Karabakh

Tahir AMIRA SLANOV Doctor and Professor Karabakh cuisine

continued from the previous issue

IN THE KARABAKH ZONE, DAIRY CUISINE IS THE SAME AS IN OTHER REGIONS OF AZERBAIJAN. COW, SHEEP AND GOAT MILK IS USED. BUFFALO AND GOAT MILK IS CONSIDERED MEDICINAL.

he first milk , which is r eceived ter 1.5-2 hours, it is taken out. A tasty they used the abomasum of newborn after the birth of a calf , is called cheese-like mass comes out. Some - lambs or g rass “dalama otu” (rennet T“agiz”. In the cooked form, it is a times “sulug” is placed in a lar ge caul- grass). But goat cheese was consid- tasty dish called k atamaz. As a r itual dron and boiled. Sulug is also made ered the most expensiv e, as w ell as meal, it is divided bet ween neigh- from normal milk, and it tur ns out medicinal cheese. Cheese fr om cow bors (usually 7 families). Sometimes very tasty like baked milk. milk is considered to be of lower qual- artificial katamaz is cooked, for which Katamaz and bulama in a cauldron ity than sheep cheese. one egg yolk is added to 1 liter of milk with the addition of flour and but - Cow and buffalo milk was used and cooked. If you put a ra w beaten ter is used t o make “gaymag chorak” mainly for cooking the f ermented egg wholly and car efully, so it does or “shan-shan” on a saj . The latter, in milk product “gatig” (yogurt). Buffalo not curdle, and boil it, adding honey , contrast to the “gaymag chorak”, has gatig was especially valued: it is dens- you will get a dr ink called “bulama” many “holes” - shana. er, fatter and tastier. (beestlings). Milk was also used as a standalone Gaymag (the fat part of the gatig - Milk produced during the first 2-5 drink, especially with fr esh bread, as thick cream) made from buffalo gatig days is also called “bulama”. In addi- the basis for cold (dogramaj - “okros- is denser and mor e delicious than tion, sulug was made fr om “agiz” and hka” (cold soup with chopped vegeta- that cow gatig. “bulama” milk. To this end, the mem- bles and meat)) and hot soups, and for Gaymag is made from milk. To do brane of the placenta is thor oughly making pastry and bakery products. this, it is pour ed with a thin la yer in washed, filled with milk , then bur - Sheep milk was mainly used f or a broad and shallow dish (sini (tra y), ied in war m ashes and k indled from making rennet cheese and was val- tapsi). A day later, a film (thick cream) above, or is placed in a hot tandir . Af- ued very highly. For fermentation, appears on the sur face – this is milk

22 www.irs-az.com gaymag. If milk is not boiled and is little bit to make shor - crumbly cheese. uct called suzma (condensed sour poured into the same dish imme - For storage and r ipening, the shor is milk), which is used as a separate dish diately after milking, you get “chiya”, placed in a motal - sheep winesk in. and for cooking some foods. i.e. “raw gaymag”. “Sud gaymag” (milk They also make motal pendir – cheese From suzma with salt, they get“gu- gaymag) was obtained fr om boiled in a motal . The cheese and cottage rut” - dried cheese balls or cones. Gu- milk in the same k ind of dish. “Gati cheese, which ripen in a motal, have a rut can be stored for several years and gaymag” (thick cr eam) was obtained special taste and are valued higher. is used as a base for sauces and khan- from evaporated milk. In Karabakh, The liquid remaining after cottage gal (made from thin slices of dough). such a product was also called “sud- cheese is called zar dab (whey) and If in Lankaran they mix fresh snow bashi”. Sometimes milk was boiled on after cheese – dalama (fr esh cheese). with bakmaz (boiled down juice of low heat in or der to make it, periodi- Both are used for making drinks and grapes, mulberry, etc.), families and cally adding raw milk. for baking bread. This bread lasts lon- shepherds of K arabakh, who climb Gatig is used as a separat e dish, ger and tast es better than the one mountains with flocks in summer , but they also pr epare various dishes made in water. If dalama is boiled , it mix a black sheep ’s fresh milk with (dovga, dogramaj, ovdug, shirin gatig) becomes “nor”. mountain snow and call this dish “gar and atlama (a sof t drink made of wa- The dish “lor” is prepared by mixing karamazi” (snow karamaz). Sometimes ter and sour clotted milk) from it. fresh cottage cheese with boiled milk dishes with gar karamaz are buried in Kasmik (cottage cheese) is made and salt. When milk is added to gatig, the snow or put on ice . The main dif- from ayran (liquid obtained by beat - a dish called “karamaz” comes out. ference from ice cream is that sugar is ing butter from gatig) sometimes from Straining gatig or ayran through a not added to the mixture. Interesting- gatig by boiling. It is salted and dried a cloth, they get a concentrat ed prod- ly, the “gar karamaz” is prepared only www.irs-az.com 23 Karabakh

