Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

What do foreigners visiting Azerbaijan say first about it? Of course, how it was delicious in Azerbaijan! Azerbaijani cuisine conquers all - lovers of meat and avid vegetarians. And Azerbaijanis themselves are so crazy about it once and for all.

We will begin the description of Azerbaijani cuisine with local gastronomic taboos such as pork, which is not represented in the recipes of traditional dishes, since almost the entire population of Azerbaijan consider themselves Muslims. However, that’s not mean that you cannot find a restaurants offering dishes from pork.

There are no other restrictions, so each of you will certainly be able to find something favorite, appetizing and tasty for yourself here.

Every meal in Azerbaijan begins and finishes with strong black tea, which is served in pear-shaped glasses – armudu and is necessarily presented with jam, cookies as well as separately serve finely chopped sugar.

Red meet

To say that Azerbaijanis like meat is an understatement. To say that Azerbaijanis love meat as much as Texans do is getting closer. Azerbaijanis eat about 34 kg of meat per person year.

There’s more to Azerbaijani food than just red meat. Poultry, fish and beef are also found here, but much less often than beef and lamb. At the same time, most dishes have a very pronounced spicy taste, since Azerbaijanis highly respect spicy greens and spices. Basil, saffron, cilantro, turmeric, various peppers, sumac, fennel, and 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.

Fish

Even if consumption of fish in Azerbaijan is not so popular, however the capital has excellent places for a nice seafood dinner with friends.

Although the Caspian Sea, the Kura and Araz rivers, the Goy-Gol, Jeyranbatan, and Geycha lakes have all enriched Azerbaijani cuisine with amazing fish Azerbaijan is significantly behind in the consumption of fish and fish products, which is 7.1 kg per capita and this is about three times less than the world average.

Restaurants on the Caspian Sea shore with a sea breeze and the sound of the surf will an ideal place for beautiful setting eating delicious sorts of fresh fish outside watching the sunset. Kebab made from sturgeon is probably the most popular.

While ordering a dish do not forger to ask Narsharab, a sweet and sour pomegranate sauce, which is used as a sauce for meat and fish.

Indeed, Azerbaijan cuisine is high-calorie, which is especially rich during cold periods of the year. That’s why Azerbaijanis like to serve pickles for food. The national cuisine has many varieties of marinades and pickles prepared from vegetables such as garlic, cabbage, eggplant, pepper, green tomatoes and even from fruits and berries.

Usually, snacks are accompanied by bunches of fresh greens and also tomato and cucumber, which are found in almost all feeds.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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