Then, add 3~4 diced garlic cloves (Bulgarians also love their garlic according to my food tour guide .. maybe it's for fighting vampires? Okay just ignore my nonsense.) You can add some dill as well as walnut depending on your personal taste. Stir everything together with a teaspoon of salt and oil. You can add some water or ice cube if the yogurt is not watery enough. It is this simple :)

蒔蘿在台灣不好找，所以我就沒放了，但喝起來還是跟在保加利亞喝到的一樣 :) 其實，巴爾幹半島的飲食文化大都很像，又冷又水的鹹優格是在鄂圖曼帝國時期從土耳其傳過來的，我在馬其頓也有喝到，但我在保加利亞時應該真的把我今年食用小黃瓜的扣打都用光了吧 ...。
It was difficult to find dill in Taiwan, so I just skipped it, but it still tasted just like how it was in Sofia :) In fact, Balkan countries all have very similar food culture. For example, this cold and watery salty yogurt came from Turkey during the Ottoman Empire. I had it in the Bazaar in Macedonia as well, but I think really fulfilled all my cucumber needs for 2015 in Bulgaria ... :P

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