Fishing In A Secret Bulgarian Lake Location

Fishing in Bulgaria is enjoyed by millions, but as a hunt for food not just sport. Many use nets and devious ways to gather fish from lakes and rivers and although a blind eye is turned to this, most decent Bulgarians, including Galia’s family and friend here look down on that as an unfair way of hunting for food. Both Galia and I love fishing, but we just never have the time to go and practice it. It must be about a year ago since we last went and that was only because her son who is a keen angler insisted we take a break from farming at the weekend.

Well this weekend her son was with us again and the plan was to go fishing early in the morning before it gets too hot. The alarm was set for 5:30 and all three for us were off by 6:00. We knew there was lots of work to do with harvesting and preparing food gathered for winter this weekend so we planned to get back by 11:00 giving us time enough to complete the chores when we got back.

Now the place we visited was not know by many people here, not even local people and I am not going to give the place away now, but only to say that it is some 3-4 kilometres off road to get there and only accessible by Lada in the dry season due to the state of the track. We found it by accident one day after getting lost and kept the location in mind. It is the most beautiful and unspoilt spot of crystal clear water and the wildlife is everywhere you look in every direction. We were the only people there and apart from a hiker who passed up remain the only anglers there all morning.

Galia’s son had boiled some wheat the evening before and this was both the ground bait and bait on the hooks on our lines, he said we were guaranteed fish with this. No sooner were our lines cast and the fish just came rolling in one after another. There was no relaxing here as we were kept active for a full three hours with fish being caught every minute or so. The fish we landed were all carp, they weren’t that big, but totally edible as the buckets we brought with us filled up. By 10:30 they were to the brim with fish.

We brought home well over 150 fish as some were given to our neighbour, some prepared for frying for this evening’s meal and the rest prepared for the freezer both here in the farmhouse and back in the town home. It took some two hours to de-scale, gut and de-head the fish, no problem with the future meals in mind when doing it.

The fish was cooked simply by dowsing the finish in flour and lightly frying in a shallow pan of oil. The flesh fell off the bone as we feasted on these fish that had such a clean pallet unlike many freshwater fish I have eaten in the UK with a muddy taste. It was a feast we all enjoyed from out labours and that made a major difference as well. Buying fish and eating it just isn’t the same. We knew where these came from and the environment was a clean as anything you can imagine and local. Food always tastes better when local in any case.

We talked now about getting me a fishing license so Galia and I can go other times when her son is not there. Before you ask, yes you do need one and Galia and I were fishing illegally, but this is what goes on in isolated areas in these parts.

The best thing of all is having a female partner (Galia) who absolutely loves fishing as well. It has always been a fight to get permission to go fishing before now and fishing with guilt has always been the case, no longer!

A Typical Evening Meal on St Nicholas Day in Bulgaria

This blog is the last of a trilogy of articles about St Nicholas Day or Nikolai Name Day in Bulgaria. It is more of a picture blog as the event as the day came to a climax in the evening. and not a anyone called Nikolai in sight. This is no excuse for having a family gathering and a party here. As always in Bulgaria the family and food plays a major part on these occasions less than three weeks before Christmas.

I was honoured to be given responsibility and take charge of the fish, which wasn't the traditional carp due to the cost. We had bought another cheaper freshwater fish called a tolstolop. It was to be prepared salted and barbecued on this warm and sunny December day.

The fish was the main course, before that the women were preparing a meze type of starters that will see us through a few hours of talking before the tolstolop fish was served up.

Starting form the top working round clockwise, let me take you through the table of food prior to the fish being served:

• Lettuce and Yoghurt Salad - A simple Bulgarian lettuce in December grown under glass, oil salt and vinegar added place plain yoghurt, simply delicious

• Pig Skin - Galia's son had been to a pig slaughtering earlier today and had brought some of the skin that had been scolded and scraped. It was just salted before eating.

• Skalitsa Salami - Home made salami from another pig slaughter given to us from our neighbours in the village.

• Sweetcorn and Gherkin Salad - Plain sweetcorn from home grown cobs and homegrown gherkins that had been preserved in salt/vinegar water a couple of months ago.

• Green Tomato, Cauliflower and Carrot Pickle (centre) -Again, all home grown vegetables that had been preserved n salt water a few weeks ago.

