Thanks for the pictures, as they reflect a typical walk down the streets in most of the cities I've been in: fresh food markets and ice cream stands. Though I don't think the bananas are exactly grown in Bulgaria As stated above, the cuisine is typically Balkan, a bit heavy a times, especially because things are served in huge portions at most traditional Bulgarian restaurants. Case in point is a restaurant I went to in Veliko Tarnovo the other day: There were two menus, one for Bulgarian dishes and one for pizza and pasta. Both menus ran at least six pages each. Pizza is the second side to Bulgarian food and I think probably makes up almost as much as the diet here as the traditional food. I've seen things served in several different ways. Grilled meats take up a large part of a menu. They can come skewered, plated on their own, or in other various forms. Usually quite simple and delicious. There are also dishes served in clay pots, that are heated (I don't know how) on a little stand underneath. These can contain what looks like stews, though some are a bit thicker than most stews I've seen and typically come with a plate to have the food ladled from bowl to plate. Also, because the pot retains so much heat, the contents in the bottom of it can be extremely hot, so this will help them cool off. Also, there are casserole-looking things, that I think are typically labeled as zapenkas. I had one the other day that had a meat sauce of some sort, with beef tongue, beef filet, and potatoes, with cheese baked over top. My friend had a similar dish the other night with chicken, broccoli, and cheese. Word of warning: the cheese used will either be what I think is a feta, but they just call it 'white cheese' here and can completely take over a dish. I like feta, but used sparingly. My friend had a bit of trouble finished off the aforementioned dish as the feta was too much and too overpowering. Some really popular small dishes that I'm sure you can find a recipe for on the web are tarator, which is a cold yogurt and cucumber soup, and the banitsa, cheese fried in filo pastry that people eat in the mornings. Here's a recipe for a typical dish called mish-mash that my friend really enjoyed: Mish Mash Something very simple, cheap and very tasty. Try it and you will see! Ingredients: 8 eggs 2-3 tomatoes or 300 g tomato puree 10 fresh capsicums or 500 g roasted and pilled off red paprika salt, oil Preparation: Fry the capsicums (paprika) for about 10 minutes in a pan, then add the tomatoes (tomato puree) and fry until the tomato juice evaporates. At the end add the eggs and fry lightly. That's all and takes no longer than 20 minutes. Hope that helps a bit, I'll be here for another couple days so will try and be a bit more thorough in documenting what goes into ye ole belly. -JM