Discover a land of flavour

A taste of modern heritage

Sitting at the confluence of cultures on the historic Silk Road, Azerbaijan’s cuisine is informed by its fascinating past. Add to that a bountiful natural larder nurtured by nine climate zones and you’ve got something really special. Distinct regional food traditions are highly prized and shared with visitors, inspiring an enchanting, flavour-filled journey through a diverse land.

Within the world of Azerbaijani cuisine, plov and dolma are classics, showcasing the country's culinary richness and the artistry of its people. Let’s start with dolma, a dish traditionally made from grape leaves stuffed with various fillings of meat and rice, enriched with herbs or nuts – the ingredients vary from region to region and roll with the flavours of the season. Then there’s the iconic plov, a fragrant masterpiece crafted from a delightful blend of rice, herbs, meat or fish, and often complemented by dried fruits and golden-hued saffron. Each variation of plov carries a distinct regional identity, with ingredients and preparations that vary significantly across the country. Take fisinjan, featuring ground meat and a pomegranate and nut sauce, or shirin plov, heavy on the dried fruit. Then there’s shah plov, which sees the rice encased in buttery lavash bread. In Lankaran, you’ll find it enriched with lentil and pumpkin, while in Karabakh, dill is the lead herb. Different cooking techniques and rices (sadri and akule are typical) yield different nuances throughout, offering a world of flavour to discover.

Azerbaijanis have long mastered the art of the barbecue, matching taste and texture expertly and allowing each dish to tell the story of the rich cultural heritage of the region. Skilful cooking techniques bring everyday dishes to life – once sampled, you'll never forget the tenderness of kebabs such as lamb tike, or lula, made with ground meat or chicken, grilled mangal-style for extra succulence. Another favourite, qutabs, are flatbreads stuffed with meats, cheeses, herbs or greens and cooked on a saj (iron disc), sometimes rolled up and eaten by hand and always bursting with flavour. In the Absheron region they like to drizzle their qutabs with melted butter and serve them with pomegranate and yoghurt, or sometimes sumac for the ultimate savoury hit.

There’s a bone fide litany of flavour at every juncture, from piti (Sheki’s signature lamb stew with chickpeas, dried cherries and saffron) and dushbara soup with little meatballs served with a vinegar and garlic sauce, to the Caucasus’ tskan meat pies and Gusar’s shakuka (a flavoursome bread-oven flatbread). Nakhchivan favours tender lamb-based qovurma shorbasi – with the qovurma preserved underground in earthenware pots in the time-honoured way – and sweet almond-rich badambura (a flaky pastry with redolent cardamom).

Market force

While Baku’s sky-tickling architectural marvels like the Flame Towers might be emblematic of a modern city, this vibrant hub remains a gem of the Silk Road. And Yashil Bazar – one of the city’s oldest, largest and most renowned markets – encapsulates its trajectory with a cornucopia of ingredients, scents and flavours that not only heroes the country’s heritage foodways, but showcases the producers and artisans that are driving it forward. The city’s bazaars have remained at the heart of local food culture since annals first began drawing farmers with produce fresh from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea.

Whatever you’re looking for, stalls heavy with produce will ensure you find it. Nuts from the north-west region, fruits from Nakhchivan, mountain honeys, fragrant spices and herbs – cinnamon, Absheron saffron, sumac, cardamom, cloves, dill, thyme, mint, coriander – all have an essential place in the Azerbaijani kitchen. Chefs and home cooks browse for ingredients to use in much-loved pakhlava (diamond-shaped layers of dough, stuffed with nuts and coated with honey or syrup), dovga (a yoghurt-based herb soup), plov and tike kebab. Fresh vegetables and greens pile high ready to be whipped up into the likes of choban salads, while fresh seafood (including sturgeon), lamb and local cheeses are omnipresent. You’ll even find caviar, often enjoyed as a starter. Then there’s bread – a sacrosanct item on Azerbaijani tables seen in myriad forms – lavash, xengek, shirin chorek, tendir – with baking traditions as old as time. For a true sense of local culinary colour, you’ll be hard-pushed to find anywhere to top it.

Word on the vine

The country may be widely known for its unique pomegranate and quince wines, but Azerbaijan is in fact an ancient cradle of viniculture – indeed, archaeological digs across areas such as Nakhchivan, Gabala and Goygol have unearthed terracotta wine jugs dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. The historic regions fan out from Baku through the foothills of the Caucasus north-west to Shirvan; through central Ganja; north along the Caspian coast and south to Karabakh and Lankaran-Astara, with pockets focused on revitalising modern wine production dotted throughout.

Aznar winery, for instance, has long held an international reputation for its delicious pomegranate juice, but its position on the southern slopes of the Main Caucasus range, favoured by sunny days and cool nights, also makes it ideal for optimum grape ripening, and in recent years its premium Grante wines, ranging from semi-sweet shiraz to dry, intensely aromatic white Rkatsiteli, have become increasingly popular.

The sunbathed vines of rolling terroir south of Gabala, offer up Savalan's characterful spicy reds and floral whites; in Shamakhi, one of the newest wineries, Meysari, uses grapes such as grenache, carignan and mourvèdre in its sophisticated, organic dry reds and whites; while the ever-popular Azgranata is known for its easy-drinking, premium table wines as well as uniquely tart, fruity pomegranate varieties. There’s even Over in the west, Tovuz Baltiya's cellars include the unmissable semi-sweet, amber-coloured Manat Gold quince wine, best served with chocolate, cake or ice cream.

The first major vineyard – Goygol Winery – came to life in the late 19th century in Goygol. The brainchild of German settlers, it is considered the birthplace of Azerbaijan’s winemaking industry and is still producing wines from 13 varietals – from delicate dessert wines to gutsy reds – along with local brandy, all of which are sampled in the original German cellar.

Today, Caucasian slopes yield balanced wines from endemic grapes bathed in sunshine and tickled by Caspian breezes for a true taste of terroir. And there’s a host of contemporary wineries enlivening the scene – with some producing sparkling wine, too – and bringing the industry bang up to date following a country-wide initiative that saw wide-scale replanting and the introduction of international varietals alongside regional experimentation of native grapes to drive forward quality over quantity. The result is an exciting picture that pays homage to centuries-old technique and modern innovation.

So, where to try it for yourself? While wine routes draw the modern traveller, Baku’s popular wine bars showcase the country’s bins proudly, and vineyards fling open their cellar doors for oenophiles. Take Sharg Ulduzu near Shamkir, whose renewed vines – a mix of hardy Azerbaijani, French and Georgian grapes – dot the landscape like a work of art, and tastings of their dry reds and low-alcohol semi-sweet wines come with tasty snacks representative of the region. Or Chabiant’s Chateau Monolit, close to Lahij – a village known for its local delicacies and traditional copper crafts and silks – and backed by snow-capped mountains, which offers not only an excellent tasting room highlighting regional grapes such as bayan shirey, but also a welcoming guesthouse with a scenic pool. A sure-fire reason to raise a glass to wine country, if you ask us.