This year we will be starting our truffle hunts on December 21st. Every year, people come home to Bulgaria for the holidays, but were unable to attend our truffle hunts, so we will offer one hunt during the Christmas holiday, and truffle deliveries for New Years.

We are also excited to partner with the Experimental Social Club… we will be offering a bespoke experience on January 11th… It will be different from our normal truffle hunt with a special menu and other interesting elements.

Another new collaboration will be a Truffle weekend with Maria Jekova… On February 8th we will have a truffle hunt and menu created by Maria and I will be her sous chef… Then on Sunday, we will offer a truffle brunch… no hunting, but lots of truffles.

You can check out our page Truffle Hunting for the rest of the details of our truffle hunts and accommodations while you are visiting us. To make a reservation, please email me at info@angelove.eu

It was a brief stint as a vegetarian, in the early 2000’s that lead me to find kanpyo sushi. I had discovered sushi and Japanese food while working in New York City. I grew bored quite quickly with the standard cucumber, carrot and avocado sushi options, so at one outing, when I asked about other vegetarian offerings, the server suggested kanpyo, a the sweetened shavings of a dried gourd from the calabash family; I was instantly hooked. It was sweet, salty and savory and my taste buds were exuberant. While living in New York, it was always easy to find kanpyo maki, but that changed once I moved to Bulgaria in 2006.

My penchant for cooking went into overdrive once I had to learn to make all the foods that I missed from New York from scratch. Sushi was practically non existent in Bulgaria in 2006, needless to say, there wasn’t a dried gourd shaving in sight. It was through the help of a Japanese expat in Sofia that I managed to procure some kanpyo. Having some basic sushi skills in my repertoire, I started researching how to cook and marinate the kanpyo. There were very limited recipes in english about kanpyo, but it was simple enough, soy sauce, sugar and some salt. I wrote about my experience for my blog in 2010 and hadn’t thought much about that post till 2019, when TV Tokyo wanted to interview and film me about my love of kanpyo. It sounded like an interesting opportunity, little did I know it would lead to me spending a week in Japan filming with TV Tokyo and learning about kanpyo and its history in a life changing farm to table experience.

On my trip, I would be learning how to prepare kanpyo from a notable sushi chef in Tokyo and spend a few days at a yugao or fukube farm in the Tochigi prefecture. Kanpyo is often served at the end of a omakase meal, which is where the sushi chef chooses the menu and you happily sit and enjoy each bite. If you watch the documentary film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, kanpyo is one of the final pieces. For anyone that has enjoyed omakase, it is like a symphony of flavors in each mouthful.

My sushi journey began at Sushi Kiyoshi, located in the fashionable Ginza district. Chef Sakai Kiyoshi, has over 37 years of experience. He spent 25 of those years at Kyubey, a world renowned sushi establishment. He left in 2020 to start his restaurant. Kiyoshi-san is a warm-hearted person that was excited to meet a westerner that loved kanpyo, which is a lesser-known ingredient, even amongst the Japanese. He welcomed me to his restaurant and he served me an multiple course omakase meal. Every single piece was an explosion of flavors. With the help of my translator Akiko-san, he explained all about his sushi style. Kiyoshi-san is notable for using different vinegars in his shari-su and pairing each with a special selected rice variety, grown in different prefectures. His rices are seasoned with a the traditional rice wine vinegars, as well as red wine vinegars and his own special rosé blend. The rice that Kiyoshi-san uses are selected from small farmers in different prefectures in Japan are paired with different sea creatures and seasoned, not just with wasabi, but also with a yuzu kosho, a spicy pepper paste with yuzu citrus zest on certain pieces. The colors on his palette were endless.

As we neared the end, he announced that my favorite was coming. He pulled out a small ceramic jar filled with thinly sliced pieces of glistening kanpyo. This was the first roll that he had served and I was quivering with anticipation. He served me 4 pieces, 2 without wasabi and 2 with… The unadulterated roll with just kanpyo was by far the best. The wasabi and heat detracted from the subtle flavors of the marinated and season rehydrated gourd. I had never experienced kanpyo on such a visceral level and Kiyoshi-san was going to teach me his secrets.

Ingredients:

500g of dried kanpyo, cut into sections about the width of your fist. Once rehydrated, they will be about the length of a sheet of nori, Coarse sea salt

Marinade:

1 – 180ml ladle of soy sauce ichi, 1 180ml ladle of dry saké, ichi, 2 – 180ml ladles of Tamazato sugar, (you can substitute raw or brown sugar) 1 – 180ml ladle of Kuruzato sugar (you can substitute dark brown sugar), 500ml – 1 liter of Mirin

Method:

Bring a very large pot of water to a boil, the pot, ideally should be wider, rather than taller. More of a rondeau shape. I will use my Le Creuset Dutch oven Add the cut pieces of the dried gourd to the pot. Stir to separate the strands. Remove from heat and place a plate or lid on top of the kanpyo to keep all the pieces submerged, so they rehydrate evenly. Let stand at room temperature for 12 hours. The soaking helps to remove any impurities.

Drain the rehydrated kanpyo in a colander, then return to the pot. Add two handfuls of the coarse sea salt to the kanpyo and massage the salt gently into each piece, taking care not the damage the strands.

After 5-10 minutes, rinse thoroughly under cool running water to remove the excess salt. Continue rinsing for another 5-10 minutes, taste the kanpyo to be certain of the level of salinity. Drain in a colander and return to the pot.

Bring the pot to the stove top filled to the brim with water, leaving about 3cm (1″). Over high heat, bring to a boil. Stirring to make sure the strands are separated. Once lazy bubbles begin to appear breaking through the surface cover it again with a plate or lid to keep everything submerged. Lower the heat and let cook gently for 30 minutes, you know it is ready when your nail can easily penetrate the flesh.

