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Tutmanik
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Tutmanik

Cheese and egg yeast bread

Weddings, christenings and long Sunday lunches in western Bulgaria often begin with a tutmanik on the table, still warm and torn by hand rather than sliced. The yeast dough is enriched with yogurt, eggs and oil, rolled, scattered with crumbled white cheese, folded and baked until it rises tall and golden, with salty pockets of melted cheese running all through the soft crumb. Eat it with a glass of ayran or a bowl of tarator in summer. Sirene is often made with animal rennet, so use a white cheese labelled vegetarian. A common mistake is adding too much flour to a sticky dough; it should stay soft and slightly tacky, or the bread bakes dense. Chef's tip: brush the top with yolk mixed with a spoon of yogurt rather than milk, for the deep, glossy crust Bulgarian bakers aim for.

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