Azerbaijani Food Recipes and Dishes
Azerbaijani Cuisine
Azerbaijani cuisine is one of the national cuisines of the peoples inhabiting the Caucasus and adjacent regions, so it arose and developed in close interaction with other national cuisines of neighboring countries and regions. Georgian cuisine, Turkish cuisine, Armenian cuisine, and Iranian cuisine have had a great influence on the formation of Azerbaijani cuisine. Azerbaijani dishes are very diverse, they include beef and lamb, as well as poultry, as well as many vegetables, fruits and herbs. Azerbaijani cuisine also offers a wide range of various pastries, both sweet and savory. Various recipes for pilaf and shashlik are widespread in Azerbaijan, and sweet baklava is known far beyond the borders of Azerbaijan.
Features of Azerbaijani Cuisine
Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, so the list of products included in Azerbaijani dishes is limited by religious beliefs. In this respect, Azerbaijani cuisine is similar to Turkish cuisine or Iranian cuisine, but differs from Georgian cuisine and Armenian cuisine. But the absence of pork in Azerbaijani recipes does not prevent it from being a full-fledged national cuisine with many unique traditional recipes. In addition, Azerbaijani cuisine does not include alcohol for the same reasons as pork. Another feature of Azerbaijani cuisine is the widespread use of herbs and spices; in this it is similar to Georgian cuisine. Azerbaijani cuisine uses cilantro, basil, cinnamon, parsley, dill, cumin, cloves, hot and allspice, mint, as well as many other herbs and spices.
Traditional Food Recipes of Azerbaijani Cuisine
Azerbaijani cuisine includes a variety of traditional dishes - ajapsandal and pilaf, dolma and lula kebab, dovga and shashlik, kutaby and jiz byz, buglama and sheker churek, khinkal and kurza, ovdukh and dushbara, bozbash and piti, baklava and shor-gogal, shaker-lukum and many other recipes of Azerbaijani dishes.