We should thank this country for bringing yogurt to the world

Not only is the country a recipe for recipes, yogurt jars are part of the history and identity of the Bulgarian people.

"We put yogurt in everything"

In Bulgaria, yogurt - or yogurt - is everywhere. You will be surprised to see it lined up in the supermarket refrigerator.

Yogurt is also an indispensable part of Bulgarian traditional dishes like tarators, cold soups, and mixed salads. People always sip yogurt on the street and dip a piece of scones into yogurt in a restaurant.

Tarator - a cold soup made from yogurt, is a popular Bulgarian dish.

"We put yogurt into everything" - Nikola Stoykov said. "I ate three ounces a day. The first jar I ate in the morning, then I ate another jar at the dinner, and another jar before going to bed at night . "

"As a child, my grandmother used yogurt mixed with fruit jam and told me it was" ice cream ", because it was much healthier than a real ice cream. yogurt like that, and now it has become a habit. "

"When I grew up, I was aware of all its health benefits, but that's not why I eat it so much. It's basically part of the Bulgarian lifestyle."

Yogurt journey to the world

Yogurt has a long history in Bulgaria. People here accidentally discovered how to make yogurt about 4,000 years ago. Accordingly, nomads who transport milk in animal skin unknowingly create a perfect environment for bacteria to grow. Milk fermented, and made yogurt.

Elitsa Stoilova - assistant professor of ethnology at Plovdiv University, affirmed: " Yogurt is part of the diet of people for centuries in Bulgarian lands. This is a special place in the world, when there are extremely suitable bacteria and temperature to produce yogurt naturally. "

Bulgaria plays an important role in turning yogurt into a popular product we know today.

However, only when Dr. Stamen Grigorov - a Bulgarian scientist found the composition of yogurt, did the country begin to play an important role in introducing this product to the West.

Grigorov identified the essential bacteria, lactobacillus bulgaricus, for fermented milk. In honor of his discovery, the village of Trun - where Grigorov was born, became the only yogurt museum in the world.

The only yogurt museum in the world.

When thinking about yogurt now, we often think of Turkish, Greek or even Icelandic products. But in the 20-30s, due to the concentration of the scientific community on the discovery of Grigorov, Bulgarian yogurt is more famous than all.

The Russian biologist and Nobel laureate - Élie Metchnikoff inherited the success of Grigorov to find a link between Bulgarian farmers who eat yogurt and their longevity.

The idea that life-long yogurt promotes a health fever in European countries, such as France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. Gradually, yogurt is put on the diet in Western Europe.

With increasing demand, yogurt in Bulgaria began to be produced under the industrialization process. Manufacturers have made strict measurements, using specialized devices to remove any microorganisms other than lactobacillus bulgaricus.

Traditional yogurt is produced with buffalo milk and sheep milk. Today, producers turn to cow's milk. That is the result of the industrialization process of products.

Traditional yogurt is produced with fresh milk from buffaloes or sheep.

Although many people continue the tradition of making yogurt at home, the state's takeover of the dairy industry in 1949 led to other changes. An official Bulgarian yogurt came into being, patented, ranked and exported by the state, making it a national symbol.

To this day, LB Bulgaricum continues to hold and issue patents to countries such as Japan and Korea. Interestingly, bacteria originating in Bulgaria cannot be replicated in other countries. Therefore, Asian companies must constantly import them.

Since metchnikoff biologist died in 1989, Bulgaria has lost its yogurt production position. The number of manufacturers has dropped from 3,000 to just 28. This explains why it is not well known in Europe. However, the tradition of making yogurt continues in this country, and is gradually undergoing a resurgence.

The special feature of Bulgarian yogurt lies in its diversity.

"The special feature of Bulgarian yogurt lies in its diversity . It is not a standardized product. If two different villages make yogurt, the result will be different by the heterogeneous milk composition. And that's what attracts visitors to this yogurt, " Stoilova said.