Azerbaijani cuisine refers to the cooking styles and dishes of Azerbaijan. Many foods that are indigenous to the country can now be seen in the cuisines of other neighboring cultures. İt is closer to Eastern cuisine due to taste and preparation of the dishes.
Azerbaijani dishes have traditionally been cooked with copper utensils in copper cookware. Copper bowls and plates are still commonly used as serving dishes.
Azerbaijani cuisine is full of different types of greens and vegetables such as aubergine, tomato, sweet pepper, spinach, cabbage, onion, sorrel, beet, radish, cucumber, green beans. Rice and products made from flour are widely used in national cuisine. It is famous for vegetables and greens used seasonally in the dishes. Fresh herbs, including mint, coriander, dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, leek, chive, thyme, marjoram, green onion, and watercress are very popular and often accompany main dishes. The majority of national dishes are prepared of lamb, beef and poultry meat. Dishes prepared of minced meat are more prevalent. The sea, lakes and rivers of the Republic of Azerbaijan are abundant with different fish species, particularly white sturgeon. Sturgeon fish is widely used in preparation of national dishes. The Caspian Sea is home to many edible species of fish, including the sturgeon, Caspian salmon, kutum, sardines, grey mullet, and others. Black caviar from the Caspian Sea is one of Azerbaijan’s best known delicacies well sought after in other parts of the world, including former Soviet countries.
One of the most reputed dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine is plov from saffron-covered rice, served with various herbs and greens, a combination totally distinct from those found in Uzbek plovs. Azerbaijani cuisine includes more than 40 different plov recipes. Other second courses include a wide 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, being 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 especially saffron, which is grown domestically on the Absheron Peninsula. The third courses include soups which the types of this dish are more than 30 in Azerbaijan national cuisine. These include kufta bozbash, piti prepared of meat and dovga, ovdukh, dogramach, bolva prepared of greens and yoghurt. Some soups are served in national or interesting and unusually-shaped bowls.
Black tea is the national beverage, and is drunk after food is eaten. It is also offered to guests as a gesture of welcome, often accompanied by fruit preserves.
Azerbaijani cuisine has a number of light snacks and side dishes to open or accompany the main meals: a plate of aromatic green leaves called goy, pieces of chorek (bread), choban (a tomato and cucumber salad), and sometimes white cheese or qatik (sour yogurt). Cold snacks are generally served separately from the drinks.
In Azerbaijan, there are a lot of sweets of unique taste to taste, which are divided into three subgroups – flour, caramel and candy. They contain a significant amount of additives and spices: poppy, nuts, almonds, sesame, ginger, cardamom, vanillin and others. The flour products include Sheberbour, Baklava, Sheker-Churek, Kurabye Baku, Kyat Karabakh, Baku, Nakhichevan and Ganja, Mutaka Shemakhin, Pakhlava Nakhichevan . National flour products have more than 30 items, and each district has its own special products. A special place is occupied by Sheki sweets. These are Shekina baklava, peshvenk, tel (terhalva), gyrmabadam, in the production of which rice flour, sugar, kernels of nuts, butter, egg whites and spices are used.
In March 2009, Ganja cooks made a miracle baklava. The length of this confectionery baked in honor of the Novruz holiday is 12 meters, and the width is four. The weight of sweetness is about three tons. These indicators allowed the Azerbaijani baklava to set a record and get into the book of records. In addition, this product of puff pastry claims a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
Bread occupies a significant place in the diet of Azerbaijanis. It is baked in various ways. In rural areas, it was baked mostly on an iron slightly convex saj leaf. Baking of bread was widespread in Tandyrs, which are still practiced in districts and even urban centers of the republic. In tandir baked mostly churek, often pita bread. In the spring and autumn they prepare gutab – a kind of pies stuffed with meat and greens.
Meat dishes are a great variety. The most favorite meat is lamb. Fresh lamb and beef are cooked with basdırm, which is then made into kebabs. The most common dish is piti and bozbash (thick mutton soups). Bozbash (balls the size of an apple from minced meat) are popular. Minced mutton, seasoned with rice and spices, is wrapped in cabbage (this dish is called kel dolmasy), in salted and fresh grape leaves (yapag dolmas), stuffed with eggplants and tomatoes. Lule kabab is made from finely chopped lamb mixed with onion and spices. The most common bird meat dish is chygartma.
The Azerbaijani cuisine uses fish species found in the Caspian Sea, especially kutum (kütüm), salmon (qızılbalıq), sturgeon (nərə) and herring (siyənək). Before the introduction of a moratorium on sturgeon fishing and production restrictions, Azerbaijan produced more than 20,000 tons of black caviar per year.
Sherbet have another purpose. Unlike Tajik and Central Asian (here they are primarily sweet, dessert), Azerbaijani sherbets are soft drinks, and also play the role of drinking accompanying pilaf. In addition to fruit and berry juices, infusions and distillates of aromatic parts of plants — seeds, buds, and the like — are used as the main component, and the fruit base consists of juices of acidic fruits and berries.
