What is the culinary specialty Strandzha Langidi?

If you ask the people of the Strandzha region what childhood tastes like, many of them will probably answer with a single word: langidi. This seemingly simple breakfast, made from eggs, flour, yogurt and a pinch of baking soda, is part of the culinary memory of generations of Strandzha Mountain residents.

Today, the recipe continues to live on not only in family notebooks but also through the efforts of local communities working to preserve the traditions of the mountain region.

It was precisely langidi that were recently presented in the Ethno Kitchen of the Regional History Museum in Burgas, where guests from the Strandzha village of Stoilovo demonstrated how the traditional breakfast is prepared.

Among those taking part in the presentation was Rositsa Yangyozova, whose roots are in Stoilovo. Today, she and her family live in the village and, together with like-minded locals, work to revive its traditional customs.

"There isn't a single person from Strandzha whose grandmother didn't make langidi," she told BNR Burgas reporter Stefka Bakardzhieva. According to Yangyozova, the secret of the recipe lies not only in the ingredients but also in the atmosphere in which the food is shared:

"They are made with eggs, flour, yogurt and a little baking soda. But there is one more ingredient, and that's love. Food tastes best when it is shared. When there is good energy around the table, it becomes even more delicious."

For Rositsa Yangyozova, presenting langidi in Burgas is part of a broader mission: preserving Strandzha's intangible cultural heritage. Over the past few years, she and her associates have been working to revive long-forgotten customs in Stoilovo. After decades of interruption, the village once again has Christmas carollers, the tradition of the White Kuker has been restored, and young people are actively participating in traditional celebrations.

"There is a gap between generations, and we are trying to restore that continuity. The encouraging thing is that children want to learn. They do not simply put on traditional costumes, they want to understand why a particular custom is performed and what it means."

According to Yangyozova, dozens of children and young people gather in Stoilovo during the summer to take part in the revival of local traditions. Recently, they succeeded in bringing back to life an old Christmas carollers' dance and song, described in ethnographic studies and almost forgotten in local memory.

Interview: Stefka Bakardzhieva
Editor: Elena Karkalanova