Azerbaijani cuisine is considered one of the most ancient in the world. The cuisine of Azerbaijan, which has quite a lot of traditions common to all Caucasian peoples, at the same time combines some features that give it a unique flavor.

Features of Azerbaijani cuisine

• Despite the abundance of different types of meat available, Azerbaijanis prefer to use lamb for preparing main dishes (for example, pilaf).
• The favorable sunny climate of Azerbaijan is also reflected in the cuisine of local peoples: vegetables, fruits and berries (pears, plums, cherry plums, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, quinces, citrus fruits) are widely used in preparing dishes.
• The originality of Azerbaijani cuisine is in the types of utensils used by local people: pitishniki, cauldrons, saja frying pan, kassa cups and others.
• Azerbaijani dishes have a spicy, pungent taste, and their delicacies are truly sweet.
• Among the traditional recipes of Azerbaijani cuisine you will not find dishes with pork or recipes for alcoholic drinks, since the cuisine of this country is largely influenced by Islam.

Popular Azerbaijani dishes

It is impossible to talk about the cuisine of Azerbaijan without mentioning its famous pilaf. It is believed that the Azerbaijanis cook pilaf best in the Caucasus. They usually use lamb, but variations with beef and even fish are possible. Azerbaijani pilaf is flavored with a mixture of spices from saffron, cloves, cinnamon, cilantro and ground peppers. According to ancient Azerbaijani traditions, the rice part of the pilaf is served separately from the meat filling and herbs.

The second most popular Azerbaijani dish is rightfully considered lula kebab- minced meat cutlets, strung on thin wooden skewers and cooked over an open fire. Also, Azerbaijanis cannot imagine a summer feast without barbecue - they are real masters in preparing various marinades.

While in Azerbaijan, it is worth trying another traditional dish - dolma. This is a kind of analogue of Russian cabbage rolls, only smaller in size. The filling can be meat, fish or vegetable, and instead of cabbage leaves, grape or quince leaves are used.

A significant part of Azerbaijani national dishes is sweets and desserts, which can be divided into three groups depending on the method of preparation: dough products, caramel treats and candies. To enrich the taste of desserts, Azerbaijani chefs use sesame, cardamom, ginger, various types of nuts, and poppy seeds. The most popular Azerbaijani sweet is baklava, which is made from dough, honey, sugar, caramel and nuts.

Many Asian and Caucasian cuisines have in their arsenal such a delicacy as sherbet. In Azerbaijan, this is not the name for a sweet, but a soft drink based on berries and fruits with added sugar, which is usually served with pilaf and other main dishes. Another popular national drink of Azerbaijan is doshab, which is similar to sweet fruit puree.

The main drink in Azerbaijan is black tea. It is brewed strongly and then drunk from special small pear-shaped jugs called “ormud”.

People in Azerbaijan love and know how to cook, and therefore, to receive guests. Azerbaijanis love long feasts, during which they can try many traditional dishes. If you are lucky enough to visit Azerbaijan, do not look for a cafe where to have a snack - better go visit the locals: only after tasting home-cooked dishes will you be able to truly appreciate the culinary traditions of this country.

I don’t even know where to start telling the story about the month I spent in Azerbaijan. The scenery is simply stunning, the cities are charming and the people are incredibly friendly. The holiday was full of adventures, and everything was not at all what I expected. So where to start?

I'm still a little confused and trying to process everything. (Process photos, damn it, I took more than 2000 photos)

So, I’ll start, perhaps, with this... when I found out that I was going to, I was haunted by only one question: “I wonder what the cuisine is like there?”:

Food in Azerbaijan

Instead of jumping straight into the top 5 dishes I tried, as I usually do, today I'll take a short detour.

First of all, I must say that I was in Azerbaijan for work.

And when I wasn't eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the hotel buffet, I usually ate lunch at the stadium, which meant eating a tiny cupcake and drinking a bottle of water, if I was lucky I could eat a beet salad and cold pizza. (But I'm not complaining by any means: many sporting events don't provide free media food at all - in London they charged £1.05 for a bottle of water. I was grateful for the free snacks).

