shopska salad

Shopska salad is a Bulgarian salad of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onion, topped with white brined cheese called sirene. Bulgarian cook Mira Lyubenova describes her family’s version with raw red pepper and parsley. The vegetables are salted and left to release juice before olive oil and vinegar are added, with the cheese crumbled over the top.^[1]

Lyubenova uses feta when sirene is unavailable and notes that Bulgarian restaurants may grate the cheese rather than crumble it. Green peppers and roasted red peppers are other choices she describes. She recalls the salad alongside grilled food at home and presents it as a first course often served with rakia, a fruit brandy.^[1]