The people from Cherni Vit village long neglected this mouldy cheese for its spoiled and poor quality. It began to disappear in the 70s of the 20th century, when local producers replaced wooden tubs with plastic containers. However, this peculiar cheese was rediscovered in 2007 by Italian specialists from the international organization Slow Food and since then regularly was submitted to the World Exhibition of cheese in the town Bra, Italy. There the Bulgarian green cheese received high praise for its uniqueness and quality [10]. Curiously, the green cheese has never been offered on Bulgarian market. Nowadays just some people from Cherni Vit still produce it using sheep and goat milk.

Blue cheese and its moulds

Blue cheese is a general classification of cheeses that have had cultures of the mould Penicillium added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue, or blue-grey mould and carries a distinct smell, either from that or various specially cultivated bacteria [11]. Blue cheese can be eaten directly or can be spread, crumbled or melted into or over foods. Many blue cheeses carry a protected designation of origin, meaning they can bear the name only if they have been made in a particular region in a certain country.

There is almost no doubt that blue cheese was imported in Bulgaria in the last century. By years it gained better and better acceptance by local people and nowadays it is an integral part of modern Bulgarian table. Therefore the interest in its production increased and this could be traced back to a period of ca. 10-15 years. Recently not only some milk farms and specialized factories in the country produce blue cheese, but many people do this in their households using white cheese inoculated with mould from another blue cheese. Recipes for homemade blue cheese are widely spread in Internet.

Moulds in traditional Bulgarian dried sausages Lukanka and Sudjuk (Suzdzhuk)

Lukanka (Figure 2) is an unique Bulgarian (sometimes spicy) salami, a special mix of small pieces of meat and fat. It is semi-dried, has a flattened cylindrical shape, and brownish-red interior in a skin that is normally covered with a white noble mould [12,13]. Traditionally, lukanka is made of pork, veal, and spices (black pepper, cumin, salt), minced together and stuffed into a length of dried cow intestine as casing [12,13].

Sudjuk (Sudzhuk – Figure 2) is a dry, spicy cured sausage made with a ground meats (mainly veal) and spices including cumin, sumac, garlic, salt, and red pepper, minced together and stuffed into a length of dried pork intestine as casing. Then traditionally it is bended to take on its peculiar horseshoe shape.

After stuffing, the salamis of both types are hung to dry for ca. 40 to 90 days in a well-ventilated place [13]. In the process of drying, each salami is pressed to acquire its typical flat form and develop typical white noble mould.

The white noble mould is composed of bacteria, yeast (Debaryomyces) and moulds (Penicillium). The taste qualities of lukanka and sudjuk depend on natural characteristics of the region it is produced in, and are formed under the influence of the local microflora. There are several regions in Bulgaria well known for production of these traditional meat delicacies. Most of these are located at the foots of the Balkan mountain range, notably the Smyadovo, Panagyurishte, Karlovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, and Chiprovtsi regions and at the foots of Pirin Mt – in the regions of Bansko and Razlog (Figure 1). "Karlovska lukanka" is a name protected on a local level by the Patent office of the Republic of Bulgaria for lukanka from the Karlovo region. The "Lukanka panagyurska" of Panagyurishte and the “Gornooryahovski sudjuk” have obtained a EU-wide Traditional specialties guaranteed (TGI) denomination.

Many people in Bulgaria have homemade production of sudjuk. After eating of the salami, people collected the peeled parts of dry intestines which were naturally covered with white noble mould and stored them in a closeable jar in the fridge for the next sudjuk preparation. Before using, the collected moulded peels are put in the pot full with water for some hours. When the new sudjuks are prepared, they are poured over with the water full with spores of micromycetes causing white noble mould. The next time sausages have even more white mould, which is a premise for their good taste.

Moulds in the traditional Nafpavok (Bulgarian prosciutto): Dedets, Babichka and Meurche

Nafpavok (Figure 1 and 2) is an old (known for more than 100 years) traditional dried meat delicacy from the Razlog region of Bugaria. Its flavour is unique; it is only made in the months of December and January using small cut pieces of fresh pork (loin, ham and shoulder), spices (caraway, fennel and coriander) and salt [14]. It is then stuffed into intestines and is left to dry on wooden grill in several stages over several months. Important condition for correct nafpavok preparation is the permanent ventilation of the attic, where it is exposed for drying. Every second day the product is turned round for an equal drying. After being dried, the spiced meat is pressed by a stone to take out the air, and then is kept underground in boxes full of wooden ash, where it can be stored up to 16 months. The strange name of this delicious product comes from the peculiar local pronunciation “nafpavam” of the verb “strain (exert)”, which in high Bulgarian language sounds as “napuvam” and is related with the strong efforts to push the cut meat mixture with spices in the pork intestine [op.cit]. When the same meat is put in the pork stomach it is called Dedets due to the fact that stomach resembles the humped back of an old man – “Dyado” in Bulgarian language. In case that the meat is included in the duodenum, which is wrinkled like the face of an old lady, it is named Babichka or Baba, which means “Old lady” in Bulgarian language [op.cit]. If the same meat is enclosed in a bladder, then it is named Meurche [op.cit] after the dialect version “Meur” of the Bulgarian word “Mehur” for the bladder. The surface of the meat is normally covered by white noble mould, as it is in the cases of lukanka and sudjuk. However, contrary to these last products, which are quite widespread in the country, recently, the tradition of nafpavok production is kept only in the village Gorno Draglishte and the product was rediscovered by the Slow Food organization [15]. Nowadays it received the greatest number of online votes in the competition launched by the Association for the Promotion of Arts and Crafts [16] and got the Bulgarian award of Keeper of the Traditions in Culinary line for 2013 [14].

Miso and Koji mould

Miso is a fermented soybean paste, one of the essential seasonings in Japanese cuisine. It is made from steamed soybeans mixed with salt and koji. The last is a mould-treated rice, barley, or soybean that acts as a fermentation starter [25].

The koji mould is Aspergillus flavus Link. In Bulgarian cuisine miso appeared only recently and is used as a spice, or as a part of the eponymous Japanese soup miso. Miso became popular mainly in the capital and in the biggest towns of the country with the opening of bio stores, large food shop chains and Japanese restaurants in Bulgaria in the last 10 years. In addition, the increased popularity of miso could be connected with the increased media and Internet advertisement of Japanese and other exotic cuisines by popular master chefs and related TV competitions. Doubtless, the increased public awareness of healthy, vegetarian and exotic food, played an important role for the appearance of such products on modern Bulgarian table. This concerns mainly younger people and people of middle and higher classes as well.

Soy sauce and Koji mould

Soy sauce is a dark brown liquid obtained from a fermented mixture of soybeans and wheat that has gained popularity worldwide. In general, there are two fermentation stages involved in the production of soy sauce. The first stage is an aerobic koji fermentation in which fungi (Aspergillus flavus or Aspergillus sojae Sakag. & K. Yamada ex Murak.) are involved to break down the polysaccharides into simple sugars. The second stage is an anaerobic salt mash, popular as moromi (in Japanese), where the mixture undergoes lactic acid bacteria and yeast (Zygosaccharomyces rouxii (Boutroux) Yarrow) fermentation [26]. In Bulgaria, the use of the soy sauce could be traced back to the middle of 90s of the last century, when first Chinese restaurants appeared in the country (for details see [7]). Its popularity gradually increased with the enlargement of the chains of Asian restaurants and big food chain shops in combination with media and Internet influence. Again, as it was mentioned for the products enlisted above, the concentrated use is in the capital and big towns, and concerns mainly younger people and people of middle and higher classes.

CONCLUSION