Balkan Spice Mix

Universal spice combination, carrying the taste and aroma of Bulgarian sharena salt. This product unites all the variations of sharena salt with one single purpose - to represent the Taste of Bulgaria. Use for vegetarian and meat dishes, beans, potatoes, cheeses and eggs.

Ingredients:

savory, paprika, spearmint, coriander, black pepper, fenugreek, basil, oregano, thyme.

Net weight: 30 g

Spizing_Balkan_Mix 1441
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    Balkan cuisine

    The Balkan, the pillar of Bulgaria, has given its name to this spice mix, which is an emanation of the Bulgarian culinary tradition. The cuisine of Stara Planina region uses a lot of meat (lamb, mutton, veal and game) and a variety of dairy products like milk, white cheese, cottage cheese, etc. Due to the harsher weather conditions, vegetables appear much later in these areas and are mainly used dried (peppers, onions, garlic, herbs).

    The wide use of Bulgarian sharena salt is common for all the recipes, cooked in almost every village on both sides of the Balkan. Our Balkan Spice mix is ​​a salt-free version of the sharena salt without the common additives such as pumpkin seeds, toasted corn flour or chickpea flour. It is created for cooking recipes with a Bulgarian flavor or even for making sharena salt, in which you want to control the ingredients. Use this combination of traditional Bulgarian spices as a replacement of sharena salt if you want to reduce your salt consumption.

    Bean stuffed peppers

    Ingredients
    • 15-20 dried peppers
    • 2 tbsp. Balkan spice mix
    • 500 g beans
    • 4 onions
    • 2 carrots
    • oil
    • salt and black pepper
    Preparation
    1. Cover the beans with cold water and soak for at least 12 hours.
    2. Coarsely chop 2 onions and carrots.
    3. Soak dry peppers in hot water until soft.
    4. Finely chop the other 2 onions.
    Cooking
    1. Drain the beans and put them in a pot with fresh water. When they start to boil, change the water again, add the coarsely chopped carrots and onions and simmer till soft. At the end add 1-2 teaspoons of salt and cook for another 15 minutes.
    2. Drain the beans and carrots (discard the onion) and mix them with 2 tbsp. Balkan Spice Mix.
    3. In a pan sweat the finely chopped onions in some oil for 5-6 minutes.
    4. Add the beans and stir for 2-3 minutes.
    5. Stuff the peppers with the bean mixture and arrange in a greased baking tray.
    6. Drizzle some olive oil on top, add ½ cup of water and bake in a preheated at 180°C oven for about 30-40 minutes till golden on top.

    Pork with potatoes

    Ingredients
    • 1 kg pork meat
    • 2 tbsp. Balkan spice mix
    • 1.5 kg potatoes
    • 0.5 kg carrots
    • 400 g tomatoes
    • 1 onion
    • 1 garlic bulb
    • oil
    • salt and black pepper
    Preparation
    1. Peel and roughly chop the potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic.
    Cooking
    1. Cut the pork into large pieces, season with salt and black pepper and leave it aside.
    2. In a deep baking tray place the potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic.
    3. Add tomatoes, 1 to 2 tbsp. Balkan spice mix, salt to taste and mix well.
    4. Pour 300ml hot water, arrange the pieces of meat and sprinkle them with more Balkan spice mix. Drizzle some oil.
    5. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and bake in a preheated to 200°C oven for 1.5 hours.
    6. Remove the aluminium foil and bake for another 30 minutes or till ready and golden on top.
    • Download recipes (pdf)