Azerbaijan has always been famed for its cookery. The abundance of vegetables, fruit, fragrant herbs and spices have inspired Azerbaijan cooks to invent new and new national dishes which are so distinctive that you can never mix them up with the dishes of the other peoples.
Even the most sophisticated gourmets coming to Azerbaijan from all over the world appreciate the exquisite taste and subtle aroma of these dishes.
It is for a good reason that Azerbaijan is called the home of long-livers. Researchers say that this is due, firstly, to Azerbaijan's salubrious climate, secondly, the healthy way of life of its people, and the last, but not the least, the wholesome food and eating habits.
The Republic's Intourist offers its guests a wide choice of national dishes served at the restaurants in Baku - Moskva, Azerbaijan, Intourist and Karavan-Serai, as well as the restaurants in other towns on the Intourist routes. Azerbaijanians are proud of their national cuisine and hope that you will also enjoy it.
Receiving you as our guest we will be happy to reveal to you some secrets of Azerbaijan cooking. Let's begin with the first courses.
The Azerbaijan first courses are prepared from very concentrated meat stock, indeed much more concentrated and thicker than European soups. Lavishly used the spices and a special cooking techniques lend them a peculiar aroma. Some Azerbaijan dishes are served as both the first and the second courses. Among them are piti and kyufta-bozbash. In this case the meat stock is served separately from the other ingredients (meat, peas, potatoes) which are treated as a second course although cooked in the stock.
One of the most popular dishes here is the dainty and aesthetically attractive pilau with meat, fish, fruit or other ingredients. Depending on the ingredients, there are different pilau varieties, for instance, kaurma pilau (mutton pilau), toyug pilau (chicken pilau), shirin pilau (dried fruit pilau), syudli pilau (milk pilau), etc. About 40 pilau varieties are known.
Now we would like to call your attention to shashlyks - basturma shashlyk, fillet shashlyk and lyubitelsky shashlyk. These shashlyks are made from the pieces of meat. And there are also shashlyks prepared from minced mutton with the addition of rump fat, such as lyulya-kebab, tava-kebab. These dishes are popular countrywide.
We also have many fish dishes. The most popular specialties are sturgeon shashlyk, kutum Azerbaijan, stuffed fish, balyg-pilau, Russian sturgeon pilau and balyg-chykhyrtma.
Such Azerbaijan dishes as pilau, piti, lyulya-kebab and stuffed fish Azerbaijan-style are known throughout the world.
In Azerbaijan, tea is served before the second courses. At banquets and the other celebrations the first dishes are not served as a rule. Greens of all sorts, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers (salted or pickled in winter) are always served. After the second course (especially pilau) they often serve dovga, a meal prepared from sour milk and greens. It is believed that dovga favours digestion. Dinner ends with sherbet, a favourite drink in Azerbaijan, or with pastries.
The Fragrant Azerbaijan tea is a symbol of heart-felt hospitality. It is served with quince, fig, water-melon rind, apricot, cherry, peach, plum, cornel, walnut, strawberry, dewberry, grape or mulberry jam.
We have given you a general idea of the most popular Azerbaijan dishes, unique and delicious as they are.
Below you will find some recipes. (The amount of food-stuffs is given for one portion).
You and your family will certainly appreciate the daintiness of these dishes. And you will see that they are worth your cooking efforts. Bon appetit!
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