Market prices: How much will a New Year's table cost in Mykolaiv?

With just a few days left until the New Year, the market "Kolos" in Mykolaiv was bustling during the last weekend before the holiday - locals hurried to buy groceries to traditionally set the table and celebrate "as it should be".

The correspondent from "Novosti-N" also decided to stroll through the market aisles to check the prices of essential products and try to estimate how much the festive feast might cost.

Meat

First, we head to the meat section: what kind of New Year's table would it be without aspic, cutlets, or chops?

The prices for meat products are not encouraging, but there's nothing to be done. Beef balyk is offered at 300 UAH/kg. The meat from the hindquarters is slightly cheaper at 260 UAH per kilogram. A piece of meat with bone will cost even less - 240 UAH/kg.

Ribs are priced at 160-170 UAH/kg. Delicacy tongue, which traditionally sees an increase in demand just before the New Year holidays, is sold for 400 UAH per kilo.

By the way, the sellers in the meat section have made an effort and, considering customer demand, offer to buy meat for aspic in a set - 170 UAH/kg.

Pork is traditionally a bit cheaper than beef. Neck - 250 UAH/kg, meat - 200 UAH per kilogram.

Ribs and bacon are priced at 180 UAH/kg. The aspic set is also cheaper than beef - 150 UAH/kg.

Pork fat can be purchased for 150-160 UAH/kg, depending on thickness.

Vegetables

While borscht is unlikely to be cooked for the New Year's table, vegetables are still essential: you need cabbage for stuffed cabbage, potatoes for mashed potatoes, and fresh cucumbers for salad.

Thus, skipping the vegetable section is not an option. Vegetable prices are "winter" prices, and that says it all. Cabbage - 40-45 UAH/kg, carrots - on average 40 UAH, onions - 25 UAH/kg. Potatoes - 35 UAH per kg.

Beets are available for 25-30 UAH/kg.

A salad will also turn out to be quite expensive: greenhouse tomatoes - 50 UAH/kg, mini cherry tomatoes are pricier at 70 UAH. Cucumbers and sweet salad peppers are imported from distant countries, sold for 150 and 190 UAH per kilogram, respectively.

Greens range from 10 to 20 UAH per bunch.

New Year Snacks

One can also monitor prices for various snacks, pickles, and ready-made salads, which are traditionally present on the festive table.

For example, Korean-style carrots are sold for 50 UAH for a half-liter jar, cabbage salad - 55 UAH for the same volume.

Pickled celery - 70 UAH/kg.

Pickled eggplants and fermented cucumbers are priced at 120 UAH per kilogram.

Fermented tomatoes are more expensive - 150 UAH. The market also offers sauerkraut - it can be purchased for 100 UAH per kilogram. The same price applies to fermented apples.

Fish

Fish is often present on the New Year's table for variety - to have options available. Apparently, for this reason, on the last Sunday of the outgoing year, fish at the market was sold out early in the morning, so after 10 AM, only carp was available for 130 UAH/kg.

Latecomers were offered to replace fish with caviar: grass carp caviar - 250 UAH/kg, carp caviar - 300 UAH.

Dairy Products

Sour cream, butter, and milk are primarily used on the New Year's table as a kind of addition or seasoning, but nevertheless, they should not be overlooked.

Thus, cottage cheese (fatty) was sold at the Mykolaiv market for 200 UAH per kilogram (low-fat) - 100-120 UAH/kg. Cream - 200 UAH for a half-liter jar, sour cream - half that for the same volume.

Homemade brinza costs 250 UAH per kilo.

Milk - 40 UAH/l.

Homemade butter - 500 UAH/kg.

Fruits

For dessert on the festive table, tangerines, which have become a sort of symbol of the New Year, are always traditionally seen. These citrus fruits are presented at the market in a wide assortment, and their price ranges from 80 to 100 UAH. The same price applies to their closest "relatives" - oranges.

Another "winter" fruit is persimmon. The price, depending on the variety and appearance, is 90-100 UAH per kilogram.

Apples are sold for prices ranging from 25 to 35 UAH per kilogram. Pomegranate - 120 UAH/kg.

Pineapples, which are strangely also purchased specifically for the New Year's table, cost 220 UAH each.

You can also find "Moldova" grapes on the shelves - 65 UAH/kg.

Total

Let's assume the set of dishes on the festive table of a Mykolaiv family will be as follows: aspic, mashed potatoes with cutlets, vegetable platter, fried fish. We will skip the traditional Olivier salad and replace it with various salads and pickles. We will add a platter of brinza instead of expensive cheese, along with fruits.

Let's try to calculate: the aspic set (we will cook pork, as it's cheaper) - 150 UAH. For the filling for cutlets, we will take half a kilogram of pork and beef meat - together 260 UAH. For vegetables, we will need 1 kg of potatoes, 0.5 kg of onions for the cutlets and aspic. For the platter, we will also take half a kilogram of cucumbers and tomatoes, and a bunch of greens. The total for vegetables comes to about 160 UAH. We will add some pickles for variety: let's say, 300 grams of cucumbers, tomatoes, and cabbage. Yes, Korean carrots, which have long been one of the essential attributes of the festive table. In total, we spend approximately the same amount on snacks - 160 UAH. We estimate that the carp "for frying" will cost us about 200 UAH. Half a kilo of brinza for the platter - 125 UAH. A liter of milk (less is unlikely to be sold) and about 200 grams of butter - 140 UAH.

From fruits, we will take a kilogram of tangerines, the same amount of apples, and a festive pineapple. This totals about 330 UAH. In total, we estimate that our New Year's menu will cost around 1525 UAH. This does not include beverages and alcohol.

Considering that the minimum pension in Ukraine is 2361 UAH, and the minimum wage is 8000 UAH, this is not an insignificant amount. On the other hand, one can recall that the highest pension in Ukraine is 390 thousand UAH per month, but that is a completely different story.