Dairy product of the week 3 (not); also unidentified package(6)

Decided I have not been adventurous enough recently in trying out new food items just because of failing to recognise the packet. So found this between soya yoghurts and milk yoghurts in my local supermarket yesterday and assumed it would be my next diary product of the week.

But no. It is yeast. Which I probably could have worked out if I have looked a bit harder and not been seduced by the cuteness of the label.

What am I going to do with yeast? This is a biggish problem since I am allergic to wheat flour, so not planning to bake my own bread, thank you.

Unidentified packages 5

This fluorescent green drink - Tarkhun/тархун - is non-alcoholic and tarragon flavoured, and very yummy. Saw it mentioned in my guide book when I first arrived (along with other 'flavoured lemonades') but have somehow missed it sitting quite obviously on the supermarket drinks shelves. Surprising really considering how very green it is.

Unidentified packages 4

Saturday brunch at CafeMania - the one on the corner of Rozhdestvenka and Pushechnaya near Kutznetsky Most metro - so treated myself to this cake, called a Fifth Element (no, I don't know why either). Not really unidentified as the menu said it combined chocolate with gorgonzola cheese(!), berries and cinnamon. The reality was such a chocolate attack that I know I wont be able to eat another one of these for at least a year!

Unidentified packages 3

There are an enormous range of milk-related products here, and special milk/moloko/молоко shops. Many of which look almost exactly the same to the untutored eye, and seem to only be across the limited range from milk to yoghurt to very mild ricotta/curd cheese. The Moscow News recently published a list of the top 15 diary products extolling the virtues of these various items - Smetana at the top, then Kefir, Tvorog, Toplyonoye moloko, Syrok, Ryazhenka, Vologod Butter, Prostokvasha, Sgushchyonoye moloko, ice cream, cheese, Ayran, brynza, Snezhok and Plavleny syr. So that is some more useful information for you.

Pictured is an unexpected example- not on the Moscow News list - which is actually going to be one of the things I will miss if/when I leave Moscow; a chocolate coated cream cheese bar. Yum!

Oh - and it is like a tiny choc ice you find in the fridge next to - the milk products!

Unidentified packages 2

This purchase is only a little odd, but just shows how we get so used to what is ‘normal’. I think crisps and crisp related items should be salted, not covered in sugar. Just thought I would mention it.

Unidentified packages 1

One of the commonest games of being in another country is ‘guess the product’. Deciphering pictures and text can have some unexpected results; this is my first surprise – butter that turned out to be brown. My own fault really, this package was next to others with clear pictures of yellow butter, but I liked the wrapping so I bought one that turned out to be chocolate butter (at least I think that is what it is.)