Dolma (meat rolled in vine leaves)

from the milk of a black sheep. In Karabakh cuisine, meat, pref- erably lamb, is used more than any other ingredient. Local sheep ar e valued higher than other breeds. It is called “kasma goyun” (slaughtered sheep) or “atlik” (meat), i.e . “table or meat mutton”. If other br eeds yield “pure meat” - from 48 to 52 per cent, the Karabakh breed yields no less than 56 per cent. The Karabakh breed of sheep has a very large guyrug (rump). Some - times they have to place a trolley on wheels under the rump . In the ba- zaars of the Caucasus , experienced butchers preferred to buy K arabakh sheep as they were preferable to oth- ers. The meat of black animals was es- pecially valued. The lamb of the Karabakh breed is used to cook the best kebabs. Making a good kebab is a science, and kebab Atlama (greens sliced into ayran) is a separate culinary specialty.

24 www.irs-az.com For kebabs, what matt ers is not only what sheep it is cooked from, but also what side of the sheep the meat is taken from, as well as the sex, age , feeding conditions, what firewood or charcoal are used and how the animal was killed. Kebab is served with fresh herbs, sumakh, narsharab (boiled pomegranate juice), etc. The finished meat is r emoved from the ramr od with a piece of br ead, as if wrapping the finished dish it in. Yukha made on a saj and la vash from the tandir ar e more suitable for this. Kebab is sliced meat, while basdir ma is k ebab meat kept in onion, vinegar or lemon juice before cooking. One of its var ieties is lula kebab which is made of minced Lamb and vegetables cooked in saj meat strung on a ramr od in the form of “round cutlets”. Kebab and lula k e- bab are served with tomatoes, Bulgar- ian pepper, eggplants and potat oes baked over a fire on a ramrod. Lamb and beef ar e used t o make govurma (roast meat), sajustu doshama, jizbiz (roasted offals), gavli, dolma, yakhni, bagirbeyin, bozbash (dish made of chopped meat, pea and potatoes), khash (a dish cook ed from the hooves of the cattle), k alla-pacha (soup prepared from ram’s, lamb’s or sheep’s head and f eet) and var ious soups. Yakhni and govurma are men- tioned in the ancient Turkic monu- ment of Kitabi Dada Gorgud. Khash is mentioned in wr itten sources of the 11th-12th centuries. The meat serves as Lamb shish kebabs with vegetables a garnish (gara) in diff erent forms for pilaf and chilov. In Lachin District, one ayranli, yalanchi dolma, siyig, sud- berries, grapes) are served. large dolma meal in cabbage lea ves, lu siyig, yarma khashil, pilafs, chi- Excellent honey is made fr om weighing about 200-350 g rams, is lovs and many more. Legumes are Karabakh herbs. Children had honey, served at weddings and funerals. This also used in cuisine. fresh gaymag or butter for breakfast. custom is also widespr ead in Gabala As a dessert, they prepare various As the sauce, they used the boiled and Ismayilli districts of Azerbaijan. kinds of tar halvah and umaj halvah, thick pomegranate juice “narsharab”, Karabakh cuisine has a lot of shirin kata, koka, baklava, shakarbura, and pomegranate is also used t o vegetarian dishes: sik hma, suyug, guymag and govud for holidays and prepare the additiv e “nardacha”. This kata with herbs, etc. Flour is used rituals. Fruits are also ser ved on the was recorded by the Ger man trav- th to make khashil, khorra, sum-suma table. eler Adam Oleary in the 18 century: from grain - various kinds of hadik, As for drinks, a var iety of sor bets, “Wild grenades are all sour, and a lot govurga, govut, nukurd, gatmali, khoshabs and drinks prepared on the of them are near rivers in Karabakh. basis of bakmaz (boiled juice of mul- “Grains are removed from them, www.irs-az.com 25 Karabakh

Cherry jam served with tea

dried and sold in other places under the name of nardan (nar - pomegran- ate apple). These grains are consumed in order to make the meal dar k and sour: they are soaked in water and the juice is squeezed from them through linen. They also boil fr esh pome- granate juice, produce and st ore it. They usually use it t o embellish their saracha millet (r ice) at f easts, which makes them pleasantly acidic . They also use fruits of the dy eing wood we know for the same purpose.” Such thick sauces are also made from Cor- nelian cherries, sloe, zirinj (barberry) and other plants. The Turkish scientist Dr. Yasar Ka- lafat writes: “Karabakh cuisine is a bridge between the cuisines of west- ern and east ern Azerbaijani Turks - between the cuisines of these t wo parts of Azerbaijan (the author is r e- Variety of fruit jams ferring to Iranian Azerbaijan, where

