How did you guys like the food over in Ukraine? It is certainly different. I will eat and finish almost anything that is put before me, as long as it is not bad for me. One time "blimchiks" were made for me. It looked like pancake batter where mashed potatoes, chicken and cheese spread was put inside to make a burrito. That was alright the first time. The next day, it was so-so. I could not take it on the third day, but they did.
Another time, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and a hotdog was in my plate. That was alright until it was given a cheese spread and mixed up. One time a fish, a ten inch mackerel, was cut up and salted and served. It was not cooked. Mmmmmm. the people at the table said. I also said Mmmmm and ate it.
Other times were alright. I liked their spaghetti and their dried fish.
i *love* the food here! apart from curries and marmite (not together) i don't miss much from the uk.
i really love varenyky, i could eat that every day. salads here are great, but seem to require a *lot* of chopping, as everything is chopped much finer than in the uk. all the dried and salted fish is great. i like raw fish anyway. the dried/salted fish you buy in packets to eat when you're drinking vodka or beer is really good.
Raw fish would have been alright if it had the right sauce, but all it was, was salt. Try soy sauce and lemon and add wasabi sauce... and it would have been great. On train stops, there were people trying to sell us smoked fish. I bought a ten inch... ( I don't know what it was, but it was great). I got it for 14 grivnias, which is about $2.00 USD. One of the guys in my train compartments took out what looked like a plastic jar with juice. It was high grade wine.....
RB: If you don’t like the food, don’t chase the skirt from which it comes or learn to eat the food. There is only a few things certain in this caper and one is that if you marry an X woman you’ll be eating X food for the rest of your married life.
You are determined to change my mind, aren't you? Can you say anything possitive about my caper? This was the second sentence of my initial post: "I will eat and finish almost anything that is put before me, as long as it is not bad for me." Your posts certainly makes me think, but I call her up and I know I am going to go through this, if at all possible.
There are many restaurants all over my neighborhood from various parts of the globe. Russian and Ukrainian is not one of them and is new to me. This food certainly is different and takes getting used to. It's not as bad as my ex-wife. She didn't cook. Furthermore, it will be another adventure to see the various ways she can cook and we can adjust to each other's tastes.
I didn't say who fixed the food. It was the second girl that fixed them blimchiks. Her son sure loved them. They were alright, but it would have been better without the cheese spread. To save money, she served it everyday. I offered to take them all out to dinner, but she wanted to save money, so I can buy her a black dress. (Go ahead, go after me on this one, but it was only her third dress and she looked great on it.)
This is just what I didn't like. It is just a matter of taste, and I can get used to it. As a kid, I didn't like salads, but I knew it's good for me. Now, I like them. With certain adjustments, the food will be alright, and it could even be good. The sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and hotdog, was alright. But cheese spread mixed on it? I'm sure they would have liked the raw fish with the proper ingredients. The market didn't have those ingredients. At least I didn't see any. Then again, I didn't look. I can always cook. We can always go out. We both love pizza, spaghetti and crab.
I have to agree with Dun. Though I don't have a problem with Ukrainian/Russian meals. The only problem the wife has is the choice locally sucks. So during our trip to New York for the Macys Parade we dumped about 500 bucks at Net Cost at Brighton Beach.
I do miss the choice of meats and cheese in Ukraine. Nothing like that here in the states, they have it on every corner in Mariupol.
Get used to the diet it's going to be with you for a long time.
I love fish. I love seafood. I was told that there was not much fish in the Black Sea. How true can that be? One fish can lay thousands of eggs. If there is one, there can be many. It didn't look polluted.
But, there were no fish stores or sea food stores along the shore of Yalta which is common on all shores I've been to. Noone was fishing. Take a turkey leg, put it in a crab or lobster trap, throw it down the pier, and it will feed you for a few days. I saw noone doing that along the long shore.
I have a feeling they just don't know how to do it. On a one five hour boat trip in Mexico, eight of us chartered a fishing boat and a crew of three for $400 USD. We caught 36 Barracudas and 2 yellow tails. The fishing boat followed the birds and had radar.
