top culinary queries of Ukrainians and useful Google tools to help in the kitchen

The pandemic has made adjustments to various areas of our daily lives. Many have switched to a remote mode of work or training and began to spend more time at home — accordingly, more time to devote to cooking. This is also shown by Google Search statistics in Ukraine — for example, over the past 12 months, the number of search queries by Ukrainian Google users with the word “recipe” increased by 29% compared to the same period a year earlier.

What recipes were most often searched by Ukrainian users on Google over the past year? The most popular recipe over the past 12 months has been the recipe for syrniki. Also among the popular dishes: pancakes, solyanka and charlotte.

1. Syrniki
2. Pancakes
3. Solyanka
4. Charlotte
5. lasagna
6. Fur coat
7. Pizza
8. Easter cake
9. Pilaf
10. Pancakes

In addition, in the “Salads” category, the recipe for “Caesar” salad turned out to be the most popular among Ukrainian Google users. Grated pie became the leader among pie recipes, and “Napoleon” became the leader among cakes. Ukrainians were also actively looking for recipes for milkshakes and Margaritas.

Useful tools

If you need to find a new recipe, then Google Search will always come to the rescue. We offer a few more tips on how to use Google tools to make your time in the kitchen more productive and interesting.

• Use the search mode on YouTube — and you will receive a selection of videos with visual step-by-step recommendations for preparing certain dishes. In addition, when you search on Google, in addition to websites, you will be able to see links to YouTube videos in the results.
• Often interesting recipes can be found on sites in unfamiliar languages. Even without knowing the foreign language in which the recipe is written, you can easily understand the meaning — Google Chrome has a built-in Translator that will quickly translate the entire text of the site into an understandable language right on the site page.
• With the help of Google Search, you can immediately get quick answers — brief information with the answer to the query below the search line without having to go to sites: calculator, unit converter, number of calories. You can even use your voice to set a timer for a specific time.
• Often in foreign recipes, the volume or weight is indicated in ounces or other units, and Google will easily help you convert one measure of weight or volume to another. In this case, the answer will be shown immediately after the search string. Enter, for example, «1 ounce in ml» — and get the answer «1 US ounce = 29.5735296 ml».
• You were going to cook, say, quiche with spinach and ricotta, but you didn’t have ricotta on hand. Use Google Maps to find nearby stores where you can buy this product. To do this, in the search on Maps, enter or say in your voice “buy ricotta nearby”, and you will see on the map the nearest stores where you can buy this product. This can be especially useful if you are in an unfamiliar area.
• If you come across an unfamiliar product, the Google Lens app can help identify it. Point your camera at an object and the app will tell you what’s in front of you (it’ll even tell parsley from cilantro). In addition, Google Lens can translate texts in real time, find information about places and objects around you.
• For more fun cooking in the kitchen, turn on the Music for cooking playlist or radio station on YouTube Music. Alternatively, find your favorite song and select “Turn on radio station” from the drop-down menu, YouTube Music will automatically select similar songs for you.
• To keep all the interesting recipes in one place, use the «Selections» feature in the Google app on your smartphone. The function allows you to create thematic collections of links, photos or videos and get quick access to the information you need. You can also access your collections on your computer by visiting google.com/collections
• Google Keep is a handy note-taking app. Write down ideas and plans, make shopping lists and get timely reminders. You can take a photo of a recipe or document so you can quickly find the photo in Google Keep later.