I want to say that my understanding of Azerbaijani cuisine is limited. However, I was still able to try a few dishes outside the hotel and get a glimpse of Azerbaijani culture in the process.

What is Azerbaijani cuisine?

If I were asked to describe Azerbaijani food in four words, I would say: pickles, herbs, lamb and sodium.

Each meal begins with a plate of appetizers, which are eaten with warm naan-like flatbreads. Appetizer includes: fresh herbs, cheeses, olives, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and assorted pickles: pickled onions, pickled cabbage, pickled olives. In one restaurant I even tried pickled mushrooms (It’s a little funny that what I call pickled, they call white cucumber).

Herbs are highly prized here; sometimes they bring a whole plate with just herbs. They smell great.

At least one of the main dishes comes with lamb meat. Even the dishes that don't contain it contain a lot of sodium, which I've never tried before.

I don't like to complain about food. I can't stand doing this and I can't stand those who do it. But I admit that after a month in Azerbaijan, I needed a break from the sodium (And this happened to me, a person who has repeatedly sat down to watch movies with a jar of pickles and destroyed it in one go).

Dinner was usually accompanied by tea, an important part of Azerbaijani culture, and something else that I will definitely write more about in another post.

So now that you have an idea (or at least MY idea) about Azerbaijani cuisine, we can move on to the top 5 dishes I tried in Azerbaijan.

5 best dishes I tried in Azerbaijan

Drink soup from Sheki

Petey. God, drink! By far, this is the best thing I ate in Azerbaijan. Piti is a soup that is prepared in an individual clay pot, which you “take apart” before eating. First, break up pieces of bread and throw them into the pot. Then slowly tilt the pot of piti so that the broth submerges the bread; then add the rest of the ingredients to finish cooking the dish - do each step very quickly and the hot soup will splash on you :).
The recipe itself is simple: lamb, chickpeas, chestnuts and potatoes. But the end result is a hearty and flavorful soup, one of the most flavorful soups I've ever had in my life - most likely thanks to the large portion of cooked fat.

Badambura in Baku

Badambura is a widely known Azerbaijani pie. It comes in a variety of shapes, with fillings of sugar, cinnamon and finely chopped nuts. I tried it for the first time at the tournament accreditation center. While waiting for my accreditation to be printed, I casually mentioned that I was hungry. The center’s volunteers immediately took out badambur and juice from their personal lunch bags and insisted that I eat. I don't know whether it was hunger or their kindness, but not a single badambura was as magnificent as that first one.

Black tea and cherry jam in Baku

As with all the dishes on this list, there is a story behind this tea that makes it unforgettable. But the tea itself was fantastic, which is not surprising, since tea occupies a huge place in the everyday life of an Azerbaijani; on the streets I often saw men playing board games and sipping black tea from small, beautifully shaped mugs. There is even a special tradition - to drink it with jam, but I will talk about this in another post.

Sheki halva

We went to Sheki for one day, so the stop at the local sweets seller’s shop was no more than five minutes. But even in those few minutes, I saw how popular this guy's halwa was: the tiny shop was filled with locals jostling each other, hoping to buy the last halva. The boxes disappeared as soon as someone filled them with freshly cut sweets.

By the way, halva - a dessert made from crushed nuts lying between layers of the finest fried dough with honey oozing from it - is a specialty of Sheki, so I think we bought the best of the best.

Caspian Sea fish and smoked cheese in Gabala

The fish was not so appetizing, perhaps due to the fact that I had to remove the heads first, then, when I greedily devoured the small bodies, I had to remember about the bones.

And again, these dishes are memories of one night - I drank together with local Azerbaijanis who did not know Russian except “Vodka!” - that’s why I put this salty snack on my list (the salt content in it is higher than the norm that I need to cope with vodka).

