Exclusively traditionalBulgarian meals will be

offered to the contestantsthroughout the Olympiad.None of the teams hasrequested special diets, so theorganizers decided to go forbuffet-style. The young peoplewill definitely taste kebapche(grilled minced-meat-and-spices roll), grilled stake,kavarma (meat slowly stewedin a clay pot), banitsa (tradi-tional Bulgarian pastry),Rodopi yogurt, Bulgariancheese (white brined cheese)and Bulgarian kashkaval (yel-low cheese).

The menu will also fea-ture veal and chicken meat, aswell as all sorts of fresh sal-ads. The desserts will bemainly summer fruits in sea-son: water melons, melons,peaches, figs, and grapes.

Every day, various del-icacies will be abun-dant on the tables.Should any of theparticipants,

h o w e v e r ,wish to tastesome food fromtheir own nationalcuisines, the chefs at the HotelNovotel Plovdiv have plenty ofexperience working in Japan,

Switzerlandand France and

are ready to take theorders.

Alcoholdrinks are,

n a t u -r a l l y ,

banned. Even thediscos in the hotel

garden on 10 and12 August will serve

only juices and othersoft drinks.

6leisure time

Research in the recent years hasshown that the traditional Bulgarian cui-sine from the end of ХIХ c. and the firsthalf of ХХ c. is quite close to the socalled Mediterranean diet. What ismore, the nutrition patterns in all Balkancountries are traditionally very similar,which gives us the opportunity to speakof healthy Balkan food or of a Balkandiet. The traditional cuisine of theBalkan countries meets the essentialcriteria for healthy nutrition. A few typi-cal examples of the Bulgarian contribu-tion to the healthy Balkan nutrition.Bulgarian yogurt has been proven to beat the heart of the longevity of Bulgarianmountain-dwellers. Natural bee prod-ucts are also an important part of themenu.

Typical of the Bulgarian nationalcuisine, as well as of the healthy Balkandiet (Bulgarian diet, respectively), arethe legumes: beans, lentils, peas, etc.which are left to simmer. In this way, allplant proteins, such as lecithin, carbo-hydrates, and the whole wide range ofnutrients are prepared to a state inwhich they are very easy for uptake bythe human body. Another trait in harmo-ny with modern concepts for healthynutrition /one which differentiates usfrom the western nations / is that themeat is roasted or boiled together withall other ingredients (mostly vegetables)of the meal - potatoes, peppers, egg-plants, tomatoes, okra, courgettes, car-rots: and is left to simmer, of course!Finally, the meal is sprinkled with ahandful of finely sliced fresh parsley.

Bulgarian cuisine

TODAY is the first competition day for the Olympians. The startof the core program is at 9.00 am sharp in Hall 11 of International FairPlovdiv. Because of busy construction works going on, the teams willbe taken to the venue by a special protected route along the MaritsaRiver with the assistance of the police.

Traffic Police teams will make sure the groups cross the busy„Tsar Boris Treti“ Boulevard safely.

The disco party will take off at 21.00 in the garden of HotelNovotel Plovdiv.

TOMORROW the teams will relax. They will choose betweenthe Aqua Park and the „Lauta“ Karting track. At the same time, organ-izers and committees will work on the preparation of the second com-petition day on 12 August.

Olymians taste kebapche and kavarma