whole animal, traditionally a pig, but also chicken or a lamb, is slowly cooked in an open fire, rotated manually on a wooden skewer from 4 to 7 hours Meshana skara (mixed grill plate) – consists of kebapche, kyufte, shishche, and karnache or nadenitsa Grilled vegetables – usually a garnish or a side dish Grilled fish (saltwater or freshwater) Main dishes Ghivetch Yahniya Plakiya Sarma Drob Sarma Wine, Tepsi, or Tas kebab Kavarma Kapama Mish-mash – popular summer dish made with tomatoes, peppers, onion, white brine cheese, eggs, and fresh spices Pilaf – rice with chopped meat, vegetables, or mussels Moussaka Chomlek Mlin Stuffed courgettes Pulneni chushki – Bulgarian stuffed bell peppers Peppers börek Roasted beans Beans with sausage Pork with rice Roasted chicken with potatoes Pork with cabbage Chicken with cabbage Roasted potatoes Drusan kebab Rice with chicken Tatarian meatball Meatball(s) with white sauce stew Kjufteta po Chirpanski – meatballs with potatoes; a recipe from Chirpan Meatloaf 'Rulo "Stephanie"' Potato balls with sauce Panagyurishte-style eggs Fried courgettes with yogurt sauce Chicken in katmi – popular in a "Thracian" variety Fish Zelnik – with sauerkraut and rice Fish in pastry – usually in celebration of St. Nicholas Stuffed carp or Nikuldenski carp – prepared for the feast of St. Nicholas Breads and pastries Pita Sweet pita Pita with meat – variably with mushrooms or with tomatoes and onion Pogača (usual ritual bread) Kravai (usual ritual bread) Kolach (usual ritual bread) Banitsa – the most popular pastry in Bulgaria with a number of varieties Tikvenik – banitsa with pumpkins Zelnik – banitsa with white brine cheese and cabbage, spinach, leek, scallion, parsley, or sorrel Baklava Saraliya Parlenki Patatnik Kačamak Byal Mazh Tutmanik Milinka Gevrek Kozunak Mekitsi – deep fried kneaded dough made with yogurt and eggs Marudnitsi Katmi – a variety of pancakes Palachinki – a variety of crêpes Langidi Tiganitsi (similar to Mekitsi) Dudnik Popara Sulovar Parjeni filii – "fried toasts" Kiflichki with jam or white cheese Solenki Yufka Trienitsa or skrob TrahanaDairy products Bulgaria has a strong tradition of using milk and dairy products. Bulgaria even has a namesake strain of bacteria, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, used to make many of its cheeses and fermented foods which gives it a distinct in its flavor. Sirene – soft and salty white brine cheese that appears in many Bulgarian dishes Kashkaval – hard yellow cheese, often used in appetizers; kashkaval Vitosha is made