26 www.irs-az.com most Azerbaijanis live and the A zer- Omar Miranshah – T. A.) was in K ara- erected a monument in honor of the baijan Republic – T. A.).” In addition to bakh. He spends the wint er together 160th anniversary of the r esettlement the diversity of options, there is no dif- with his troops there. This Karabakh is of Armenians to Karabakh. But some- ference. rich in pastures.” one who once betra yed will betra y Yasar Kalafat names such Karabakh He continues to write in his diar y again by habit. dishes as: about the hospitality of the Karabakh Azerbaijan is doing ev erything Soups: dovga, evelik shorba, people. possible today not only t o support umaj, arishta shorba, borsch (came In his diar y, he r ecords: “On Sun- the one million K arabakh Azerbaijan- from Slavic cuisine – T. A.), chick en day, the ambassadors came to the vil- is, building modern housing for them shorba, khash (khash – T. A.) and lage of Santgelan (Zangelan - an area and providing them with fr ee public bozbash. Dolma (cooked by wrap - in Karabakh – T. A.). We dined in the services, free treatment, free univer- ping round forcemeat mixed with village of Tusalar. The local tribe calls sity education and many other things, rice in vine leaves or cabbage): dolma itself Turkaman. In each of these vil- but also to protect spiritual and ma- made from apples, quince, dough, lages, the ambassadors w ere treated terial culture (music, folklore, carpet- tomatoes, eggplants, yarpag (grape to food. Such is the cust om here. The weaving, etc.) in general and culinar y leaves - T. A), dolma, cabbage dolma. ambassadors must dismount fr om culture in particular from assimilation. Vegetable dishes: fr om evelik, nettle, their horses and sit down on the car - With the help of the Refugee Com- green beans, spinach, shomu (sor t pet. Food was immediat ely brought mittee of the Azerbaijan Republic, the of spinach – T. A.), mer ovga, zirish, for them from all houses. They brought Ministry of C ulture and Tourism col- mountain coriander, gushappayi, lects and studies the culinary heritage gutabs, kata with g reens, kuku and of Karabakh. other dishes with g reens. Kebabs On July 20-23, 2011, the Festival of made from potatoes, tomatoes and the National Cuisine of Azerbaijan was peppers. Meat dishes: rennet gutabs, also attended by Karabakh cooks from bozartma, basdirma kebab, rib kebab, Shusha and Bar da. Karabakh chefs lula kebab, doyma kebab, tika kebab, took first place in kebab competitions fish kebab (sturgeon) and gut k ebab. and third place in pilaf competitions . Sweets: guymag, baklava, halvah, shor In the competition on the “kata”, which gogal, Karabakh kata and kurabye. the Armenians are now appropriating, Karabakh families w ent to the Tovuz District, which does not bor - mountains to visit pastures and relax der on Karabakh, took first place. Like in summer. Gazakh District, Tovuz is far from Kara- The Russian scientist, I. L. Segal , bakh, but bor ders on Ar menia from also reported about the holida ys of where Armenian “Christians” are still Karabakh beys in 1902. “In summer, al- killing innocent civilians - children and most all Karabakh beys come to Shu- Funeral halvah with lavash the elderly - in these districts. sha. They live here as in their estates in In 2011, a culinary team from Kara- a totally Asian way: they eat and sleep bread, a dish filled with gatig (yogurt) bakh, which r epresented Azerbaijan on the floor strewn with carpets. After and usually various rice dishes. If the in international championships at - the meals, dishes ar e washed, dried guests stayed overnight, then they tended by 32 countries, won a bronze and placed on wide ledges in the brought a lot of meat dishes for them. medal in the t eam championship. room.” Incidentally, Segal also g ives What was br ought at the beg inning And in the youth culinary champion- information about K arabakh carpets was only aimed at welcoming them.” ship, a representative of the Karabakh here - “The main contingent of skilled Like the r est of A zerbaijan, Kara- team won a gold medal. craftswomen are Muslims.” bakh was open and hospitable . 160 During Novruz celebrations in In winter, people went to the low- years ago, it ga ve shelter to Arme- Baku in 2010-2011, r efugees from lands, the Castilian ambassador Clavi- nians who betra yed their f ormer Armenian expansion in K arabakh, ja recorded in the early 15th century... “homeland” - the O ttoman Empire along with other ar eas of A zerbai- “We were told (March 3, 1405) that and the Iranian state. They found new jan, showed their ex cellent cuisine. the ruler Omar M irassa (Timur’s son land for themselves. And ther e, they The celebrations w ere attended by www.irs-az.com 27 Karabakh

