Shopsky Salad
Chunky tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and onion topped with a thick slab of grated sirene cheese — Bulgaria's answer to the Greek salad. No lettuce, no fuss, just peak-season vegetables and salty white cheese.
Ingredients
- 4 ripetomatoes
- 1 longcucumber
- 1 sweet bell pepper
- 1 red onion
- 200 gbryndza or feta cheese
- 1 bunchfresh parsley
- 3 tbspolive oil
- 2 tbspwine vinegar
- to tastesalt and black pepper
Method
- In a large bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper and onion.
- Add the grated cheese and chopped parsley.
- Season with salt, black pepper, drizzle with olive oil and wine vinegar. Gently stir to combine.
- Add a few black olives and fresh herbs for decoration if desired.
- Allow the salad to infuse for 15-20 minutes before serving.
FAQ
Shopska salad is a Bulgarian national dish with a very specific composition: diced fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and green or roasted red peppers, topped with finely grated Bulgarian white brine cheese (sirene) that completely covers the surface like a snow cap. The key differences from a generic Greek-style salad are the pepper (essential — usually a roasted or fresh green pepper), the grated rather than crumbled cheese (it must cover the entire top like a thick layer of snow), and the dressing which is exclusively sunflower oil and red wine vinegar — never olive oil, which is more typical of Greek cuisine. Olives are not traditional in the classic version, though they may appear in regional variations. Red onion is optional but common. The vegetables must be fresh, ripe, and in season.
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Comments (1)
Cold plates are a small detail that make this shopsky salad noticeably better. Ten minutes in the fridge before plating keeps everything crisp through the meal. It's a restaurant trick worth stealing.