The pictures are: The Bible Study Group which met during training, The older volunteers at the Swearing In, Our Welcome Salad, Bill and Dorothy Colcord with the Country Director Zoltan, and finally Kelsey (one of our site mates) and Linda during our first visit.Now FOOD:
Every Azerbaijan citizen that we meet who can converse with us asks, "How do you like
Azerbaijani food?" We always respond that it is very delicious.For us it has been a tale of two cities. While we were in Saray at the first home, the
family had troubles budgeting their money. When we gave the rent every 2 weeks, the family
would buy something expensive for the house or new clothes for the children and the food
was okay for a few days, but rarely any meat or eggs. There were many days when all we ate
were starches, bread, and oil. The PC helped us relate the issue to the family and we began
paying weekly. The food improved and we had variety. We also lost about 5% of our body
weight and especially muscle mass. That was when we were begging and you responded with
protein bars, hot chocolate mix, oatmeal, and all the other wonderful things which were
shipped to us. We supplimented our diet with your gifts and our weight loss decreased.
The Peace Corps provides vitamins and calcium suppliments.We also experienced many new tastes such as sheep stomach, cow intestine, pure fat, some
mutton. Much of the diet was tomatoes, bread, butter, a white cheese which is salty and
with little flavor, potatoes, pasta, and rice. The soups contain an extraordinary amount
of oil. Oil and butter is added to everything. Oil is sometimes replaced with mayonaise
in salads.The best dish in Saray was the cabbage leaf dolmas. This dish consists of cabbage leaves
stuffed with a meat, rice and spices. The dolmas were Linda's favorite. (Side note: in
language class when we were asked our favorite foods in Azeri, everyone responded with
Dolma. Not that everyone liked them that much, but it is easy to pronounce.)Then we moved to Shirvan and thought we had hit the mother lode. Our first meal here was
extraordinary. Note the picture of the salad with "WELCOME" in pickles. The salad is
called Rachel's salad after one of the PCV's in Shirvan. It is a potato salad with shreded
beats on top. It is delicious and beautiful. There was also chicken salad, fruit, nuts,
bread, and we worried about weight gain.Our meals in Shirvan are good. What we lack is variety and balance. At our first home we
had good dolmas every week. Here in Shirvan the children do not like dolmas, so we have
had them once on New Year's Eve. I try to explain we need high in fiber and potasium, but
somehow my Azerbaijan language skills don't seem to get the point across. Again, thank you
for all those care packages, we do so appreciate them. We are overwhelmed by your
kindness.It is like everywhere in the world. The dishes are best prepared by the best cooks.
Everyone prepares dolmas, but some are good and some are great. Our weekly diet now
consists of the following:Breakfast is almost always bread, butter, cheese, and hard boiled eggs. We purchased some
jam, and the family now provides jam at every meal. The home prepared strawberry, fig,
mulberry, grape, and cherry are quite tasty. We also have any leftovers from the day
before such as salad.Lunch and supper consists of some basics repeated throughout the week. One of the following
dishes would comprise a typical meal along with bread.Pasta served with butter. Sometimes a bit of meat is added, ketchup may be served on the
side, but it is expensive and not put out often. Linda and I are going to experiment in
trying to prepare an alfredo sauce when provided the opportunity.Fried potatoes with a lot of oil, some onion, and sometimes a little mutton.Sausage which is like a bologna with a little more fat. It is sometimes fried with eggs.A potato salad with some chicken added about half of the time.A soup of oil, onions, potatoes, with chicken or mutton parts.A soup of oil, rice, potatoes, and onion.Potato or chicken salad is a main dish and if left overs are available the salads are
served with the next meals until gone.
A general discussion of Azeri food. Fruits and vegetables are abundant during the harvest
season. We are most fortunate and live in a city where at our bazar we can purchase any
fruit year round. The bananas are expensive, 75 cents a piece. Lemons in season are
reasonable, but oranges are always expensive. Apples are plentiful and reasonable, and
during the fall quite cheap. There is a fruit called quince (hava in Azeri) which is like
an ugly apple and is not sweet, sour, or juicy. Pears are quite good, and lots of grapes
and raisins. Almost every home with a yard has grape vines. Pomagranites are the most
plentiful and a national treasure. We are very fond of the manderines, very tasty
tangerines that seem to be available year round.There are dairy products. Yogurt and a white cheese are stables along with butter. People
buy butter by the 5 kilo (10 pound) blocks. The white cheese is salty and with some
flavor. What we miss are the cheddars, jacks, and smoked cheeses. Crackers are hard to
find. There are many cracker like products, but generally are sweet crackers or not very
sweet cookies.