Drain the kanpyo into a colander, and place the colander into the pot to catch the excess liquid. Set up your cutting board, a sharp knife and two bowl, with strainers. Once it is cool enough to handle, begin arranging the kanpyo flat on the cutting board about 4-5 strands, slightly overlapping and begin slicing lengthwise to a width of approximately 1mm. At this point you want to separate the kanpyo into two piles, one of for the softer inner fleshy pieces, and the other bowl is for the tougher outer pieces that are usually cut closer to rind. This step is very time consuming. Most kanpyo you find commercially is not sliced, but the thinner pieces occupy less space in the roll, which will give you more kanpyo per bite.

The next step you will take small handfuls of thinly sliced kanpyo, about a small handful and gently squeeze out the excess moisture. This is very important so that the kanpyo will be able to absorb more the marinate. Don’t rush this step. If you squeeze too hard, you will break the tender strands and they will not endure the next cooking process.

Prepare all the marinade ingredients. Add to the pot over the stove on high. Combine everything, except the mirin thoroughly till all the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar, soy and saké mixture hits a hard boil and begins to rise, add the bowl with the tougher pieces of kanpyo. gently stir and separate the thin strands to ensure an even coating. Once the sugar mixture begins to hard boil again, add the more tender strands directly on top of the tougher pieces. Try to maintain two levels. Gently arrange the tender strands. In the center of the pot of kanpyo, make a small well, so you can scoop up some of the marinade. With a ladle, our the marinate over the top of the tender strands, so everything is coated and evenly colored. Turn off the heat, and press down again with a plate or lid. Let the pot, marinade and kanpyo stand for one hour.

If you have ever seen someone flip veggies in the pot with a flick of the wrist… the next step is similar. You want to flip the kanpyo inside the pot. Firmly grip both sides and flip it over. So now, the tender kanpyo is on the bottom and the tougher bits are on top. Keep flipping till all the kanpyo is uniformly coated.

Return the pot to the stove top and over high heat and add 500ml of mirin. This measurement is approximate. You want to the mirin to coat all the kanpyo till it is glistening. Feel free to gently move it around. When the mirin starts to sizzle and begins to evaporate or absorb about 5-7 minutes, remove from the heat and transfer to a large colander. Place a bowl underneath to capture all the excess marinade that drips off. You will add this to future batch. Your kanpyo is now ready to use in your roll.

The kanpyo will keep about a month in the fridge, or about a year in the freezer. The freezer will degrade the texture. You can also vacuum seal the extra and it will keep for 6 months or longer.

I first encountered this warming beverage on my first Christmas with my in-laws in 2001. Angel and I were living in Paris while I was a student, and both of our families spent Christmas in France. My mother-in-law brought all the Bulgarian traditions to the holiday table.

At the time, I wasn’t a big spirits drinker and rakia was too strong for me… oh how far I have come, but mulled rakia is different; the sweetness of the honey and fruitiness of the rakia warms your body and soul.

Last year, I was given the opportunity to host an event, at the Garafa Wine Bar, which is currently seeking a new location for 2025, and write a recipe for the Bacchus magazine winter issue as part of the Migrants Got Talent campaign by the amazing Multi Kulti Collective.

My inspiration for this mulled rakia recipe stems from a family tradition. Every winter, I make a spice infused simple syrup with lots of baking spices. We use this syrup as an alternative to hot chocolate. It is delicious in warm milk or sparkling water. I keep the Bulgarian tradition and use rakia and honey, warmed, but infused with seasonal spices and flavors.

Mulled Rakia

500ml cherry rakia

100g herbal honey or chestnut, if you want a deeper flavor.

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

5 black peppercorns

4 whole cloves

1 5cm strip of an orange peel, bitter pith removed.

• Macerate the rakia and the spices for 1-2 hours before serving in a small sauce pan or traditional hot rakia vessel (джезев)
• Add the honey to the rakia and spice mixture. 
• Bring to a boil of med-high heat. 
• Once it hits a hard boil, immediately remove it from the heat. 
• Cover and let cool for 10 minutes. 
• Strain the mulled rakia into a ceramic serving carafe or pitcher. Pour in to small ceramic cups

There are so many variations that can be used in this recipe. Allspice, cardamon, maybe a piece of fresh ginger. The beauty of mulled rakia is that there are a multitude of options. The key is not only finding the right flavor profiles for your taste.

This holiday season, Angelove Estate will be offering the perfect holiday gift for all the special people in your life. We have partnered with Zemya ceramic to offer a complete Mulled Rakia kit. The box includes Angelove Estate‘s cherry rakia, a Zemya ceramic pitcher and two cups, in your choice of green or lavender (while supplies last), 100ml of honey, a packet of the spices and a recipe card in English or Bulgarian.

You can order this set exclusively via Angelove Estate’s online shop for only 150BGN (77.60€) Reserve here via email, while supplies last.

We were up bright and early to meet the aptly named, Tochigi family… multiple generations with Kinue-san, the matriarch at a spry 88. She has been actively involved with the farming and manufacturing of kanpyo for over 80 years. The current head farmer, is her son the charismatic Isao-san. The entire clan waited for me with signs welcoming my arrival. I was completely overwhelmed by the spectacle.

We wasted no time getting into the swing of things. I was given a hat and sweat towel by Isao-san’s daughter Sayaka-san and put to work. Our task was to collect all the fukube for tomorrow. Isao went through the field selecting the perfect 6-7kg gourds. He cut them and the younger tweens and teens helped to bring them from the vine to the road in between the plots. 

