Lyutenitsa in Bulgaria 2024

If you try this excellent vegetable snack at least once, you may find yourself craving it all the time. Lyutenitsa looks like a tomato paste: it is saturated red and thick and you can spread it on bread. This easy snack is especially loved by children.

The snack name comes from its taste—spicy and hot. But lyutenitsa doesn't have to be necessarily too hot. It can be moderate and gentle as well. Rumor has it, the air in Bulgaria is filled with roasting peppers' aroma during the fall season. At this time of year that locals cook lyutenitsa and consume it all the time.

Lyutenitsa consists of tomatoes and peppers, which are used in different proportions to alter the taste. Locals also use eggplant, carrots, hot peppers, onions, garlic, and cumin as additives in the Bulgarian recipes. Bulgarians believe that this food should be infused for at least a few weeks to help the taste unfold in its entirety. The season of preparing lyutenitsa runs between August and November when vegetables are at their ripest and cheapest.