"Let's split bread!" - this is how they will invite you to the table in Azerbaijan. But one of the main food products in the Caucasus is still meat. To his choice in Azerbaijan are treated with particular seriousness. Any local will tell you that you shouldn’t expect a tasty dish if the main ingredient was bought in a store, and even frozen. Meat, as a rule, is bought from a familiar butcher, who cuts up the lamb or calf right in front of the buyer. Shish kebab, basturma, dolma, kyufta, thick soups lamb - this is just a short list of popular Azerbaijani meat dishes.

Azerbaijani cuisine recipes

The main taste of national cuisine is sweet and sour. Azerbaijan is a fertile land, rich in vegetables, fruits, and berries. The combination of meat, poultry and fish with dogwood, pomegranates, cherry plum, plum, and quince gives the dishes a unique taste. How can you serve fish without the famous sauce? narsharab or shashlik from veal tenderloin - without plum or dogwood sauce? No sauces Azerbaijani cuisine no longer the same. Local housewives will never buy these sauces in stores. Because homemade sauces, made with respect Azerbaijani recipes, and the bottles that you see on store shelves are, as they say, “two big differences.”

Salads of Azerbaijani cuisine and more

People often ask: why are there so few salads with dressings and appetizers in such a rich Azerbaijani cuisine? Historians of national cuisine agree on one thing: from time immemorial, everything that grew on this generous land was so tasty and aromatic that cutting and mixing these gifts, and even more so, killing the natural taste and aroma of herbs and fruits with all sorts of “mayonnaise” was considered blasphemous. However, even in Azerbaijani restaurants, and during a home-cooked meal a number of appetizers are certainly served on the table: fresh tomatoes cucumbers, generous plate greenery, all kinds pickles and marinades and definitely cheese.

Azerbaijani recipes for long-livers

Cheese is a whole separate issue. Azerbaijani national cuisine... They know a lot about this product here. Cheese with a funny name is especially prized " shook" Brine motal cheese is made from sheep's milk, tightly stuffed into wineskins, the ends of which are tied up and stored in a cool place for 3-4 months. Motal has a rather piquant, slightly spicy taste and aroma. It is often served with fresh, warm lavash and add a lot of greenery: twigs tarragon, cilantro, basil, green onions... Fresh greens grow here all year round. It is not only added to Azerbaijani cuisine when cooking, but also eaten just like that and in very large quantities. And who knows, maybe this, among other things, is the secret of the longevity of Caucasians?

Rich and unique Azerbaijani cuisine can be considered the pearl of world cuisine. The country's favorable geographical location, its natural resources and the fact that it is located at the junction of East and West have contributed to the diversity of national cuisine. For centuries, travelers, traders,
thinkers who visited Azerbaijan spoke about the diversity of the national cuisine of Azerbaijanis, enjoying it. The abundance of vegetables, fruits, aromatic herbs and spices inspired Azerbaijani chefs to prepare various new dishes. which cannot be confused with dishes of other nations. Even the most famous gourmets who come to Azerbaijan from all over the world highly appreciate the delicate taste and exquisite aroma of the dishes prepared here.

Azerbaijan is a country of long-livers. According to researchers, the reason lies, firstly, in the healing climate of Azerbaijan, and secondly, in the healthy lifestyle of people. Healthy food and eating skills are also important. Azerbaijani dishes, served as first courses, are prepared from thick meat broth. They are much thicker than European soups. The generous use of spices and special cooking method gives the dishes a special flavor. Some Azerbaijani dishes can replace both the first and second courses. These include piti, kyufta-bozbash. At the same time, meat broth is offered separately from other products (meat, peas and potatoes), and despite the fact that they are boiled together, they can be considered second courses. One of the popular dishes is tasty and aesthetically attractive pilaf, prepared from rice seasoned with meat, fish, fruits and other products. Depending on the products, there are different types of pilaf, for example, kavurma pilaf (pilaf with lamb meat), chicken pilaf, sweet pilaf (pilaf with dried fruits) and milk pilaf. In addition to this, there are different types of kebabs - basdyrma kebab, fillet kebab, etc. These kebabs are prepared from pieces of meat. There are also types of kebabs such as lula-kebab and tava-kebab, with the addition of fat tail fat to the minced lamb. These dishes are popular throughout the country.
The Azerbaijani people have many dishes prepared from fish. The most famous of them are sturgeon kebab, kutum, stuffed fish, balyg-pilaf, levensh (fish stuffed with ground walnuts and fried onions), sturgeon pilaf and egg-filled fish.
In Azerbaijan, tea is served on the table before the second course. At dinner parties and other celebrations. As a rule, first courses are not served. All varieties of greens, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers (pickles or marinades in winter) are always served on the table. After the second course (mostly pilaf), dovga is often served - a soup made from curdled milk and greens. Dovga is believed to aid digestion. Lunch ends with the favorite drink of Azerbaijanis - sherbet or sweets. Fragrant Azerbaijani tea is a symbol of warm hospitality. It is served with jam from quince, figs, watermelon, apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, dogwoods, nuts, strawberries, blackberries, grapes or mulberries. We would like to offer you several recipes for preparing dishes (intended for one serving). Surely, you and your family will appreciate the delicious taste of these dishes and you will find that the time spent preparing them was worth it. Bon appetit!