Barreling towards us in an adorable little pick-up truck was another octogenarian, and Aunt to Isao-san, Mei-san. She and her lifelong friend Tami-chan, also in her 80’s were the glue holding the operation together. As Mei-san drove the truck, we started filling it with the fukube. Our goal was at least 150-200… 

At some point, I was asked to select some fukube and cut them from the vine, with the help of Hibiki-san, Rilika-san, and Issa-san. Of all the younger kids in the Tochigi family, Hibiki-san, at 11 routinely came by the farm after school and baseball practice to help out. As many of the young people, leave agriculture for life in the big city. The cottage industry that is kanpyo is declining… Hopefully, kids like Hibiki are the future.

After we had loaded the entire truck, we went to drop them off in the tent. This is where I had my first lesson in how to shave the gourds. There is spinning wheel, which I got to use to shave the fukube into the dried strips that become kanpyo. I am a bit of a afraid of power tools… a scaredy cat when it comes to mechanical things… weed trimmers, drills, chainsaws… no thank you. So having a camera on my while I was attempting to shave large 6-7kg gourd brought out my uncoordinated side. The look on my face pretty much says it all.

Once we finished our agricultural work for the day, we went to the family’s restaurant Tochigi-ya. A local haunt known for its fried chicken. I was going to learn different recipes and ways to use kanpyo besides a maki roll. In the kitchen I was cooking with Emiliya-san & Akiko-san. We were making a roll with tamagio, kanpyo and cucumber with funky fish sprinkles… The next was kara aga, or deep fried marinated kanpyo. I couldn’t help but think that the kanpyo kara aga would well well in a roll. Like a tempura roll, but with kanpyo. They told me that no one had ever tried that… so I set to work, using the left over ingredients to create this special roll as a surprise for the family. 

Once we were finished it was time to get ready for the party. I wasn’t quite sure exactly what was going to take place, but there certainly many more people than earlier. When I arrived in the room there were at least 50 people all family members. I was the guest of honor and it was overwhelming. I couldn’t believe that this was all arranged for me.

It is Japanese custom that you don’t pour your own drink, you always pour for others and my cup runith over… beer, sake, plum wine… I couldn’t kampai fast enough… I definitely got Bulgarian Nazdrave vibes. Speeches were made and lots of food was eaten… I have never seen so many different preparations of kanpyo and I love everyone. My brain was spinning.

As the party progressed, it came to the time in the evening for karaoke. I somehow knew that there might be a chance that I would need to sing, so I did think of a few songs in advance. First up was Isao-san. He picked a classic song by his Idol the famous Japanese rocker E-chan… The Tochigi farm was almost shrine to the enigmatic singer. As a member of the E-chan fan club… Isao-san had a special towel that he wore while listening to his music and tending to the fukube. 

So it was an obvious choice that he would perform one of his songs. This particular song had an audience participation component, where at a certain point we will chant “heyhey” and twirl our napkins… despite the copious amount of libations that flowed in my direction… I got into the groove rather quickly.

When it was my turn… I was thinking of doing Tina Turner Proud Mary, but it wasn’t an options, so I found another classic, Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. A wonderful song that also reminds me of my late Aunt Caroline. When I mentioned that to Isao-san, he told me about his sister that he lost earlier in the year to cancer. The next song we did together. It was her favorite. Hey Jude. It was very emotional… 

While the party continued on into the night… I left around 10pm. We started work at 5am the next morning and I couldn’t party like a rockstar. I bid everyone my farewell and collapse from exhaustion in my hotel.

The next day was going to be the busiest, which I couldn’t imagine considering our first shooting day was so full on. When we arrived around 6 the Tochigi farm was operating at max capacity. Isao-san was hard at work shaving the fukube and Mei-san and Tami-chan were working to collect the strips of fresh kanpyo to hang in the aerated green house. It was time consuming and tricky work. The strands of kanpyo varied and length and were very slippery. It wasn’t always easy getting them to stay on the polls. It wasn’t like herding cats, it was like herding snakes. The kanpyo had a mind of its own.

Once Isao-san finished shaving the 150-ish fukube from the day before, and all the kanpyo was hung-up, we had time for breakfast. It was another kanpyo inspired meal. A soup with egg and kanpyo and a soy and rice pocket tied with a kanpyo bow. It was all delicious, as usual. It was nice sitting down with everyone and enjoying a traditional breakfast with everyone on the kanpyo crew.

After breakfast, we drove around so Koki-san could get some additional footage. We did some drone shots of me walking over a bridge and arriving in Mibu-chou. There was something big happening tonight, but I didn’t know what it was. Isao-san gifted me with a yukata, a traditional ensemble, not as formal as a kimono, but equally gorgeous… I was going to be dressed up for the evenings festivities.

With some time to relax, Isao-san’s uncle Masai-san brought me to the sports barn, which was outfitted as a driving range and batting cage. It was quite a cool feature to the farm. The Tochigi family are crazy about baseball and golf. While I am not an avid golfer, I like to play and try to play with my Dad in NY whenever I get the chance. With the cameras rolling we went to the indoor putting green and hits some balls. I didn’t do half bad, but I was no match for Masai-san. Thinking we were finished we then started doing some driving. It was so cool. I really had a blast and learned some valuable tips for my next golf session with my Dad.

It was late in the afternoon and now that play time was over, we needed to finish with the kanpyo. They had dried all afternoon and now they needed to be moved and combined to finish drying overnight. It involved moistening with a power sprayer, similar to one that we use in the distillery for the cherries and systematic tapping and stacking of the poles to make 4 in 1. Isao-san’s daughter Sayaka-san helped me to go through the rows and make sure that everything was spaced properly and unstuck. 

After the kanpyo would continue trying and would be collected at the end of the day to be packaged for sale. After seeing the entire process unfold from farm to table, I have a new respect and deeper understanding not only of traditional Japanese enterprise and the people responsible for keeping the kanpyo tradition alive. 

