July 13, 2005

Food & History

Bulgarian anthem harks to war

Jeff Cheek

Like the American national anthem, the Bulgarian national anthem was born in battle. After five centuries of Muslim domination as part of the Ottoman Empire, with the support of czarist Russia and European intellectuals like Victor Hugo, Charles Darwin and Oscar Wilde, Bulgaria declared its independence in 1878.

Only seven years later, Serbia tried to grab Bulgarian territory while the country was wrestling with internal political problems. A young Bulgarian student, studying in Vienna, rushed home to defend his country. Inspired by the first sight of his homeland, Tzvetan Radoslavov quickly wrote a short poem “Mila Rodino (Dear Homeland),” and set it to music, using the melody from a popular folk ballad. When the ship docked all the passengers were singing Mila Rodino:

“Proud Stara Plania, next to it the Danube in blue,

The sun shines on Thrace, flaming above Pirin,

Dear homeland, you are Paradise on Earth,

Your beauty, your wonders, oh they are endless,

Countless soldiers fell for our beloved country,

Mother, give us strength, to continue their ways.”

The song swept the army. Soldiers sang it as they marched into battle. Historians call it the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885. To the Bulgarians, it is The Captains War. The fledgling nation had not had time to develop a complex military structure. The short war ended with a Bulgarian victory at the Battle of Slivnitsa. The highest-ranking officers in the victorious Bulgar Army were captains. Courage and patriotic fervor had overcome their lack of traditional military experience and training.

I cannot pass judgment of Radoslavov’s praise of his beautiful homeland because I have never visited Bulgaria, but a relative by marriage in the State Department toured the country while serving in Romania. She raved about the valleys filled with roses. These are more than just decorations. Roses are a commercial crop. Oil of roses is an important export. It ends up in perfumes and scented talcum powder.

The Bulgarian Embassy kindly provided information and gave me a Web site where I found a traditional Bulgarian dish, lamb chops “en papillote.” En papillote is a French culinary term meaning “in curlpaper.”

I have not kitchen tested this recipe, but it should be delicious.

Ingredients

4 thick lamb chops

4 slices lamb’s liver

4 small onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

4 teaspoons olive oil

4 teaspoons white wine

Preparation

Place each chop on a piece of buttered aluminum foil. Cover each chop with a slice of liver. Add onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Drizzle each with a teaspoon of olive oil, then white wine. Fold the foil around the chop, twisting edges to seal it. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 45 minutes. Unwrap carefully as the steam with be hot.