Home / Pies / Azerbaijani cuisine dishes for the old new year. What is the national cuisine, traditional dishes and food in Azerbaijan? Features of Azerbaijani cuisine

Azerbaijani cuisine dishes for the old new year. What is the national cuisine, traditional dishes and food in Azerbaijan? Features of Azerbaijani cuisine

The Novruz holiday is approaching, which is loved in Azerbaijan from young to old. Spring is greeted by the hostesses with the most delicious national sweets, and preparations for the holiday begin a few weeks in advance.

As Day.Az reports, "Moscow-Baku" decided to make a list of the most popular recipes flour products, which will certainly be on every festive table. In fact, cooking them is not that difficult, the main thing is to believe in your culinary skills.

Shackerbourg
it delicious delicacy prepared from yeast dough stuffed with hazelnuts with sugar. The name comes from the Turkic "Sheker-borek", which means " mince pie". Shakerbura resembles the moon in shape, it is decorated with a pattern in the form of wheat ears using a special tool" maggash ".

Recipe:
1 kg of hazelnuts and granulated sugar, 2 kg of flour, 10 eggs, 800 g of sour cream, 750 g of butter, 1 glass of milk, 10 g of yeast, 8-10 pieces of cardamom.

Soak yeast in 1/3 cup milk, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of granulated sugar, pour into the flour, then add the remaining milk and softened butter. Knead the dough and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. Grind nuts and cardamom, mix with granulated sugar. From the dough, make round cakes the size of a tea saucer, put the filling in them, make a curly seam, decorate the top with patterns, bake at 180 ° C for 30-40 minutes.

Baklava
The name of baklava is associated with its appearance - rhombuses, symbols of fire, which are called "pakhla" on Azerbaijani carpet ornaments. Baklava is prepared in each region of Azerbaijan according to its own recipe, and therefore there are various options for it: Baku, Nakhchivan, Ganja, Sheki, Guba, etc. In addition, baklava has different fillings- walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and peanuts.

Recipe:
1.5 kg of nuts and granulated sugar, 500 g of butter, 2 eggs, 800 g of flour,
2 g saffron, 600 g water.

Knead the dough from flour, eggs and butter, divide into 10 parts. Grind the nuts and mix with granulated sugar, divide the filling into 7 parts. Roll out one part of the dough in a thin layer, spread on the entire bottom of the baking sheet, grease with oil, add a layer of nuts and repeat. Cut the rammed baklava into diamonds. Lubricate the entire surface with saffron infusion with a brush, press half a nut into the middle of each. Bake in the oven at 180 ° C for an hour. Prepare syrup from granulated sugar and water, boil and immediately pour over the finished baklava.

Shore gogal
Shore gogal is a round, bright yellow bun that resembles the sun. Gogal is baked with not sweet filling consisting of various oriental spices. These salty crumbly baked goods are traditionally eaten with sweet tea.

Recipe:
Dough - 1.5 kg of flour, 30 g of yeast, 500 g of milk, 100 g of butter, 6 eggs, salt to taste. Filling - 500 g of flour, 1 teaspoon of anise, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, turmeric and salt, 3 tablespoons of ghee. Separately - 1 kg of butter, 1 egg and 100 g of poppy or caraway seeds.

Make a dough (dissolve yeast in warm milk and add flour), put in a warm place. Once the dough has increased in size, add the butter and the remaining flour. Mix well before receiving homogeneous mass and put in a warm place for another hour. For the filling, crush the spices, add oil. Divide the matched dough into 10 parts, roll each part thinly, greasing generously with melted butter, and stack on top of each other. Cut the multi-layer dough into strips 6-7 cm wide, then divide into 10 cm pieces.Twist each part spirally, flatten on both sides, make a funnel in the center, put 1 teaspoon of the filling, glue the funnel, flatten again into a flat cake the size of your palm , brush with beaten egg and bake at 180 ° C for 30-40 minutes.

Mutaki
These cookies resemble regular bagels in shape, but they have a very special taste. And it's all about the combination of the unique crumbly dough with oriental filling. By the way, in Baku these tubes are prepared with nut filling, and in Shamakhi - with apricot jam.

Recipe:
Dough - 500 g flour, 100 g butter, 2 eggs, 200 g milk, 10 g yeast. Filling - 200 g ground walnuts and 1 glass of sugar or apricot jam.

Dissolve the yeast in warm milk, beat in an egg, add salt, sugar, melted butter and mix. Add sifted flour in portions to the mixture and knead the dough. Cover the dough and heat for 1-1.5 hours. Prepare the filling: mix crushed nuts, sugar and cardamom, or take apricot jam. Divide the matched dough into 4 parts, roll out, cut into squares, put the filling, wrap in the form of a roll. Bake at 180 ° C for 10 minutes.

Kurabye Baku
"Kurabye Bakinskoye" was a popular cookie in the USSR, and since then its recipe has hardly changed. The main thing when baking cookies is not to overexpose them in the oven, they will be dry. The correct kurabie is golden yellow in color.

Recipe:
2 cups flour, 200 g butter, 1 protein, powdered sugar, apricot jam.

Beat the softened butter with icing sugar and vanilla sugar to a lush mass. Add protein, stir, add flour and knead to a homogeneous dough. Place the dough in a deposit bag and squeeze the cookies onto a baking sheet through a serrated tube. Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 200 ° C. When the cookies have cooled, put some jam in the middle.

Badambura
Badambura resembles a pie with nuts, but in a very beautiful flaky shape, sprinkled with powdered sugar. These are very tender, soft baked goods with a nutty flavor and an unforgettable note of cardamom.

Recipe:
Dough - 150 g butter, 1 glass of milk, half a tablespoon of yeast, 4 glasses of flour. Filling - 300 g of chopped almonds, 250 g of sugar.

Beat the yolks with a pinch of salt, add butter, yeast diluted in warm milk, flour and knead the dough. Send to a warm place for 30 minutes. While the dough is right, prepare the filling: grind the almonds with sugar and stir. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal parts, roll them into a thin layer, grease each of them with softened butter and fold on top of each other. Roll up into a roll and cut into pieces 3 cm thick. Press each piece with your fingers - you get something like a bowl. Put the filling in the groove and pinch the edges well. Bake in the oven at 170 ° C for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the cooled badambura with icing sugar.

