Now we rarely buy something we didn’t want but when we first got here… there were many things that got tossed when they really weren’t what we wanted! There was the liver (and potato) filled vereniki (pierogy to North Americans) that was fed to Jack the dog that hung around the yard that first summer, and the tuna that got fed to Victor's cat- now we know to always buy the blue cans, which are water packed. If there is a photo of other stuff on the can it’s not a serving suggestion- Mexican-style has as much corn as tuna in the can. Now we stock the freezer with our favorites- plain potato (kar-toesh-ka)– although the ones with potato and mushroom are good too- and the cherry (which are 31 grivina a bag, almost twice the potato ones- they’re 17.) I like this brand- they have photos, but we realized you had to look closely at what was next to the potatoes on the bag that first summer (we learned by fall that the brown bag meant plain potato ones.)
The first two weeks we were here it took a couple tries to find vinegar….since we were guessing based on clear liquid in a bottle. Since packaging usually has both Russian and Ukrainian on sometimes the words are quite different: here are two bottles of vinegar – the white vinegar is in Ukrainian (we use a lot for chemistry experiments now) and the pink is in Russian. What's in the bag? Sounding out your Russian letters sometimes gives you a word that is similar to an English one…. P=R the upside down N is one of the sounds our e makes- long e- and C=S (there are no silent e’s at the end of Russian words- if you see it you say it- and yes, this bag contains rice.
Here are the condiments – like many European countries you can buy them in squeeze bags with caps (most are available in jars also, we actually have mayonnaise- it is pronounced almost the same- in both, since Garry likes the familiar jar to spread on his bread for sandwiches, and I find the bag convenient for salad making.) We tried several kinds of ketchup but ended up buying the more expensive Heinz – which as the boys say tastes like ketchup from home! Mustard is the spicy brown type- I actually bring a bottle of (yellow) French’s from home, because Jonah and I like it on hotdogs. It took all the first summer to find hotdogs that were tasty- some while hotdog-shaped were more like spam-dogs or turned the water pink if you boiled them. I finally found a brand everyone liked- it has lots of medals on the label so we buy those. Most came with individual plastic wrappers to peel off (for some brands I think it is what keeps them shaped like hotdogs.)
Mooka is flour- but as you can see, turn it around and it is very different in the other language! Soda is pretty much the same- that is a different d than you normally see in Russian- but some packaging and billboard use handwriting script and that alphabet is very different from the printed one. Baking soda was one item I got right on the first guess. It is much more common than baking powder, which is sold mostly in tiny packets with about a tablespoon in- I finally bought the giant one liter container at Metro because I use so much for baking. Since I knew it was sold in small packs, I got this one right the first time- although I was unsure until I used it, even though there was English on the label! Some items have a little British flag with an English translation- but I wasn’t sure if dough loosener was baking powder.
Here’s some Jelly – that strange looking letter with eight legs is the jha- which we have been making lots of for Jonah since he has been plagued by diarrhea about every ten days for the last couple months. Sadly, Garry’s plan did not work- we got him a parasite treatment from the drugstore, but its ten days later and I’m making gelatin again. Store brand Jell-O helps him get over every bout – this package is kiwi flavor I guess, he liked cherry better than lemon, I know. Two years ago I had trouble with the amount of water to use because the directions were only in the two official languages (you’d think it would work- numbers look the same and it’s in milliliters. Recently they got a little British flag among others on the bags, although the translation could use a little work, I think.
Jelly cherry Dry concoction. Way of preparation: pure the contents of packing into the 400 ml of boiling water and stir constantly till it fully dissolves. Then pure into the forms and leave in cool place until it congeals.
Here are the staples- salt – this is my favorite white fine salt – the traditional is chunky- like rock salt in little bowls – sort of like the antique salt cellars my grandmother collected, but I have only seen little ceramic ones here- no cut glass. Some is gray and granulated, but it looks dirty to me! Next to it is the black pepper – interestingly pearets in Russian is like pepper in English- same word for the green one in your salad and the black kind on your eggs.
The generic word for butter is maslo – it can also refer to oil, even for your car. Officially margarine is supposed to be called spread on packaging now- when we arrived it was also maslo. My favorite is the lightly salted French butter or beurre- after all it is French! When we first came here I thought everything tasted off- but it turned out I just missed salted butter on my bread.
And here is a carton of the real Ukrainian staple- Smetana or sour cream- you can buy it in small or large plastic bags also- just cut the corner off and squeeze a dollop into your borsht.
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