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Home , Azerbaijani cuisine, Dovga, Khash (dish), Kuku (food)

Following tradition Traditional culinary culture

Izmira Guliyeva Ph.D. in History is one of the oldest centers of human civilization. The culture of the Azerbaijani people goes millennia back.

ince time immemorial, Azer- baijanis’ traditional occupation Shas been agriculture and ani- mal husbandry, which could not but affect the characteristics and diet of the population. National can tell many interesting things about the culture and history of a country, and in this sense, , with its excellent taste and quality characteristics, as it were, speaks for itself. As early as the Neolithic period, the population in Azerbaijan cul- tivated and barley, which served as the basis for their diet along with . In the Bronze Age, with the development of cattle- breeding, dairy products came into the diet of our ancestors. Dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine are mentioned in ancient writ- ten sources, the records of trav- elers and explorers, merchants and diplomats. It’s no secret that

Yarpag dolmasi 46 www.irs-az.com Dushbara the culinary art of Azerbaijan is popular with many nations of the world, especially in the East. Azer- baijan has long been known for local varieties of and fruit, which contributed significantly to the enrichment of national cuisine. One of the important factors in- fluencing Azerbaijani cuisine is reli- gion. Muslim festivals and various rit- uals, including fasting, had a strong influence on diet and nutrition. Home and eating has long served as the primary ethno- graphic feature of in both cities and rural areas. Using old culinary recipes from generation to generation, housewives have ex- panded the range of dishes and im- proved their quality. , , , mint, tar- of them. One day before, are Like other regions of Azerbaijan, ragon, pepper, etc. In some dishes, soaked and cooked in a separate its capital Baku has its own unique along with , the of unripe dish. The ready broth is filtered features of local cuisine. Developing grapes - abgora, juice, through a metal sieve and placed and becoming richer over the centu- as well as sour are used. on the fire, and when it boils, cooked ries, local cuisine reached the sophis- Azerbaijani national cuisine dish- peas, kufta, potatoes, 2-3 whole on- tication we observe today. Inhabit- es are traditionally prepared in cop- ions, , pepper, saffron, or yellow ants of Baku, which, in the context per vessels, and this tradition contin- ginger are added. It is served in a of the topic of the present article, is ues to live in Baku - Icharishahar. bowl, sprinkled with or dry associated with its historical kernel As the basis for the first cours- mint. Peeled and sumac are – Icharishahar, are inveterate foodies es, Bakuvians primarily use meat served separately. that regard the process of cooking and bone broths. Unlike the usu- Dushbara (). Broth and eating as a kind of ritual. al , the first courses have is cooked from sheep bones, and At the mention of Icharishahar, local thicker consistency as they usu- minced meat with , salt, pepper and meat dishes spring to ally contain a small amount of and cilantro is made from the flesh mind, although we should not forget broth. Another characteristic feature of meat. Stiff is kneaded about complicated dishes cooking of liquid dishes is the wide use of fat with water and eggs and rolled out to which requires considerable skills, of sheep’s tail, which is usually put 1 mm. Then the dough is sliced into not to mention diverse and abun- into the dinner in a finely chopped equal squares of 2x2 cm. The minced dant ingredients. way, as well as of various . meat is placed in the center of each Joint , which are tradi- Below is a description of some square and wrapped in a special way. tional in the Baku fortress, be- basic traditional dishes characteristic The ready dushbara is shaken on a come an occasion to get together of Baku – Icharishahar: sieve, freed from excess flour, and - a form of social life. These days, Kufta-. Broth is cooked cooked in filtered broth. 5-7 minutes traditions have become some- from the brisket. The flesh of mutton after the broth starts boiling, the du- what simpler, but abundant is minced and onions are added. Salt, shbara emerges on the surface - the feasts with laboriously prepared pepper and separately washed dinner is ready. with is meals are still typical of the cul- are added here, and it all is mixed served separately. On top, the dush- ture of Icharishahar. manually. Palm-sized kufta balls are bara is sprinkled with dried mint or Important ingredients of original made from the resulting minced greens, depending on the season. Baku cuisine are a lot of spices - meat, and a is placed in each with meat. Broth is www.irs-az.com 47 Following tradition