And to accompany the meals, dark beer from Sofia and homemade Yambol rakia along with Yambol produced orangeade. The only non-Bulgarian food in the table were the coated peanuts.

The main course fish was superb and the whitest fish meat I have every seen, it was swimming in crystal clear pollution free reservoir waters some 5 kilometres away from Yambol 48 hours earlier!

It was a very long day but only because this year is fell on a Saturday. Next year is is on a Sunday so big family meal with all the traditions surrounding will happen again. A beautiful soul stirring day that hopefully will never be diluted with commercialism.

St. Nicholas (Nikolai) Name Day in Bulgaria - The Church Visit

Nothing was said this morning as we set off for a walk around Yambol on this Saturday morning on our day off from work. Another weekend in Yambol as guests were still in the Skalitsa village farmhouse.

As we were walking and talking, Galia mentioned that we were to make out way to the main St Nikolai Church. It was 6th December and St Nicholas Day. Every year on this day the church is attended to say a prayer or two. It was noticeable that there were many crowds gathered around the perimeter of the church grounds, as this was a big religious occasion for the Bulgarian people. A few of the older women were donning long black gowns a black round hat box shaped hat held on with a black scarf draped over in and tied under their chins. These women were from the monastery in Kabile a village some 5-6 kiliometres from Yambol, hence the attire.

There were queues everywhere as we waiting patiently to buy candles to light in the church, each one would be dedicated to a person we love. It is tradition that we buy our own candles as the small price of 10 stotinki each for the thinnest candles on offer.

As we entered this magnificent church there was a cloud of smoke hanging over the massive crowds that were jostling around. The powerful smell of burning candles was mixed with a slight aroma of fish providing a most unlikely atmosphere within the pictured and effigy filled walls of this grand St Nikolai church.

There were priest all around, some wearing just a plain black gown and a simple chain and cross, other priests with the highly decorative dress with a full compliment of colours that would outshine any rainbow. We stopped as one of the rainbow priests, all of which have traditional orthodox long beards to have a cross of holy water put on our forehead. We had to pay in the tray that was already brimmed full and littered with small change and notes up to 5 leva. As our change tinkled its way into the tray, we had two wet stokes of a cross wiped on us, along with a little blessing made. We then had to kiss the hand that painted the cross before we moved on.

Big purpose built stands with the glow burning candles stood at eye level in all nooks and crannies of the church. At the high alter there was the longest long queue of the day lined up waiting for blessing to be given from what I gather was a priest of higher ordain giving out communion bread. All around there were many glass-framed pictures of saints they were regularly being kissed as people as they passed them, by thoughts were more on hygiene more than anything else a watching the exchange of saliva every few moments that went by.

The respect given here for the church gives a reassuring and communal ambience. There were Bulgarians here from all levels of society as I saw one the ‘The Riders’ a Hell's Angel type of community, this particular member clad a typical biker headscarf or bandana. He was a big burly guy you wouldn’t want to cross swords with, but within a few moments of his presence in the church he was told off by an older and quite frail Bulgarian to remove his headscarf as a mark of respect in the church. This was observed without any protest of fuss; I was expecting confrontation, nothing of the sort happened.

We set about lighting out own candles, saying a prayer and this was duly done along with thousands of others who did the same thing today. We didn’t wait for communions at the high alter, the waiting time was far too long.

There were lots of gatherings around tables and as we moved in closer they were serving food. On some table there were big metal baking tray with baked fish on a bed of rice. These were being given out to people free in plastic bags. On other table there was another dish called ‘zhito.’ This sweet dish was made up of boiled wheat, crumbled biscuits, walnuts, sugar, lemon rind and cinnamon, this mix was laid in a big pan and topped with icing sugar. We skipped the fish and rice dish handouts and opted for the zhito. These were being given out in little plastic cups; again we had to queue for quite a while to get this before leaving the church.

Once outside the vultures had gathered - Gypsies begging, they know there was to be a big gathering of Bulgarians today and in charitable and uplifting mood so their praying today was a different type, namely preying. This was a good day for business in Bulgaria for both non- working Gypsies and industrious priests.

The tradition of St Nicholas Day celebrations or Nikolai Den is very much alive and kicking here in Bulgaria as we set off back home to cook the traditional fish dish. There will be of course many other side dishes and of course consume the church offering of zhito shared with the whole family that will be there.