After work, we headed back to the Tochigi’s restaurant Tochigi-ya. We weren’t cooking, but I was about the get the full dress-up treatment. I was escorted to the back room with all the women beautifully dressed in the yukata’s. The colors and patters were breathtaking. They first started with my hair and decorated my tresses with custom made clips, just for me… then the task of dressing me was next. Because the show was to air on the “Golden Hour” they needed to tame my breasts. They stuffed me with bath towels below and between my cleavage to make me look even larger than I already was. I took a photo to show Angel the numbers bath towels that they wrapped around me. It was quite funny. After all the primping and fussing, I was ready. I felt gorgeous… ginormous, but gorgeous. Another component was that I also needed to learn the traditional kanpyo dance. I was given about 10 minutes of a tutorial before I was sent out to the masses. I still wasn’t entirely sure what was coming, but I would be doing it in traditional wooden sandals, mens of course.

I was guided outside in the dark and around the back of the restaurant where the entire town greeted me and dressed for a kanpyo festival. Technically the festival was to be held on the 26th of August, but they re-created the festival for my benefit. It was amazing. I don’t think I will fully be able to express what it was like to see an entire town gather in your honor… true maybe people just want to be on television, but everyone was dressed up and ready to celebrate the honorable fukube. Once the dancing start… I was quickly dragged into the fray, despite my 10 minute tutorial, I quickly picked up the dance. It was the Japanese version of the horo, but I was also twirling a hat. It was sweltering and the sweat was pouring off me. I was having a fantastic time. Even thinking about it fills me with joy and emotion. We danced and played games and took photos… It was magical evening.

At the end of the night, I reluctantly had to say good bye. While many of the towns people, I would never see again… I knew in the morning, I would have to say goodbye to the rest of the Tochigi family, Isao-san, my feisty octogenarians and the rest of the amazing people that made my experience life changing. 

It was finally time to exchange our gifts. I had brought rakia, soap and small vials of Bulgarian rose oil in wooden dolls. I also had some Kyustendil postcards. There were so many people, I couldn’t decide how to gift and thank everyone for the kindness they had showed me. I surprised myself, when I started crying while saying good bye. How could people I have only known for three days feel like family. I felt such a connection, such compassion for the Tochigi family. I want to see them all again. I hope that my life path leads me back to Japan, but this time with my family. Mei-san at 82 promised she would stay alive to wait for my return. I hope I don’t disappoint her. 

Our first calf, Mikey Lunch was born either April 30th or May 1st 2022. Being novices, it took us a while to ascertain if it was a male or a female. When he first arrived, Angel called me to say that their was a large dog in the field… on closer inspection we saw that one of our “Crooked Horn” cows had given birth.

When we purchased the cows, we were told that some of them were pregnant. We just weren’t sure which ones… There were a few non-viable pregnancies that didn’t produce a living calf, but also the trauma of child birth claimed the lives of the mothers. Our philosophy towards our animals is survival of the fittest. We don’t assist in anyway during the birthing process. If they don’t survive, we won’t intervene.

Our next calf was born on September 4th 2022, which happened to be my sister Veronica’s birthday, so it seemed only fitting that we should name the calf in her honor… Again, we weren’t sure how to tell the sex of the newborn, so we had the name Vern ready too.

Following Veronica, Sophia Loren was born on September 20th 2022, the same day as the famous Italian actress. She is brown with white spots and a triangle like spot on the middle of her head. These three surviving calves arrived pregnant from the former owner.

Our goal was to try increase our herd size and get the cows pregnant. In August 2022, we were given a bull called Pesho. He was very stupid and not excepted by the herd. I am not sure if he was too young, sick or whatever, but he didn’t manage to get the job done.

In October 2022, we found Martin. He was a beast… he was loaned to us for a month to get frisky with our cows… He was sent to the butchers in November… he went out with a bang… now we needed to wait to see if he was an actual stud.

Last summer, we found out that he managed to sire… 3 live calves. The first was Vicky. She was born on July 12th 2023 which happens to be the birthday of my daughter Boryana’s friend and CSKA volleyball player, Victoria Dimitrova. You can tell her apart because she has a large white stripe going down her side.

Next up was born on July 31st 2023, so as a huge Harry Potter fan, we named this female calf “JK” after author JK Rowling. She almost looks like a Highland cow and a spitting image of her father.

A few days later, Gerald (AKA Johnny, as Angel likes to call him) was born on our niece’s birthday August 3rd 2023. Her middle name is Geraldine, so for this male calf, we decided to name him after her. JK and Gerald look like twins. Their father’s genes are strong. Besides the twigs and berries… JK’s tail has a white tip.

As Mikey was maturing, we weren’t sure when he would be able to be the bull of the herd, but he rose to the occasion. We were certain that he wasn’t related to any of the other cows, so we were happy to find out that a few of our ladies were pregnant.

The first birth of 2024 was Ronaldo, born on February 5th. He was born on the birthday of Christian Ronaldo, a famous footballer… apparently, he is quite famous.

5 days later, on February 10th, Emma Roberts was born. One look at here and it is obvious who her father is… You can’t miss her distinctive white face.

After a few weeks, we welcomed Joseph on March 5th, so we named him for my brother Joe, who has a birthday on March 7th. What is interesting, is the Joe’s mother is Veronica. The cow named for my sister. He has a black tip on his tail, so we can tell him apart from Ronaldo.

There are possibly two more cows that are pregnant and will give birth this spring. I will update this post if and when they arrive.

Angel handles all of the day to day care of the cows. He knows their ins and outs. He has learned so much about rearing cows in these two years. He is a real cowboy. All he needs is a horse.

You can read more about my Beef journey here.

Our first two shoot days were in Tokyo. I would be learning how to make proper Edo-style kanpyo at a sushi restaurant in Ginza. The first day was Sunday and the production van collected me after lunch. On Sunday the streets in Ginza are closed to vehicular traffic, so we were able to shoot in the middle of the street. The area had fancy vibes and judging by all of the shops… this was the Fifth Avenue or Champs Élysées of Japan. The director Koki-san asked me if I had heard of Ginza, which I actually hadn’t. Fashion doesn’t interest me in the least, so I wasn’t particularly impressed by all the big name fashion houses. The architecture on the other hand was quite impressive.