wide strips and arishta () is chopped with a sharp knife. Before dropping the arishta in the broth, it should be shaken. , and chopped greens are placed in the broth, and it is sprinkled with mint when served. Vinegar is served separately. (jelly). The head, feet and are processed, washed well and soaked for at least an hour. Then they are chopped into pieces, put in a pot, and cold water is poured on them - 2 Dovga liters of water per 1 kg. They cook it cooked from bones, and minced peas are added to the boiling broth for a long time, occasionally remov- meat with onions, salt and spices is with washed rice, , onion ing the foam with a skimmer. After made from the flesh of meat. Small roasted in butter, cooked meat and the cooking, the meat is removed balls – meatballs – are made from salt. It is served sprinkled with and separated from the large bones. the minced meat. One day before, and cilantro. The shorba can also be Then the meat is cut into small peas are left to soak. Gatig is mixed cooked with meatballs. In the same pieces and put in the broth to finish with 2-3 eggs in a separate dish. They way, a chicken shorba is cooked - cooking. The resulting broth is fil- whisk it, add washed round rice, sprinkled with dried mint after cook- tered and served separately from the cook it on low heat and stir it with ing. meat with vinegar and garlic added a wooden spoon. When the mixture for flavor. starts to boil, peas, meatballs and Azerbaijani second courses are broth are added. At the end, herbs made mostly from mutton, in the and salt are added and prepared. In form of pieces or finely chopped summer, the dovga is served cold. pieces (Gushbashi), as well as in the The ready dovga should be sour and form of minced meat. Some sec- aromatic from cilantro and dill. ond courses are cooked from beef, Sulu-khingal. Broth is made from chicken, duck, goose and in the mutton breast and shoulder. the form of independent dishes and Peas are soaked separately, cooked seasonings to pilafs. in a separate bowl and then put in While preparing most second the broth. Stiff dough is kneaded courses, mutton fat is used - fat tail, with eggs and water and rolled out melted butter or dairy butter. Fresh to a thickness of 1 mm. The dough Sulu khingal herbs, as well as various spices are is cut into 2x2 cm squares, gently served separately: sumac, pepper, shaken on a sieve, freed from excess Khamrashi. Broth is cooked from narsharab, vinegar, lemon, and in flour and put into the boiling broth. lamb bones, and minced meat with summer – fresh and to- When it boils, they put onion roasted onion is made from the flesh of meat. matoes. Farinaceous second courses - in butter, chopped cilantro and dill The minced meat is cut into small guru khingal, shula khingal and gur- and prepare it. Before serving, it is balls of 5-6 pieces per serving. Beans za – are very popular in Baku and Ab- sprinkled with dried mint. Vinegar is soaked in advance and cooked sepa- sheron. served too. rately are placed in the filtered broth, Guru khingal. Stiff dough is Shorba. They take mutton - 2-3 and then noodles prepared in the kneaded with salt, water and eggs. It slices per serving, pour cold water following way are added: stiff dough is rolled out to a thickness of 1mm, and cook it for about an hour. One is kneaded with water and eggs and cut into diamonds, boiled in salted day before, peas are left to soak in rolled out to a thickness of 1 mm. It water and then drained in a colan- cold water and boiled, and then the is sprinkled with flour, cut into 5 cm der. The mutton is cut into 2-3 pieces

48 www.irs-az.com Khingal

cut into diamonds, then boiled in water and drained. When serving, they put khingal on the plate and on top, minced meat sprinkled with grated and . Gatig with mashed garlic is served sepa- rately. Gurza. They make minced meat

Tomato from mutton, add salt and pepper per serving and fried on a strongly and fry it. Stiff dough is kneaded, heated pan with oil. Onions, abgora, rolled out to 1 mm and cut into cir- cinnamon, and salt are added. After cles of 5 cm. The ready minced meat that, it is combined and prepared is placed in the circles and wrapped with khingal. While serving it, gatig is so that the seam is on top - one end poured on the khingal, and it is often remains open. Gurza is boiled in salt- served in a separate dish with garlic. ed water; when it surfaces, it is taken Giyma khingal. They make away from the stove and drained. minced meat from the flesh of mut- When it is ready, gatig, mint and cin- ton, adding onion, pepper and salt. namon are served. The flour is sifted, and when the salt Dolma. There are many varieties is added, the dough is kneaded with of dolma: from leaves, white water and eggs, rolled out to 1 mm, leaves, , toma-