Kutaby

To prepare the text you will need :

600 gr. flour
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons salt

Add half the warm water, salt to the bowl with flour and stir. Continue adding the remaining warm water, stirring constantly. Place on a floured surface and knead into a stiff dough.
Roll out the dough thinly into a circle.

Meat qutabı (Ət qutabı)

Chopped meat (lamb) with onions 500/400g.
Pomegranate seeds 150 gr.
salt and pepper to taste

Kutaby with greens (Göy qutabı)

Sorrel, green onions, cilantro, dill, parsley…. in equal quantities

Qutab with pumpkin (Balqabaq qutabı)

600 gr. Boiled pumpkin (optional - pumpkin with fried onions)

Pomegranate seeds 150 gr.

Kutabs are fried without oil (do not confuse them with chebureks). Kutabs are served with sumac, heated butter and matsoni.

Dushbere (Dushpere)

Lamb - 108 g, wheat flour - 40 g, eggs 2 pcs., onions - 18 g, cilantro 25 g or dried mint - 1 g, wine vinegar, pepper and salt to taste.

Dushbere are Azerbaijani-style dumplings. Broth is made from the bones, and minced meat is prepared from the lamb pulp with the addition of onions and spices. Unleavened dough is rolled out to a thickness of 1 mm, then cut into even squares. Place 2-3 g of minced meat in the center of each. The squares are folded in half or into a triangle, and the ends are pulled back. Cook the dumplings in the broth for about 5 minutes. After which they float to the top. At home, dushbere is made very small, so that 10 pieces fit into a tablespoon. Along with the dushbara, wine vinegar with garlic is served separately, and the dish is sprinkled with cilantro or dried mint on top.

“Dasharasy kabab”, literally - shish kebab between stones

To prepare you will need:

large potatoes
Eggplant
Fat tail fat
Beef
Mutton

and... two special fire-resistant stones from Sheki

Kufta-bozbash

Lamb - 163 g, fat tail - 20 g, rice -15 g, fresh cherry plum - 30 g, or dried -Yug, chickpeas -25 g, potatoes - 150 g, onions - 18 g, saffron -0.1 g , pepper, salt to taste.

Soak the peas. Broth is made from the bones, peas are placed in boiling broth. Lamb pulp and onions are passed through a meat grinder. Add rice, salt, pepper to the minced meat, mix thoroughly and form into balls at the rate of 1-2 balls per serving. Place 2-3 pieces of washed dried cherry plum in the middle of each ball. Once the peas are cooked, the balls are also boiled in the prepared broth, potatoes, finely chopped and fried onions are also added, and in 10-15 minutes. Before they are cooked, add pepper, saffron infusion, salt and bring to condition. When serving, sprinkle with herbs - fresh cilantro, and in winter - dried mint.

Petey

The quantity of products is the same as for kufta-bozbash. In summer, saffron is replaced with fresh tomatoes.

