Gourmands are unanimous in their opinion that the cuisine in the region of Varna is tasty, spicy and varied. It will be appreciated by people with the most fastidious palate. There is plenty of fresh fruit and vegetable, that have collected the sun of the seaside plains; juicy grilled meat, dishes with piquant sauces, delicious vegetarian dishes.
The culinary geography of Varna region is rich in palatable and exotic dishes: cheese pastry in the Dobrudja style, fish soup, mussel salads in the Balchik style, sea food made from fresh water and sea fish.

The folk style restaurants in the region offer the traditional shopska salad and chilled grape brandy, staffed vine or cabbage leaves and peppers, monastery stew (stewed meat and vegetables), kavarma the miller’s way, moussaka or stomna kebab.
Dried scad salad, fried turbot or baked blue fish are among the most popular local dishes. Small scad is traditionally offered fried or pickled like sardella. Salads are served with aromatic grape brandy, the main dishes are washed down with light dry white wines - Dimyat, Riesling, Chardonnay, Tamyanka or Rkatsitelli or dry red wines - Merlot, Cabernet or Gamza.

The hot black coffee is served with a pancake with honey and walnuts or sweet juicy baklava (pastry with walnuts, cinnamon and syrup). The bottled table water is from sources in Targovishte and Kavarna. It is with low mineral content.


Here are some of the traditional regional dishes:

Kyopoolou - baked and grated aubergines with crushed garlic and ground walnuts.
Sardella - baked fish fillets with onions, garlic, black pepper and bay leaf.
Kavarma the miller’s way - pieces of meat stewed with plenty of onion.
Staffed vine leaves - the filling is made of rice, minced meat and many spices.

Wine production is one of the oldest traditions in the way of life of people who lived in the Bulgarian lands over different epochs. The ancient wine cellars in Patleina and Pliska are proof that the Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians who swept over the Balkan Peninsula and settled here took to it and further developed the tradition of wine making. There is a lot of proof that when the Bulgarian lands were part of the Roman Empire wine production thrived. In the 6th century BC Justinian mentioned in one of his novels about farmers who cultivated vast vineyards.
Today the country is divided into 6 wine-growing regions. The Region of Varna is in the northern coastal region that is characterized with long warm autumn. It facilitates the accumulation of enough quantities of fruit-sugar for the production of semi-dry white wines and dessert wines as well as wine-based products for the production of natural sparkling wines. This is the region where they produce the famous Euxinograd wine and also wines of the Dimyat, Riesling, Chardonnay, Ugni Blanc, Tamyanka and Rkatsitelli brands.

Wine cellar Euxinograd
Euxinograd, Varna, Bulgaria
tel./fax: +359 52 36 20 98
Wines made: white
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Traminer, Vrachanski Misket (Misket from Vratsa), Muscat d’Ottonel.

The wine cellar at Euxinograd Palace was founded in 1891 by Tsar Ferdinand. It is one of the oldest in Bulgaria. Located on the site of the Saint Dimitar Monastery with its large vine plantations. It is interesting to know that the wine matures in oak casks on several floors, the lowest one is below the sea level. Today the wine cellar contains one of the richest collections of wines from the time when Bulgaria was a kingdom.

Institute for Wine Production, Varna
9000 Varna, Bulgaria
Wine Cellar, Vladislavovo
tel.:+359 52 461 424;
fax:+359 52 465 937
e-mail: oslvvnms@infotel.bg
Wines made: white
Chardonnay, Muscat d’Ottonel. Varnenski Misket (Misket from Varna), Dimyat.

DIMYAT LTD.
Varna, Bulgaria, 281 Vl.Varnenchik Blvd
tel.: +359 52 5701 174,
fax: +359 52 5701 174,
e-mail: dimyat@triada.bg
Wines made: white and red
Bulgari - Chardonnay, Reserve - Caberne Sauvignon, Snow wine, Dimyat Cellar - Country - Ugni Blanc & Muscat, Natural Sparkling Chardonnay - Brut

Wine Cellar Kavarna
Elixir Ltd.
Kavarna, Bulgaria, 1 Bulgaria Street
tel./fax: +359 570 8 21 54
Wines made: white and red
Chardonnay, Misket, Muscat d'Ottonel, Merlot and Cabernet.

Alvina Ltd.
Dobrich, Bulgaria,
76 25th September Blvd
Wines made: white and red
Dobrotitsa - white: Dobrudzhansko, Roussalka, red: Shablensko, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wine Producing Factory - Razgrad Ltd. with a cellar in the town of Kubrat.
Industrial Area, Razgrad, Bulgaria
tel.: +359 84 22 478
fax: +359 84 24 646
Wines made: white and red
Muscat, Ricat & Misket, Cabernet Sauvignon and Dimyat

The Osmar Wine Cellar
the village of Osmar, Veliki Preslav Minicipality,
Bulgaria, tel./fax: +359 54 2 20 74
Wines made: white and red
Osmarski Pelin - white, 1,5 I, Osmarski Pelin - red, 1,5 I, Chardonnay - white, Muscat - white, and Cabernet Sauvignon - red
The Osmar wormwood wine is the only one of its kind in Bulgaria. It is wine that matures in oak casks with herbs and fruits.

