Azerbaijani cuisine

Azerbaijan's national cuisine is arguably closer to Middle Eastern cuisine due to the taste and preparation of the dishes. Contemporary Azerbaijan cuisine retains the traditional methods of preparing dishes while incorporating modern cooking techniques. Azerbaijani dishes have been cooked with copper utensils and cookware. Copper bowls and plates are still commonly used to serve food. The typical Azerbaijani meal involves three courses. One of the basic dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine is plov, served with various herbs and greens, a combination distinct from those found in Uzbek plovs. Other second courses include a variety of kebabs and shashlik, including lamb, beef, chicken, duck and fish (baliq) kebabs. Sturgeon, a common fish, is normally skewered and grilled as a shashlik, served with a tart pomegranate sauce called narsharab. Dried fruits and walnuts are used in many dishes. The traditional condiments are salt, black pepper, sumac, and saffron, which is grown on the Absheron Peninsula domestically. The third courses include soups. These include kufta bozbash, piti prepared of meat and dovga, as well as ovdukh prepared of greens and yoghurt. == Breakfast ==

The Azerbaijani breakfast is heavy in dairy products such as butter, various types of white cheese, and cream, as well as honey, tandoori bread and eggs, sometimes prepared into kuku, but, alternatively, also scrambled. Eastern European breakfast traditions adopted under the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union are also occasionally seen in Azerbaijan households, with foods such as kasha, porridge, quark and crepes included on the breakfast table. ==Light snacks==

Azerbaijani cuisine has a number of light snacks and side dishes to open or accompany the main meals: a plate of green leaves called goy, pieces of chorek (bread), white cheese or qatik (sour yogurt) and turshu (pickles). This culinary tradition is comparable to Turkish meze. The richer main courses such as soups, meats and plov are served afterwards. ==Dishes==

'' '' '' Meat Azerbaijani cuisine included large amounts of beef and game. Consumption of camel meat was also widespread, although it has become increasingly rare in modern times. In order to preserve meat, it was historically jerked, or alternatively, roasted and stuffed into jars or animal stomachs. Apart from the cuts of meat, Azerbaijani cuisine features the use of heads, legs, tails and intestines of animals in numerous dishes. Azerbaijani cuisine features a wide variety of traditional meat dishes such as bozbash (parchabozbash, kuftebozbash, qovurmabozbash), piti (sheki piti) khash, shashlik and lula kebab. A variety of lamb dishes are also commonly eaten, traditionally during celebrations such as Nowruz. Meatball dishes and forms of dolma are regularly eaten as well. On particularly special occasions, local goose, turkey, duck, quail and pheasant meats are also cooked and consumed. Azerbaijani cuisine also features a variety of seafood, especially fish which is obtained from the Caspian Sea as well as the Kura and Aras rivers. Fish is prepared in a variety of ways: stuffed, chopped, dried, grilled, fried, boiled, cooked in the oven, cooked on skewers, cooked in tandoors, cooked into plovs, and in other ways depending on the occasion and personal preferences. However, pork is less popular than other meats. In 2023, pork constituted about 2.4% of total meat consumption, primarily from imports. Soups Soups in Azerbaijan tend to have a thicker consistency and a larger ratio of dry ingredients to broth. Plov is one of the most widespread dishes in Azerbaijan and there are over 200 types of plovs in Azerbaijani cuisine. They are usually prepared with local vegetables, meats and spices. In Azerbaijani tradition, it is customary that the household prepares a plov for guests visiting the house. Since plov is a heavy and fatty food, it is traditionally served together with sour drinks such as ayran or black tea with lemon juice. Plovs have different names depending on the main ingredients accompanying the rice: Azerbaijani plov consists of three components, served simultaneously but on separate platters: the first component is rice (warm, never hot); the second component is gara, consisting of fried meat, dried fruits, eggs, or fish prepared as an accompaniment to rice; and the third component comprises herbs. Rice is not mixed with the other components even when eating plov. == Spices ==