Peas are soaked for 4-5 hours. The meat and peas are placed in the food pan and gradually simmered over low heat. In 30 min. Until fully cooked, add potatoes, coarsely chopped onions, washed cherry plum, salt, and saffron infusion. Typically, piti is served in | the same container in which it is cooked. A deep plate is served separately. Peeled onions and sumac are served with piti.

Lula kebab

Lamb - 330 g, fat tail - 20 g, onion - 20 g, green onion - 40 g, parsley and basil - 15 g, wheat flour - 45 g, sumac - 3 g, salt and pepper to taste.

The lamb pulp with onions and fat is passed through a meat grinder, the minced meat is seasoned with pepper, salt and then stirred well. To cool, place the minced meat in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Then the minced meat is strung on a ramrod, slightly wider than for a shish kebab, and shaped into sausages. Lula kebab is fried over hot coals on the grill. To prepare lavash, steep unleavened dough is rolled out to a thickness of 1 mm and baked on a baking sheet on both sides without fat. When served, lula kebab is wrapped in pita bread. Along with the lula kebab, a side dish of onion, sumac, or spit-fried tomatoes is served.

Lavengi

Fish 800-1000 gr., walnut-200 gr., dried barberry (zirinj)-50 gr., dogwood (or cherry plum) paste-100 gr., lemon to taste, butter to taste, onion ( red) - to taste.

Grind the nuts in a meat grinder, lightly fry the onion. Mix everything with barberry, cherry plum and a couple of tablespoons of butter. Stuff the fish with the resulting filling. Place the fish on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake in the oven for an hour at a temperature of 100 degrees. We make cuts in the finished fish, where we place lemon slices.

Lamb kebab

Lamb - 330 g, onion - 60 g, green onion - 40 g, parsley and basil - South, sumac - 3 g or narsharab - 5 g, salt, pepper to taste.

They take lamb from the loin or hind leg, cut it into 35-40 g pieces, salt it, pepper it, string it on a ramrod and fry it over hot charcoal on the grill. After the kebab is ready, it is immediately served. The shish kebab is served as a side dish with onions and green onions cut into rings; sumac or narsharab, salt and pepper are served separately. In summer, ramrod-fried tomatoes are added to the shish kebab - 100 g, fresh tomatoes.

“Fisinzhan Shah” - horseshoe pilaf...

Horseshoe (or iron nail) 1 piece, rice - 500g, Chicken - 800g, onion - 300g, nuts - 500g, pomegranate juice - 1 glass, cherry plum puree - 1 tbsp, butter - 500g ., Lavash - 1 piece, saffron - to taste.

Pour the rice into salted water and cook until half cooked. While the rice is draining in the pan, line the bottom of the pan with pita bread. And then in layers: butter, rice, saffron. Cover the top with pita bread and place the pan in the oven at 200 degrees for 35-40 minutes. We are not getting young chicken. We cut it up, cook for 2-3 hours. Pass the onion through a meat grinder, squeeze it dry and fry it over low heat. Heat the horseshoe until red and dip it in pomegranate juice. Combine onion, crushed nuts, juice, chicken, horseshoe in a frying pan and keep on low heat for five minutes. Then serve together with rice on the table.

Pilaf sabzi-kavurma

- 50 g, onions - 50 g, greens (leeks, cilantro, spinach, sorrel) - 150 g, abgora - 5 g or citric acid 0.1 g, pepper - 0.2 g, salt to taste.

The lamb pulp is cut into pieces of 35-40 g, peppered, salted and fried. By adding abgora, sautéed onions, and coarsely chopped greens, simmer until tender. Pilaf is prepared separately, part of it is colored with saffron infusion. Rice is placed on a plate, with ready-made sabzi-kavurma on the side. Fill with oil.

Toyug - pilaf

Chicken - 207 g, rice - 100 g, onion - 20 g, peeled almonds - South, ghee - 50 g, sultanas - 50 g, cumin - 0.1 g, pepper - 0.1 g, salt to taste.

The chicken is boiled in water until done. Separately, fruits are passed into the oil, sautéed onions and cumin are added. Place 1 separately cooked pilaf on a plate, top with a piece of chicken, cooked * fruits, kazmag and pour in oil.

