Makeyourtraveleasy

  Nothing is as basic and good as a spoon load of smooth and tangy yogurt and in Bulgaria it is not merely a food, it is a lifestyle. This happened the very first time I had tried the real Bulgarian yogurt, sitting in a small guesthouse outside Plovdiv. It came served in an earthenware bowl with a drizzle of honey and a few walnuts on top, and the first bite of this dish made me understand why Bulgaria is so proud of it.   The beauty behind the Bulgarian yogurt is not only its flavor which is easily discriminatory between the tart and the smooth but also its origin. The characteristic bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus which was found in Bulgaria is also used in traditional yogurt making. It is this small microorganism that makes the Bulgarian yogurt taste and possesses the distinctive thick and velvety texture unlike all other types of yogurt in the world.   But there is tradition, other than science. Production of yogurt in Bulgaria dates back thousands of years,...

  I wasn’t planning to eat anything unusual that night. I’d landed in Bangkok after a long flight, half asleep, hair sticking to my face, and the air thick enough to drink. Street food stalls lined the road outside my guesthouse — sizzling woks, clouds of chilli smoke, and a dozen smells fighting for attention. I just wanted noodles. Somehow, I ended up with something else. The vendor smiled, pointed to a tray, and said, “Try! Very crispy!” It looked like fried noodles at first glance. It wasn’t. It was deep-fried crickets — tiny, shiny, still recognisable. My British politeness betrayed me; I nodded before my brain caught up. Crunch. That first bite was oddly nutty, not awful at all. The t exture was strange — like popcorn that gave up halfway. Locals snacked on them casually, beer in hand, laughing at the tourists hesitating with chopsticks. One of them offered me a sprinkle of chilli salt and said, “Better with spice.” He was right. Since then, I’ve eaten stranger things....