SOUTH AZERBAIJAN’S KITCHEN AND FOOD
CULTURE
South Azerbaijanis are a people who like
to eat and who have a very good palate. Its kitchen has
always been colorful and rich. It used to appeal to people’s
sense of taste and has also been appealing to the eye with
different foods, good flavors, scents and garnishments.
Eating customs of South Azerbaijani
people date back to a very distant past. In the region,
kitchen and the part where foods are stored had been located
in a separate division of the house. Also, there used to be
furnaces next to kitchen in some houses and the households
used to bake their breads in these furnaces to eat hotter,
fresher, and healthier bread. Almost everything were being
cooked at home. Varieties of jams, sherbets, tomato/pepper
pastes and desserts are some examples of those. Today,
varieties of jams and sherbets are prepared in many of the
houses. Because, people of South Azerbaijan like jams and
desserts very much and they certainly eat them both at
breakfast and after meals. Also, the first thing to be
served to guests in summer months is sherbet. In winter, tea
is served. Later desserts, fruits and dried fruits are
served. Therefore, varieties of jams and sherbets are always
available in cupboards of all houses. In South Azerbaijan,
jam is prepared with all fruits one can imagine. Sour
cherry, cherry, strawberry, apricot, apple, cucumber, rose
leaf, water melon, lemon, orange peel, tangerine, peanut
shell may be listed among jam sorts. The most common sherbet
are rose and sour cherry sherbets.
In South Azerbaijan, dining table customs
also date back to ancient times. In the past large round
copper trays were prepared and used as dining tables. Of
course, before the meals jugs made of steel or copper,
washbowls and towels used to be brought for washing hands.
After washing and drying hands, household, first elders and
then younger persons, sit down around the copper tray.
Today, copper trays are still used in many houses. Likewise,
first elders and then younger persons start to eat as a rule
of respect.
In breakfast, at least one of the sorts
of bread – lavash, sangak, baberi and fetir – that are
special to South Azerbaijan, tea, cheese, butter, honey, jam
and egg are eaten. Meal is started with a sort of soup
special to South Azerbaijan. Soups can be divided into two
groups called ‘Soup’ and ‘Meal’. Main ingredients of ‘Soup’
are barley, corn, wheat, home-made macaroni and mushroom.
‘Meal’ is a traditional dish and its main ingredients are
kinds of vegetables and leguminous seeds. Some sorts
additionally include fresh or dried fruits. ‘Meal’ is a very
useful and health-giving dish. Therefore, it is sometimes
eaten as a main course. When it is eaten as the main course,
a kind of halva or a dessert called kaygana is sure to be
eaten. In South Azerbaijan’s kitchen the two wonders of
foods, rice and saffron, are certainly used. A great part of
South Azerbaijan’s kitchen is a combination of these two
staples with various foods. But the rice that is used here
is a longer and fragrant type.
In South Azerbaijan, dishes of meat and
vegetable are consumed in a quite balanced way. However,
people of South Azerbaijan like to eat meat and particularly
kebab. Red meat is more commonly used, but chicken meat is
also consumed. Of course, you cannot expect people who love
kebabs so much to avoid using spices. In this regard, South
Azerbaijan kitchen resembles to Turkish kitchen very much
and it bears so much resemblance not only in this regard but
in general. Breakfast dish and tea can be given as the
examples of these resemblances. In South Azerbaijan, kebab
or Chelo kebab is eaten either at home or at a restaurant
particularly on Fridays.. A piece of solid margarine or
butter is put on stewed rice. Melting this margarine or
butter in rice is the task of person who eats it. Together
with this plate, a slice of tomato, cucumber or a little
yoghurt is also offered as side dish. Kebab made of chicken
meat is called Jujeh (Dwarf) Kebab. Then there is Chelo
Khoresh. This dish is made of meat from cattle and tomato
sauce and is also served with stewed rice. There are many
varieties of this dish prepared by cooking different
vegetables and leguminous seeds beside meat.
In South Azerbaijan, local names of
meatball and stuffed vegetable dishes are ‘kofte’ and
‘dolma’ which is the same in Turkish kitchen. Tabriz kofte,
rice kofte, chickpeas kofte can be listed among meatball
dishes, and eggplant, marrow squash, grape leaf, quince,
onion, green pepper, tomato and cabbage can be given as
examples to stuffed vegetables. South Azerbaijan has two
other traditional dishes called Abgusht and Kuku. Both have
distinct varieties. The most well-known kind of Abgusht is
Bozbash, but it has other varieties. For example, there are
quince abgusht, lapeh abgusht and eggplant abgusht. There
are types of kuku made of eggplant, vegetable, potato,
marrow squash, chicken, fresh beans and spinach. Although
the habit of eating fish in South Azerbaijan’s kitchen is
not common, fishes caught up from Araz river and other small
rivers and from fisheries today are eaten with vegetable
pilaf particularly on March 21st (Newruz festival).
As we mentioned above, people of South
Azerbaijan finish their meal with jam, halva or another
dessert. They have traditional halvas and desserts: Flour
halva, Ter halva, Ginger halva, Yellow sweet marjoram, Farni,
Kuymak, Zulbiya, and Bamyeh can be cited. Tea and ayran
(made of yoghurt diluted with water) are the most consumed
beverages in South Azerbaijan. Between meals, they
definitely drink tea and eat fruits. In South Azerbaijan
where all kinds of dried fruits and nuts are available,
pastry-cooks prepare wonderful products by using fresh and
quality pistachio nut and almond varieties. For example, the
taste of bitter almond cookie and nut wafer of Tabriz is
delicious.
Occasionally we will present some recipes
from this rich kitchen for your appreciation. The first
recipe we will share with you is South Azerbaijan’s most
well-known and appetizing Dovga Soup, that is yoghurt soup.