Gyimya-pilaf

Lamb - 221 g, rice - 100 g, ghee
- 50 g, sultanas - ZOg, dogwood - 20 g, onions - 40 g, chestnuts - 30 g, saffron - 0.1 g, flour -6 g, egg -1/8 pcs., cinnamon - 0, 2 g, pepper - 0.1 g, salt to taste.

Minced lamb is fried in oil. Washed dogwood and sultanas, boiled and peeled chestnuts are fried in oil separately and added to the minced meat. The resulting composition (gyimya) is brought to readiness. Separately prepared pilaf is placed on a plate, a garnish in the form of gyim is placed on top, kazmak is served, poured with oil and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Kalyam dolmasy (cabbage rolls)

Lamb - 163 g, rice - 20 g, chickpeas - 10: onions - 15 g, cabbage - 220 g, chestnuts - 50 g. citric acid - 2 g, sugar - 5 g.

Minced meat is prepared from lamb pulp with onions, rice is added, peeled and finely chopped chestnuts, split peas and chickpeas soaked in cold water, tomato, herbs, pepper, salt and mixed thoroughly. The cabbage is blanched in water and separated by leaves and into them, at the rate of three pieces per serving. Wrap the prepared minced meat, giving it a military shape. Place the dolma in a saucepan, add broth and cook. In 20 min. until done, add sauce made from sugar and wine vinegar. When serving, pour the sauce in which the dolma was cooked on top, and also sprinkle with cinnamon.

Yarnag dolmasi (stuffed cabbage rolls made from grape leaves)

Lamb - 108 g, rice - 30 g, onion - 1 greens (cilantro, dill, mint) - 15 g, grape leaves - 40 g, matsoni - 20 g, melted butter -10 g, salt and pepper to taste.

Lamb pulp and onions are passed through a meat grinder. Rice, chopped herbs (cilantro, dill, mint), salt, pepper, and sometimes split peas pre-soaked in cold water are added to the minced meat. Fresh grape leaves are scalded with boiling water, and pickled leaves are left until half cooked. The minced meat is thoroughly mixed and each sheet is wrapped at the rate of an average of 25 g of minced meat per dolma. Place the dolma in a saucepan with a thick bottom, fill it halfway with water and simmer for an hour until cooked. When serving, matsoni is served separately.

Shekerbura

Premium wheat flour - 240 g, sour cream -80 g, ghee - 80 g, eggs - 1 pc., yeast - 8 g, sugar - 200 g, hazelnuts (peeled) - 200 g, cardamom - 0.4 g .

The flour is sifted, mixed with sour cream, eggs, melted butter, yeast diluted in warm water and a stiff dough is kneaded, which is left for 1-1.5 hours to rise at a temperature of 30-35°C. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2 mm and cut out circles with a diameter of 10 cm. Place minced nuts mixed with sugar with the addition of cardamom on one half, and wrap the dough in the shape of a pie, pinching the edges. Various patterns are applied to the surface of the shakerbura with tongs, then they are placed on a sheet, dried and baked in the oven at a temperature of 230°C.

Baklava

Wheat flour, premium - 240 g, melted butter - 60 g, whole milk - 80 g, eggs - 1 pc., yeast - 8 g, peeled almonds or kernels - 200 g, sugar - 200 g, vanillin - 0, 2 g, saffron - 0.4 g, honey - 20 g.

Milk is heated to a temperature of 30-35°C, yeast, salt, eggs, ghee, sifted flour are added to it and a stiff dough is kneaded. To prepare the filling, peeled sweet almonds or roasted nuts are crushed, passed through a grater and mixed with sugar in a 1:1 ratio. The dough is rolled out to a thickness of 0.5 mm. Place a layer of dough on a greased baking sheet, sprinkle with filling on top - a layer of 3-4 mm and cover with a second layer of dough, grease with oil and sprinkle with filling again. This makes 8-10 layers. After this, the baklava is cut into diamonds measuring 10x4 cm, brushed with egg yolk mixed with saffron. Half a nut or pistachio kernel is placed in the middle of each diamond. Baklava is baked at a temperature of 180-200°C for 35-40 minutes. 15 minutes before the baklava is ready, glaze the top with syrup or honey.

