Food

Crimean food is tasty and very varied, reflecting the Ukrainian, Russian and Tatar `ingredients' which combine to form Crimean culture and society. Some dishes have already made a name for themselves abroad - for example, you're likely to be familiar with Chicken Kiev, Beef Stroganoff and Borshch from the pre-cooked versions on your supermarket shelves.

But these are just the tip of the iceberg. You should try Pelmeny - delicious meat-filled dumplings, or the sweet equivalent Vareniki with a cherry or sweet cottage cheese filling. Or Tatar Lagmaan soup, or Shashlyk - kebabs which rival their Greek or Turkish counterparts in marinade and flavour.

You'll find restaurants and cafes to suit every conceivable taste and pocket, from the cheap Stolovaya (self-service cafeteria) or the pavement snack kiosk to the high class Restoran for a candle-lit dinner. Apart from restaurants serving Crimean-style dishes, there are those which specialise in Tatar or Georgian food. And because you're by the sea, there's no shortage of restaurants serving really tasty seafood and fish dishes.

If you want to be really adventurous, why not visit a Tatar eatery and try charcoal-grilled sheeps' testicles (delicious - tastes like a cross between chicken and kidney).Or if the very idea makes you feel queasy, you can opt for something familiar instead like a Chinese restaurant - or even MacDonalds (there's one in Yalta and one in Simferopol).

On the other hand, you may prefer to cook your own meals. There are plenty of well-stocked food supermarkets like Gastronom, but the best place to go is the market. There are several in Yalta, one specialising in vegetables (but also selling other things like bread), one specialising in groceries - all sorts of household goods, bottled drinks and canned food - and a couple of `paper' markets selling books, magazines and stationery. A trip to the vegetable market is a must, just to see the amazing variety of colourful foods on display and savour the atmosphere.

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Drink

In summer you'll want lots of bottled water, and there are plenty of good fruit juices on sale too. But don't forget that Ukrainian beers are excellent chilled. Obolon and Slavutich are prize-winning lagers which can hold their own with the best of europe's light beers. Stella Artois is popular too.

Wines

You may remember seeing this headline a couple of years ago:

This bottle just happened to come from the collection of 19th century wines at the Massandra cellars on the outskirts of Yalta. Bought on the telephone by a private collector on October 17 2001, the sherry was a deep golden colour, with an intense nose of raisins and nuts and was one of the few surviving bottles of its period in the world. The sale price set a new world record.

Although your holiday budget may not stretch to this kind of shopping, a wine-tasting at the Massandra cellars is a must for any visitor - whether you're a connoisseur or just someone who knows a good taste when they meet one.

Crimea makes a wide range of wines, including dry reds and whites, but the regional speciality is sweet wines such as madeira, sherry, muscatel and port.

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Spirits

Vodka translates literally as `little water' - an affectionate diminutive of the word for water - voda. It's made by blending grain spirit with demineralised water and filtering it through charcoal. Traditionally drunk neat in one swallow from small vodka glasses, it 's the ideal warmer for an icy Siberian winter - but be wary of its effects after a day in the sun! There are around 50 Ukrainian manufacturers of vodka - some of the best known names include Nemiroff, Knyazhyi Grad, Ivanoff and Kozak. Apart from the pure and largely tasteless variety, there are many varieties flavoured with walnut, plum, apricot and so on. And there are speciality vodkas made with honey or hot peppers - or both. Take a bottle of the hot pepper vodka home if you really want to put fire in the bellies of your party guests!

While vodka is popular throughout Ukraine, there is a marked preference for cognac in Crimea, because it's a wine-growing region.

There are some excellent brands such as Ai-Danil and Tavria. Ukrainian cognac tends to be mellow and soft on the palate.