Kyopolou is a typical eggplant appetizer and can be consumed as a bread spread, a condiment, or as a salad. It is generally prepared as a canned food, in glass jars, for the winter season. During summer and autumn months, when its ingredients are usually readily available, it is also a main dish in Bulgaria, mainly during Orthodox fasting periods, such as Lent.[2][3]
Similar relishes are popular in the Balkans in different variants and names (e.g., ajvarorpinđur). A Romanian variety is called zacuscă, a word of Slavic origin[4] (cf. Bulgarian and Russian zakuska).
^In Turkey this dish is colloquially called köpoğlu and in meze-serving fish restaurants it is a cold eggplant dish with tomato-red pepper paste in olive oil which gives it the red color. Речник на чуждите думи в българския език, Ал. Милев, Б. Николов, Й. Братков, Издателство Наука и изкуство, София, 1978.
^Kay, Annie (2015). Bulgaria. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 57. ISBN9781841629377.
^Clark-Mahoney, Kelty (2022). Food and World Culture: Issues, Impacts, and Ingredients [2 Volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 253. ISBN9781440870002.
