Vafla of the Week: Troya (Троя)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
You're in your local shop after a long day reading your friends blogs, op-eds and most importantly not saving Bulgaria. The only thing that can make you feel better is the refreshment of a tasty vafla. Over course you want to buy the blue borovets vafla, but upon reaching into your pocket you find you only have 25 stotinki, leaving you 5 stotinki short of the cost of a borovets. It's times like these that you remember why the Peace Corps is so hard. You need a vafla to recover, but your plan of a borovets has been shattered... Suddenly, not knowing what to do, you begin to feel like you are back in the mid-nineties on an episode of "What Would You Do?" and Marc Summers is standing right behind you.
"Wha-wha-wha-what would you do?" Beg outside for 5 stotinki? No! You are a Peace Corps volunteer, you will not rob your community for your own guilty pleasures. Get it together, you know just what to do. Don't panic. Scan the vafla display to find one in your budget. Don't be disheartened by the row of costlier vafli. Keep searching, until... wait, what is that? Is that a 25 stotinki vafla? What is that brand?
That brand, my friends, is Troya, or Троя in Bulgarski. And this is what you reach for when 5 stotinki or 2.5 euro cents short of a blue borovets in Ani's magazine:
While a bargain, it does not come without compromise. For that 5 stotinki you lose out on 17 grams of vafla from the blue borovets (55 gr v. 38 gr). Still, sometimes you may not want all that borovets has to offer, and in that case you should go home. Other times you may be in the situation above in which you have no option but to buy the Troya, and in which case survival trumps economics. For scale, here it is next to a standard length martenitsa:
And the back:
The first thing I noticed upon inspection is that the chocolate layer is a little thin on top (visible in top picture). I could almost see through it to the vafla. This made me skeptical on the first bite. However, upon chomping away, I found a delightful consistent flavor. (sadly I forgot to take a ridiculous shot of me eating the vafla). Not as rich as the borovets, but then, what is? Certainly not Mike Huckabee after spending all that money on a failed campaign. Having tried other pricier vafli I have to say for the cost this is a mighty fine vafla. Not too filling, not too rich, but with a good blend of chocolate, wafers and heaven leading to a very satisfying vafla.
As you can see in the legally obtained promotional image above, Troya sports a standard 4:3 wafers to chocolate layers ratio, not including the chocolate shell. The layers are thin, and it's kind of like a wider obiknovena vafla with a thin coating of chocolate.
What's that Huck-ster? Ahh the label, right:
A fierce red package and all caps lettering might make you think it's some kind of energy bar or road flare. 100 grams of this vafla gives you 538 calories, I'll let ROCKY HEART tell us how much 38 grams will give you since George Vaflington can't count.
The package has a handy label telling you where to open it. Since this was for Science I opened it carefully in a different spot since I didn't want to tear the label. Still, this is a nice feature for our vafli impaired readers out there.
"вафла със страхотен вкус (phonetic: Vafla sus strahoten vkus) (direct translation: Vafla with horrible taste) (more accurate: vafla with an awesome taste)" This slogan, including all the translations (lie) is on the side of the package. I enjoy the slogan, mostly because I love the bulgarian word СТРАХОТЕН - if only because it doesn't translate directly. It's like how we say "dragons don't exist" and actually mean "dragons exist everywhere, especially in the hearts of the believers".
SUMMARY: Good taste, good bargain, intimidating label, all adding up to a "vawfully good bargain" or a solid 8.435 on the vaflometer.
vafli broke,
George "misses "What would you do?"" Vaflington
PS If you are wondering about the reflective inside, I contacted the company and discovered that the reflective foil interior is designed so that vafla consumers can line their roofs with the foil in order to signal to dragons in the high heavens that we still believe and will offer safe haven to any dragon that lands on our shiny roof. Try it.
Posted byThomas at 12:01 AM 1 comments
Labels: dragons, marc summers, Mike Huckabee, Vafli
Vafla of the Week: The Eco-Vafla
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Feast your eyes on this:
Right there is what you might call the "obiknovena vafla" or usual vafla. Another term might be, "old school vafla" since it is vafla in its simplest form with no fancy coatings. To me, however, this is the Eco-vafla. What does the Eco stand for? Economical and Ecological, of course.