The culture of tea drinking originated in the East, so it is not surprising that tea is very popular in Azerbaijan. Although it is unknown when people first drank tea here, it is known that the first tea bush was grown in 1896 in the village of Se-yidatyurbe in Lankaran region. Tea growing has been practiced in the country since 1912, and since the 1920s it has reached an industrial scale. Tea plantations were established in the Azerbaijani regions of Lankaran, Astara, Masalli, Zagatala, Balaken and Gakh, and then tea factories began to process local varieties of tea. During the Soviet period, Azerbaijani tea varieties (Azerbaijani wreath, Extra) were exported to Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary and France.
Tea is traditionally the most consumed drink in every Azerbaijani family. The rules for brewing tea in Azerbaijan differ from the rules for brewing tea in other countries. Women who make tea first boil water in special teapots. Then boiling water is poured into one “portion” of tea leaf (usually two to three teaspoons of leaf) and infused for a minute. Watch the tea brewing over the fire so that it does not boil over, otherwise the tea will lose its taste. When the tea is steeped, it is poured into glasses and boiling water is added to taste. Traditionally, tea is served with sugar, jam and other delicacies. Tea is drunk while holding sugar or jam in the mouth, which dissolves during tea drinking. This is what distinguishes Azerbaijani tea drinking from all others.
Every Azerbaijani family often invites guests for tea. Drinking tea together is a pleasant way to spend time. Tea is also an integral element of Azerbaijani hospitality and guests are usually greeted by serving them a glass of hot, delicious tea.

Sheki halva is the best sweet for Azerbaijani tea

Not stopping there, MOSLENTA continues to ask representatives of various nationalities living in Moscow about what their culinary traditions are, where in the capital they recommend trying their cuisine, buying the “right” products and what to do with them.

This time, Azerbaijani cuisine is represented by the ex-director of the Baku International Film Festival “East-West” Lala Efendiyeva.

About Me

All my life I have been torn between Russia and Azerbaijan. I was born in Baku, lived in Baku, started studying at school in Baku, but graduated from it in Moscow, I studied at the institute in Moscow, but worked in Baku, and then I ended up in Moscow again, where I have been living continuously for a year and a half. So I have the feeling that I myself am divided into two cities. Because of this, of course, many difficulties arose, but they did not concern the culinary aspect at all, because my mother cooks beautifully wherever she is, and from the products that can be bought. And now I cook well myself. So our home kitchen was not affected at all due to the move to Moscow.

About the kitchen

Our cuisine is completely special. I understand that every nationality says this, so I’ll try to explain. Unlike our northern neighbors, Azerbaijani cuisine never uses pork. We have a very wide representation of fish and poultry. But, the main thing is that in my homeland there is such an incredible amount of dishes that the concept of “Azerbaijani cuisine” has long become a brand - just like Azerbaijani carpets or a special type of music - Azerbaijani mugham.

And in Azerbaijan there is a real cult of food! Moreover, the majority here cooks, of course, national dishes. Yes, in my family they could, for example, cook borscht or cabbage soup, but this did not happen often. Any feasts or holidays are always our, Azerbaijani food.

About memory

I have always loved food, especially as a child. Another thing is that, like any child, I, first of all, adored sweets. And our family prepared the most sweets for Navruz Bayram, celebrated on March 20-21.

We prepared carefully for this holiday - two, three weeks in advance. We prepared baklava and shakerbura. As a ten-year-old, I was sometimes tasked with using tiny tweezers to apply patterns to the Shakerbura. This is a very painstaking work, during which I constantly pestered my grandmother with questions about her, about her parents, about her grandparents. If it weren't for these conversations, I would never have known my family's history.

