Darwin would have tried it. They say that, on their journey aboard the Beagle, Charles Darwin threw in the casserole any exotic animal he found. Óscar López-Fonseca proposes us to travel the stoves of the world with culinary experiences that, surely, the father of the theory of evolution would have ventured to try on that trip.
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I am not a friend of making resounding statements, but in this case I have no choice: and not try the lyutenitsa (ютеница) It is like not having traveled to this country … at least from the gastronomic point of view. This somewhat entangled name for Spanish speakers is, in reality, a half -way paste between a sauce and a spreadable made of roasted peppers and tomatoes with which slices of bread are usually covered to later sprinkle it with cheese sirens (similar to Greek feta). However, it is also used to accompany meat recipes such as kufteta (Small portions of minced meat with spices), to season salads, to flavor sad boiled vegetables or a soulless plate of pasta or to wet. There are those who, precisely for the latter, have baptized it as the “Bulgarian Kétchup”, although we will talk about it later. The truth is that, either as an appetizer or garrison, this unnable is so integrated in the day -to -day life of the Bulgarians who take it both for breakfast and for eating or dinner, and it is common for children to be given to the snack.
Its versatility is such that it became part of the diet of the joint crews of Soviet and Bulgarian astronauts that made two flights to the outer space in 1979 and 1988. “Wonderful snack lyutenitsa lyophilized that were part of the menu of those cosmonauts, as recalled in their book Communist gourmet Bulgarian historian and writer Albena Shkodrova. These, to enjoy it, only had to add water.
However, before reaching the outer space, the lyutenitsa He already had a story behind, although not especially long. Let’s not forget that the crop of the pepper, a key ingredient of this recipe, arrived in Europe from America by the Spaniards in the 16th century and its expansion through the rest of the continent was progressive. In fact, this vegetable would not appear in the recipes of the Central European countries until the nineteenth century. Specifically, the recipe for lyutenitsa It did not popularize until the first decades of the last century, when Bulgaria began the mass production of red tomatoes and peppers destined for the canning industry.
The consumption of this undable that linked both ingredients became popular and, with the communist regime, the massive industrial production extended it even more, although then it was only marketed under a single brand … things of those years of the party also unique. Today it is enough to take a look at the shelves of any supermarket in this country to verify that the fans of the Bulgarians for this dish is still very alive. Boots and glass boats with a multitude of brands show this appetizing red paste with different variants and competing with each other with the “traditional” claim.
Despite this, it is still very common that in the homes of this Balkan country it will be elaborated in home. In fact, for years it was traditional that at the beginning of autumn the streets of towns and cities of the Balkan country were flooded with the wonderful smell of roasted peppers who announced that the families were gathering lyutenitsa Homemade in canned jars, a nutritious and tasty way to enjoy this vegetable throughout the hard months of Bulgarian winter. There is even a specific appliance to roast the peppers called chushkopek and get that smoked flavor so addictive that the final product heiress.
On the ingredients, as in every extended recipe, there are differences from one region to another and even from one house to another. It is true that gastronomic orthodoxy includes as essential peppers and tomatoes – fresh product markets are filled at that time with lustrous mountains of both products -, to which it is added during its onion, sunflower oil and different condiments such as garlic, pepper, salt, sugar and, sometimes, cumin. However, there are those who also incorporate eggplant, carrot, apple or some ingredient that gives it a spicy touch (curiously the word lyutenitsa comes from the Bulgarian term Lyutowhich means precisely spicy, although in reality this pasta is not necessarily). What does not vary is the process. First you have to roast the peppers (if possible with firewood fire, although it also serves an electric oven), then peel them, chop them and, finally, cook them over low heat next to the crushed tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.
On the comparison with the Kétchup, in the Balkan country it is ensured that its spreadable is easier digestion and has nutritional and dietary properties well above the popular tomato sauce with which it compares. It is not the only difference. Texture and color have nothing to do, but, above all, it is the intense roasted pepper flavor that marks an abysmal distance between one and the other. In fact, go to Bulgaria and ask for ketchup instead of lyutenitsa It should be classified as a crime ‘lesa gastronomy’. I already noticed at the beginning that, although I do not like to be resounding in my culinary statements, with this Bulgarian delight I was going to be.
