British Food

Go cold turkey - you left the UK for a reason, embrace your new home and don't look back. 😎

If that's too hard, there are a couple of British food shops you'll find when you remember that Google is your friend, but not all of them are 100% reliable.  Try a few small test orders before you splash out...

@Gibbery

What are you missing? My local Kaufland has a pretty wide selection, I can't think of much that I could buy in a Tesco, but not in Kaufland! :-)

But, definitely, we don't have a lot of fish & chips shops or curry houses over here. And it's been a few years since I had a Thai Green Curry. Plenty of pizza though, it's just as popular here as in the UK.

Like @JimJ, I enjoy the Bulgarian food options. There's plenty of fresh fruit and veggies and nice fish. We eat much more healthily here than we did in the UK, and mostly make our meals at home. But eating out is a very affordable treat, and there are some great little restaurants around. We don't do it a lot, but even the dark, stone, Mehana-type traditional Bulgarian restaurant has grown on me (there's a great one near the Bachkovo Monastery that we sometimes visit for Sunday lunch after a scenic drive in the Rodope Mountains). Come join me and @JimJ on the Dark Side, Luke. :-)

Recently, I even added a traditional Bulgarian dish to my (very limited) cooking repertoire...  Sirene po Shopski, or Cheese Shopski Style. My (non-traditional) interpretation uses fresh tomatoes, courgettes, spring onions and peppers, along with some fancy artisanal sheep's cheese, all from my local market. It's easy-peasy and absolutely delicious (even if I say so myself). :-)

@gwynj

Mainly, the things I cannot find in Kaufland, Lidl or Billa and needed to sustain life are Yorkshire Tea, Princes Corned Beef, John West Pink and Red tinned salmon.

@gwynj
Mainly, the things I cannot find in Kaufland, Lidl or Billa and needed to sustain life are Yorkshire Tea, Princes Corned Beef, John West Pink and Red tinned salmon. - @Gibbery

Little London stock the first two on your list, and possibly the last two as well - perhaps in the Pet Food department... 😂

@Gibbery

You can still order from UK supermarkets and have it sent with GGBG, it would work for the type of things you're after, you can either have it delivered directly to them or ask a friend/family member to box it up and sent it to GGBG, they'll then bring it over and forward it to econt.

@Gibbery try https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk but there are quite a few companies.

@Gibbery try https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk but there are quite a few companies. - @SimCityAT

I wouldn't if I were you - their delivery charges are exorbitant! 😎

@Gibbery

If you insist on specific brands, such as Heinz and Yorkshire Tea, then I agree you can't get absolutely everything. But Kaufland has a bunch of black teas, beans, mystery canned/packet meats, and a wide range of different versions of canned/frozen fish (including salmon).

My very old dad, who's with me in Plovdiv, and very attached to his British tastes, can't tell the difference between his old PG Tips and the Kaufland own-brand breakfast tea, and his old Heinz Beans and the Kaufland knock-off. He can't abide the Kaufland spicy ones though, that's a step too far. :-) I've also swapped his daily Scott's Porage Oats for Kaufland's own-brand wholegrain oats (excellent, and cheaper than chips). Kaufland and Lidl both have some dirt cheap canned sardines (one of the healthiest fishy options, and very tasty especially Kaufland's version in lemon or spicy pepper) and some tasty and affordable frozen salmon fillets, along with some very nice smoked salmon options. They both also have a load of mystery meats, I'd be shocked if there wasn't a plausible corned beef substitute. But, in any case, some folks reckon corned beef is one of the worst processed meats, a UPF high in fat, salt and nasty cancer-causing chemicals (nitrites). Surely, you can find yourself a healthier Bulgarian alternative? :-)

To be brutally frank in my response, I am certainly no adherent of Heinz in any shape or form and feel that brand has devolved very significantly in quality and taste since the turn of the century and, indeed, was a far better brand in the 80s and 90s.  As far as their baked beans go, if buying in the British Isles, I would always plump for HP or Branston, which I always felt were much tastier.  In Bulgaria, I by far prefer the Lidl version to that of Kaufland and prefer the Lidl version over and above any other baked bean I have ever tried so am now a staunch adherent.

Porage oats, I have no preference and am generally as happy as a sandboy with Bulgarian own brands.

As far as teas go, all the teas blended in the UK have devolved over the past 20 years or so except Yorkshire Tea, which, to my taste, may even possibly have improved, so I must insist on that variety.  I have endeavoured to taste all the other supermarket brands in Bulgaria and the UK and find no other brands compare.  PG Tips and Tetley certainly fall into the by far inferior category as do Ahmad, Lipton, etc.  Twinings in all it's glorious forms, still remains highly palatable and oftentimes a viable alternative to Yorkshire in times of need.

As far as corned beef goes, I must confess that this is one of the ultra processed foods I do have an indefatigable predeliction for in it's canned form.  Actually, I would not buy Princes as I feel that brand is now devalued and devolved in the same way that Heinz has been and is now really mainly pap.  I fear I am totally and unwholesomely addicted to corned beef (ideally the Asda own brand version if truth be told).  I find nothing to compare in Bulgaria.  The German version sometimes found in Lidl is no comparison to the selection available in the British Isles. I find it is an indulgence I avail myself of reasonably illiberally, so do not feel it is affecting my health adversely to any great extent.  There definitely are good meats available in Bulgaria, which I will purchase, but they are not corned beef, which is more of an art form.

Although there are versions of canned salmon in Bulgaria, they seem very crude and malformed in comparison with the brands available in the British Isles.  Not a UPF, so not injurious to health, fortunately.  I have to state that I am especially fond of the Sainsbury own brand Pink Salmon over John West, though I do not feel that the John West brand has devolved as have Heinz and Princes.

Frozen or chilled fish are of no use to me generally (or at least in summer) as I have not used a refrigerator or freezer in well over 20 years.  In Bulgaria, I just hang goods out of the window in Winter when necessary as many East Europeans are inclined to do.

I am not able to find grape jelly. Can anyone advise if you actually can buy it  in Bulgaria  and if so where.

( I know it is not the end of the world since Amazon has it)

After an exhaustive search in my local Lidl, I am OUTRAGED to report that I found NO corned beef, NO black pudding, NO Tetley's and NO grape jelly! It seems civilization has still not arrived in Plovdiv. There was some fancy eurostuff called Bresaola which might be in the same kinda ballpark as corned beef (it's definitely beef), and the blueberry jelly looked fairly grape-like to the untrained eye (very blue).