Since blogs are all about blatantly forcing your own agenda on the world, I will start with the ecological side. This vafla is the most environmentally friendly vafla because it has no plastic wrapper that will sit in a landfill for a million years, kill sea gulls and make babies cry. The packaging I received it in is the very paper in which it rests. Here is a more detailed shot of the vafla's wrapper:
The wrapper there is mostly for sanitary reasons. When I bought this vafla, the shopkeep picked it out of a bulk box of vafla, wrapped it in the paper and handed it to me.
This paper is reusable and recyclable. I can use it to scratch down vafla inspired haikus or drop it off in one of the town's recycling bins. Why is this significant? Because, although very nice and superb at sealing in freshness, the normal plastic wrapping of vafla is not recyclable (at least not normal recycling -- to my knowledge) and worse still, many locals enjoy littering the streets with these very vafla wrappers. This kills me knowing that they will end up in a water source, then get to the ocean, then kill a sea gull, make a baby cry and never bio-degrade.
When the wrapper of the blue borovets vafla gets me down, but not enough to stave off my vafla temptation, I often reach for the Eco-vafla. It is also the most economical vafla I know of because one vafla costs only ten stotinki! That's 10 for a lev and 20 for a euro! What a deal!
Agenda pushing aside, on to the testing.
Here is a shot of the flavor layers:
That's four layers of wafer and three of chocolate. This ratio leads to a good amount of heaven. Last week's entry had the same ratio, but with a whole chocolate shell around it, leading to a 5:4 chocolate to wafer ratio, plus the chocolate on the sides, which adds exponentially to the heaven. It's important that the vafla ratio always lead to an odd amount of layers. Just like giving out an even amount of flowers is considered a tremendous insult in Bulgaria (mostly true), so to is it an insult to give out, produce or consume a vafla with an even amount of layers (less true).
Since this vafla is the closest to sugar wafers, I tried dissecting it to see if the layers could be removed like on sugar wafers. This proved impossible and ended up with me crushing some of my vafla. :(
On the bright side, this experiment proves the difference between vafli and sugar wafers. The *heaven*. Obviously there is something greater - something more divine - holding the layers of vafla goodness together. That, my friends and followers, is the heaven. If you don't believe me, ask Mike Huckabee.
On the taste, this is a mighty fine obiknovena vafla. Not as good as the borovets obiknovena vafla, but that is the gold standard which I will review another day. There was something nutty in the chocolate filling. Perhaps they use some hazlenut or something. That or Finetti.
The only down sides are that this vafla can lead to a lot of crumbs and, depending on how long ago the bulk box was opened, might not be fresh. Fortunately, since it's a great deal which many Kresna vafla enthusiasts cash-in on, I've never found my vafla stale.
If your local shop doesn't engage in this practice, I dare you, my fellow Bulgarian PCVs, to ask them to do so. I don't want you to do this to promote the ecology or economy of such a vafla, I want you to do it because it would be painfully awkward to try to make such a request in Bulgarian.
OK. Dares and agenda aside. This is a dandy vafla, and on my new arbitrary scale, I'll say it's "Vawfully Good!" on taste "Vawfully Perfect!" on ethics.
update: Due to complaints from "someone" I will add a numeric score for the obiknovena vafla. We'll say that "Vawfully Good!" on taste and "Vawfully Perfect!" on ethics translates into a 9.000000001
Vafli Yours,
George Vaflington
Posted byThomas at 11:00 PM 4 comments
Labels: Mike Huckabee, Vafli
Vafla of the Week: Borovets Chocolate-covered Vafla
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Before I begin my heartfelt explanation of the sensory explosion that is chocolate-covered Borovets vafla, I'd like to begin with an introduction to the broader topic of Vafli.
Vafli are a common treat here in Bulgaria, however there is no comparable snack item in the U.S.A. The closest thing that comes to mind are sugar wafers, but really this comparison applies only to structure and not at all taste. For you see, Vafli, in its most basic form is layers of wafers, chocolate and heaven.
