Kartalacheta cooking class with Tatyana

If you have chosen Plovdiv for the weekend, but want to go beyond the usual walk through the Old Town and Kapana, plan a visit to the nearby village of Skutare. There you will find an experience that will reveal the simple, but true wealth of the region. A few minutes away from the city lies a home where food is more than just taste – it is history and heritage, preserved through generations. There, the hostess Tatyana Trifonova has created a space where everyone can experience the magic of Thracian cuisine and try one of the most characteristic childhood snacks in the region – kartalacheta.

These envelope-shaped treats were part of the daily lives of the local people in the area. Made with a dough of flour, water and kvass (or yeast), with cheese and butter, they are the kind of simple food that brings back a wealth of memories. They were baked on a baking sheet and were ready to go to the fields, school or yard in minutes, wrapped in a towel to keep warm. For many people, this is the taste of the morning – fluffy dough with the aroma of home comfort.

Today, Tatiana brings this taste back to the table not as a museum piece, but as a living experience. Having returned from years in the corporate world and traveling the world, she brings with her the conviction that food is a universal language that connects us across cultures and generations. In her culinary workshop in Scutari, she shows how to knead and shape the dough, how to bake it on a griddle, and how, while still warm, the kartalacheta smell so good that it brings everyone back to their own memories of their grandmother's house.

This experience is an encounter with the past, served with the warmth of a host who believes that tradition is not obsolete, but inspiration. And as you enjoy the first bite, you will feel that Skutare is more than a stopover near Plovdiv - this home is a gateway to a Bulgaria that lives in simple but timeless flavors.