Bulgarian Dreams is a blog about the dreams, aspirations and ideology of a most inspiring nation: Bulgaria. Bulgaria and its denizens, that is, as they roam the globe and bring with them ingenuity, ability and ideas to countries in desperate need of them! An adopted cause of mine, for reasons that the heart only can explain, Bulgaria is a country that inspires me personally in many ways - and once you learn about it, you will quickly see why and adopt it as well! So what if they speak a language only Russians can grasp? And so what if they use an alphabet as alien to latin-based languages as it is phonetic in fact! So what if the country has had so many problems discarding the communists that have clung on to power in its core recesses, one way or another, for the better part of the last 50 years; and that such a cancer of the administrative spine of this proud nation has rendered its denizens less prone to protest things that would provoke outright anarchy and total utter chaos in less-civilized countries? Bulgaria remains and always will be, first and foremost, an IDEAL LANDSCAPE, from its majestic mountains to its share of the magnificent Black Sea - just as it was back when Alexander The Great himself fancied it! And the Turks. And the Russians. And pretty much everyone else in its immediate vicinity, in a 1000 km radius! They do not say "welcome to paradise" in all of those travel agency-sponsored commercials about Bulgaria for nothing, you know...!
Bulgaria is my muse, by proxy - and I know what I mean when I say that much!
For creativity, ingenuity, art, food and drink - and I do not just mean rakia by that, either!
As it is, the tastiest dessert I have ever had comes from there too -although its origins may be from another part of the world- and I cannot think of any better way to complement a party than to have it with a nice, hot cup of fine tea!
The recipe is right here, in Bulgarian too:
Крем брюле
Класически, лесен, вкусен и ужасно калоричен десерт.
Crème Brûlée за 6 порции
500 мл течна сметана (в оригинала е double cream, която е с 48 % масленост)
1 голяма шушулка ванилия / 1 ч.л. течна есенция (от онази кафявата) или няколко прахчета ванилена захар
100 г ситна бяла захар
30-50 г кафява захар за поръсване отгоре
6 жълтъка
Фурната се загрява до 140 С/ 275 F.
Сметаната се изсипва в касеролка. Ваниловата шушулка се цепва по дължина и вътрешността и се остъргва в сметаната. Шушулката се начупва на парченца, които също се слагат в сметаната.
Касеролката се слага на огъня; като заври сместа, температурата се намалява, колкото да се поддържа къкрене. След 5 мин съдът се сваля от котлона. С цедка се изваждат парченцата ванилия. Оставя се да се охлади леко.
Жълтъците се разбиват със захарта, докато побелеят. Към тях на тънка струйка и при непрекъснато бъркане се добавя сметаната.
Сместа се изсипва в шест формички за крем брюле (стават и формички за суфле или просто огнеупорни купички) до 2/3 от обема на съдинките.
Купичките се поставят в тавичка. Между тях се налива топла вода (която да стига максимум до 1/2 от купичките).
Кремът се "пече" на водна баня около 30 мин или докато по краищата е по-плътен, а в средата леко "се колебае".
Купичките се изваждат от водата и се охлаждат до стайна температура. След това се прибират в хладилника.
Преди сервиране се поръсват с кафява захар и се карамелизират с бренер. При липса на такъв се използва грилът на фурната, но тогава кремът трябва да е със стайна температура, за да не се спукат купичките.
Източник
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Many thanks to biskvitka (who bears a hell of a lot of an uncanny resemblance to Sesame Street's Cookie Monster) for the recipe - you are one monstruous heck of a cook, I tell ya, and this I tell with the utmost regard of course!
This last bit of witty commentary shall prove the merit of the chef as well as my admiration of said wit:
На първия изпит го правих с мляко с 1,5% масленост и се наложи да реанимирам крема с нишесте и да добавям сметана
The preceding may have been the first and last bit of Bulgarian that you may see here, though; for I am still in the learning stages of this beautiful language and cannot promise to pen anything using the complex cyrillic alphabet without a trusty assistant that will be sitting by my side, translating each and every word as I type them...!
*Bulgarian Dreams* shall have Bulgarian in it still - in one form or another, this I promise to you all!
Da!
Now, if you want REAL Bulgarian, complete with complex rhetoric and stimulating as well as thought-provoking analysis deftly worded and crafted by an expert on the subject, you will have to look for it elsewhere - namely here, on the single most luminous of all blogs ever to be written using the cyrillic alphabet! Through thoughtful comparisons made between Canadian and Bulgarian societies (and, sometimes, Portuguese, Italian, Greek and even Québécois(es) societies!) the blog's author shall open your eyes to a deeper reality and enlighten your perception of the overall picture in the same process. It may seem as a daunting task for even the most astute of all sociologists: but this blog's author simply knows best for she has been in both societies and seen it all. So you better believe her and all that she says - for she is as radiant and as luminous and as right on the money as the moon does reflect the sun's Light indeed! Heard or, rather, read that before somewhere, have you? (Maybe around these parts, hmm?)
Dobrei!
Come back here after all that, for something a trifle more light-hearted... sometimes!
We reserve the right to be as satirical, sardonic and sarcastic as they come too; after all, one of the aspects I personally adore the most of Bulgarian culture, is their great sense of humor!
I love their music and folklore as well - it appeals so deeply to something deep in the very core fibre of my being... which is European too, after all, so there!
Just WATCH, LISTEN and READ ON...
And... Dober Den!
Dober Vercher!
+++
In closing, let's set one thing straight right here and right now,
by stating, clearly and concisely
that this blog is not affiliated in any way with
that other Bulgarian Dreams site there...
OKAY?
Dobrei!
Dobrei!
Originally published 4/17/2011
Dovijdane!
Довиждане!
