Just back from one more trip to Ukraine. Relaxing in Dubai over eid holidays. Was just downloading songs to make a proper collection for songs that I've come to love over years. Want them all in one place... While searching for some, I came accross an old Oct '2006 email sent to Umaima about food in Ukraine. It was second time I had been to Ukraine. Will search for the other writeups that I've done about Ukrainian food later. Meanwhile decided to put up this email verbatim:
Hi,
I was 2 days in Kieve and now in Ternopil. During this time i've come to enjoy whole new way of eating. Precisely food where no cooking is required only presense of hot water - may be! This is because i have constantly been avoiding restraunts due to high cost and hence foraging the supermarkets "magazine" (as they are called in Ukraine) for ways to improvise. But i can certainly tell you one thing, I've done much better than we ever managed in Europe (in reference to my euro trip in2005). For instance check out my meal yesterday night -
-Doodhi pickled ' salad' - Kabachki ***** ( 5 stars.. loved it)
- Eggplant pickled 'salad' - Baklazhaney ***** ( 5 stars .. loved it)
- Sea cabbage pickled (from the ocean) - Morskaya Capusta ** (nutricious but fishy taste so i didn't like so much)
- Home made sausage from market ukranian style - made sandwich with bread and butter with sausage slices in between also ate raw *****
- frozen boiled piece of beef from market - ate slices of it raw *****
-Champagne ( From Donetsk which had been kept 3 years 700 meters underground) ***** by the way champagne is simply a sparkling wine. Also while drinking it i realised the difference between drinking in dubai and in ukrain.. In Ukraine even Vodka or any of the drinks they simply drink raw. They never seem to make cocktails or bother about mixing with soda/cola etc
-Coneac - learnt the correct way of drinking coneac. it should be drunk in very small wide shallow glasses. Smelt, taken the whole drink in one gulp, let it swivle around in the mouth to absorb the sensation and then swallow. ***** Coneac is fantastic for arteries and recommended for heart patients - Live beer from one of the finer breweries in Georgia. Live beer means unstrained beer without any preservatives. It has to be drunk within few days of production and has a very low shelf life.
- Olives by the way i just love olives. I've had them pickled with raw fish, red pepperoni etc. I love them in all forms.*****
- Chips... Lays still is my favorite. I had forgotten but oleg reminded me that I had specifically bought lays last time I came here. This time I did the same.***
-Voda (water in Ukrainian but always like soda, if you need water without Gas need to search for it)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Breakfast today Tea without milk or sugar ( didn't have either available). However the tea is Earl Grey by Ahmed made in England.
ExcellentMade some noodle soup from a packet with pieces of bread in it. Took a slice of bread and used can opener to spread butter on it. Had bread dipped in soup for breakfast. Good enough to sustain me for the day.
Lunch today Had lunch near Sergiy's office in Ternopil. By the way i'm living in volochisk in a sanatorium cum health resort. Picturesque place but lots of oldies around. Breakfast / lunch and dinner is very precise timing 8 / 1 / 6 respectively. I'll describe some of my sanatorium lunch and breakfast later. Ternopil is around an hour from Volochisk where Sergiy's one of main offices is. well Lunch was
- Buck wheat with egg steak ( buck wheat is something like weath but is brown and looks like boiled barley. Egg steak oleg tells me had chicken in it with egg wrapped around it and fried or boiled. I did not taste any chicken but was good anyways.) ****
- Traditional Ukrainian Borsch ( Beet root, Cabbage, Potato, Onion little carrot boiled with sourcream to top it off) *****
- Carrot Salad by korean style ( Pickled in a specific Korean style ) ****
- Tomato Sok ( Totmato juice generally in Ukraine this is favorite juice and I love it too. the moment i board the flight for Ukraine, I'm on to drinking Tomato Juice ) *****
- Plum Juice ***
-Drink made of medical Shavli grass - Looks like a big glass of Tea without milk. But much different tasting. *** is supposed to cure huge number diseases I don't remember the exact details of sanatorium lunches etc now but all were quite interesting and will tell you if i recall them.
Moiz