Kyata bakinskaya
Azerbaijani cuisine has several types of kyat, among them the most popular are Baku, Karabakh and Nakhchivan. They differ in cooking recipes, shapes and soft filling that literally melts in your mouth.

Recipe:
Dough - 3 glasses of flour, 1 egg, 1 glass of sour cream, 150 g of butter, 1 tsp. yeast. Filling - 1 cup sugar, 0.5 cups flour and 100 g butter.

Knead the dough, cover it cling film and leave in the refrigerator for half an hour. During this time, we prepare the filling. We rub the butter from the freezer on a grater, add flour and sugar here. Grind the mass into crumbs. Divide the dough into 3 parts, roll each into a layer, on which we spread the filling. Gently roll up and cut into portions. We put everything on a baking sheet, grease the top of the kyat with yolk. Prepared in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 30 minutes.

Sheker cherek
Sheker churek cookies occupy one of the places of honor in Azerbaijani cuisine. Easy to prepare, very tasty and tender biscuits just can not help but like it. Despite the fact that sheker churek in translation from Azerbaijani means "sweet bread" - it is not bread at all, but very tasty, crumbly, with the aroma of ghee and very easy to prepare cookies.

Recipe:
1 cup butter and sugar, 2 eggs, 4 cups flour.

Mix sugar with lukewarm ghee, add eggs, gradually add flour. Roll up small rolls from the dough, put them on a baking sheet, press a little on top. In the middle of each cookie, make a small depression, grease it with yolk. Sheker churek is baked in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cookies "Fruits of Azerbaijan"
This is probably the brightest cookie baked by Azerbaijani housewives. They are prepared in the form of apples, pears, peaches, coloring each "fruit" natural dyes in yellow-red colors.

Recipe:
5 cups flour, 2 cups granulated sugar, 4 eggs, 200 g sour cream and butter, 1 tsp. soda. For decoration - cloves, saffron, beets and granulated sugar.

The eggs are beaten with sugar and butter is added, while the soda is mixed with sour cream and added to the beaten mass. Then flour is added in small portions and the whole mass is mixed. Round and egg-shaped balls of different sizes are made from the dough and baked at a temperature of 190-210 ° C for 10 minutes. Hot biscuits are glued in pairs using whipped egg whites, and on top they are stained with saffron infusion (peaches and apricots), beet juice (plums and peaches) and breaded in granulated sugar. For the formation of sepals, pears must be inserted into the dough one by one before baking. Pears are dyed with saffron infusion on one side, and beet juice on the other and breaded in granulated sugar.

Kyoke Nakhchivan
Kyoke is a delicious pie that is prepared for Novruz holiday in Nakhchivan. It is not sweet at all, the filling looks like meat, but in fact it is an onion prepared using a special technology.

Recipe:
Dough - 1 kg of flour, 350 g of butter, 2 eggs, 2 tsp. yeast and granulated sugar, 1.5 cups of milk, salt. Filling - 450 g of walnuts, 2 onions, salt, pepper, turmeric.

Mix half a glass of warm milk with sugar and yeast, after 15 minutes add melted butter, eggs, remaining milk and flour. Knead the dough and leave it in a warm place for 2 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the filling - fry the onions in butter until golden brown, add turmeric, pepper, salt and nuts. Form 50 cakes from the dough, roll out, add to each filling and wrap in the shape of a shakerbura. Furnace at 200 ° C for 20 minutes.

Azerbaijani cuisine is a stunning mix of Caucasian, Turkish and Central Asian culinary traditions. Numerous kebabs, eggplant dishes with nuts and cheese, aromatic vegetables and, of course, pilaf. Here you will find many familiar dishes, only they will be performed in a special way, in Azerbaijani style.

Lamb dishes
Lamb is the most popular meat in Azerbaijan. Beef and veal are much inferior to her. And Azerbaijani chefs know how to cook their favorite meat perfectly. There are many dishes. They are all great. Lamb is boiled here with aromatic herbs, stewed in milk, baked on coals ... Be sure to try kyufta bozbash - transparent mutton broth with a huge meatball stuffed with prunes ...

Features of Azerbaijani cuisine

You can not love, say, chinese food, you can even be indifferent to French ... But try Caucasian cuisine, in particular Azerbaijani, and not be delighted ..

No. this cannot be. The abundance of vegetables, fruits and herbs, fresh meat and fish, the reverent attitude of the people to their traditions - all this can conquer the most discerning gourmet.

In Azerbaijan, they try not to store or freeze food for a long time. For example, meat is always bought exactly as much as it needs to be cooked. Then they again go to the market for the freshest. Most often, a lamb or calf is butchered right in front of the buyer.

Azerbaijan is. of course, mountains and foothills, forests and meadows, but this is also ...


Potatoes - 4 pieces
Tomato - 3 pieces
Bulb onion - 1 piece
Bulgarian pepper (large) - 1 piece
Cucumber - 2 pieces
Ghee butter - 2 tbsp. l.
Broth - 150 ml

Lamb or beef (in my ...

Azerbaijan cuisine

Kefir 3.2% - 2 l
Eggs - 1 pc.
Flour - 1 tablespoon
Rice - 3 tablespoons
Sorrel - 1 bunch
Cilantro greens - 1 bunch
Parsley greens - 1 bunch
Dill greens - 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt

Buglama

This is perhaps one of the easiest Azerbaijani dishes to prepare. Moreover, the composition of the ingredients here can be completely arbitrary. Mandatory ingredients are lamb, onions, tomatoes, Bell pepper and the rest of the vegetables just add extra flavor and aroma. Buglama is also made from sturgeon. In this case, only the required ingredients, plus 3-4 bay leaves and black peppercorns, are used for cooking. Buglama is being prepared for small fire; almost a couple. Hence the name - buQIama, which means "steamed" in Azerbaijani. A similar dish is prepared in the republics of Central Asia. There it is called basma or dimlyama. We covered while cooking ...

Azerbaijan dovga

3 l yogurt or kefir
1 egg


serving salt

12-15 servings
Preparation: 30 min
Cooking time: 10 min.


2. Boil the rice in a large number...

Azerbaijani pilaf sabzi-govurma

Sabzi - greens, govurma (azerb), kourma (uzb) - fried meat, meat preparation, widespread among many Turkic peoples.

