Mish-Mash Recipe: Bulgarian Scrambled Eggs with Peppers

Step-by-step recipe

1. Bulgarian mish-mash differs from similar dishes – Turkish Menemen, Greek Strapatsada, Middle Eastern Shakshuka – first of all in the large amount of sweet pepper compared to the other ingredients. What's more, in most cases the peppers are roasted beforehand and peeled. And, as in most Bulgarian dishes, dried savory (chubritsa) is added.
   
2. First roast the red bell peppers over an open flame or in the oven until the skin turns black. Then put the hot peppers into a container or a plastic bag so they steam. After that, the charred skin comes off easily. Chop all the vegetables fairly finely and put them in separate bowls. Blanch the tomatoes and peel them; it's best to remove the seeds as well.
   
3. Melt a little butter in a frying pan. If you're using onion, fry it first until soft. You can fry the hot pepper and the yellow bell pepper along with the onion – yellow pepper doesn't roast well, so it's better fried. These are secondary components of the dish; cook them in the butter until soft.
   
4. Add the peeled roasted red peppers to the fried vegetables and cook for 5-6 mins over medium heat. Meanwhile, prepare the tomatoes, peeled and seeded. By the way, out of season you can use canned tomato pulp. Add the tomatoes to the pan, season with a little salt and add 0.5 tsp of dried savory – it gives mish-mash its subtle, recognizable flavor.
   
5. Simmer the sauce for about 10 mins over medium heat with the lid on. Meanwhile, prepare the cheese and parsley. Pick the leaves off the parsley sprigs and chop them with a knife. You can grate the cheese or, as they do in the Balkans, crumble it by hand. Add the herbs and cheese to the sauce and stir. Cook uncovered until the liquid evaporates – the sauce should be thick.
   
6. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and mix thoroughly or even beat lightly. Pour the egg mixture into the sauce. Stirring constantly, wait until the eggs set. It's this very process that gave the dish its name. Cooking the eggs takes 5-6 mins in total. Don't overcook them.
   
7. Transfer the eggs and vegetables to a plate. Usually this dish doesn't hold together as one piece; it's more of a soft, slightly crumbly mix. Serve it warm, not hot, with fresh or toasted bread. If you like, add slices of sirene, herbs and sliced fresh vegetables.
   
8. If you decide not to use an ingredient, feel free to skip it or replace it with something else you like. What matters is that the dish has peppers and tomatoes. When using extra ingredients, fry them until very soft so they don't stand out too much in the sauce. And one last tip – be sure to roast the peppers: the flavor and aroma of the dish will reward you.