Shopski Cheese and Rila Monastery (Rila Village ~ Bulgaria)

October 2019

As the crow flies Rila Lakes to Rila Monastry is about 7 km, however by road it's a 100+ kilometres and requires three separate buses and longish waits at less than salubrious bus stations.

Most tourists visit the Monastery as part of a tour and tend not to stay in the village itself which means that accommodation is limited. We ended up staying in a family run hotel (and were the only guests). Limited accommodation means limited dining options so we ended up dining at the hotel. The food was a long time coming as everything we ordered literally was cooked from scratch. The upside of this was that it was delicious home cooked fare.

Along with Lutenitsa the other dish we have come to associate with Bulgaria is "Shopski Style Cheese" (which we had that night,and multiple previous nights) and is basically a large lump of white cheese along with onion, mushroom, tomatoe and an egg all baked in a minature casserole dish - seriously tasty (but hate to think what it does to our cholesterol levels).

The Monastry is the spiritual centre of Bulgaria and has been for the last 1,000 years. Set amongst mountains it is a spectacular sight and for the truly dedicated staying overnight is an option - though with basic accommodation, single digit overnight temperatures and no wi-fi I can't see it appealing to many.

The artwork on the exterior wall of the Monastery are quite striking in their detail and just a tad disturbing .

Over the period of time that the Ottoman Empire (Muslim) encompassed Bulgaria the ringing of church bells was forbidden (after all bell ringing equates to Christianity). To get around this restriction the striking of large wooden or metal clappers was used instead of bells. These bars are still in existence and some are still being used along side of bells.

Being such a important religious site the Monastry used to attract huge numbers of Pilgrims and the kitchens reflect this. There are cooking cauldrons large enough to hold a whole cow and the pizza oven is huge.

Cow sized cooking pots

Pizza/bread oven

Serving spoons

Arty shot of the Chimney 

From here we head to the really small town of Melnik - famous for it's wine making.

Shopski Style Cheese recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large tomato, diced
• 200+ grams feta cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• parsley

Method

• Add oil to the bottom of a small "gyuveche" pot or other dish with a lid suitable for baking.
• Add 2 or 3 layers of tomato, cheese, and parsley.
• Place lid on pot and bake at 375° for 20 min.
• Create a small depression in the center of the mixture and crack 1 egg into the depression.
• Sprinkle on desired seasonings such as pepper, oregano, and/or crushed red pepper flakes.
• Bake for 5-10 more minutes until egg reaches desired consistency. 
• Let cool for 5 minutes.

The use of a small casserole dish or gyuveche is apparently crucial and trying to scale up doesn't work.