The pilaf itself is cooked in a folding way, separately from meat, which is typical for the cuisines of many nations, with the exception of the cuisine of Central Asia.

To prepare pilaf you will need:
a kilogram of long grain rice,
half a kilo of various greenery,
half a kilo of beans,
700 gr of onion, chopped with feathers,
kilogram of meat,
500 ml ghee
turmeric,
saffron and salt.

If I cooked without beans, I would take a kilogram of greens - as much as meat. Yes, there are regions where greens are not eaten, but greens are eaten in the same way as in Belarus, for example, they eat potatoes ...

Azerbaijan cuisine

Dovga - a national dish Azerbaijani cuisine... Dovga is a cold summer soup made from kefir and herbs. On festive table the dish is served with small meatballs. Azerbaijani housewives cook at least 10 liters of dovgu, since the cooking process is quite long and it is often difficult to cook it.

Kefir 3.2% - 2 l
Eggs - 1 pc.
Flour - 1 tablespoon
Rice - 3 tablespoons
Sorrel - 1 bunch
Cilantro greens - 1 bunch
Parsley greens - 1 bunch
Dill greens - 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt

To prepare a recipe for Azerbaijani cuisine, beat the egg with flour and 1 tbsp. cold kefir. Add the beaten egg, washed rice to a saucepan with kefir and put on medium heat, constantly ...

Azerbaijani pasties "Kutaby"

Qutab is traditional and very popular dish Azerbaijani cuisine. Kutabs are prepared stuffed with herbs or meat. It turns out crispy kutabs with a slight sourness!

Water (Warm water) - 200 ml
Flour - 300 g
Salt - 1 handful.
Butter (Melt) - 20 g
Filling
Minced meat (Minced lamb or beef can.) - 500 g
Bulb onions - 3 pieces
Pomegranate - 1 pc
Spices - 1 handful.

In warm water, add salt, flour and make a dough. Leave in a bowl, cover with a towel and rest for 5-10 minutes.

Let's prepare our pomegranate.

Azerbaijani pasties "Kutaby" ingredients Roll out the dough thinly, cut into a large round shape.

Put the minced meat on half of the rolled dough, sprinkle it with pomegranate seeds. Ouch...

Shah-pilaf

Shah-plov (khan-plov, shah ash, padishah-plov, royal pilaf) is one of the delicious recipes pilaf in Azerbaijani cuisine. It got its name for its appearance, which is a bit like the crown of ancient eastern rulers. Such pilaf is an indispensable dish at weddings and celebrations. But not only the appearance makes one think about its name, because it is truly the food of kings.

Ingredients
Long grain rice (better than Basmati) - 300 gr.
Chicken fillet -500 gr.
Butter (50 g for rice, 50 g for lavash, 50 g for frying) - 150 g.
Bulb onion - 1 pc.
1 carrot
Garlic - 4 teeth.
Lavash (dense) - 2 pcs.
Dried fruits (dried apricots, prunes, dates - 6-8 each, raisins - 50 gr)
Chestnuts ...

Azerbaijan Cuisine

Green kyukyu ingredients

Eggs - 4 pcs.
Flour - 2 tsp
Green onions - 0.5 bunch
Dill - 0.5 bunch
Spinach - 100 g
Cilantro - 0.5 bunch
Ghee butter - 4 tablespoons
Ground black pepper Salt

Green kyukyu recipe

The recipe for the Azerbaijani cuisine kyukyu from greens is very simple and quick to prepare. Rinse greens, dry and chop finely. Combine greens with eggs, add salt, pepper and beat everything well with the addition of flour. Pour into the heated oil egg mixture, cover and fry over medium heat until ...

Shah pilaf

Ingredients
We present to your attention the recipe for Royal pilaf, which is one of the main and most delicious dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine.
Shah pilaf (Royal pilaf) is one of the main dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. It is prepared on special occasions, for example, in honor of a wedding. There are many recipes for shah pilaf; each region of the country has its own nuances and subtleties. We tried to combine the interesting moments of several recipes, in the end we got aromatic juicy pilaf with a crispy lavash crust.

Ingredients:
-long-grain Basmati rice (preferably Tamasha) - 300 grams
- chicken - 1 piece (you can use meat)
-lavash - 2 large sheets
- vegetable oil and ...

Azerbaijan Cuisine

Kuku made from greens is an easy-to-prepare snack according to the recipe of Azerbaijani cuisine. The kyukyu can be prepared with cream or milk, so the green kyukyu will be more fluffy.

Green kyukyu ingredients

Eggs - 4 pcs.
Flour - 2 tsp
Green onions - 0.5 bunch
Dill - 0.5 bunch
Spinach - 100 g
Cilantro - 0.5 bunch
Ghee butter - 4 tablespoons
Ground black pepper Salt

Green kyukyu recipe

The recipe for the Azerbaijani cuisine kyukyu from greens is very simple and quick to prepare. Rinse greens, dry and chop finely. Combine greens with eggs, add salt, pepper and beat everything well with the addition of flour. Pour the egg mixture into the heated oil, cover and fry over medium heat until ...

Azerbaijan cuisine

Ovduh dish ingredients

Kefir - 1 l
Cucumbers - 4-5 pcs.
Eggs - 4 pcs.
Green onions - 1 bunch
Dill - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt

Dolma with cabbage leaves and quince

Dolma is one of the most popular and favorite dishes of Azerbaijanis. Each housewife believes that her dolma is the most delicious. Azerbaijani cuisine includes several types of dolma: with grape leaves, with eggplants, bell peppers and tomatoes, and even dolma with early leaves of a quince tree. "Dolma" in translation from Azerbaijani means "filled", "stuffed". So we will stuff cabbage leaves with prepared minced meat.

500 g lamb or beef pulp
1 small head of cabbage
2 large quince
1 large onion
1/3 cup rice
ground cinnamon on the tip of a knife
salt, black pepper
sour cream for serving

6 servings
Preparation: 1 h 10 min.
Cooking 1 h

1. For the rice filling ...

Eastern sweetness Okra (Azerbaijani cuisine)

Okra (emphasis on "I") is probably the simplest Azerbaijani sweet, requiring a minimum of products.

