Bulgaria’s Gift to the World – Lactobacillus Bulgaricum

I’ll come clean right from the get-go here and tell you that prior to a couple of months ago my ignorance on the subject of Bulgaria was almost absolute. If pressed, I could say that it was in Eastern Europe and had once been part of the Eastern Soviet Bloc – and that was really all I had. Happily, thanks to an invitation from the Bulgarian Dairy Association (sponsored by the EU) that gaping hole in my education has been repaired and I’ve been blessed to visit and get to know a beautiful country with a fabulous food story to tell.

Bulgaria has a modern and efficient dairy industry and is largely known for it’s manufacture of white brined cheese (what we would know as feta), yoghurt and a yellow cheese called Kashkaval. When Bulgarians speak of cheese they are referring specifically to the white brined variety which they are absolutely crazy about. They are high quality manufacturers of this cheese and export it around the world. Bulgarian yoghurt is probably the most pleasant plain yoghurt I have ever eaten, having a notably mild flavour without the strong, sharp, tang that other plain yoghurts possess. While it is possible to export it, they have a growing business and interest exporting just one distinctive component of it and, given what I now know about it, I can see why.

I imagine, like me, that most of you have some yoghurt in your fridge, but I’m wondering if many of you are aware of some of the historical facts about this healthy dairy product – I sure wasn’t. While the specific origins of this functional food are shrouded in the dusts of millenia, some cultures are known to have been consuming it as a regular part of their diet since ancient times.  Bulgarians, in particular, have been noted for their longstanding tradition of producing distinctively high quality yoghurt and a significant consumption, per capita, of it. One of the (innumerable) other things of which I was unaware  is the fact that Bulgarians are thought to be particularly long-lived and that early last century this came to be linked with their yoghurt-eating habits and the peculiar properties of their own Lactobacillus Bulgaricum.

Fresh, plain yoghurt contains probiotics or live cultures, but L. Bulgaricum is considered to be far and away the most effective of these when it comes to breaking down lactose in the gut, populating the gut with good bacteria and having an inhibiting effect on the development of harmful gut bacteria. Many studies have found it to be beneficial in digestive, alimentary and inflammative joint conditions, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, with recent studies in Spain showing positive results on the immune system. I was fortunate enough to meet one of the Professors of Milk and Milk Production Technology from the Bulgarian Academy of Science in Sofia who spoke to us about the extraordinary properties of L. Bulgaricum. Prof. Mariya Baltadzhieva also has firm beliefs about it’s role in slowing down the aging process – views that seemed completely validated to me when I discovered that this remarkable woman whom I had assumed to be in her late 60’s was in fact 82.

Bulgarians also consume enormous quantities of their beloved white cheese on a daily basis – as did I whilst there, mostly grated over their most popular salad, the Shopska Salad. This salad is always served as a side dish at either lunch or dinner (or both) and consists simply of fresh, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and parsley covered with a generous layer of grated white cheese. Grating the cheese, unlike cubing it as we tend to do in a salad, means that it mingles with each mouthful and if one takes the added step of drizzling the salad with a little good quality olive oil it almost becomes similar to a creamy dressing. I’d urge you to give this serving idea a try –  I’m a convert and it’s how I’ll be using white cheese in the future.

As far as I know* (see comments below) we can’t get any L. Bulgaricum yoghurt here in Australia yet – and I think that’s a bit of a shame because we are missing out on a significant functional food. Like sourdough yeasts, the lacto-bacillus localises quite quickly losing it’s unique properties so batches of the yoghurt have to be regularly re-started with imported dried L. Bulgaricum starter. It seems to me there’s a great point-of-difference marketing opportunity just hanging there for an entrepreneurial Australian dairy (learn more about it here). Just sayin’.

Whilst in Bulgaria, Lambs’ Ears and Honey was a guest of the Bulgarian Dairy Association.

Edited 3 October, 2013.

1. 

   celia
   02/10/2013

   I’m addicted to Bulgarian feta (as we know it here) – and keep it in the fridge at all times. It’s much better than the expensive Persian versions – we soak it overnight in filtered water, then marinated it in oil, rosemary and garlic. It’s absolutely delicious on almost everything! How exciting that you got to see it being made! 🙂

2. 

   Lizzy (Good Things)
   03/10/2013

   Amanda, what a wonderful opportunity and such an interesting story. 82, my goodness, that is awesome… Celia, thanks for the tip… you girls are the best!

3. 

   Kate
   03/10/2013

   Fabulous story – confirms the fact that we learn something new everyday. We eat loads of yogurt in this house so this is fascinating for me to hear about.

4. 

   Hotly Spiced
   03/10/2013

   What an interesting time to be sure. I, too, have never really had Bulgaria on my mind and know little about it apart from the USSR striping it of its independence. That woman certainly looks good for her age. How did you get on with the language barrier? Are they quite fluent in English? xx

5. 

   Amanda McInerney
   03/10/2013

   Charlie – some of the younger people have taught themselves English from the TV, but the older folk have none at all.

6. 

   Mimi
   03/10/2013

   Fantastic! I used to buy Bulgarian feta but didn’t know the story behind it!

7. 

   Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
   03/10/2013

   Awww, your post brings back such beautiful memories of my visits to Bulgaria. When I saw the photo of Shopska Salad (with a mountain top of “white cheese”) I instantly got hungry. I have a Bulgarian cookbook in English with two recipes for shopska salad. One is called shopska salad and the other is shopska salad another way. LOL

   My friends from Bulgaria all learned English from American chatrooms so they can write much better than they can speak because they don’t practice. After about 24 hours they were all talking like natives.

8. 

   Eha
   03/10/2013

   Very interesting post to someone who eats as much yogurt as I
   🙂 ! Actually quite a number of Australian commercial yogurts are ABC: ie acidophilus, bulgaricus and caseii although I do not remember the strain as a single offering. If one makes one’s own Yoplait [NZ] yogurts at home, the ever growing company also uses the strain.

9. 

   Amanda McInerney
   03/10/2013

   Brilliant news, thanks. I love those make-at-home NZ yoghurts and will have to look more carefully at the labels!

10. 

    Eha
    03/10/2013

    Sugar!!! One should not talk and type at the same time: the NZ brand is EASY-YO, of course and I personally buy on line from ‘Golden Glow’ in Qld. Fabulous array of supplements, vitamins, and all things natural. Have been with them for years!!! So sorry!!

11. 

    cityhippyfarmgirl
    04/10/2013

    Yep, just looked at one of my Easiyo sachets and it seems it’s got the good stuff in there too. I remember working with a proud Bulgarian doctor years ago, who always said the best feta in the world came from his home country. (But grated? Oh a revelation- why on earth had I never considered that!)

12. 

    Amanda McInerney
    04/10/2013

    Yes, the grating idea was a bit of of “doh” moment for me, too – seems so obvious now.