I was really nervous about meeting the sushi chef. I had a few phrases that I needed to learn, just to introduce myself and be polite, but they were a lot. Watashi wa kanpyo desuki na Casey desu. Yoroshiku onagai shimasku. As we walked towards the restaurant I was mumbling the phrases over and over to myself. Never quite getting them right. I wished the production team would have given me some key phrases to study before I arrived. Not the morning of.

We arrived at a large building. The entrance had many signs, what looked like an office building was actually a bunch of commercial spaces and restaurants. Our destination was Sushi-Kiyoshi on the 9th floor.

I introduced myself to Kiyoshi-san; I ended up stumbling over the words like I was in a hostage situation, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Chef Sakai Kiyoshi has been preparing sushi for 37 years. He spent a vast majority of his career, 25 years working at the world renowned Kyubey, also in Ginza. In 2020, he started his own restaurant Sushi Kiyoshi. Our first day, I was going to experience his “omakase” menu, or chef’s choice The restaurant was closed and I was the only guest. Kiyoshi-san selected each piece of sushi and I was just along for the delicious ride.

Chef Kiyoshi uses three different types or rice and each rice variety is pared with a different shari-su or “rice vinegar” recipe. The traditional vinegar seasoning uses a simple ratio of 4 parts rice wine vinegars, 2 parts sugar and 1 part salt. Kiyoshi-san doesn’t use sugar in his preparations. Instead, he pairs his rice with varieties of rice that are noted for their natural sweetness. During his research to identify these naturally sweet rice varieties, he developed a relationship with each of the farmers helping to assure a close connection with land and the intrinsic relationship between the farmer and chef.

For the traditional vinegared rice preparation, pairs it with a “Nikomaru” rice variety, grown in the Nagasaki prefecture on Gotō Island by farmer Fukoshima-san. To accompany his red wine vinegar rice, he uses a variety called “ryuno-hitomi” or “dragon eye”, which is cultivated in mountainous Hida Takayama in the Gifu prefecture raised by Imai-san. Chef Kiyoshi’s signature rosé rice vinegar blend is paired with another variety “Uki Hotaka”, which means “snow mountain”. It is grown in the Gunma prefecture, by Koshino-san in Kawaba mura, another mountainous area.

Because we were doing all of this on camera, I didn’t get to take as many photos as I would have liked. I did manage a few pictures between set-ups. This was the first time in my life that I had ever experienced sushi on this level. There are no words to describe the freshness and exquisiteness of each piece. It was during this time that Kiyoshi-san and I spoke about our mutual loves of food and our personal experiences.

The final component of the meal was basis of my entire trip, kanpyo-maki. Kanpyo is made from dried strips of a gourd from the calabash family. The dried strips are then rehydrated and seasoned with soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. They are then used in a maki roll.

This was the first day of my experience. I would return on Kiyoshi-sans day off, so he could teach me the art of making kanpyo in the traditional Edo (former name of Tokyo) style. For now, I was basking in the joy that was a private sushi tasting in Ginza at Sushi Kiyoshi.

Piggy backing off the success of our Cherry Rakia Cocktail event with Multi-Kulti Collective at Kvartal Fest, which Bacchus published an article about my recipes and the event, we decided to keep things going with more cherry rakia cocktails.

It was great to have the chance to serve our cocktails to a new audience. I am enjoying the opportunity to use my knowledge as a chef to design recipes highlighting our cherry rakia. The idea was to create balanced and delicious libations. The responses were overwhelmingly positive for the Cherry Sidecar, Bulgarian 75 and Rakia Old Fashioned.

These forthcoming events in the series will showcase creative recipes featuring our rakia, hopefully truffles and other spirits that are on the horizon. The events will be informal afterwork gatherings at different venues in Sofia and maybe Plovdiv, Varna and Veliko Tarnovo in the future. Save the date November 28th!

On Wednesday afternoon, while preparing for our first AE Invites cocktail event, I get a call from Angel. I could hear it in his voice. The orchard was on fire. It is burning. My mind was blank. I couldn’t process the information. My brain wasn’t computing. I was checking out at METRO… and I went into a state of shock. My daughter Boryana was just looking at me and observing my reaction, knowing something was wrong. I couldn’t process this… I could feel the tears welling. I told Angel that I would call him later. I needed to get out outside. I was rushing to MIAM for the Cherry Rakia cocktail. I went into autopilot and just kept moving forward with what I had to do. I felt lightheaded…

When I got to MIAM, I told Radina what had happened. I unloaded the car and began preparations for the event. Once I finished, I called Angel. The fire department was there trying to contain the fire. The winds were changing and it was not only our orchard that we at risk, but the entire hillside. It was a tinderbox waiting to blow. Our worker, was using the grass trimmer. He re-filled the fuel and when pulling the cord. It caught fire. He left it in the tall grass, and called Angel. We don’t know exactly what happened. But he apparently panicked and did nothing, trying to beat the fire with a metal pipe. Angel was at the distillery, 3km away and by the time he arrived with the water truck, 10 minutes later, it was out of control.

There was not much that I could do from Sofia, so I called the Marcos, the truffle expert that we are working with. He wasn’t immediately available, as he was at a truffle event in California. When I finally did reach him, he gave me some mildly positive news. If the fire passed through quickly, which it did, the mycorrhiza could survive. The trees were hardy and could endure as well, but only time will tell.

We are currently in the process of watering the trees again to give them some additional moisture to combat what was lost in the fire. It doesn’t look as bad as it could have. Had the grasses in the orchard not been trimmed it could have been infinitely worse. The sections of the orchard that had the most damaged were those that had not been trimmed yet. 75% of the orchard was clean. The true effects of the damage, will not be known till next spring.