We will need:
Flour (glasses 2-2.5)
1 egg
soda, salt
vegetable oil (approx. 1 cup)
0.5 cups sugar
1-2 tablespoons of honey
a tiny pinch of ginger

1.1 cup flour + 0.5 tsp baking soda + a pinch of salt, pour 2 cups of boiling water and stir well. After 5 minutes, add 1 egg, flour and knead the tight dough.

2. Pass the dough through a meat grinder through the sausage attachment.

3. Cut the flagellum into little fingers the length of the little finger and deep-fry from vegetable oil odorless to deep golden color.

4. Place on a sieve.

5. Cooking syrup - pour half a glass of sugar with a glass of water, cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat, add honey, ginger and pour our "fingers". Leave for 2 hours for a full soak, and ready to use.

Kuba tykhmasy / Azerbaijani cuisine

Kuba tykhmasi - Azerbaijani sweet buns, GOST recipe.
I allowed myself the only deviation from GOST, using instead of saffron its cheap substitute - safflower flowers.
The cube of tykhmasa has a thin fragile crust, slightly layered, airy crumb, sweet-spicy center - something wonderful!
Despite the apparent complexity, it is not difficult to prepare them.

Would need:
650 g of premium wheat flour
100 g milk
150 g of water
200 g butter margarine
2 chicken eggs
200 g sugar
60 g butter
10 g fresh yeast
1 g saffron
2 g grated nutmeg
2 g salt

1. I repeat that I replaced the saffron in the recipe with a cheaper analogue of this precious spice ...

Choban-govurma / Azerbaijani cuisine

Recipe for Azerbaijani cuisine. I was very surprised by this dish !!! In my opinion, there is such an ingredient in it, which, well, does not fit into this dish !!! I thought so ... But no, how wrong I was, everything is so harmonious, and so perfectly combines and complements each other !!! Try and cook this Azerbaijani national dish, I think that you will also like it !!!

Lamb (Lamb can be replaced with beef) - 400 g
Potatoes - 4 pieces
Tomato - 3 pieces
Bulb onion - 1 piece
Bulgarian pepper (large) - 1 piece
Cucumber - 2 pieces
Ghee butter - 2 tbsp. l.
Broth - 150 ml

Let's prepare our ingredients. Peel potatoes, onions, wash everything.

Lamb or beef ...

Azerbaijan cuisine

Ovdukh is a cold Azerbaijani summer soup based on kefir, herbs and cucumbers. Sometimes kefir is diluted with water, covered with herbs, poured into tall glasses and drunk.

Ovduh dish ingredients

Kefir - 1 l
Cucumbers - 4-5 pcs.
Eggs - 4 pcs.
Green onions - 1 bunch
Dill - 1 bunch
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Ground black pepper Salt

To prepare such a recipe for Azerbaijani cuisine, such as ovduh, wash cucumbers and chop finely. Pour chopped cucumbers, finely chopped greens into kefir, salt, pepper and mix. Boil the eggs, peel and cut into 4 pieces. Pour the prepared ovduh into plates, decorate with eggs and serve. If it's springtime, then you can add finely chopped radish in the air.

Azerbaijan dovga

This is one of the most popular and favorite dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. It is believed that the best way to cook dovga is in the Ganjabasar zone of Azerbaijan; it is understandable, because the most delicious greens grow here. This dish is good both because it is great both hot and cold, so cook it more, with a margin, put it in jars and put it in the refrigerator.

3 l yogurt or kefir
1 egg
1/2 cup round grain rice
2 large bunches of spinach (200 g) large bunch of cilantro (100 g) large bunch of dill (100 g) small bunch of mint
serving salt

12-15 servings
Preparation: 30 min
Cooking time: 10 min.

1. Rinse the greens well, cut and dry.
2. Boil rice in a large ...

Azerbaijani cuisine is one of the most original and distinctive cuisines in the world. Despite the fact that the life of Azerbaijanis is very closely connected with the life of neighboring peoples (Armenians, Georgians, Turks, Persians, Lezgins), the national cuisine of Azerbaijan still managed to preserve its originality and bright color, attracting the attention of millions of people from all over the world.

We will begin the description of Azerbaijani cuisine, perhaps, with the local gastronomic taboos - pork and alcohol, which are not represented in any way in the recipes of traditional dishes, because almost the entire population of Azerbaijan considers themselves Muslims. Otherwise, there are no restrictions, so each of us will certainly be able to find something valuable, appetizing and tasty for ourselves here.

Meat dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine are prepared mainly from lamb. Poultry, fish and beef are also found here, but much less often than lamb. At the same time, most of the dishes have a very pronounced spicy taste, since Azerbaijanis highly respect spicy herbs and spices. Basil, saffron, cilantro, turmeric, various peppers, sumac, fennel, cumin, cumin - all this and much more is added to almost every meat dish (not simultaneously, of course) and forms a truly magical taste and aroma. This is especially true of saffron, which is an integral part of such dishes as pilaf (the main dish of Azerbaijani cuisine), and sumach, which is added everywhere and everywhere (where the main component is meat).

Vegetables and fruits are used for food here as often, if not more often than meat and cereals (especially in the season). But soups ... There are about twenty traditional recipes for soups in Azerbaijan, which is quite good for the national cuisine of one people. In our area, for example, so many traditional soups can easily not be gathered (meaning Russian cuisine), even if you dig a lot in the archives.

The national Azerbaijani cuisine is rich in baking recipes - both sweet and savory; cold snacks, several types of bread and even vegetarian dishes (albeit few) are prepared here. In general, if you want to get to know the national cuisine of Azerbaijan better, then feel free to start. It will be interesting! Well, we will help you with this.

In this collection we have collected for you best recipes dishes of national Azerbaijani cuisine with step by step photos and detailed instructions performed by our authors. Welcome to the culinary world of Azerbaijan!





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Alexander

Azerbaijan is a distinctive country with ancient history... This region is unique. Due to its geographical location, it is equally close to the Middle East, the Transcaucasia, and Eastern Europe. Over the centuries, this state has been enriched with traditions, sights and historical monuments of different cultures.

The unique climate attracts many tourists here. Here everyone can find nature to their liking - from the alpine snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus to subtropical forests. Numerous hydropathic establishments, the coast of the Caspian Sea, rivers and mountains will impress even the most discerning guest.

