Azerbaijani cuisine has many similarities with the culinary traditions of other peoples of the Caucasus. However, it has many differences and features. This cuisine is close to Iranian: many dishes bear Turkic names, similar features can be traced in the cooking technology. In Azerbaijan, they love interesting flavor combinations, combining a fresh base of dough, rice or young meat with sour milk or vegetable additions. Despite the high calorie content, such food is easily digested.
Azerbaijani cuisine: recipes
A real Azerbaijani lunch: what it should be
A traditional Azerbaijani lunch lasts a long time. It provides for several changes of dishes, their number depends on how important the meal is. Lunch begins with appetizers – smoked balyk, fresh chureks, sour fruits fried in butter are served. The appetizer is accompanied by bunches of fresh herbs and ayran. This is followed by soup – for example, lamb and vegetable piti, served in special clay pots. Other first courses are also popular – kyufta-bozbash (broth with meatballs) or dovga based on katyk (local yogurt). Dovga can be hot or cold, the way of serving depends on the season.
After the soup, dishes of meat and poultry are served on the table – dolma, chicken roasted on a spit, veal with sour fruit sauce. Stuffed game can be found at ceremonial dinners – pheasants, partridges or quails. The meat is complemented by plenty of fresh spicy herbs. Then comes the turn of the main course – pilaf. Depending on what was served before it, the type of pilaf may vary. For example, if lamb was cooked for an appetizer and hot, pilaf can be made with a bird. If chickens and quails have already been on the table, pilaf will be cooked with eggs, fruits or herbs.
The meal is rounded off with strong black tea served in Iranian style – in pear-shaped glass glasses. A plentiful set of sweets is required for tea – sherbet, Turkish delight, halva, jam and biscuits. Finely crushed sugar is served separately.
Meat and fish are the basis of the national cuisine
The basis of the meat table in Azerbaijan is young lamb. In addition, veal and game are widely used here. Stuffed quails, partridges, pheasants are typical for old Azerbaijani cuisine. In modern cooking, poultry is increasingly used, especially guinea fowls and chickens. They prefer to cook meat on an open fire and season it with sauces made from sour fruits – dogwood, pomegranates, cherry plums. The most popular meat dish is kebab. It is served with a lot of greens – onions, basil, tarragon. Most often, fat tail fat is added to lean young meat, this makes kebabs juicy and rich in taste.
The peculiarity of the local cuisine is a small amount of salt. For example, kebabs are not salted at all, and sour fruit sauces give flavor nuances to the dish.
Fans of Azerbaijani cuisine also appreciate fish dishes. Mostly local chefs use red fish, it is cooked on grills and steamed, smoked or baked in a tandoor. Recipes often feature sweet or sour fruits, as well as nuts such as walnuts or almonds.
Taste nuances: vegetables and fruits
Like other peoples of the Caucasus, Azerbaijanis often eat fresh and cooked vegetables, fruits and a variety of greens. Mostly aerial vegetables are popular here. Beets, radishes and other root vegetables are almost never found in the old Azerbaijani cuisine, however, modern chefs increasingly include potatoes in their dishes. Green vegetables are very popular – green beans, asparagus, lettuce, artichokes. A variety of nuts are widely used: chestnuts, almonds, hazel, walnuts.
Greens are often served fresh. For example, meat kebabs or baked fish are served with bunches of herbs, which must include green onions. Onions, tarragon, parsley, mint, cilantro are usually eaten with meat. At the same time, dry spices are used less often. Among them: – black pepper; – cinnamon; – ginger; – Carnation; – cardamom. Saffron is especially appreciated, which is used to season fish dishes, pilaf and sorbet. In Azerbaijan, local saffron is used, which is valued much higher than the Imeritin saffron, which is popular in Georgia.
Rose petals are widely used in Azerbaijani cuisine. They make syrups and jams, add to desserts and sorbets
While greens in Azerbaijani cuisine are usually served whole and fresh, fruits are usually prepared – for example, fried in butter or turned into a thick sauce. Local chefs like to combine sweet dried fruits with sour cherry plum, dogwood or pomegranate juice. Sauces for dishes are prepared from fruits, as well as a variety of sorbets, marmalades and preserves.
Features of Azerbaijani pilaf
Pilaf is one of the most significant dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. The basis of pilaf is boiled rice and gar (meat, fish, egg, fruit or other component, on which the name of the dish depends). Most often, pilaf is prepared from meat – lamb, game, poultry. The meat is cut into pieces, but pilaf is also found with minced meat rolled into balls. The main parts of the pilaf are prepared separately and connected before serving.
There are several ways to cook rice. Round-grain is often boiled after soaking in warm water. Small long grain rice is soaked in cold water and then steamed. In the process of cooking pilaf, additional parts of the dish play an important role. These include spicy herbs, thin unleavened flatbread kazmag, dried in a tandoor, and sour sherbet.
The best Azerbaijani desserts
The local dessert table is reminiscent of the Iranian one. Sweet and sour sorbet based on cornelian cherry, lemon, grape or pomegranate juice, dense fruit marmalades, and preserves are popular here. An important role is played not only by the taste, but also by the appearance of sweets; for example, sherbets should have a distinct color – pink, yellow, green, red. The shade of the treat is achieved by adding natural ingredients – herbs and fruit juices, as well as tea or saffron. To make the dish look especially elegant, it is served on the table in a transparent bowl.
Local flour products are no less famous. The most popular is baklava, which has many varieties. The dough can be unleavened, yeast or flaky, a variety of nuts act as a filling, and the filling is made from butter and honey.
They also love cookies in Azerbaijan; they are usually made from butter-shortbread dough. The most famous type of cookies is crumbly kurabiye.