The Land of the Roses

In this blog entry, I will provide a recipe for a beautiful Bulgarian dish; baked blue plums. When I was in Bulgaria, I was lucky enough to sample this dish, baked the traditional way in a stone oven. It was probably one of the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. Smoky, sweet and juicy. Man at the traditional stove Ingredients: 2kg ripe blue plums; 300g sugar; 1tsp cinnamon. Young boys tasting the plums! Steps: (1) Wash the plums; (2) Remove the stones; (3) Place plums in a flat plan; (4) Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the plums; (5) Slowly bake the plums until they become soft; (6) Serve and enjoy! The plums can be eaten hot, cold, with ice cream or as an accompaniment to other desserts. Lady stirring the plums Bulgarian plums

On my first day in Bulgaria, one of the things that stood out to me were little red and white threads attached to the branches of trees. Upon closer inspection, the threads had beads and charms attached to their ends. Each seemed unique in some way. Throughout Bulgaria, whether I was in an urban area, a city like Sofia, or in the rural regions, wherever there was a tree, there were these intriguing threads, the colour of Christmas candy canes. They adorned the trees like coloured frosting on a cake. I soon discovered that these threads were not the work of fairies, but were something known as "Martenitza". What is martenitza? Martenitza (plural: martenitzi) is a Bulgarian custom with its origins in Bulgarian folklore. On March 1st, people wear these red and white decorations, which are said to provide health and strength. The red is likened to the redness of good apples and the white is akin to clean snow. It is a tradition which exists in the present day and i...

In my last post, I briefly introduced myself and my blog. This post will explain a bit more about myself and my placement in Bulgaria. My placement was funded by ERASMUS and was in association with the Devetaki Plateau Association, as part of a lifelong learning programme in education and culture. You can find more information about ERASMUS  here  and about the Devetaki Plateau Association  here.  In summary, my placement was a cultural exchange, with a programme formulated to enable me to experience the traditional arts, crafts, folklore and culture of Bulgaria. I applied for this programme first and foremost because I enjoy art and crafts. I like to think of myself as an artist. I enjoy painting, craftwork and making jewellery and textiles. I also appreciate the arts, and enjoy learning about different type of art. Further to this, there has always been something about Bulgaria that has fascinated me. When I was a little girl, my grandfather took me to cha...

My name is Rebecca and I live in Northumberland, in the north east of England. In September this year, I was fortunate enough to be funded by the ERASMUS programme to travel to Bulgaria to learn about traditional Balkan crafts. In this blog, I will share my photos, stories and experiences of this beautiful, fascinating and paradoxical country, along with factual information which I hope will inform those interested in travelling to Bulgaria. I have quite a lot of material to share with you. For the time being, this blog is a work in progress. I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences in the Land of the Roses. Rebecca