The country's cuisine has collected the best qualities and traditions of the peoples inhabiting it. Thanks to this, Azerbaijani cuisine is considered one of the most delicious in Western Asia and the Caucasus. What dishes should you definitely try in Azerbaijan?

Food in Azerbaijan

The nature and land of this region generously endows its inhabitants with a variety of vegetables, fruits, spices, and fragrant herbs. All this finds application in the dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine.

Where else will you be offered to try sweet drink from rose petals or tomato jam. By the way, "ovshala", as the pink drink is called, has not only a bright and delicate aroma, but also useful properties... And who doesn't love the well-known kurabie cookies? It is the form and recipe of the Baku cookies "kurabye" that have spread all over the world.

The religious canons of the majority of the population do not allow pork to be eaten. But this is fully offset by a large assortment of deliciously prepared dishes from a variety of meats. Lamb, poultry, river and sea Caspian fish dishes are especially famous.

Features and traditions of Azerbaijani cuisine

Azerbaijanis are hospitable people, they welcome even unexpected guests with cordiality and treat them from the heart. Their traditions are original, and the dishes are very tasty and unusual.

The range of dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine is so great that each of the guests will find something to their liking. Here you can find about two thousand varied and delicious dishes, because pilaf alone has 200 recipes. But this region is famous not only for its abundance and diversity. According to traditional Muslim laws, food should not only nourish the body, but also the soul. This means to bring aesthetic pleasure.

If we talk about the culinary traditions of Azerbaijan, then every detail and feature of the character of this people is important here. They like very much in Azerbaijani cuisine meat dishes made from lamb, veal or poultry. Here also love fish dishes grilled or tandoor. River or sea ​​fish smoked, dried, fried, baked, making dishes with a unique taste, which give them a variety of spices and spices. For the preparation of their famous dishes, the inhabitants of this state use a lot of fruits, vegetables and herbs. They mainly prefer grapes, quince, chestnuts, dogwood, cherry plum, tomatoes, eggplants, etc. An integral part of any Azerbaijani dish is fresh herbs: cilantro, parsley, green onions, basil. These products are constant companions of national dishes.

Azerbaijanis love and spices... They fill the dish with a unique aroma and add piquancy to the taste. Coriander, mint, saffron and other herbs are frequent guests at the local table.

Bread occupies a special place among Azerbaijanis. In the countryside, lavash is baked in saj or tandoor. Traditionally, the oldest woman in the family kneads the dough for lavash, and the daughter-in-law is instructed to roll the dough. Tortillas are baked in just one minute. Finished sheets of lavash are removed from the tandoor and stacked in large piles. Also in the tandoor, cakes, churek, kutabs with different fillings are baked.

Azerbaijanis, like most peoples, are very fond of sweets. They offer their guests a variety of fruit preserves and sweet pastries... The assortment of sweets surprises with its variety and has more than 50 different recipes... Among the most famous are baklava, kurabie cookies and sheker-bura.

The famous "kurabye" goes well with fragrant Azerbaijani tea. The liver does not require special cooking skills. There is a legend that this cookie was invented by a resourceful servant of the eastern shah. When the thieves took all the sweets out of the palace, he baked round biscuits from what remained of the products. For beauty and sweetness, he sprinkled them with cinnamon and saffron. Since then, these cookies have become a favorite delicacy among all eastern peoples, and then throughout the world.

Sheker-bura is a traditional sweet. These sweet pies are very easy to make and are a favorite dessert for Azerbaijani children. This delicacy, as well as baklava, was originally prepared for the Novruz holiday. According to my belief, it symbolizes the moon, and baklava personifies the stars. The pies are baked from ordinary wheat flour, and grated almonds, hazelnuts and cardamom are used as the filling. Decorate the pies with a pattern in the form of ears.

Another famous Azerbaijani dessert is firni. It is prepared from rice flour and milk, and sprinkle with cinnamon on top and add butter. The delicacy has a light creamy taste.

Of course, as there are sweets without the famous Azerbaijani tea. In this country, the tradition of tea drinking has developed for centuries, which presupposes the presence of this drink at any feast. First of all, it should be said that only black large leaf tea is drunk in this country. The drink is brewed in a large teapot, while the tea should have a strong, rich taste. Then it is poured into low pear-shaped mugs. Nothing is added to tea or diluted with water.

Tea is served with branded fruit preserves and oriental sweets... To make the drink even more aromatic, spices are added to it: cloves, cinnamon, ginger, etc. In the traditions of the Azerbaijani people, tea is an integral part of the matchmaking ritual. If the bride's parents serve tea with added sugar, it means that the bride and the parents agree to the wedding. And if tea with sugar is served separately, then it's too early to think about a wedding.

List of the most popular and delicious Azerbaijani dishes

Among a large number It is difficult to identify several of the best traditional Azerbaijani dishes: each dish carries the unique character of the region. They are tasty and healthy, because they add a lot of juicy greens and fruits. But among this variety there are dishes that have long been known outside their country.

For most Russian people, traditional Azerbaijani cuisine is associated with pilaf. Indeed, this dish is an integral part of the national cuisine. There are about 200 recipes for this dish in Azerbaijan. It is believed that it is in this country that the most delicious pilaf is prepared.

The dish really turns out to be very tasty, no matter what recipe it is prepared. But there is one common distinguishing feature that is characteristic of all recipes for making pilaf: rice base and the filling for it are prepared separately from each other. And only during the meal are all the ingredients mixed.

Rice porridge is prepared separately in a copper or cast-iron cauldron in butter, sometimes fat tail fat is used for this. The rice should be crumbly. Garu is prepared in another container - a mixture of pieces of lamb, vegetables, fruits and spices. The Azerbaijani pilaf recipe involves not only cooking rice and filling, but also kazmag - a thin flat cake made from unleavened dough... The dough is prepared as for ordinary noodles.

They even serve such a dish in an unusual way: ready-made rice is sprinkled with pomegranate grains and covered with triangular pieces of kazmag, and garu is served in a separate container. Such pilaf is used with the national drink - sherbet.

