Resumen de Ethnobotanical knowledge on edible plants used in zelnik pastries from Haskovo province (Southeast Bulgaria)
Teodora A. Ivanova, Yulia Zh. Bosseva, Valentina G. Ganeva-Raycheva, Desislava Dimitrova
Wild edible greens constitute a valuable part of the “wild food” – an ecosystem service traditionally used worldwide. Their use as vegetable filling of pastries is one of the popular and diverse food traditions in the Balkans. Specificities of the Bulgarian zelnik (traditional vegetable phyllo pastry type) from Haskovo province were studied, so as to document the variety of plant taxa used in its preparation and the related traditional ecological knowledge preserved in the local communities. Twenty-four food plants (14 wild or semi-cultivated and 10 cultivated) were recorded as zelnik fillings. Most varied wild mixtures were reported from the Ivaylovgrad Municipality by descendants of the Anatolian Bulgarians. Their tradition for zelnik preparations turned out rather different from those of other ethno-confessional groups. Fast depopulation of the region and application of this knowledge only for private family use could explain the limited popularity of wider edible greens consumption among Bulgarians. Urgent documentation of the traditional ecological knowledge across Bulgaria was considered necessary, not only for the purpose of preservation of this knowledge, but also for future valorisation.