We have had a couple of dishes occassionally, borscht and kabab. The borscht was quite
tasty once and so so the other times. We have had kabab in a restaurant in Sumqayit that
was fantastic chunks of chicken grilled. We had home made kabab the one time in Saray -
not so hot. The food was grilled not over charcoal briquets, lumber. Not logs, but lumber
with nails, old paint, I'm talking the scrapiest scrap lumber.
In homes salt and pepper are not served in shakers, but little soufle sized dishes.
Everyone takes a bit with their fingers (some children lick their fingers first to help the
grip). Linda and I are getting better. We first had large clumps of salt and pepper in
our food, and now we have medium sized clumps.
Meat is generally mutton, then chicken and then beef. In the evenings I go by the small
meat shop and there is a small steer tied to a post. The next morning he is killed,
skinned, divided and there is fresh meat (taza eti) for sale. The throat of the animal is
always cut while the animal is alive and faces toward the east. The meat is divided by
hand. I have heard that cow's head soup is served, but fortunately have not had the
opportunity to observe first hand. One volunteer was served this "treat" at 7:00 a.m., and
almost lost it when he got a hair caught in his teeth. (So much for the gross commentary)
This morning I jogged and returned home and fixed a cup of hot tea. I looked at it and
said, "Lord, at the wedding in Gana of Galilee you turned the water into wine, might I ask
for a mircle of tea into a cup of Starbucks Italian Roast?"
All in all we are far better off than many volunteers in other countries. If you have any
questions about any area of life in Azerbaijan, email us or leave a comment. Future
discussion will include more about our work, automobiles, and life in general. Remember
the brave young people who serve all over the world in over 80 countries as representatives
of you through the Peace Corps.
Azerbaijani food?" We always respond that it is very delicious.For us it has been a tale of two cities. While we were in Saray at the first home, the
family had troubles budgeting their money. When we gave the rent every 2 weeks, the family
would buy something expensive for the house or new clothes for the children and the food
was okay for a few days, but rarely any meat or eggs. There were many days when all we ate
were starches, bread, and oil. The PC helped us relate the issue to the family and we began
paying weekly. The food improved and we had variety. We also lost about 5% of our body
weight and especially muscle mass. That was when we were begging and you responded with
protein bars, hot chocolate mix, oatmeal, and all the other wonderful things which were
shipped to us. We supplimented our diet with your gifts and our weight loss decreased.
The Peace Corps provides vitamins and calcium suppliments.We also experienced many new tastes such as sheep stomach, cow intestine, pure fat, some
mutton. Much of the diet was tomatoes, bread, butter, a white cheese which is salty and
with little flavor, potatoes, pasta, and rice. The soups contain an extraordinary amount
of oil. Oil and butter is added to everything. Oil is sometimes replaced with mayonaise
in salads.The best dish in Saray was the cabbage leaf dolmas. This dish consists of cabbage leaves
stuffed with a meat, rice and spices. The dolmas were Linda's favorite. (Side note: in
language class when we were asked our favorite foods in Azeri, everyone responded with
Dolma. Not that everyone liked them that much, but it is easy to pronounce.)Then we moved to Shirvan and thought we had hit the mother lode. Our first meal here was
extraordinary. Note the picture of the salad with "WELCOME" in pickles. The salad is
called Rachel's salad after one of the PCV's in Shirvan. It is a potato salad with shreded
beats on top. It is delicious and beautiful. There was also chicken salad, fruit, nuts,
bread, and we worried about weight gain.Our meals in Shirvan are good. What we lack is variety and balance. At our first home we
had good dolmas every week. Here in Shirvan the children do not like dolmas, so we have
had them once on New Year's Eve. I try to explain we need high in fiber and potasium, but
somehow my Azerbaijan language skills don't seem to get the point across. Again, thank you
for all those care packages, we do so appreciate them. We are overwhelmed by your
kindness.It is like everywhere in the world. The dishes are best prepared by the best cooks.
