Barack Obama has won the US presidential elections, and it's time to celebrate. What better way than with a festival of American cooking? Bulgarian supermarket chain Piccadilly is hosting its second annual Days of American Cooking as part of its international foods initiative. Other countries featured in the past include France, Germany and Thailand.

Kicking off the event on November 10 2008 at the Piccadilly in Mall of Sofia was the US ambassador in Sofia, the Florida native Nancy McEldowney, and Piccadilly executive director Aleksandar Čamparević.

"The days of national cuisines, for us, are a way to present the art of cooking as a means of communicating, as a way to learn more about foreign cultures and traditions, to understand them and to become closer to one another," Čamparević said, as reported in a Piccadilly press release from November 11.

As part of the live cooking show, McEldowney and Bulgarian celebrity chef Uti Buchvarov whipped up dishes like California-style rice and Waldorf salad.

Buchvarov will give demonstrations on additional dates as well - on November 13 in Stara Zagora at 6pm, and in Veliko Turnovo on November 27 at 6pm.

The Days of American Cooking continue until November 29 at Piccadilly grocery stores around the country - in Bourgas, Lovech, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Varna and Veliko Turnovo.

As part of the programme, samples of American food and wine are available for tasting. Typical American products, like rib eye steak, katsup, bacon, turkey and snacks, are for sale in special displays - and just in time for Thanksgiving, too, which is celebrated this year on November 27.

In the press release, American food was described as being "of the most democratic [in the world] in terms of variety, tastes and influences, as varied as the population of the nation".

Recipe: California-style rice

Dice one onion and one clove of garlic. Clean 200g mushrooms and slice. Sautée the onion, then add 160g rice and stir a bit. Add the garlic, one Tablespoon tomato sauce, the mushrooms and 100g raisins. Stir. About three minutes later, add 400ml chicken bouillon. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Salt and pepper to taste.