On bended knee for a dairy treat in Sofia, Bulgaria

From a range of cheeses to warm yogurt dishes, the Balkan country serves up a lactose lover's dream buffet

- Raul Dias

A few years ago, on an impromptu summer trip to the Balkan nation A of Bulgaria, I found myself on bended knee in front of an open window asking for a princess. Now, before thoughts of a romantic proposal enter the mind, let me set the record straight. I was in the capital, Sofia, that is famous for its rather strange-looking pavement-level klek shops. The shops are reconverted bomb shelters of apartment buildings dating back to the Cold War era, and take their name from the Bulgarian word for kneel.

After the fall of communism in Bulgaria in 1989, residents of the apartments converted them into shops that could serve just one kneeling customer at a time through small sliding windows, with the shopkeeper's head at the level of the customer's feet.

The aforementioned princess is the name of an open-faced grilled sandwich with the brine-y sirene cheese crumbled over it. Sandwiches like the princess and a range of dairy products are often sold out of klek shop windows in the capital. Sirene, made with goat or sheep milk and similar to Greek feta, is used in all sorts of pastries and salads in Bulgaria.

DAIRY IS QUEEN