The national dishes include shah-pilaf, which is prepared according to special recipe... The pilaf is cooked in a special dish designed specifically for him. Most often, this role is played by a metal cauldron. An important feature of this pilaf is the careful adherence to the sequence of laying out the ingredients. First, lavash or kazmag is laid out, then the filling is placed inside, and the lavash is covered on top. Everything is baked together in the oven until golden brown, getting, in fact, a pie with a rice and meat filling.

Pilaf in Azerbaijani style is prepared from a variety of products. Many spicy herbs, dried fruits, nuts are added to the filling. Thus, it turns out that the recipe for Baku pilaf from chicken meat, vegetables and a mixture of dried fruits that give the dish special flavor and sweetness.

Dushbara is a dish of Azerbaijani cuisine, which is a rich broth with small dumplings richly flavored with spices and herbs. To prepare it, of course, you have to tinker and spend a lot of time, but it's worth it.

This dish is very similar to Russian dumplings. To prepare it, mince mutton is mixed with traditional herbs and spices. The dough for "dumplings" is kneaded steep with the addition of a small amount of salt.

A distinctive feature of this dish is that during cooking, the resulting blanks are thrown not into boiling water, but into a broth made from lamb bones. Dushbara is served hot along with broth, to which butter is added, and sprinkled with herbs.

All products that are used in dushbara soup are considered dietary. The calorie content of such a dish is much less than the same amount of dumplings without broth, and they are absorbed much faster. Fatty sauces are not served with the first course, and the fluid in the body is replenished through the broth. As you can see, "dushbara" is not only tasty dish, but also beneficial to health and shape.

This traditional dish is somewhat similar to Russian cabbage rolls, but has a number of significant differences. First, instead of cabbage leaves, in which the filling is wrapped, use grape or quince leaves. Secondly, the filling for Azerbaijani dolma is prepared from completely different products.

V traditional recipe dolma use minced lamb with the addition of transparent loose rice and greenery. In this case, the ingredients should not exceed the volume of minced meat. Typically, use 1 part herb rice to 3 parts minced lamb.

Dolma can be safely called a "culinary monument" of the common Turkic ethnic cuisine... She so firmly entered the ethnic culture of different peoples of the world that she became “ national dish". There are 381 varieties of dolma in Azerbaijani cuisine alone.

The Azerbaijani verb "dolamag", meaning to wrap or wrap, has a direct relation to the dolma of the leaves, in which the meat is wrapped. The synonym for this verb is the word "sarymag", therefore, depending on the region, dolmu is sometimes called "sarma". Translated from the Turkic languages, "dolma" also means "filled", and "sarma" - "wrapped".

In Azerbaijan, dolma is mainly prepared from grape leaves... But some herbs, vegetables and fruits are used. Tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini can be used as vegetables for filling, bell pepper, cucumbers, onions, apples. Leaves of grapes, quince, hornbeam and lime trees, white and red cabbage are used. V different regions greens, tomatoes, dry mint, nuts, raisins are added to the filling, lemon juice, various seasonings. The book "Karnam" by the personal chef of Shah Ismail Khatai, published in 1521, describes a recipe for an unusual dolma - grape leaf shashlik.

At the end of last year, the intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage included the Azerbaijani dolma in the prestigious list of the world heritage of humanity.

You cannot pass by such a dish as dovga - a light summer soup. It is called the pearl of Azerbaijani cuisine. Although in different regions of the country it is prepared in their own way, the basis remains unchanged: katyk with rice, sometimes peas and a lot of greens are added. Pieces of meat or pre-boiled meatballs are added to it, then boiled. It is prepared within 20 minutes, while it is considered a special art if the basis of fermented milk product does not collapse. Unrepeatable delicate taste this soup will not leave indifferent even demanding gourmets... It's so delicious that it's even served at weddings.

Some people drink dovga from large cups, others consume it from plates. Some people like this dish hot, but traditionally it is served cold. On holidays or on everyday days, this dish is always a welcome guest on the table.

Another original soup, which is the hallmark of Azerbaijani cuisine. It is prepared in clay pots using a unique technology. The soup is made from lamb with chickpeas, chestnuts, cherry plums and saffron. The cooking process takes a long period of time and takes place in several stages. First, vegetables are prepared: onions, peppers, eggplants, carrots, they are fried in fat tail fat, and then laid out in clay pot... Vegetables and meat are poured with liquid and brought to readiness in the oven. At the same time, the dishes are heated evenly, which allows the soup not to boil, but to languish slowly. Then onions and tomatoes are fried separately. Fried vegetables and saffron are added to the pots before serving. Garnish the piti with coriander.

Soup is prepared mainly in several pots in portions, but in some regions of Azerbaijan piti is cooked in a family way, in one pot. This dish can be found in different Caucasian cuisines, so it is not surprising that it has several types of recipes. In Soviet times, this soup was served in many famous restaurants, but chickpeas were replaced with ordinary peas, and chestnuts - with potatoes, and it was in this form that several generations of Russians knew it.

Petey is prepared for holidays for guests or on weekends when the whole family gathers at the table. The process of drinking piti is a whole ritual that takes place in two stages. They eat it slowly, enjoying the process and the taste itself, so you should be patient not only while preparing the soup, but for eating. At the beginning, the dried lavash is put in a bowl and poured with broth with spices. After the broth is eaten, take out the lamb, chestnuts, sprinkle them with spices and knead them so that all the aromas and tastes come together.

Eating food in the Caucasus is a real ritual, which is not only a way to saturate the body. For example, a traditional Azerbaijani lunch lasts 3 hours. It starts with a variety of snacks, then moves on to fresh vegetables, and only at the end hot soup is served.

Bozbash is one of the traditional first courses of Azerbaijani cuisine. Most of the soups of this cuisine differ from the usual Russian recipes for hot dishes. In Azerbaijani soups, more filling is added with a little broth. Thanks to this composition, the dishes are rich, hearty and high-calorie.

Bozbash is a fairly fatty soup with many ingredients. Vegetables are taken as a basis: tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes or chestnuts, zucchini, eggplants and chickpea... I must say that in the traditional recipe, mint is used as a seasoning, and a sweet apple is also added to the soup, which gives the dish a special, piquant taste.

Soups, including bozbash, occupy a special place in world cooking. The preparation of such dishes is treated with special respect and attention. Having made a choice in favor of this dish, you can be sure that it will not disappoint you.