For all our truffle hunters and truffle lovers, we will start hunting for truffles in December. Until we start hunting, we will not be able to know the true extent of the damage. Our truffles hunts were expected to start January 6th, but for the moment, they are on hold. We appreciate your patience and hope to have more news in the coming months… in the mean time. Please send good thoughts our way! Thank you.

This was a big day for Angel, we needed to get in touch with the boat seller Andre, who was elusive. He was supposed to see us during the weekend but never showed. We were eager to register the boat, but the contract of sale did not have the engine number which was required to leave the Netherlands. The engine mechanic, who helped Angel do some repairs on his previous trips, Bart was also on call to help us ID the engine number, as we had no idea where to find it. Before arriving in the Netherlands, Angel had sent Andre a lengthy email and received a very curt reply, “See you when you get here.” Angel had hoped to see him on Friday, Saturday or Sunday as he had promised, but no. He had come to the marina during the weekend, but just not to finish up with us. This was an issue.

Angel waited till business hours and tried calling Andre, but he didn’t pick up. We need to try again to make our way to the marina store, but we didn’t want to miss Andre. Angel deciding he was going to try and find the engine number on his own. As it turns out it was quite easy. He messaged a photo of the engine number to Andre. What we needed from him was to draft a revised version of the sales agreement with this number. After a while, he finally calls back and instead of coming to the boat he was going to draft the document and email it to us. What the fuck? He could have said and done that on Friday, instead of stringing us along. We only remained at the Lunegat marina because we were waiting for him. We were both so pissed off, but obviously Angel more so. 

Before the shop, Angel wanted to take down the mast. He had driven around with Gabe to scout a few locations that would be suitable. This issue had been weighing heavenly on Angel’s mind. How to lower the mast without breaking the boat surrounding us. He went through various scenarios; using a play system tied to a tree in the marina… but if the mast fell sideways it would damage the other boats. On our way back from our first trip to the marine store, Angel saw some dock areas that might be suitable and on Sunday, he and Gabe drove around to identify the ideal mast lowering locations. He had set the date for Monday to lower the mast, once we had touched base with Andre to find out what time we were meeting him.

After we spoke to Andre and found out that he wouldn’t be meeting us, we packed up and headed off. We thought we would spend the night on Monday in a secluded part of the lake if our battery cooperated. 

The mast lowering spot was practically around the corner from the marina. I was nervous because I had no idea what we were going to do with the mast and Angel didn’t have a clear plan either. After we had parked and secured the boat, Angel set to work, loosening the stays, one snapped. I was untangling the rope from the furler, which Angel hoped would be long enough to use as a pulley. I did what I was told and tried to be useful. One area where I excelled was photographing all the stay and wire connections so Angel could put them back together once we set sail from Marseille in April 2020.

After everything was disassembled and the rope was secured, I was on top of the boat trying to urge the mast down, but it still wouldn’t budge. Angel started to remove the left and right side stays or at least loosen them and then we tried it again… The mast had begun moving forward, while Angel was trying to control it with the rope fully from the dock, but then it started moving and falling forward on an angle. Angel yelled to me to let it go and move out of the way as it crashed down and the mount, which secured it into place began to crack and lift up from the boat. FUCK. Well, the mast landed on the back railing and it did not destroy the boat, so that was a good thing, but the mast mount was another story. Angel assessed the damage, it was not actually that bad, but not great either. He and I managed to straighten out the mast to lie in the center of the boat. From that point, he set about disassembling and securing all of the parts, so we could continue going through the rivers and canals. It was going to be a few hours, so as it was lunchtime, I made us all sandwiches.

After lunch, I was to store the coiled metal neatly in the storage compartments under the benches in the cockpit. Once everything was secured we would move the mast and the boom to the side and secure it with zip ties. I didn’t think I could manage lifting the mast, but it was rather light or I am rather strong, more of the former than that latter.

We were just about to wrap things up when Angel discovered that he had forgotten the jib in the marshy weeds alongside the dock. He honestly almost left it behind and that would have sucked. Ok, now that we finally had all of the pieces secured and tied, we made a quick list of supplies and head off again to the marine supply store, hopefully, we wouldn’t miss it again. It was now late afternoon. They closed at 5 pm on weekdays.

We made it across the lake and to the shop. It was not what I expected. We found some of the things that we needed, but everything is expensive; boating is not a cheap hobby. We wanted to buy a VHF radio, which would be our way to access other boats and locks, but it was almost 300 Euros and Angel thought that we could do without it. We found some hats, which seemed warm. I find that the cold north winds have been giving me a brain freeze. Angel was rather satisfied with his purchases, but worried about our dwindling cash supply; the Netherlands, as a whole doesn’t accept Visa. The retailers refuse to pay the fees that the Visa credit card company requires, but unfortunately, most of all our credit cards are Visa. This has been something that we have encountered during our past few visits to the Netherlands. A few years earlier, I went shopping for some essentials, since we were with the kids driving across Europe for the summer vacation and we stopped by to visit the Ten Bosch family. I was on line at the grocery store and the cashier was ringing up about 100 euro worth of food and sprinkles and all I had was a Visa Debit card. Luckily our friend had cash, so we didn’t inconvenience the other shoppers, but I was livid. The audacity… It really rubbed me the wrong way, yet somehow Angel and I have turned it into a joke about not accepting Visa… We pretty much ask if they accept it everywhere we make a purchase and start laughing out loud if we actually find a place that does.

