Popara

Popara (Cyrillic: "попара") is a meal made with left over or fresh bread.

Products:

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

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 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.

This meal is mostly made in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro.