Azerbaijani cuisine throughout the centuries has been influenced by the foods of different cultures due to political and economic processes in Azerbaijan. Still, today's Azerbaijani cuisine has distinctive and unique features. Many foods that are indigenous to the country can now be seen in the cuisines of other cultures. For the Azerbaijanis, food is an important part of the country's culture and is deeply rooted in the history, traditions and values of the nation.
Out of 11 climate zones known in the world, the Azerbaijani climate has nine. This contributes to the fertility of the land, which in its turn results in the richness of the country’s cuisine. It is famous for an abundance of 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 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.
The main courses of Azerbaijani cuisine are over 30 kinds of soups, including those prepared from plain yogurt. One of the most reputed dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine, however, is plov from saffron-covered rice, served with various herbs and greens, a combination totally distinctive from Uzbek plovs. Azerbaijani cuisine includes more than 40 different plov recipes. Other second courses include a wide variety of kebabs and shashliks, including lamb, beef, chicken, 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.
Black tea is the national beverage, and is drunk after food is eaten. It is also a welcome beverage, often accompanied by fruit preserves.
Main dishes
Balıq Fish, which usually means sturgeon, normally skewered and grilled as a kebab, and served with a tart sour-plum sauce.
Dolma The traditional recipe calls for minced lamb mixed with rice and flavoured with mint, fennel and cinnamon, and wrapped in vine leaves (yarpaq dolması) or cabbage leaves (kələm dolması), but most restaurants offering dolma tend to serve up stuffed tomato, sweet pepper and aubergine. There are also sour sweet cabbage dolma (turş şirin kələm dolması) and fish dolma (balıq dolması).
Dushbara Small dumplings stuffed with minced lamb and herbs, served in broth.
Lavangi A casserole of chicken stuffed with walnuts and herbs. A speciality of the Talysh region in southern Azerbaijan, but very difficult to find common in restaurants.
Lyulya kabab A mixture of minced lamb, herbs and spices squeezed around a skewer and barbecued, often served with lavash (thin sheets of unleavened bread).
Qutab A sort of pancake turnover stuffed with minced lamb, cheese or spinach.
Tika kabab Chunks of lamb marinated in a mixture of onion, vinegar and pomegranate juice, impaled on a large skewer and grilled on the barbecue. In Russian, called шашлык, from Turkic shishlyk (literally, "for skewer").
Qovurma Pieces of mutton or lamb on the bone (blade chops) stewed with onions, tomatoes, and saffron.There is also sabzi qovurma, a lamb stew with herbs.
Soups
Piti The national soup of Azerbaijan made from pieces of mutton on the bone cooked with vegetables in a broth; prepared and served in individual crocks.
Kufta bozbash A pea soup with lamb meatballs and boiled potatoes. The meatballs in kufta bozbash are large, hearty and made of minced lamb and rice, sometimes with a zesty dried plum inside.
Sulu khingal Lamb soup with noodles
Toyuq shorbasi Chicken soup
Dovga A yoghurt (matsoni) based soup with sorrel, spinach, rice, dried peas, and small meatballs made from ground mutton; served hot or cold depending on the season;
Ovdukh A cold soup based on a matsoni–water mixture poured over sliced cucumbers, chopped boiled meat, quarters of hard-boiled egg, and greens (dill, coriander, basil, sometimes also mint and tarragon);
Dogramach Same as ovdukh, but without the meat;
Bolva Made with sour milk.
Plovs
Plov is one of the most widespread dishes in Azerbaijan, with more than 40 different recipes. Plovs have different names depending on the main ingredient(s) accompanying rice:
Kourma plov Mutton, onion
Chilov plov Bean plov with fish
Sabzi qovurma plov Mutton
Toyug plov Chicken
Shirin plov Dried fruitsSyudli plov Rice cooked in milk
Sheshryanch plov Six-color plov, eggs cooked "sunny side up" on a bed of fried green and white onions
Azerbaijani plov consists of three distinct components, served simultaneously but on separate platters: rice (warm, never hot), gara – fried meat, dried fruits, eggs, or fish prepared as an accompaniment to rice, and aromatic herbs. Rice is not mixed with the other components even when eating plov.
Desserts
Typical Azeri desserts are sticky, syrup-saturated pastries such as pakhlava and halva. The latter, a layer of chopped nuts sandwiched between mats of thread-like fried dough, is a speciality of Sheki in North-West Azerbaijan. Other traditional pastries include shakarbura (crescent-shaped and filled with nuts), peshmak (tube-shaped candy made out of rice, flour and sugar) and girmapadam (pastry filled with chopped nuts).However, sweets like this 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, plums, cherries, apricots, grapes, or whatever is in season.
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.
