site.btaBack to the Land: Young Enthusiasts Revive Rural Life with Handmade Food Market

The beginning of an unconventional market – offering goods made by young enthusiasts who have chosen to live in rural areas and produce their own food – was marked Saturday in the village of Eremiya. The producers will offer their goods every Saturday and Sunday at the farm of miller Svilen Klasanov in the village.

Both Bulgarians and foreigners are participating in the market, offering authentic products without preservatives. All the goods are handmade and, as the producers told BTA, made with lots of love. The market is also accompanied by a concert programme for its visitors.

“The events will take place on weekends every week, so that everyone can get some of the most essential food products,” said Svilen Klasanov, who is also a baker and the initiator of the event. It is he who opened his bread-focused farm in Eremiya for these themed markets. Klasanov has been working with bread, flour, and ancient wheat varieties for 20 years. He is one of the founders of the “Sun and Moon” shops and restaurants in Sofia. Currently, he lives in the village and hosts guests at his farm.

“I work only with ancient varieties of wheat – they are neither modern nor hybrid, nor manipulated by any laboratories,” Klasanov told BTA. He added that he kneads freshly ground flour by hand, in traditional wooden troughs, using sourdough, and after a slow fermentation, bakes the bread either in a clay pot or in an oven.

“This is a market that offers extraordinary products – different from the standard ones you can buy anywhere. The products here are made by people who have a different attitude toward food,” added the miller.

The market offers goat cheese from the village of Frolosh (municipality of Kocherinovo), eggs, goat and yogurt, pesto and syrups made by Maria and her husband – originally from Spain and Germany, but now living and producing in the village of Prekolnitsa, Kyustendil region. Visitors can also buy herbs and healing tinctures from the village of Vrattsa (Kyustendil municipality), as well as mushrooms and mushroom tinctures.

Also available are sun-dried organic prunes and tomatoes from the village of Tarnovlak, honey from the village of Lelintsi, apple and pear vinegar made from British apples and pears but produced in the village of Ranentsi. Producers from Belgium and Scotland who have chosen Kyustendil as their home also offer jams and syrups handmade by them.

“Years ago, we were sure that if we went to an old lady in the village, we would get local, clean food. That is now somewhat questionable, as even elderly villagers are increasingly using conventional methods of growing and preparing food. The whole idea here, in this place, is that the products are made by people who are genuinely committed to these crafts and to producing food that is high-quality and healthy. They stand behind their products with their names and faces,” said Svilen Klasanov.

According to him, the Kyustendil region is very fertile, with a mild and favorable climate, allowing for both farming and a peaceful life. “Apparently, this is what newcomers – including foreigners – are looking for. There is already a group of us in the region engaged in our own clean production, and the local festivals in Kyustendil help us present our work together,” he said.

The idea is for these events in Eremiya to take place every Saturday and Sunday during the summer. “All producers are welcome, as long as they make high-quality food – that is the criterion for participation,” said Klasanov.