7. Khinkal

There are two dishes similar in name to Khinkali and Khinkal in traditional Caucasian cuisine. They sound the same, but they are different in taste and method of preparation. Khinkali is a national Georgian dish, similar to Russian dumplings or Asian manti. Khinkal is a traditional dish of the peoples of the Middle and North Caucasus. In fact, these are small square pieces of dough that are boiled in a steep, rich broth. Put them on a wide dish with melted butter or gatyg sauce with crushed garlic. Put ready-made on top of the dough chopped meat fried with tomatoes and herbs. Sometimes they add grape vinegar for pungency, but this is already to taste.

The preparation of the Azerbaijani khinkal begins with the dough. It is kneaded from flour, eggs and salt, and warm water is added. The dough should be elastic and not sticky to your hands. Such unleavened dough great for cooking other Caucasian dishes: manti, kurznish and others.

Preparing next juicy minced meat... To do this, take lamb and beef in equal proportions, add onion and grind in a meat grinder. Spices and herbs are added to the resulting mixture. Next, the minced meat is stewed in a pan with tomatoes.

Khinkal is served in a wide deep dish. The minced meat is seasoned with cinnamon and grated feta cheese on top, which gives light dish sour taste. Like any Azerbaijani dish, it is generously sprinkled with fresh herbs. Sour cream or fermented milk drink is served in a separate plate with this dish.

Many culinary experts consider Azerbaijani cuisine to be one of the most ancient in the world. It is diverse big amount used herbs, vegetables and spices. This specificity is determined by the location of a given country.

It is impossible to imagine Azerbaijani cuisine without the "lula-kebab" dish. It represents meat cutlet minced lamb cooked over an open fire. A distinctive feature from traditional Russian cutlets is that eggs and onions are not added to the minced meat, only spices. At the same time, the meat is carefully beaten off, finely chopped, shaped into small cutlets and placed on a thin skewer.

Lula kebab is considered a difficult dish, and not everyone can cook it correctly on the grill. For its preparation, a wider skewer is used, which is preheated in order to better bake the kebab from the inside. Fry it on the grill for about 5-7 minutes, constantly turning it over.

There are many recipes for making kebabs. In fact, this is a shish kebab made on coals. The composition of minced meat can be absolutely any, depending on the preferences of the owners. It can be made with fish, meat, or vegetables. But in any case, the kebab is served in the same way: it is laid out on a thin homemade cake and sprinkled with abundant herbs. You can supplement the dish with fresh or grilled vegetables.

The name is very consonant with the terrible poisonous snake that is found in the East Asian region. In the composition of the dish there is no snake itself, but it got its name for its external similarity. In fact, these are dumplings with patterns. It is these decorations that are similar to the pattern on the scales of a snake.

Kurza dumplings are larger than dushbar. And most importantly, what is their difference is that they are already putting ready-made minced meat, and in dushbar - raw. This gives completely different flavors. Minced meat for kurza is stewed in fat tail with the addition of spices and tomato paste.

The dough is kneaded from flour, eggs and salt, then rolled out in large circles, as for a dushbar. Using the form, circles are cut into which the minced meat is laid out. Then comes the moment of truth when it is necessary to make patterns on the dough. Not every woman can boast of the ability to make drawings on curze, and the dish will not be considered ready without these decorations. After molding, the molds should lie down a little.

Curza is brewed in the same way as ordinary dumplings. Several pieces are thrown into boiling water, there should not be many of them so as not to stick together. Then they are taken out in a few minutes, folded into a large wide plate and served hot. The rest of the dumplings are thrown into the boiling broth from the first portion, and so on until the right amount is cooked. They should be eaten immediately, without waiting for all the dumplings to be cooked. Rich broth from kurza is an independent dish, which is also loved no less than the dumplings themselves.

In some regions, gatyg, a fermented milk drink, is served along with kurza. It helps digestion, but allows the dish to cool quickly, which loses its juiciness. Usually this dish is served during the cold season, but real Azerbaijanis eat it in summer too.


The dish is prepared from a thin, tender dough in the shape of a crescent; outwardly, it is similar to pasties, but unlike them, kutabs are cooked in a highly heated frying pan without oil. And only after cooking, grease with butter or sauces (spicy, cherry plum, pomegranate). Azerbaijanis say that this is a cake with a secret, which is juicy filling... Fillings are prepared from various products: vegetables, meat, herbs and cheese. Cheese filling made from a mixture of soft and hard varieties mixed with dill. For cottage cheese, take suluguni cheese, knead it with cottage cheese and a lot of greens.

If you liked the dish with cheese and curd filling, then try the meat one. Prepare it from different types meat, mainly from lamb, which spices and herbs add pungency and piquancy. For dessert, you can try kutab stuffed with pumpkin and walnut. Don't dwell on one thing. Be sure to try several types of toppings to determine your favorite.

Each region of Azerbaijan prepares its own fillings for kutab. In the Caspian region, Jorat flatbreads stuffed with camel meat, pumpkin and cheese are famous. The pie is made small and fried over an open fire in ovens. By the way the filling is spread in a cake, one can determine the region of the republic where it was prepared.

It's never too late to eat kutab. You can eat it for breakfast or in the evening, take it with you on a trip or have a snack during lunch. Therefore, kutab is so popular with tourists who come to Azerbaijan.

This dish is widespread in the cuisines of most of the Turkic peoples. It represents vegetable stew, which are based on: eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic and onions, and vegetable oil is used for dressing.

Translated from the Turkic language, the name sounds like "how beautiful you are." For Europeans, this dish is more familiar as “ vegetable sauté”, But in this form, eggplants are not an obligatory ingredient, but in Ajapsandal it is the base. Sometimes potatoes are added to it, but this is optional. This dish is tasty and healthy, served hot.

There are many varieties of this dish. Vegetables can be stewed, sautéed in a high-sided skillet, charcoal-grilled, or baked. The pleasant aroma remains unchanged, which evokes the sensation of mountain rivers, green pastures with a flock of sheep. And this is very correct, because initially this dish was prepared by shepherds who grazed their flocks high in the mountains. Ajapsandal is considered dietary meal, which is perfect for those who follow their figure. This dish will be appreciated by everyone who tastes it at least once.

12. Dzhyz byz

Dzhyz byz is a dish of shepherds. Ease of preparation, fresh products, useful qualities and extraordinary taste made this dish very popular not only in Azerbaijan, but also in other Caucasian cuisines.

