'Foul' Chicken From a Bulgarian Supermarket

In view of Galia not being in the best of health it was a trip to the dreaded supermarket for some convenience food to make life a little easier for her this weekend with the meals we were to have.the last thing we wanted was for Galia to exhaust herself preparing for home cooked food which take up time and effort. So we were faced with a decision as to what we can buy that was cheap and easy to cook.

If I had my way I'd just forget the supermarket and just get some frozen meat that we had been using from last year's slaughtered lamb, goat and pig. We still had lots of stock of this meat, but the preparation took quite an effort. Galia just didn't feel it was right that I should be assigned kitchen duties this weekend. As she argued, "It was time for me to relax as well as her!" Well she did have a point, but only from her side of the fence. What she doesn't take on board is the fact that I don't find cooking a chore and it helps me relax whilst doing it. It's a bit of a turn around that Galia get stressed with me doing the cooking and I get stressed seeing her fingers being worked to the bone. Hence letting her just get on with choosing a meal from the supermarket.

The trouble right now with Bulgarians is that they believe everything they see and here in the advertising mediums. On the television, on the radio, in newspapers and on massive bill boards and posters, which is on the increase in Yambol. So, when is a supermarket the advertising ups another two gears it is a advertising and marketing tactical hybrid in action and the poor Bulgarian don't stand a chance in the face of such a monster. This particular supermarket called Kaufland. this is a German based company who excel in conning people into thinking the food there is good for you. Me, being a far wiser shopper from days gone by, knew better of it and certainly knew far better than 99% of shoppers there whose minds were being polluted before their guts were.

Galia had chosen a frozen chicken and a packet of dried chemical enhanced herbs and spices. This 'herb and spices' packet has a separate compartment where there was a plastic bag in which the chicken and chemicals, sorry herbs and spices, are introduced and whacked in an oven. Galia had seen this particular brand advertised on television, not once, but many times so it had been embedded subconscious mind and came to life when the product was recognised on the supermarket shelf. She at that point had just followed the planned advertising campaign as the fat cat advertisers sucked her into the world of false promises s we were to find out.

Now I knew that ever since first stepping onto Bulgarian soil and eating home produced chicken that anything else just wouldn't be the same afterwards. Was this going to be the case we with this supermarket factory produced frozen chicken and mainly artificial flavoured marinade. Galia was quite excited about it, she had seen the television advert and the picture on the packaging as a scrumptious occasion we should enjoy. What she didn't know is that the pictures of the chicken on the plate she had seen TV and on the package was probably painted with coloured lacquer and was of course totally inedible from the cosmetic make up that it had gone through to look like that. I didn't briefly try to explain, but the power of the advertising were too strong for my points raised. I decided to shut up and let her get on with it. I knew that the meal that we will end up, just wouldn't live up to Galia's expectations.

To cut a long story short, I knew that the frozen chicken might be 20% water as they inject the meat with water before freezing, I was right. When the chicken had completely defrosted the was such a puddle it overflowed on the plate it was defrosting in. We had paid good money, for this chicken, nearly 5 Lev a kilogram and 20% was now water not meat! Moving on, the meal was cooked exactly to the instructions laid out in 8 different languages and the plastic bag that was the cooking environment was opened once out of the oven. The chicken didn't look anything like the pictures on the package, then we tasted it.

Both Galia and I took one bite and just couldn't face any more. It was cooled and to be taken back to Yambol for Baba to do something with it, nothing wasted here of course. Galia had to agree with everything I had preached before, she was quite embarrassed about the whole episode. I had to remind here that we had been spoilt with the poultry we had eaten over the last few years. We realise that in the main, others who buy their frozen chickens from the supermarket on a regular basis, just don't know the difference, many if not most never having had the opportunity to taste home produced, free range chicken meat.

Will Galia ever buy frozen chickens from the supermarket again? Maybe as over time one forgets and the advertising may get back at her, but she is much more the wiser now. We both agreed on how lucky we are and are now talking about having chickens in the garage and yard in the Yambol house with eggs produced a added bonus!

The Worst Meal in Bulgaria to Date

We had some lovely people as guests staying at our farmhouse in Skalitsa while their new home was being renovated in a neighbouring village. We had made an exception for these people stay there after we had decided not to accept any guest unless we knew and trusted them to respect our home after some horrendous experiences of 'disrespectful' guests before. When we arrived at the farmhouse, we knew it would have been cleaned and left exactly as they had found it, this lived up to expectation as we entered out spotless home with a box of biscuits as a gift for us as a thank you. Now I have been spoilt stupid with food in Bulgaria since living here, there hasn't been any food I haven't liked, in fact there hasn't been any food I haven't loved. There has been so many tales about the food here and it continues today, but for a very different reason.

We hadn't got our daily groceries as we looked for something to eat for breakfast as we had arrived at the farmhouse at 8:00 in the morning and not eaten yet. Our guests had left a boxed pizza in our freezer; I guess they couldn't very well take it back to the UK with them so it stayed there. We decided to have this pizza for breakfast and went about following the instructions, which were in 10 different languages for cooking it. 10-12 minutes on a wire tray in the oven at a sizzling 230 degrees centigrade setting. The box and the plastic wrapping went into the wood burner as a fire starter as the pizza was cooking.

After the allocated time we took is out and let a cool a bit before tucking in. It was awful, dripping with fat and tasted of nothing in particular. The pizza base was like eating rubber. We couldn’t finish it and gave most of it to the street chickens.