Although I am a raving fan of Vafli, I wasn't aware of this tasty treat until sometime around my 2nd or 3rd month in Bulgaria. Other volunteers were fortunate enough to be force-fed Vafli by their host families. I was not so lucky. Since having fully embraced Vafli and integrating it into my diet, I consider those beginning months a tragic waste of time. So be it.
Some of you may be wondering why I alternate between Vafla and Vafli. If you are wondering, this is because you don't speak Bulgarian. Vafla is the singular form, and, as it is a "feminine" word, the plural is Vafli. ВАФЛА - This is how Vafla looks in Bulgarian script. I find it much more commanding and representative of the epic nature of Vafli.
Bulgarian language lessons aside, time to get down to business. As one of the (currently) 7 B22-Blogstars, I have decided to make my weekly entries about Vafli. This is because I love Vafli and because it leads to awesome stories. Since the Vafli market has thoroughly embraced capitalism, there are many different brands and types of this wonderful treat. I intend to sample one each week and write about it in excessive detail here. I eat Vafli all the time, but usually stick to the same brand, so my entries will be a fresh and exciting journey for all of us. In the event that I run out of brands to sample, I will try to start visiting factories or take other extreme measures to keep this column fresh while always relating to Vafli.
Ahh the Borovets Chocolate Covered Vafla - marvel at its majesty. Ever since I began to dabble in the world of vafli this has been my all-time favorite. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be as though you found a rose with no thorn; pure beauty with none of the pain of the modern world. Usually, when feeling down or answering my desire for sweets, this is what I reach for (Vafli really has served as a comfort food after many a crappy day). A mere 25 or 30 stotinki (cents) for all the magic of the world.
Here is the naked Vafla out of its wrapper. Look at the ripples of flavor and the consistent chocolate shell. Although chocolate coated vafli are very common, it is one step away from the traditional vafla. The old school or "usual" vafli have no chocolate coating. I enjoy it both ways. That's on a normal sized cutting board, so you see it's quite a bit of majesty for 25 stotinki. Alright, I can't just look anymore, I need a bite!
Oh, that was fantastic! This vafla has the perfect mix of wafers, chocolate and heaven. It's almost overwhelming. Perfection.
Normally vafli would never make it home without being bitten. Truthfully, most do not even make it home. I usually have the wrapper torn open on my way out of the store. However, this was a scientific endeavor, so I had to exercise patience. Now have a look at the glorious flavor layers.
Due to being in a state of vafla-euphoria I didn't get a focused shot, but I think you get the idea. The light layers are the wafers, the dark ones the chocolate. The mixing of the layers is the heaven. I attempted to take more picture of my vafla eating experience, but since my instincts were focused on devouring the vafla, they didn't come out so hot. Once I gorged my vafla in about 6 bites, I decided to take a closer look at the beautiful packaging that makes it "the blue borovets".
Note the excellent graphic design. The crisp-yet-rugged letters spelling "Borovets" set in front of snow-capped mountains. The reason for this is that this brand of Vafla is named after Bulgaria's oldest ski resort, Borovets. It is a fitting name, since the majesty of Borovets vafli more than matches that of the Rila Mountains. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they named the resort after the Vafla.
Although you can't see it, the label says "A quality product from Day and Night Ltd". This is the company behind the genius. They make a variety of vafli, and their sweet website tells you about their production process. They pump out 30,000,000 vafli every month! Better still, they are ramping up to double their production! This might be the best news I've ever read on the internet. You can read more about their varieties of vafli on the site, but don't bother since I will be reviewing them all here anyway.
Back to the wrapper. The back tells you that this 55 grams of goodness provides 285 calories of energy! That means you can meet your caloric intake with around 7 of these bad boys! I think I might have a new diet. They also list the ingredients, link to the website and give an email address! I might send them a link to this and see if they will hire me as a vafla taster/reviewer/Arch Duke of Vafla.
Since I find this to be the ultimate vafla, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being trash and 10 being vafla-tastic), the chocolate covered Borovets vafla receives a 9.99999. It would certainly be a 10, but I reserve that there may be a greater vafla out there, and if so, I intend to find it.
Vafli yours,
George Vaflington
Posted byThomas at 12:01 AM 2 comments
Labels: Vafli