It is not customary in Azerbaijan to throw away any parts of lamb meat. Thus, the popular traditional dish dzhyz-byz is prepared from the processed intestines of a young ram with fried potatoes, here you can add onions and tomatoes. Lamb kidneys, heart, liver are also added to the dish. For pre-frying these products, fat tail fat is necessarily used. The finished dish is served in sumy, abundantly seasoning it with herbs. It is worth warning those who are on a diet that this dish is not for them. Since it is very high in calories, satisfying and tasty.

In traditional Azerbaijani cuisine, most hot dishes and soups are made from lamb meat, and only a few recipes are based on beef or veal broth. Khash is one such dish. Despite the fact that this dish is served hot, it is customary to use it for breakfast.

Khash is prepared on the basis of a broth made from beef tripe; in some regions of the country, beef heads and tails are added to it. The peculiarity of the soup is that, unlike most Azerbaijani dishes, spices and herbs are not added to it. When served, herbs and herbs are served in a separate container, but only for guests. Locals eat khash without spices.

This dish is mainly eaten during the winter to allow the body to get the energy it needs and keep it warm. Housewives serve soup with small pieces white bread, white radish and cheeses hard varieties. Thin lavash or the bread is crumbled into khash until it completely absorbs the broth. Eat it with a spoon or with your hands. From alcohol to this dish, only vodka is served, with which toasts and good morning wishes are made.

Khash not only hearty dish but also very useful. For example, the gelatin and garlic contained in the soup help with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, strengthen the immune system, and preserve the youth and beauty of the skin.

14. Azerbaijani Saj

Saj is one of the most delicious dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. The name of the dish comes from the dishes in which it is cooked. Saj is a large concave pan designed for cooking over an open fire. In Azerbaijan, it is used from two sides: it is convenient to cook traditional lavash on the convex side, and meat, fish and vegetables on the other. The saj dish itself is cooked inside a frying pan over an open fire.

What is it like. In general, everything is simple and tasty. Meat and vegetables are cooked in a frying pan. The meat, of course, is lamb, sometimes beef or chicken. For a side dish, they take a mixture of vegetables from potatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes and onions, all this is seasoned with spices and a variety of fresh herbs.

First, the meat is prepared. Fry it in butter or fat tail fat, then add vegetables. Vegetables produce juice that mixes with fat and meat. Thus, the products exchange aromas and flavors, and an incredibly tender stew with meat is obtained, which literally melts in your mouth.

The dish is served directly in the pan where it was cooked. At the same time, they are placed not on the plane of the table, but on a small brazier, which heats up the dish. Saj is better to eat with a big company. It is generally accepted that as long as you communicate with friends, saj will never cool off.

As you can see from what has been said, Azerbaijani cuisine is distinguished by a wide variety of delicious and healthy dishes... Each of them bears national traits and a unique range of tastes of this Caucasian region. Azerbaijanis have managed to preserve many original recipes for dishes that have been passed down for centuries from their great-grandfathers who lived on this land. All this made it possible to preserve and diversify the assortment of dishes of the national cuisine, in which the unique national flavor is conveyed. This is how it is - the unique Azerbaijani cuisine.

Baklava has become the number one gastronomic sweet in Azerbaijan. She is always present on the table on the great Muslim holiday of Novruz Bayram. It is also served to guests on holidays. Baklava has been prepared in Azerbaijan since time immemorial. In the beginning, it was served only for the celebration of Novruz. Baklava had ritual significance, symbolizing the tongue of flame.

Over the years, many more traditions related to baklava have appeared. For example, the elders, going to woo the girl, carried 21 baklava with them to the house of the chosen one, along with other delicacies, and for the engagement the number increases to 101.

Classic baklava baklava is made from 12 layers thin dough... It is believed that it is from the word "okhlov", which means a rolling pin, that the name of the dish has gone. The thickness of the dough should not exceed 0.5 cm. Yeast dough, grated nuts, saffron and sugar are used as a basis for baklava. Baklava is a multi-layer cake with a sweet filling. According to culinary history, this dish initially had only three layers, but then their number reached 12.

To prepare this sweet, roll out a large layer of dough, sprinkle it abundantly with nuts and sugar, then cover it with another thin layer of dough, greased with butter, and so on up to 12 times. The last layer is smeared with yolk for a golden brown crust. After all the steps, the workpiece is sent to the oven for 30 minutes. When sweet pie cools down, it is cut into rhombuses and decorated with whole nuts. The diamond shape of baklava comes from ancient times, where the diamond symbolizes the feminine principle, kindness, family hearth, correctness.

Every housewife in Azerbaijan has a family recipe for making baklava. In addition, in each region, baklava is prepared in its own way, for example, Ganja is baked on coals in a special copper baking sheet. Gubinskaya and Shekinskaya are made from rice flour. In general, cooking baklava is a long and laborious process, but gentle. sweet taste this sweetness is worth the effort.

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"Let's share the bread!" - this is how you will be invited to the table in Azerbaijan. But one of the main food products in the Caucasus is still meat. To his choice in Azerbaijan are taken very seriously. Any local will tell you that you shouldn't count on a tasty dish if main ingredient bought in a store, and even frozen. Meat, as a rule, is bought from a familiar butcher, who carves a lamb or calf right in front of the buyer. Shish kebab, basturma, dolma, kyufta, thick soups lamb - here is just a short list of popular Azerbaijani meat dishes.

Azerbaijani cuisine recipes

The main taste of national dishes 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, quince gives the dishes a unique taste. How can you serve fish without famous sauce narsharab or shashlik veal tenderloin - no plum or dogwood sauce? Without sauces Azerbaijani cuisine are not 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."

Azerbaijani cuisine salads and not only

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

Azerbaijani recipes for long-livers

Cheese is a separate topic altogether. Azerbaijani national cuisine... Here they know a lot about this product. Cheese with a funny name is especially appreciated “ shook». Pickled cheese Motal 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 spicy, slightly spicy taste and aroma. It is often served with a fresh, warm lavash and add a lot of greenery: twigs tarragon, cilantro, basil, green onionsFresh greens grows here all year round... It is not only added to the dishes of 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 longevity of Caucasians?