bash and Shusha bo zbash, now they 10. A detailed description of the jour- are talking about the entir e cuisine of ney of the Holst ein embassy t o Karabakh as Ar menian, although nei- Moskovia and Persia in 1633, 1636 ther Karabakh nor K arabakh cuisine and 1939, compiled by the secr e- and bozbash are Armenian. By irony tary of the embassy, Adam Oleary, of linguistics, the word “boz” in Arme- translated from German by P avel nian means “prostitute” and “bash” (a Barsov. Published by the I mperial Turkism in Armenian) means “head”... Society of Russian History and An- tiquities at the Univ ersity of M os- References: cow in 1870. Univ ersity printing house, p. 1038, p. +31. Index 1. A. Sumbatzadeh. “Azerbaijani 11. Evliya Chelebi. “Travel Book”, edi- Agriculture in the 19 th Century”, tion No 3, M., Nauka, 1983, p 376 Baku, 1958, p. 230 and p. 268 12. Hamdallah Qazvini. “Nuzhat al- 2. Gamarshah Javadov. “In the Foot- Qulub”, Baku, Nauka publishing steps of Our F arming Culture”, house, 1983, p. 53 Baku, Azerbaijan State Publishing 13. Alexander Dumas. “Journey to the Sujuk House, 1960, p. 168 Caucasus”. Baku, Yazichi, 1985, p. 93 3. The Domostroy, M. Fiction, 1991, 14. I. L. Segal in the book “Yelizavetpol foreign guests, ambassadors and the p. 320 Province, Impressions and Memo- republic’s government headed by the 4. Mirza Jamal Ja vanshir. “The His- ries”, Tbilisi, 1902, p. 104 president of Azerbaijan. tory of K arabakh”, Baku, Azerbai- 15. M. A. K araulov. “Reports of Arab Today, the one millions refugees jan State Publishing House, 1959, Geographers in the 9th and 10th from Karabakh are thinking not p. 180 Centuries. Chronicles of the Cau- about national cuisine, but about 5. Kh. D. Khalilov. “The Elat World of casus. Armenia and A zerbaijan”. how to survive tomorrow and see Karabakh”. Baku, Azerbaijan State Tbilisi, the pr inting house of the their homes in their dr eams. For Publishing House, 1992, p. 118 office of H is Imperial Excellency’s the sake of a handful of Armenians, 6. Ziyadkhan Nabibayli. “The Gold- governor in the Caucasus, p. 129 who are considered Christians, al- en Crown of Zangazur – Lachin ”. 16. Sources on A zerbaijani History. most the whole w orld is indiff er- Baku, Uniprint, 2008, p. 270 Baku, Azerbaijan University Pub- ently watching the grief of one mil- 7. Solmaz Maharramova. “The Mate- lishing House, 1989. p. 326 lion people. And while we are talking rial Culture and Econom y of the 17. N. G. Narimanov. M. S. A zimov, N. about Karabakh cuisine as a thing of Southeastern Part of the L esser G. Aliyev. “The Works of the F irst the past, flocks of K arabakh sheep Caucasus in the 19th and early 20th Detachment of the M il-Karabakh are being stolen and fertile Karabakh Centuries”. Baki, Elm P ublishing Expedition in 1985. I n the collec- fields are being mined, and instead of House, 2007, p. 208 tion “Archaeological and Ethno - bread, they grow drugs there, having 8. Tahir Amiraslanov. “Pearls of Kara- graphic Research in A zerbaijan”. destroyed hundreds of public cat er- bakh Cuisine”. IRS magazine , № 1985, Baku, Elm, 1986, p. 8-10 ing and food industry enterprises. The 2-3 (14-15) 2005, p. 82-85 18. Molla Panah Vagif. “Works”, Baku, unique Museum of Br ead in A gdam 9. S. M. Agamaliyeva. «On the F ood Yazichi, 1988, p. 192 was looted and destroyed. of the Population of Agdam Dis- 19. Nizami Ganjavi. “Isgandarnameh”, Today Armenian “experts” present trict (Based on materials from the Baku, the A zerbaijan publishing everything stolen by them, includ- villages of Abdal and Gulabli in house, 1941, p. 256 ing in K arabakh, as their own t o the the theses and reports of the con- 20. Yasar Kalafat. “Iranian-Turkic Peo- whole world - land , culture, cooking, ference on Great October and the ple’s Cuisine”. In the collec tion and monuments. Armenian websites development of ar chaeological “Cookbook: History-Folklore-Liter- have even opened pages called “Kara- and ethnographic science in Azer- ature”, Istanbul, Publishing House bakh cuisine”. If earlier, in Soviet times, baijan, Institute of History (archae- 203, p. 848-860 Armenian cookbooks carefully wrote ology and ethnog raphy sector)), only about two dishes: Karabakh boz- 28-29 December 1987, p. 114-116

Tea House. Agdam, prior to occupation 28 www.irs-az.com www.irs-az.com 29