www.irs-az.com 49 Following tradition

nishes are of high quality and good consistency. For cooking undrained pilafs (dashma) and various fillings, it is best to use such kinds of rice as «akula» and «chilali», which have good properties. To obtain high quality , it is necessary to adhere to the follow- ing rice processing technology. Af- ter processing, rice is left to soak in cold water for up to 12 hours and is placed in a gauze bag with salt. Then the rice is washed with warm water and put in boiling salted wa- ter. 6 liters of water, 50 g of salt and 1 cup of gatig are used per 1 kg of rice. The rice is cooked on high heat until it is half ready and drained toes, bell peppers, cucumbers, on- you, dear reader, with the recipe through a colander. The drained rice ions, apples and quince. Dolma is of kebab: follow it and you will be should be washed with warm water, made from minced mutton. In sum- thanking me for this gift forever.» And although it reduces the quality of pi- mer, they often prepare the vegeta- he goes on to say: «Put small pieces laf. Dairy or melted butter is placed ble ragout anjab-sandal from lamb of mutton on an iron or wooden spit in a saucepan with a tight bottom. and veal. They prepare - and turn them over the coals.» For Then gazmag is placed on the bot- onions, slices, elongated egg- making kebab, the more gentle tom - thin flat of unleavened plants and tomato slices, which are meat of a young sheep is preferred. dough with eggs - and is covered placed on one another. They salt and Among the varieties of Azerbaijani with boiled rice. For better and even pepper them and then put them on , we can note amateur kebab, stewing (dam) of the pilaf, the caul- a weak fire to cook them in their own kebab, basdirma kebab, kidney dron or pot are covered with a spe- juice. kebab, kebab, gazan kabab, juja cial lid. The pilaf is stewed on low Kebab (). This dish kebab, turkey kebab, etc. heat until there is steam inside. After comes from the shepherd’s rather Kebab is prepared not only from that, the pilaf is poured with butter, than the agricultural way of life. To- meat but also from vegetables or and a saffron tincture (1 g of saffron day kebab is perceived as a picnic adding vegetables - eggplants, pota- per 100 g of water) is poured over and almost a festive (prepared toes, peppers and tomatoes. some parts of it. by men) which has a merely informal Many varieties of pilaf decorate Among the many varieties of nature, because it is eaten by hand. Baku cuisine. pilaf, we should note turshu gov- Shish kebab is a kind of culinary es- Pilaf is boiled rice cooked in a urma, ali-musamba, sabzi govurma, capism associated with escape into special way and seasoned with but- parcha doshama, doyma doshama, nature. ter. Often, pilafs are prepared with fisijan pilaf, mutanjam, lobya-chilov, Mandelstam’s poem «I’m dream- meat, fish, vegetables, egg and flour giyma pilaf, plas kebab, marji pilaf, ing of humpbacked Tiflis» is based on garnishes, fruits, berries, etc. In most pilaf, juja pilaf, toyug pilaf, gizil this motif: «The man is old, The sheep cases, pilafs are prepared from boiled balig pilaf, sudlu pilaf, shirin plaf, ila is young, And under the , un- rice, while undrained rice (demya) is shandaz pilaf, yarma pilaf, gir-gir pilaf, der the heat With pink steam kebab rarely used. kishmishli pilaf, etc. smoke will fly in their air... «. To prepare drained pilafs and Finally, a few words about sweet Alexandre Dumas writes about crumbly rice garnishes, you need desserts. Baku baklava is a very kebab in the “The Three Musketeers”: to take local kinds of rice - «Sadri», labor intensive product. Several «Any selfish person would keep «Ambarbi» and «Akulchik». Although people roll out thin dough, others this recipe secret – but I will provide they are not rich, pilafs and gar- place the dough on baking sheets,

50 www.irs-az.com Strawberry jam

seeds are put in, and it is left to brew for 2-3 hours. The sherbet is served with such dishes as toyug pilaf, giy- ma pilaf and parcha doshama pilaf. Among the hot drinks, the most common drink in Baku and in all of Azerbaijan is . In conclusion, we offer several Baklava proverbs about food. and some more people sprinkle the Firni. Rice is sorted out, washed «Prepare tasty food and eat it not dough with chopped nuts, or hazel- and soaked in water for 2-3 hours, to fill yourself up.» nuts, and with drained and put in the oven. The «Food is eaten slowly, selflessly powdered . On the whole, they dried rice is crushed or milled in a and with inspiration.» make 13-15 layers and cut the lay- coffee grinder, and is poured «Choose a friend by the taste of ered dough into diamonds and put on the resulting mass and sugar and the dishes he likes.» it in the oven. Toward the end of bak- salt are added and cooked until it is ing, the baklava is soaked with melt- ready. The resulting jelly is poured References: ed butter and saffron sherbet. into deep plates or bowls. It is served 1. . Baku, 1961, Tarag. Water is poured in a - cold, and cinnamon is sprinkled from p.22 pan and maize flour, sugar, butter above in the form of a lattice. 2. Engraved copper products. and salt are put on the fire and stirred Sherbet. Water is boiled and Monuments of material cul- continuously until a thick mass cooled, sweetened, and mint ture of Azerbaijan. Ed. Acad. forms. After that, the tarag is cooled P. A. Azizbayov. and sprinkled with cinnamon when 3. Osip Mandelstam. Works in 2 vol- served. umes, M. 1990. Sujug. Water is poured into a 4. alexandre Dumas. «The Three saucepan and maize flour, sug- Musketeers.» v. 7, Moscow. 1992 ar, butter, a saffron tincture and 5. rice dishes of Azerbaijani cui- salt are put in it and placed on sine. Magazine Kulina - Special fire. When cooking, it is stirred Issue, 2005, p. 12 continuously until a thick mass forms. Shelled nuts are minced, and half of the nuts are mixed with the sunjug, and the other half is sprinkled from above before serv- ing.

Firni www.irs-az.com 51