DOMAYN BOYAR - Shoumen
1421 Sofia, Bulgaria
10 Arch. Iordan Milanov St
tel.: +359 2 963 0067
fax: +359 2 963 0066
e-mail: office@domaineboyar.com
Wines made: Premium cuvee, Premium oak, Premium reserve, Royal reserve of Cabernet Sauvignon (with the permission of Tzar Simeon II)

Wine Cellar Sun Valley Ltd.
the village of Nadarevo
1080 Sofia, Bulgaria, 19 Lavette St
Branch: the village of Nadarevo,
7740 Targovishte Region
tel.: +359 2 987 8902, +359 601 2 54 05
+359 2 987 1907, +359 601 25 405;
e-mail: vinseps@mb.bia-bg.com
Wines made: white and red
Cabernet Sauvignon Sun Valley, Merlot Sun Valley, Muscat Sun Valley, Sauvignon Blanc Sun Valley

Wine Complex Vinprom Ltd
With a wine cellar
in the town of Omurtag
Targovishte, Bulgaria
8, 29 Yanuari Blvd
tel.: +359 601 2 47 51;
fax: +359 601 2 42 06
Wines made: white and red
Targovishte Traminer, Targovishte Chardonnay, Targovishte Sauvignon Blanc, Targovishte Muscat, Cabernet - Special Selection

Wine Cellar the town of Byala
Wine - making complex Dimyat 20
Byala, Varna Region, Bulgaria
2 Trifon Milushev St
tel.: +359 5143 22 75
fax: +359 52 60 72 18
Wines made: white and red
Dimyat, Rkatsiteli, Merlot, Varna Misket, Pamid

Vinex - Preslav Ltd.
With wine cellars in the towns of
Khan Krum and Novi Pazar
9850 Veliki Preslav, Bulgaria
VINEX - Industrial Zone
tel.: +359 538 21 27;
fax: +359 538 23 35
Wines made: white and red
Traminer Khan Krum - Controlled Denomination of Origin, Chardonnay Khan Krum, Chardonnay Preslav - Recognised Area of Origin, Chardonnay Novi Pazar - Controlled Denomination of Origin, and Rose Cabernet Sauvignon

Vladimir Distillers
With a wine cellar
in the town of Tutrakan
Silistra, Bulgaria, 22 Tutrakan St
tel./fax: +359 86 2 23 19
Wines made: white and red Fetyaska, Chardonnay, Muscat d’Ottonel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

Twisted Cheese Pastry
Ingredients:
1.5 kg flour, a cup of lukewarm water, a spoonful of vinegar, salt.
For the filling: 5 eggs, 500g white cheese
Preparation:
Mix the flour, water, vinegar and salt into thick dough. Roll it into large round sheets. Brush each sheet with cooking oil and some crushed cheese. Roll the sheets and place them in rounds in a round baking sheet which has been brushed with some cooking oil. Bake in a moderate oven until golden brown.

Stuffed Vine Leaves - Sarmi
Ingredients:
0.5 kg lamb or mutton minced meat, 5 spoonfuls of cooked rice, 1 onion- finely diced, 2 spoonfuls of parsley- finely cut; half a teaspoonful of ground black pepper, vine leaves, 3 spoonfuls of butter, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 1 cupful of yoghourt, salt to taste.
Preparation:
Mix the minced meat with the rice, the onion, salt, parsley and black pepper. Clean the vine leaves from their stalks. Pour some boiling water over the fresh vine leaves and let them get a bit soft. Put a teaspoonful of the stuffing mixture into the middle of each leaf and wrap together into a parcel carefully. Place these into a wide saucepan. Put the butter over them. Pour over bouillon or hot water to cover them. Boil on low heat until ready. Serve the sarmi with yoghourt, mixed with crushed garlic and salt.

Grilled Black Sea blue fish
Ingredients:
1 medium Black Sea blue-fish, 5 spoonfuls of yoghourt, 2 cloves garlic, 1 bunch of dill, cooking oil to brush the grill with, salt and ground black pepper.
Preparation:
Clean the fish well. Marinate it for an hour in a mixture of yoghourt, crushed garlic and dill. Take it out, sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste, Brush with cooking oil and place it on the hot grill. When ready, serve with boiled potatoes, cooked vegetables, green salad and lemon juice.