Everyone prepares dolmas, but some are good and some are great. Our weekly diet now
consists of the following:Breakfast is almost always bread, butter, cheese, and hard boiled eggs. We purchased some
jam, and the family now provides jam at every meal. The home prepared strawberry, fig,
mulberry, grape, and cherry are quite tasty. We also have any leftovers from the day
before such as salad.Lunch and supper consists of some basics repeated throughout the week. One of the following
dishes would comprise a typical meal along with bread.Pasta served with butter. Sometimes a bit of meat is added, ketchup may be served on the
side, but it is expensive and not put out often. Linda and I are going to experiment in
trying to prepare an alfredo sauce when provided the opportunity.Fried potatoes with a lot of oil, some onion, and sometimes a little mutton.Sausage which is like a bologna with a little more fat. It is sometimes fried with eggs.A potato salad with some chicken added about half of the time.A soup of oil, onions, potatoes, with chicken or mutton parts.A soup of oil, rice, potatoes, and onion.Potato or chicken salad is a main dish and if left overs are available the salads are
served with the next meals until gone.
A general discussion of Azeri food. Fruits and vegetables are abundant during the harvest
season. We are most fortunate and live in a city where at our bazar we can purchase any
fruit year round. The bananas are expensive, 75 cents a piece. Lemons in season are
reasonable, but oranges are always expensive. Apples are plentiful and reasonable, and
during the fall quite cheap. There is a fruit called quince (hava in Azeri) which is like
an ugly apple and is not sweet, sour, or juicy. Pears are quite good, and lots of grapes
and raisins. Almost every home with a yard has grape vines. Pomagranites are the most
plentiful and a national treasure. We are very fond of the manderines, very tasty
tangerines that seem to be available year round.There are dairy products. Yogurt and a white cheese are stables along with butter. People
buy butter by the 5 kilo (10 pound) blocks. The white cheese is salty and with some
flavor. What we miss are the cheddars, jacks, and smoked cheeses. Crackers are hard to
find. There are many cracker like products, but generally are sweet crackers or not very
sweet cookies.
We have had a couple of dishes occassionally, borscht and kabab. The borscht was quite
tasty once and so so the other times. We have had kabab in a restaurant in Sumqayit that
was fantastic chunks of chicken grilled. We had home made kabab the one time in Saray -
not so hot. The food was grilled not over charcoal briquets, lumber. Not logs, but lumber
with nails, old paint, I'm talking the scrapiest scrap lumber.
In homes salt and pepper are not served in shakers, but little soufle sized dishes.
Everyone takes a bit with their fingers (some children lick their fingers first to help the
grip). Linda and I are getting better. We first had large clumps of salt and pepper in
our food, and now we have medium sized clumps.
Meat is generally mutton, then chicken and then beef. In the evenings I go by the small
meat shop and there is a small steer tied to a post. The next morning he is killed,
skinned, divided and there is fresh meat (taza eti) for sale. The throat of the animal is
always cut while the animal is alive and faces toward the east. The meat is divided by
hand. I have heard that cow's head soup is served, but fortunately have not had the
opportunity to observe first hand. One volunteer was served this "treat" at 7:00 a.m., and
almost lost it when he got a hair caught in his teeth. (So much for the gross commentary)
This morning I jogged and returned home and fixed a cup of hot tea. I looked at it and
said, "Lord, at the wedding in Gana of Galilee you turned the water into wine, might I ask
for a mircle of tea into a cup of Starbucks Italian Roast?"
All in all we are far better off than many volunteers in other countries. If you have any
questions about any area of life in Azerbaijan, email us or leave a comment. Future
discussion will include more about our work, automobiles, and life in general. Remember
the brave young people who serve all over the world in over 80 countries as representatives
of you through the Peace Corps.
1 comment:
Denney,
Thank you so much for all the information that you are giving us. I am enjoying the details of your lives over there and the things you are experiencing. I noticed some of the women appear to have on pants/jeans. Do women over there dress in pants?
Thanks, Billie
Post a Comment