What is This?

Here you can find information on different items you may see in the store or may be looking for. If you have any questions please leave a comment.

Ant Killer
list of seasonings
cream cheese
cottage cheese
vanilla powder
whip cream
powdered sugar
butter
cheese
baking powder
salt
mosquito repellent
pudding
conditioner
Sour Cream
Bread- Hamburger/Rolls/etc.
Pizza Bread
Flour
pepper

broth "cubes"

yeast

Baking Powder- They come in packets here. The idea is that for Azeri cakes and such, to just add one packet.  Great idea but it doesn't always translate to our recipes. I was advised to bring a baking powder with me from the States and then fill it with these packets when it's empty.  I was glad I did! 

Baking Soda - not much to say about it, it's baking soda, use it the same as you would any other time. If you don't have a container to put it in and don't want the risk of tipping it over in your cupboard cut a little flap in it to flip up when you need some.  Just make sure it's wide enough for the spoons you'll use.

Black Pepper: This is ground black pepper.  I sometimes found it hard to find in the little shops and so I saved myself some time when I learned how to say it (because sometimes they have it behind the counter where you aren't going to find it), it's istiot (istee-oat) var? Do you have black pepper?

Bread: These are great for Hamburgers or chicken salad sandwiches.  When I used to shop at little shops for my groceries I never saw anything like this and we just made-do with what we had.  I've been shopping at Bizim lately and they carry these.  They are 30 qapik for the whole thing sometimes don't carry them. But when they do it's a GREAT deal! oh and yes, I took one before I took this picture :). 

Broth "Cubes": These are great for soups, seasoning for cream of chicken soup, or anything you would put broth in.  Just add water.  I like my broth strong so I end up using a lot of these. If you shop at little shops you can ask the store keeper if you can buy the whole box, sometimes he doesn't have another one on hand and so he won't let you. But if you shop at a bigger store like Bizim you can. You won't get a better deal for buying more you just get the convenience of not buying them one by one. 

Butter: This is the butter we use. You can buy it pre-measured and manufacturer packaged. We haven't had any problems (i.e. getting sick) with using this kind of butter and it is cheaper. The Azeri word for butter is Yag (with a swoop over the "g" that makes it a guttural aspirated sound).  

Caramel: This is great! Just open the can and wal-lah! You got caramel for dipping apples, for pouring over your ice-cream, putting in your coffee/tea (though I've never tried it, it sounds good). I'm told that the one with the Russian Cyrillic is the best.  And if you need to make it thinner just warm it up and add a little water stirring consistently till you come to the consistency that you would like.

Cheese: Gauda Cheese is the most common and I have learned to like it in place of most cheeses; mozzarella on my pizza, cheddar on my baked potato or Colby on my egg omelet.  When  you go to the store you can just show them with your fingers how much you would like and they will cut off a chunk for you.

Conditioner: If you like Pantene Pro V the conditioner is the smaller container.  The bottle on the left has the word for Shampoo in Russian, it starts with a wide, square looking "W". That's their letter for the "sh" sound. The bottle on the right has the word for conditioner and it starts with the letter "b".

Cottage Cheese: This is pretty close to the same cottage cheese that we would use in the States. Just eat it plain or use in Lasagna or however you would like.

Cream Cheese: This is a cheaper Azeri brand that I found that carries real cream cheese. Sometimes there's some liquid in it that I just drain off, no problem! :) Very good. Also, you can find Philadelphia Cream cheese on most bigger grocery store's shelves.

Flour: There are several different brands of flour, some are better than others.  The Azeri word for Flour is "Un".  Some sift all their flour because it can sometimes have thin hair like particles in it. I am not aware of Azerbaijan carrying self-rising or cake flour but there are substitutions in the chart above.

Mayonnaise: Azerbaijan has many different kinds of Mayo.  Some have different flavors even (ie. olive).  I've tried just a couple different brands and this is my favorite so far.  I'd encourage you to try some different kinds but if you don't have time here's a good one to use.

Milk: Milk comes in boxes here. And unless you open it, it stays good for a long time because of the way they are packaged. Sometimes people buy boxes of milk from the bulk stores (located near 28 of May metro) for cheap and use them over a month or two. This is the milk we buy, it's one of the cheapest.  I actually don't care for the taste but since I grew up on a dairy farm I don't care for any of the milk sold here and I just use it in my baking/cooking and my son likes it.  I've heard that milk with Russian Cyrillic tastes better. Update: In the last couple years Azerbaijan has started selling processed fresh milk and guess what? they taste like milk!! I even use it on cereal! They come in 1 liter bottles shaped like old fashioned glass milk bottles from the States.

Molasses: Used in making brown sugar. Here's the recipe for making brown Sugar.

Mosquito Repellent: These do not kill the mosquitoes just repels them. They are great to put them in kids' rooms.  You can buy either the golden packets and stick the inserts in, they last for 2-3 days or you can buy the vial that lasts for about a month. Both work fine. Tip: to make your own screens for windows or doors is pretty cheap to do so.  Find a hardware store and check it out.

Pizza Bread: Especially when you are short on time, these are great for making pizza.  If you like thick crust then they are perfect! If you don't, like our family, you can just cut them in half.  Very rarely does it work for me to be able to use both pieces for pizza, most of the time I just make sure one half will work for the pizza and the other I cut up to make garlic bread. Or if you're ambicious here's a good pizza dough recipe that my family likes and it freezes well too!

Pizza Seasoning: These Russian seasoning packets are nice.  We especially like the one for Pizza Sauce.  If you like a quick, tasty, way to make pizza Sauce this might be for you. Just look for the packet with the pizza on it :).  They have lots of other mixes that I haven't tried that you may like too. Also, here's how make the rest of the sauce.

Powdered Sugar: I like to use powdered sugar for frosting and though I don;t make frosting a lot I find I need to buy it when I can because it takes a lot of these little packets to make enough frosting to cover a cake.  I have not seen them sold in bigger packets.  I have also tried "powdering" sugar with a blender and it worked for emergency situation but I wouldn't do it again if I didn't have to.

Pudding: Here's some cook and serve pudding you can make in a few different flavors; chocolate and vanilla for sure and they might have a strawberry (I can't remember).

Salt: You can buy salt in about as many shapes and sizes as in America: as shaker, a bag, a container you can pour out of, rock salt, sea salt or even a grinder.  The word you are looking for is Duz (with 2 little dots above the "u").

Seasonings: Click on this picture for a printable list of many common seasoning in English, Azeri and Russian. Very helpful in finding the right seasoning for what you are needing.

Sour Cream:  This is the sour cream that I use the most. They have several different brands of sour cream and they also have light sour cream.  The word you are looking for is CMeTaHoBHa (pronounced "cemetanana"). Tip:  sometimes they sell them with a clear plastic lid, if you see it snatch it and keep that lid, it's nice to have around for while you are in the middle of eating it.

Whip Cream: This is great whip cream. Directions on package are in English too! 

Vanilla- Powdered: I use this in place of 1 tsp. of liquid vanilla.  In my opinion it's okay and I use it, but I like the liquid vanilla better. You can find liquid Vanilla at City Mart for a decent price.






Yeast- One American packet of yeast is 2 1/4 teaspoons. The yeast is usually found near