About pilaf

Azerbaijani cuisine has a lot in common with Persian cuisine, so the main dish in it is pilaf. It is worth talking about it separately, because it is prepared completely differently from, say, Uzbek. In our country, rice is boiled without any additives in salted water, discarded at a certain time, and then put on low heat so that it “cooks” and forms a crust. The rice turns out completely white and is laid out on a separate dish. And in other dishes it is served with a huge number of different additives: it can be meat with herbs, meat with chestnuts, chicken, something sweet.

About "eat"

Any of our feasts begins and ends with tea. And among the dishes, the first to be placed on the table are appetizers - cold and hot. What are hot snacks? Well, for example, kyukyu is stewed greens (parsley, cilantro, leeks, dill, green onions, and, most importantly, spinach), doused with beaten egg, and then cut into portions. Or levengi fish: fish (preferably kutum or trout), stuffed with ground walnuts mixed with dissolved cherry plum plate, and then baked in the oven. Boiled or baked sturgeon. Or here are vegetable snacks: fried eggplants, tomatoes.

Kufta-bozbash - chickpeas with meatballs. Khamrashi is a soup with an analogue of Russian noodles. Dushbara is a soup with tiny dumplings that fit ten in a spoon. After the first courses, meat is served. This could be bozartma (a kind of stew of meat with vegetables), sabzi govurma (a lot of greens stewed with lamb pulp). Potato? No? We don’t use it, because traditionally in Azerbaijani cuisine meat is combined with herbs, vegetables and fruits. The most commonly used seasonings are turmeric, dried mint and thyme.

Yes, talk about seasoning! I’ll tell you a family secret: my grandmother always added a couple of pinches of cinnamon to the minced lamb intended for dolma, which gives the dish an absolutely exquisite aroma. And yet - what if you don’t know? - Dolma does not have to be with grape leaves. We stuff eggplants, tomatoes and peppers with minced meat. Moreover, I ate apples stuffed with meat from my friends! This dish is called alma-dolmasy.

Do you think that's all? But no! After meat dishes, fish dishes are served. Then - pilaf. And, as I already said, tea.

In general, you understand: the main thing in our feast is to be able to stop on time.

About "drink"

The main traditional Azerbaijani drink is fermented milk ayran, to which salt, pepper and finely chopped herbs are added. And for sweets, these are, of course, sorbets - fruit, lemon. My grandmother often prepared a drink from purple basil, which we call reikhan. This is done simply: a washed bunch of reyhan is poured with boiling water, to which sugar syrup and a slice of lemon are immediately added. The resulting mixture should brew a little and cool, after which you can drink a very aromatic pale purple drink. A kind of homemade lemonade.

About speed

Most of our recipes are very labor intensive. What if guests came suddenly? Owners of their own homes can, of course, cook barbecue. But those who are in the apartment... The other day, just like that, suddenly, guests came to me. What have I done? I quickly used what was on hand: walnuts and quail, which can easily be replaced with chicken. So I ground the nuts.

I put cherry plum pastille on a frying pan (these are special thin plates sold in markets), poured boiling water over it and, stirring, dissolved it. I added nuts there. At the same time I cooked quail. I cut each into four parts, poured the sauce over it and simmered until all the liquid had evaporated and the sauce had thickened. It took me about half an hour to do everything... This dish is called sifinjan and can be eaten either separately or as an additive to pilaf.

About the recipe

One of the simplest Azerbaijani dishes is the hot appetizer kyukyu. For it you will only need one large bunch each of spinach, cilantro, dill, green onions and a leek. And also - 6 eggs, 50-70 g of melted butter or butter, a handful of chopped walnuts, salt, pepper and katyk (matsoni, kefir or yogurt).

So, let's get ready. Everything is very simple. The greens must be washed thoroughly. Then finely chop. Add eggs, salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

Grease the frying pan in which the kyukyu will be baked. Melt the rest of the butter and pour it over the top of the kyukyu.

Place a frying pan with this mixture in an oven preheated to 160-170 degrees. First, on the lower mode of the stove for 15 minutes, then on the upper mode for 15 minutes.

Carefully transfer the finished kyukyu to a plate and cut it into portions. Sprinkle generously with finely chopped pre-roasted walnuts on top.