Deep in the Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria exists a population of centenarians higher than anywhere else in the world. Their secret? The probiotic elixir of Bulgarian yogurt. Although yogurt enjoys great modern day acclaim for its health benefits, it existed as a staple of the Bulgarian diet long before it rose to worldly fame. In order to examine how yogurt has transitioned from being the food of captives, to the meal of the common-folk, and finally to its powerful position on the world stage, we must rewind the clock almost 1000 years. Despite its humble beginnings in Bulgaria, yogurt serves vastly different purposes in the rest of the world today as it does in its native country today. Although yogurt serves a broad range of purposes across the modern world, yogurt has remained a steady staple of the diets of Bulgarians across classes since the humble beginnings of its invention.

 

The history of Bulgaria is so intertwined with the history of yogurt that it is virtually impossible to understand one without delving into the other. Although debate exists regarding where this fermented milk first emerged, Bulgarians take great national pride in the fact that most claims attribute their homeland as the source of its conception. The invention of yogurt is credited to some of the first settlers on Bulgarian land. These proto-Bulgarians would ride across the planes with milk held fast in lambskin bags across their waists. As the sheep’s milk interacted with the bacteria present in both the skin and milk itself, the body heat of the warriors helped to ferment the milk as their constant movements on horseback churned it continually. Eventually deemed desirable, this “sour milk” (the literal Bulgarian translation for “yogurt”) became a staple in the diets of these early travelers seemingly due to the ease of its production.

 

Although these early Bulgarians were able to keep their discovery a secret for decades, such a treasure could not be concealed from the rest of the world for long. The rise of the Ottoman Empire rocked the mediterranean and sparked an age of expansion. Seljuk Turks began to invade Bulgaria, taking captive great numbers of not Bulgarians, but their sheep as well. Held hostage, these Balkan prisoners depended on a single, unlikely food to survive: yogurt (Atanasov). Little did they know, this act of desperation would spark a culinary epiphany as the Turks were introduced to yogurt for the first time. After many years of servitude one might think that the Bulgarians would have abandoned this curdled dish altogether after re-gaining their freedom. However, their response was quite the opposite. Having introduced the dish to Turkey, it seems as though this key historic event marked the beginning of Bulgaria’s pride in yogurt as word of this unique dish began to spread.

 

As the Ottoman Empire continued to spread, the popularity of yogurt increased along with it. Although it remained a staple in the Bulgarian household, it seems that the expansion of the Ottomans allowed yogurt to become an increasingly important factor in the overall economy. Despite all this, “sour milk” remained unknown to the western world until, surprisingly, the King of France fell ill with a stomach disease. The search for a cure brought a Bulgarian healer (along with his sheep) to take on the job. His weapon of choice? You guessed it: yogurt. Suddenly and unbenounced to Bulgaria, word of this elixir spread as Western Europe became fascinated with the prospect of a magical cure. Although the hubbub grew louder as the world grew increasingly curious as to what his panacea could be, the healer was somehow able to keep his secret to himself. But why not share it? Perhaps his grand reasoning was the the pride he took in the fact that his country was the originator of such a divine good, or perhaps he simply wanted to keep his job without competition. Whatever the reason, he kept the world wondering until his sheep died one winter and yogurt was virtually “forgotten until modern times” (Atanasov).

 

Even after rumors of this elixir within France dissipated, it seems as if the Bulgarian attention to the Russo-Turkish war kept them wholly unaware of the fame their most common good had gained across the continent. As wartime tensions rose, the pressure to produce economical foods must have been at an all-time high. It seems logical that the Bulgarians would have looked towards yogurt as the most obvious choice for the job. In a situation that vaguely mirrors that of the Bulgarian captive’s plight several hundred years ago, yogurt transitioned once again from being simply a common household food across class lines to what was likely a life source. Although hard times were far from being over, this war gave way to the state of Bulgaria that soon rose within the Ottoman Empire. Little did this new state know, the dawn of the twentieth century would bring with it a rush of wonder from the west when word of this magic elixir emerged once more.

 

Lo and behold, the pot that France had abandoned in the sixteenth century began to be stirred once again. Increased global communication ignited a preoccupation with yogurt that must have come as a complete surprise to Bulgaria. What served as a mundane and everyday food with humble beginnings to them shot to almost immediate fame as a medicine in France. As consumption continued to increase, it began to be included as a mandatory element in children’s school lunches. Exterior demand for this superfood rose to an all-time high. The sense of pride that Bulgarian’s held towards their sour milk grew as this seemingly commonplace food began to be considered by others as highly valuable and rare. In fact, this pride swelled to such an extent that claims were made that yogurt could only be produced within Bulgaria, and any attempt at production elsewhere would yield a inferior knock-off. Although these claims seemed to be an attempt to deter other countries from attempting production, a discovery in the years to come lended much more validity to these claims than originally perceived.

 

In 1905, a young Bulgarian scientist peered through his microscope at the frenzy of bacteria that appeared within the yogurt smeared on his petri dish. Up until this point, Western claims of the healing powers of this common Bulgarian dish sat unsupported. However, the discovery of this bacteria led the Nobel prize-winning Russian scientist Ilya Mechnikov to link the Bulgarians’ high consumption of yogurt to their long lifespans (Shuman). He even went so far as to claim that this seemingly common food could hold the secret to immortality. He believed “the main reason for the death of the human body was the decay processes in the human stomach which slowly poison the body” and that because the bacteria in yogurt had the ability to kill the microorganisms in the intestines, eating yogurt must lead to an extended life –and potentially immortality (Atanasov). Although his quest for immortality via the elixir of yogurt ultimately failed, his claims caused people from all over the world to travel to Bulgaria for the sole purpose of eating Bulgarian yogurt to this day.

 

When considering the journey yogurt has undergone since its spread outside of Bulgaria, it is somewhat amazing to consider how constant its role within the country has remained. Despite the wearings of war and the highs of external fame, yogurt has remained steady as a staple in Bulgarian cuisine since its invention. In modern day Bulgaria, yogurt is consumed daily in almost every household. Although not quite considered fine dining, yogurt is commonly found in restaurants in the form of bases and glazes in many dishes in the national cuisine. While its purpose on the world stage might vary, yogurt is, to Bulgarians, not a magic elixir but rather a unifying staple of life for rich and poor alike.

 

Works Cited

Atanasov, Kostadin. “Historical Facts About Bulgarian Yogurt .” Radio Bulgaria, 18 Sept. 2013, bnr.bg/en/post/100213508/historical-facts-about-bulgarian-yoghurt.

Shuman, Ellis. “Bulgaria’s Secret to Long Life.” HuffPost UK, HuffPost UK, 10 May 2016, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ellis-shuman/bulgarias-secret-to-long-_b_9866820.html.