Bulgaria

Bulgarian charcuterie runs along the foothills of the Balkan range, where towns like Smyadovo, Karlovo, and Panagyurishte built reputations for dry-cured sausages over the second half of the 19th century. The defining product is the lukanka — a flat-pressed cylindrical salami of pork and beef seasoned with cumin, black pepper, savory, and not much else. It is hung in cool mountain cellars for six to eight weeks, pressed between two wooden boards every few days to give it the signature flattened shape, and ends up dusted in a fine white mould bloom. Two regional varieties carry EU or national protection: the Smyadovska Lukanka, tied to the East Balkan Swine breed bred half-wild in the Stara Planina; and the Panagyurska Lukanka, recognised as an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. Both get sliced paper-thin and eaten as a meze with rakia, white cheese, and tomatoes.

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Sausages from Bulgaria

Lukanka

Bulgaria

A Bulgarian dry-cured salami in a flattened cylindrical shape, made of coarsely minced pork and beef in roughly a 70:30 ratio, seasoned with black pepper, cumin, savory, and a small hand of garlic. Hung in cool cellars for 40 to 50 days, pressed between wooden boards every few days to take its signature flat form, and dusted with a fine white mould bloom on the casing. Sliced paper-thin on the bias, it shows up on every Bulgarian meze table next to white sirene cheese, ripe tomatoes, and rakia.

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