The truth is out there. Hidden of course, but it's waiting to be found. Powerful people in powerful places may prefer that some questions go unanswered, and some opinions remain unheard, but that doesn't mean they'll have their way.

Food and drink - two integral components to supporting life as we know it on this planet. People are the same wherever you go, but the food, the food is different. Simply a product of different cultures, traditions and agriculture, or is something more diabolical afoot? It's time once again to crack open the X-pat Files and take a closer look at the foreigners who have been brave enough to tackle Bulgaria's food industry. The following report is not for the weak of stomach. This is what they had to say...

"I want to lose weight, but it's very, very difficult. For Greeks, there's a lot in common between the tastes and the kitchens. I have colleagues from the head office, all of them prefer the food here to the other countries in which we have operations.
"I enjoy going out to restaurants for a drink. I'm getting a bit old for clubs. I'm exercising but not too much.
"I like cooking. On Sundays I cook and have friends over. It's the only day I find the time to do it. It relaxes me,"
Aristoteles Fotilas,
Patras, Greece.

"We did the Bulgarian tradition of celebrating on Christmas Eve with all vegetables. On New Year's we did the Italian traditions.
"Cooking is like composing. You have all the notes, you just have to put them together. It's not just a mixture of everything,"
Corrado Maraviglia,
Asmar, Eritea.

"It's the regular rough stuff (the rakia he makes with girlfriend's father). Of course, you drink it with a different attitude, it tastes better because you made it. We've got a long way to go before we run a commercial operation.
I spent a lot of time in France. I'm more of the French cuisine guy. I like to cook for people to give them something they've never had before,"
Frank Nadler,
Munich, Germany.

"Being Portuguese, the food is very similar. There's just a lot more white cheese,"
Carlos DaSilva,
Johannesburg, South Africa.

"It's good. It's winter cooking - real meals, not nouveau cuisine,"
Gilles LaBorde,
Paris, France.

"There's a lot of tradition between Turkey and Bulgaria. The kitchens are very similar and there are a lot of common words.
"I'm trying to lose weight. I hate dinners. I'm fond of walking - I'll walk for about four hours,"
Y. Caner Akar,
Ankara, Turkey.

"McDonald's should really have a McShopska salad,"
Jeremy Cripps,
Leicester, England.

"I had excellent food on the Black Sea - seafood - but in general, there could be more ingredients. More spicy. I invite people from time to time. Of course, then I do Austrian cooking,"
Johann Maximilian Nabl,
Koelach, Austria.

"They have taste (Bulgarian vegetables). It's not like in Belgium where they're imported in cold containers and they lose the taste and the vitamins.
I'm eating better in Bulgaria," Chris Geurts,
Brussels, Belgium.

"It's so much different from the Bahamas. Now I'm comfortable with it. I don't drink much, but I drank rakia. I can't say it was a pleasant experience.
It was a little too strong for my system,"
Chuck Stuart,
Freeport, Bahamas.

If you are, or know, someone who would make an interesting expat of the week, please email their name(s) and contact information to editor@sofiaecho.com.