Thinking on, I read only last week about someone comparing a pizza with sex, saying that they both are great every time even is it isn't that good it is still great. This is a mistruth from my experience today. I can honestly say this was the worse food I have had since living in Bulgaria, purely from the fact that it wasn't Bulgarian food. It was just some fast factory produced food from a supermarket that brought back the past for me. This is what I had to eat in the UK when living there, I guess millions of others just didn't know there are better eating options around in this world - Shame.

(Absolute no offence intended at all to our guests who left the pizza there.)

Yambol Sparkling Wine

It was a special occasion today, Galia and I had been together for exactly two years, it was officially out second anniversary together. We thought it would be nice to have something a bit special this evening to celebrate, Bulgarian style of course.

Work had finished by 6:00 as we when to our local small supermarket Vilton just around the corner from the factory work place, it is often the place we go before getting back home. Daily shopping buying enough for the evening meal and the following day breakfast and lunch is normal in Bulgaria.

Once in the store Galia is in charge for two reasons, she is a woman and she is Bulgarian, her vocation is to prepare the food for her man. This is something I still have to get used to this but I relent because there isn’t any other way, she is on home territory and I totally respect that. I count myself very lucky to have such a hard working and caring woman as a full time companion.

I didn’t take too much notice of what was bought, a box of non-Nestle chocolates, naturally, Bulgarian salami, and a bottle of sparkling wine. Well this was a kind of anniversary so the treats were on.

It was back to our Yambol home and the evening meal prepared and cooked by Galia, it has to be n=mentioned as it was absolutely superb. A chicken/rice moussaka styled dish with cheese, yoghurt and egg topping was savoured and the wish for the meal never to end was the thought all the way through. This is another recipe to consider publishing as I have never seen or eaten this dish before.

I was reprimanded for attempting to do the washing up, yet again, as we retired to the front room and the view of the colourful flower laden garden. The table was already laid out with the sliced salami, and opened box of chocolates, wine glasses and just having been brought in was the bottle of sparkling wine, which had been in the freezer for an hour.

It was the pop of the cork and the celebrations began with the ‘Nastravey’ call ringing around the room. This delicious sparkling wine was fantastic, just as good and any champagne. Then, we had the offering and taking of the chocolates. We settled down for another couple of hours talking, eating and drinking.

During this time music was played on the glasses and a discovery that made the evening even better than it already was. The sparkling wine, I thought, had travelled down from Sofia, this I remember from times before when the sparkling wine was bought, and very nice that was as well. On closer inspection this sparkling wine was actually local, from Yambol.

Vinprom-Yambol was the big local winery producing this excellent drink. I was overjoyed with that discovery along and at a price of 2.10 Bulgarian leva was a steal. That’s what happens to prices if local produce is bought. This won’t be the last occasion this particular brand will be bought, but we will have to wait for another special day. In Bulgaria the special days are frequent so the wait will be a very short one!





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Supermarket Slavery and Bulgarian Lemmings

Supermarket slavery to some may seem like a strong statement - but just ask anyone who has worked for these profit making monsters, me included. It is rooted right down the line their complete and prime objective to make money and total disregard for any humanity in the workforce.

Supermarket slavery goes deeper than the shop floor and the checkout girl with the grim face.... add Bulgarian lemmings and you have something called workforce manipulation in full flow!

Stories about Bulgarian being lured to the UK to work for pittance and live in squalid condition carries on regardless. What on earth possess these skilled workers, many with University education, to go and do work that Brits don't want to do. This picture of the the UK where the streets are paved with gold still stands in the mind of many foreigners who haven't been there!

Recent stories still hit the headlines one in particular where some weren't even paid for their services made under a false promises. Where do these unfortunate Bulgarian workers' get legal support? Where is their trade union? Who has their interests at heart? The only way this particular incident was resolved was apparently only through media attention. Where does this leave all other instances out of the public eye? Simple answer really it still carries on regardless.

Most of the workforce are there in the food chain geared up to serve supermarkets with their massive profit margins. Why do they have gross amounts of profit? - because of the proven 'criminal' cost cutting exercises that go on further back in the food chain process.

Much of this goes on where sub contracting work goes on but who is responsible for the contractors who lure these workers? Much is unregulated and even now where there claims to be more mandatory regulation introduced. Regardless of this, history dictates that this 'immoral system' contrived by the pressures of profits will still continues due to the screw being turned from supermarket demands.

The supermarkets on the face of it may have a moral responsibility from the root of their profits to account for the treatment of indirect industries that make them so successful. Vetting can be made throughout the food chain process with a drop in the ocean to them in terms of investment needed to solve this.

It should be mentioned that would be a complete u-turn in policy from them as their sole aim is to make as much profit as possible which leads to this corner cutting and feeding off the poor, in essence turning a purposeful blind eye to anything that involves additional cost nibbling away at profits.

The money earned by and Eastern European workforce in Britain for unskilled agricultural work is between 3-4 Euros per hour. How on earth will they pay for their ticket back home on this let alone sending back any disposal income to families back there? It would seem they would be better of finding work in their own country as least they wouldn't go hungry!

With my ear to the ground in Bulgaria there is still this impression that the UK is rich hunting ground for 'loads of money' jobs. Even with negative publicity pushed upon them they are still like Bulgarian lemmings jumping off a cliff. The only saving grace to many is that they can't afford the flight to the UK in the first place.

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