Popara , is a meal made with left over or fresh bread. It is mostly made in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

 and Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

. Popara is also used as a last name. Person who made Popara got it and spread it by generations.

Products

One- or two-day-old or fresh bread (with a thick crust), milk, water or tea (chai), butter, a teaspoon of sugar, and kajmak or sirene

Sirene

Sirene/ Sirenje or known as "white brine sirene" .Salads: Shopska salad with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions and sirene. Ovcharska salad with the above mentioned vegetables, cheese, ham, boiled eggs and olives. Tomatoes with sirene is a traditional light salad during the summer.Eggs:...

.

A recipe

Boil the milk or water. Cut the bread into cubes, then mix with the boiling milk or water. Cook for only few minutes until the bread gets moist, but make sure it doesn't burn. Warm a spoonful of pork lard or kajmak and pour over the popara.

Another popular variant substitutes kajmak for Feta cheese, which is spread over the top and allowed to melt on the hot bread.

Making popara Bulgarian

Bulgarian cuisine

Bulgarian cuisine is a representative of the cuisine of Southeastern Europe. Essentially South Slavic, it shares characteristics with other Balkans cuisines...

style does not require boiling the bread. To make popara Bulgarian style,
1. mix the bread with the white cheese(sirene) (if you prefer it sweet, add the sugar at this stage) in a large bowl,
2. pour the hot water or milk over (the liquid needs to be only enough to thoroughly moist the bread; do not make it soupy),
3. cover with a lid and leave it to steam for about 5 minutes.
4. Finally add a knob of butter.

Popara is a traditional kids' breakfast meal.

Making popara in Serbian style:

- Boil milk, in which you add some salt, and some kajmak.

- Add bread previously cut in to smaller pieces.

- Cook for few more minutes until it turns in thick paste. Be careful not to burn it.

- Serve on a plate and dig in!

Tirit

- Day-old bread, cut in chunks

- Feta cheese, crumbled

- Green onion, chopped

- Parsley, chopped

- Beef broth or stock, hot

Place the bread slices in a bowl. Sprinkle the green onion, parsley and feta cheese on top. Pour some hot beef broth and wait until the bread soaks it in, then pour the rest. The bread shouldn't be dry or juicy. If needed, add some salt and pepper.

Tirit is a Turkish dish made from old bread so it doesn't have to be thrown away.