This country is full of surprises.  There is food for sale at almost every street corner from women selling bread-pretzels out of big shopping bags to pizza by the slice, carts selling corn on the cob and little hole in the wall banitsa shops.  However now that it is officially fall even more interesting street food has emerged.  There are carts on the street selling hot nuts--especially roasted walnuts and chestnuts.

[caption id="attachment_263" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Roast Pumpkin To-Go by the Slice"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/dsc03817.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-263" title="Roast Pumpkin " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/dsc03817.jpg?w=300" alt="Roast Pumpkin To-Go by the Slice" width="300" height="225" /></a>[/caption]

But what's caught my eye is the cart selling roasted pumpkin.  Every day for the last two weeks, I walk by this older man--he's slight, not very tall and maybe 60 or 65 years old--selling pumpkin by the kilogram.  He has these large pumpkins which have been cut in half, the seeds scooped out and roasted as is.  The thing that really sold me on this roasted veggie is that every time I walked by he had a line between 4 and 5 people long.  I figured that means it's got to be good.

Last week I thought, I'll pick up a slice on my way home and have it for dinner.  Well, I thought wrong.  The man had sold all of his roast pumpkin for the day and was packing up his cart when I walked by.  This made me more determined to try some of this pumpkin. <!--more-->

After class yesterday, I stood in line for probably five minutes and watched him slice chunks of pumpkin for everyone.  I didn't think about how to actually order the pumpkin until I was standing in line. I figured that I would just listen to the women in front of me order and that I would follow suit seeing as I wasn't sure that I needed to eat a whole kilo of pumpkin which was the only weight I knew for sure how to say.  Of course, the women in front of me either spoke too fast or mumbled so that I couldn't hear what they were saying when they ordered.  Note to self: figure out how to ask for a half kilo.

Instead I said good day to the man, smiled hoping this would help my case and counted on the fact that he wanted to take my money and would sell me something. Then I asked for a little.  Yes a little because I figured that he would just cut me off some and at the same time I made what I hoped was an appropriate hand gesture to indicate how much I wanted.  This worked just fine but I hate always having to mime things. He then weighed it, told me the price very loudly and slowly and I gave him his money.

He gave me the pumpkin in a plastic bag and a plastic spoon so that I could eat it on the go.  What a wonderful take on "fast food."  I can't help thinking that this is one of the reasons that stereotypically Americans are overweight and Bulgarians are much thinner.  Our fast food is fast but full of fat and in Sofia the fast food is fast, vegetable based and cheap.

Anyhow I got the pumpkin home, took a picture and started eating.  It was amazing.  The pumpkin tasted like pumpkin pie.  The meat of the pumpkin was soft, smooth and sweet.  Of course, there wasn't a crust but who needs that? The roasting of the pumpkin gave the meat a rich orange color with a slightly darker outside crust and the flavor was layered accordingly.  I think that I could eat a slice of this a day and never get sick of it.  I can only wonder how long this little man will be out selling pumpkin and alternately, I feel like I need to kick myself for not standing in line for a slice of the pumpkin sooner.