Gabe stayed on the boat while we were shopping. I was a bit nervous leaving him, but the marina had WIFI and he wanted to play Roblox. We came back to check on him and to drop off our boat store haul. The second stop was a grocery store, but we couldn’t find it at first. It turned out to be part of a holiday campground. Since this was a shop for people on vacation, it meant that everything was more expensive than usual, almost double the regular grocery store prices. We just got the essentials. Apparently, the path that we followed according to Google maps was the long route. One the way back, we found some forest path and these wooden docks back to the marina. It was a lovely walk. I wish I hadn’t left my phone and camera with Gabriel. They even had an abstract picnic table over the water, just for ducks.

We had trouble starting the engine again. The battery didn’t seem to be charging when we were under motor, so instead of sleeping someone where remote around the lake, which was without shore power, we reluctantly returned to the marina. I was growing bored with the area, feeling trapped in the Lauwersmeer. The boat is small and confining and there was nowhere to go and hide, decompress, collect one’s thoughts. We made it back to the marina and was ready for another shower, Now that I know that 1 Euro is 6 minutes, I will not be fooled again. We were ready to go and leaving on Tuesday, so this could be my last shower for a while, I brought 2 Euros just in case. I was ready to maximize my shower, I got my Dopp kit ready and my washcloth. I chose a different stall this time as not to lose any more money. I put my coin in and 6 minutes appeared on the timer… sweet. I turned it to max heat and drenched myself,  I hit the pause button. I soaped my hair and lathered my body. I unpaused it to rinse, but I briefly paused it again because I forgot something in the changing area of the shower cabin. Then I paused it again, it reset to ZERO. WTF, my hair was still filled with shampoo and I only had showered for one minute, ARGH. I added my second, back-up Euro, but nothing happened it didn’t register, still zero, by this time I am absolutely livid. I didn’t have any more money and I didn’t have my phone because I left it on the boat, so I have no Angel to rescue me from my situation. I beat the coin machine in desperation. As I stood there for a minute fuming, I finally had an idea. In the shower room, there was a stall with only a sink, if it had free hot water, I could at least rinse in privacy. I crept my sopping wet, naked ass to the sink stall. For the moment, I am alone. Luckily, there was hot water in the sink stall. Normally, I wouldn’t be splashing around and soaking the bathroom in this manner, but the fucking shitty ass shower machines left me no choice. I really didn’t care at this point if I flooded the entire bathroom. I paid 2 Euros for a 1-minute shower.

Marina 2 – Me 0

Walking back to the boat, I was frustrated and fed up with the waiting around in the marina… we were supposed to sleep somewhere on the lake, but our engine was having trouble charging the battery or the battery was crap and couldn’t hold a charge. Angel couldn’t figure out the problem. Every night he tried different battery configurations to identify the issue, but still, he found no clear solution, so he decided that we would return to the marina for one more night and leave early or after 9 am on Tuesday when the lock opened.

I really wanted to do laundry. Everything felt dirty. I was dirty. I couldn’t even take a proper shower. The sea toilet is really small and using use the skills of a contortionist when it actually works, plus I keep hitting my head. The meltdown was brewing and when I saw Angel, I just let it out… Fuck. I am trying to be more easy-going and adjust to boat life, but it kept thwarting me at every turn. I am ready to get the fuck out of Dodge and move already. I needed some time alone to my thoughts, I felt like I was suffocating. I stormed off the boat and walked to the end of the dock overlooking the entrance of the marina… breathe. This was supposed to be fun, a vacation. I took valerian; I calmed down. Angel helped me. 

We woke up early. I head to the nearest toilet as the sun was rising, armed with a tea kettle. The day can’t start without green jasmine tea! The sunrise over the marina is gorgeous. Angel comes up behind me a few minutes later as I am taking of photo to capture the moment. He reminds me that we need to hurry. Back at the boat, we start our day with tea, cereal, yogurt, and muesli. There I much to do and unpack, plus cleaning, but most importantly, we need to make it to the boating goods store across the Lauwersmeer lake, it was a 1.5 hr drive and the store closed at noon on Saturday and was closed on Sunday. Angel was preparing the boat for our departure and cleaning the exterior, I organized some of the luggage. We encounter our first problem, which was that the toilet wasn’t working. It was an issue that required Angel to remove all the cushions and investigate before we left for the boat shop because if we needed parts that was the place to go.

Gabe and I left him to his devices, while he was fixing the toilet issue. I was hoping that it wouldn’t be serious. I can’t live without a toilet. Having to use a bucket on deck was a deal-breaker for me. Gabe and I head to the main facility building to go to the bathroom and clean up our breakfast dishes. While we were exploring the marina on route to the main building we saw a see-saw and I promised Gabe when we finished we could give it a try. I told him that I was so heavy that I could launch his 27kg frame right up in the air. He wasn’t deterred. True to my word, we spent a few minutes playing and he did go flying. Angel said that he needed 20 minutes, so we hurried back, but apparently, we took so long and there was no way that we would make the boat store.

We were still going to take the trip, regardless of the boat shop. He was nervous pulling out of the marina. I was in the front to push off the other boats in case we got too close. Off we went. I was nervous as well and a bit spastic about the whole situation. I didn’t know how to move, where to sit, how not to be in the way, but I was eager to learn. After the horrible night or rain, the sun was shining, the skies were clear and we were driving our own boat.

We arrived after noon in Lauwersoog, it was a nice marina that is just before the gate that lets you out to the North Sea. I attributed the cold night air and winds to the proximity of the sea. I missed the Bulgarian summer weather, although our daughter Maya would be in cold heaven. We parked the boat at a free dock that we could stay until 19:00. We secured the boat and our belonging sand headed out exploring. We seem to be in a port, which is mostly industrial, but there are two restaurants, where we would get lunch. The first place, which looked nice, is self-service, but we are looking for a sit-down place with service, so we leave and try the other one, which apparently is also self-service. The menu is the same in both places essentially, so we stay in the second place. Restaurette Schierzicht. I am beginning to suspect that Holland is not a very service-oriented country. Is because they are frugal and would rather not pay for the convenience of table service? This is most annoying. The portions were huge, but so are their prices. This is going to be an expensive trip.