Thanks, Nasfan. You say it's going to be with me for a long time. There's a vote of confidence.
Choice of meats? I didn't really shop for food, I let my girlfriend do it. I didn't see any meats in the outdoor market in Yalta. All of the meats in the grocery stores everywhere were frozen. Perhaps, it's seasonal. I have not been there in the summer.
Here in the states, I can have any part of the animal I want. I can even have one slaughtered if I want to. I took that train ride from Kiev to Simferopol back and forth twice. I saw only three cows and about a dozen chickens. I look for those things. Again, perhaps it's seasonal. Are they in another part of the country? Do they hide in the winter?
RB: LOL, you’ll never find me among the “You can do it, go for it” cheer squads. Way too many love sick puppies in this caper. It’s a very tough row to hoe (With some wonderful rewards for those prepared to do the work) and if my comments help prepare you for how it will actually be then I am satisfied.
Love sick puppies? That would have been me on my first visit (See the Globaladies thread). I almost gave up on women. She was my first date in three years and only my third after five years of divorce. I didn't know beautiful women were available for me. When that fizzled, I knew I had to try again. My second one was a scammer. On many subjects that we discussed, I can tell she was trying to get me to fork up some cash for it. That was my learning experience.
Be prepared for chips (french fries) not. That's one thing they can't do.
The brown bread is grey but its pretty good.
Borsh in cream or vinegar goes straight to the colon.
Their tomatoes taste like they are supposed to.
Never tasted a dried fish snack until I got there.
They eat that dried fish snack with their drinks. It is too salty. It is bad for your blood pressure. Too much drinking, high blood pressure. That's why they don't have enough men in FSU, right Dunromin? Just kidding.
Dip that dried fish in vinegar with mashed or chopped up garlic. That's a nice sauce and it will absorb a lot of the salt.
I liked the food so much - I married one of their women :-))
Mike - dito again.
Local choice sucks here too. Lena is an absolute natural at cooking. She adapted in her stride. Lena cooked as a sideline to her Library job. Used to provide lunch dinners for up to 50 workers at a large office. Did it for 6 years when she got divorced. Started 3am and her mother deleverd at 8am in plastic boxs. Good money, but hard work. Does amazing salads and I never cook steak now or fish - she's bang every time. Still cant quiet master the mash potatoe though ???? They have it different to us.
Kirk
You can stick that dried fish - they love it with drink, but its not for me.
Hell Pete I think they all can cook. Larysa's Mom is an excellent cook. I agree with the dried fish, It's the only time Larysa has a beer when she is eating it. Very seldom in this house do we have an American meal. Unless I'm on the grill outside, then still we do some Ukrainian style barbeque.
When we go to Florida it's seafood galore for her. I have no complaints the only thing she eats that I can't stand is liver. Nope not for me.
> the only thing she eats that I can't stand is liver
nasfan! funny you mention that... i *never* used to eat liver but somehow it's really tasty the way olya cooks it. never really ate fish back in the uk either, but yet again olya seems to have some nack to making it taste great!
what is a 'ukrainian style bbq' like? i used to love having bbq's.
Dan
Shiskabab (gods knows how its spelt) These girls know how to do this real good.
Mike
Liver - Pâté - the neighbours love it. I was brought up on liver and bacon for breakfast, we were sheep farmers after all, but not over fussed on it now.
Pete
Mashed potato !!
Well Lena used to just shake the pot after slightly (IMO) over-cooking them. With a tad of butter.
But I like boiling - then lid off and letting steam off excess moister and then heaps of butter a little milk and a tad of cream cheese and mash the F~~k out of it. Beauty !!!!!!!
I brought some Vienna sausage cans just in case I got hungry. My girlfriend mixed it in her soup one day. We all had a slight stomach ache. They blamed it on my sausage. They were probably right. Her girl said it was probably made for the sabaka (dog).