Spices play an important role in Azerbaijani cuisine, especially saffron which is used in over 50 national dishes. Other spices widely used in Azerbaijani cuisine include anise, cumin, cinnamon, thyme, coriander seeds, curcuma, sumac, caraway, bay leaves, mint, dill, parsley, celery, tarragon, and basil. ==Desserts==

murabba Typical Azerbaijani desserts are sticky, syrup-saturated pastries such as pakhlava and shaki halva. The former, a layer of chopped nuts sandwiched between mats of thread-like fried dough, is a specialty of Shaki in northwest Azerbaijan. Other traditional pastries include shekerbura (crescent-shaped and filled with nuts), shorgoghal (round pastry filled with spices and salt) and badambura (decorated pastry filled with ground almonds, sugar, and cardamom). Fruit preserves in Azerbaijan, as well as many other countries in the region, are called murabba and these are often served alongside tea, where they are eaten alongside tea, or placed directly into tea as a sweetener and flavoring. Sweets are generally bought from a pastry shop and eaten at home or on special occasions such as weddings and wakes. The usual conclusion to a restaurant meal is a plate of fresh fruit that is in season, such as plums, cherries, apricots, or grapes. In March 2009, Azerbaijani bakers achieved an entry in the CIS book of records for baking the biggest and heaviest pakhlava in the CIS, weighing about 3 tons. More than 7 thousand eggs, 350 kg of nuts, 20 kg of almonds, 350 kg of sugar, and the same amount of flour was used in the preparation of the pastry. == Dairy products ==

Milk and dairy products play an important role in the Azerbaijani diet. Milk, butter, cream, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, buttermilk, dovga, ayran, qatiq, qurut, suzme and other dairy products are regularly consumed in the morning, as a snack, and incorporated into lunch and dinner. Cow's milk is most often used to produce local dairy products; however, sheep's milk is also sometimes used and goats' milk is consumed for its perceived health benefits. Rural communities in Azerbaijan produce local butter, buttermilk and cheeses using traditional churning techniques. ==Breads==

'' (tandoor bread) Different types of bread are baked in Azerbaijan: lavash and tandoor bread. In the Middle Ages, tandoor ovens were one of the common facilities of the population who lived in Old City (Icheri Sheher). This has been discovered during the archaeological excavations in different areas of Old City. During the meeting held in Ethiopia, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage decided to include lavash in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the organization. ==Non-alcoholic beverages==

Black tea is a popular drink in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani people usually prefer tea made in a samovar. Jam (murabba) is often added to the tea as a sweetener. Ayran is a cold yogurt beverage mixed with salt. A sherbet () is a sweet cold drink made of fruit juice mixed or boiled with sugar, often perfumed with rose water. Sherbets (not to be confused with sorbet ices) are of Iranian origin and they may differ greatly in consistency, from very thick and jam-like (as in Tajik cuisine) to very light and liquid, as in Azerbaijan. Sherbets are typically prepared with either lemon, pomegranate, strawberry, cherry, apricot, or mint. Locally made brands of bottled water include: == Alcoholic beverages ==

Unlike multiple other countries with a predominantly Muslim population, alcohol consumption in Azerbaijan is entirely legal, and a variety of alcoholic drinks, both locally produced and imported can be found in shops and bars across the country. Although alcohol consumption in Azerbaijan is relatively moderate, alcoholic drinks still play a part in nightlife, festivities and celebrations. Wine Azerbaijan produces wine locally. In the Khanlar district of the Azerbaijan Republic, for example, archeologists have found jars buried with the remains of wine dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. One of the most ancient and notable regions known for its wine-making produce is Tovuz in northwestern Azerbaijan. Archeological findings in this region speak of ancient vessels for wine storage, stones and remains of tartaric acid used for wine-growing. The contemporary wine-making in Azerbaijan is seen in Ganja-Qazakh and Shirvan economic zones. Vineyards in these regions account to about 7% of the country's cultivated land. The regions are famous for 17 vines and 16 table grape varieties, the most common of the wine cultivars being Pinot Noir. In Azerbaijan, wines made from grapes are called sharab (Azerbaijani: şərab) while wines from other fruits including apples, pomegranates and mulberry are called nabiz (Azerbaijani: nəbiz). Other sorts are called chakhyr (Azerbaijani: çaxır). According to historians, there are more than 450 different categories of wild grape found in Azerbaijan which had been used for wine-making throughout the history of Azerbaijan. Beer Beer in Azerbaijan is typified by lighter lagers. Of the domestically produced beers, the most widely distributed is Xirdalan named after the city of Xırdalan in Azerbaijan, formerly brewed by Baki-Castel (BGI) but bought by Baltika in 2008. In February 2017 company was renamed to Carlsberg Azerbaijan. As a sponsor of Baku's Eurovision Song Contest, Xirdalan issued special commemorative Eurovision cans and bottles in 2012. Other widespread, locally produced brands include Novxanı, NZS, Afsana and Annenfeld. Beer popularity continues to grow in Azerbaijan as of 2018 and there are plans to fully localize malt processing for beer production, with a new malt processing plant being planned to be launched in 2024. Unlike almost all CIS countries, the beer bottles in Azerbaijan are marked with excise duty sticker. == See also ==