During lunch, we decided not to return to the marina, but dock on a small island and explore the lake area. Angel knows where to go because he and Gijs stayed there on one of his previous trips. We arrived at the spot, LM63 near Oude Robbengat. We tied off near the protruding docks and set out to explore the path. Gabriel asked if we can start a campfire, but we were unsure of the rules. Armed with Google translate, the signs say, maximum stay 3 days, to clean up after yourself and respect nature. I love that our cell phone plan in Bulgaria included a decent 3G plan in all EU countries. We set off to explore that island but, after romping through the high marsh grasses we felt like we had hit a dead-end and went back. It was almost dinner time, so we decided to have some hummus and carrots to counterbalance the very filling, meat and fried food-laden lunch with some lighter fare with some rosé from Chateau Burgozone. It took time to photograph the wine per my arrangement with the company. They mailed me two cases of wine and I would take some interesting product shots from our travels in NL, BE and FR. All are countries where their wines were available. This worked fine for me but gives me a little project besides writing and reading of course.

Our second night on the boat, things were beginning to fall into place. I could almost envision how to organize our nautical home. It was a work in progress. The best part was the night sky, clear and amazing. The stars were unobstructed, unfortunately, it was too cold to go outside and enjoy them plus, I misplaced my glasses; I must get contacts. Before bed, we tried to watch a movie on Netflix, but my computer wouldn’t display the image properly. I had my motherboard replaced and only picked it up on Thursday, the day we left, so I might need to do some updates. I really hope it is an easy fix. I would have if I couldn’t use my computer to write for the next month.

Day 4 – Sunday, September 8th

We slept in on Sunday morning. We were very slow to start and I was eager to test out my new kitchen with scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. It was a lot of getting used to it. My stovetop and counter were the same. I needed to fully prep my ingredients before opening the lid to the stove. Once I was ready, I added the pre-chopped bacon to a cold skillet to render the fat, then I added the onions to soften in the bacon fat and then I added the seasoned scrambled egg mixture. The tricky part was the toast. The bread slices were large and moist, soft, chewy and not like my toaster slices in Bulgaria. The end result was burnt edges and surface area, but not crunchy, how I like my toast. Regardless, it was nice to have a hot meal that I cooked. I needed to be in the kitchen and this was a good first attempt at boat cooking.

After cleaning the dishes, we prepared to head back to the marina, but the engine wouldn’t start. The battery was dead, so we hooked up to the reserve battery and it started right up. I hadn’t showered since Friday, which might not seem like a long time, but for me it was. The facilities also had laundry, so I packed up our small boat and the newly purchased pillowcases, along with our towels and toiletries. Angel and Gabe would join me later. I have a thing about public and communal toilets and their level of cleanliness, not because the marina had shitty staff, but in general, most people are disgusting and don’t leave things how they found them. You know who you are… The facilities at Yacht haven Lunegat were quite clean. I was happy.

On Angel’s previous trips to the boat, he had not attempted to use the coin-operated shower or laundry, so I brought a few Euros to see what it cost. I got to the facilities with our dirty laundry, my computer to try and fix the issue that we were having with Netflix and take advantage of the free WIFI and start writing about our aquatic adventures. The shower was clean, I put a Euro in the slot of the coin-operated shower. It had a start and stop button, which I assumed would allow me to wet myself, latter, pause and rinse, which seemed like quite a cost-saving feature, although and a long scorching hot shower would be ideal. There were no prices listed, so I put in the first Euro and no response, so I added a second and six minutes popped up. That seemed plenty. The water topped out at 38C, but I guess I could live with that. After my shower, I set about to start some laundry, but I realized that I left my detergent pods on the boat, so I called Angel and Gabriel to come and shower and please bring me one.

I found a nice picnic table outside the facilities and set up my computer and opened a new document Maiden Voyage, but I didn’t get very far before they arrived. I went back to the laundry room. There was a sign on the dryer that said 15 min = .50Euro, I shoved all our clothes and stuff in to the washer with the pod, for the second time, but I didn’t see a sign on the water for the Euros only something in Dutch, which I translated to mean, see the harbormaster for tokens to operate the washing machine. Fuck, now I am getting frustrated. It is late-afternoon on Sunday and no laundry.

So, I went back to the picnic table with my computer to connote writing and wait for the boys to finish showering. When there were done it turns out that 2 euros gave them 12 minutes of shower time, but the start-stop button wasn’t working in their shower stall, so Angel wasted most of his time cleaning Gabe. I was seriously pissed off that we had been ripped off. 

Marina 1 – Me 0

While they were showering, I was also trying to update my operating system. Apparently, this was why Netflix wouldn’t play. Only with the WIFI speed, it would take two hours. I told them that I would wait and write, but Angel suggested walking back to the boat since the WIFI signal reached us. So, on the way back to the boat, the download stopped, even though our boat was directly across from the facilities, we needed to make a large U-turn get back. Once we got back to the boat, I had to start the download back from the beginning, only now it was 4 hours and at some point it just stalled. Angel suggested that we grab a bottle of wine, UNO cards and hang out back on the picnic table. I thought this would be another good opportunity to take some more wine photos.

We spent two hours waiting for the OSX Mohave to download and had some killer UNO matches. Gabe had a blast and it was an amazing family moment, minus our girls. This was what the boat was supposed to be about, being together.

Back at the boat, we had pasta, with jar sauce, which I beneath me, but I told Angel that I would try it. It was through the process of making the pasta that I realized we had forgotten to buy a colander. The lid was not sufficient to keep the noodles from going into the sink and down the drain. It would be a big problem if we clogged the marine sink. All in all, it was tasty, but nothing compared to my sauces. After a full day and two bottles of wine, we were all wiped out.