We have seen a lot of videos about making cheese in the last 12 years since we started this blog. But, we have never been as captivated as we are with the Country Life Vlog (Kənd Həyatı) on YouTube.
Map courtesy of Go Travel Azerbaijan
We found it by chance when we were looking for links to interesting cheese videos for our monthly Tidbits blog article. We found the one below – Making Cheese From Fresh Cow’s Milk.
The first 4 minutes are slow and we would recommend skipping ahead (unless you enjoy watching chickens feed and cats sit, etc.) But, the wait is definitely worth it.
Then, a month later they made another cheese making video, just as fascinating as the first – Traditional Azerbaijani Hard Cheese – Kurut. (In this one, the action starts after only 2 minutes.)
Less than a week ago they posted Homemade Organic Butter and Cottage Cheese from Fresh Milk. In this one, they don’t start heating the milk until after the first 5 minutes.
There are no words spoken in these videos, so, there is no need for translation. It’s apparent from the comments that people watch them from all over the world.
Grinding Spices in a Stone Grinder and Cooking Country Style Beef Stew, December 15, 2021
We had to know the back story and we found that there isn’t a lot of information available in English. That seems amazing when you consider that millions of people are watching these videos.
Yes, that is over 6 million views!
We did uncover this:
Amiraslan Ramikhanov is a professional chef who had been working in one of the restaurants in Baku. The restaurant closed because of the pandemic, so he returned to his native village-Hil in Gusar.
His mother, Aziza Ramikhanova was a fabulous cook herself, so, in May, 2019, Amiraslan began making videos of her cooking outside on an open flame. The local villagers had long admired her cooking which they had the opportunity to experience at weddings.
They make 2 videos/week, so there are almost 200 to choose from at this point.
From Picking 33 lb of Red Currant and Making Currant Jelly and Pie with Grandma, June 20, 2021
Aziza and her husband are vegetable farmers with a couple of cows and chickens. We wondered how the success of these videos might have changed their lives. We looked over some of the videos in the order they were made.
In the first few videos, you see the primitive conditions in which they worked. Then, Amiraslan and his father (I think he’s the father) began building a little house and various cooking structures for his mother. You can see the progression in these screenshots:
This shows the set-up next to the pasture when they first started doing the videos. This is from Traditional Azerbaijan Cabbage Dolma and Cabbage Pickles from our Garden, September 16, 2020
A few weeks later (October 4, 2020) they moved the set-up closer to their house. FromBulgur Pilaf with Green Beans.
By December 20th, they were working in front of this little structure which may have been partially painted for the occasion. From Traditional Azerbaijani Pumpkin Qutabs
In August, 25, 2021, they were building a wooden house (only for the videos). From: Harvesting Vegetables and Cooking Dinner for Wooden House Builders
This fabulous oven showed up November 10th – Stuffed Turkey in Our New Oven
Now, they have a new house and a new firepit. From Built a New Fire Pit and Cooking Wild Medlar Sauce, November 21, 2021.
It will be interesting to see where they go next. Aziza seems to have an unlimited amount of recipes in her repertoire. Wherever it is, we’ll be watching.
Country Life Vlog – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIix6MklfJFywa_36iDj8Sw
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wildkitchen/
Instagram – @country_life_vlog/
