Azerbaijan

Plov

Saffron rice steamed under a dough crust, served with meat, fruit or herbs apart.

Dolma

Vine leaves and vegetables stuffed with lamb and mint, listed by UNESCO.

Qutab

Thin half-moons griddled around greens, pumpkin or meat, brushed with butter.

Piti

Mutton, chickpeas and saffron baked in a sealed clay crock, eaten in two courses.

Dushbara

Tiny dumplings floated in broth, small enough that dozens fit in a spoon.

Lavangi

Chicken or fish stuffed with walnut, onion and sour plum paste from Lankaran.

Kebab

Lamb ribs and minced lula grilled over vine embers and wrapped in lavash.

Bozbash

Clear mutton soup with chestnuts, chickpeas and stone fruit.

Sac ici

Meat and vegetables fried on a domed iron plate at the table.

Balik

Caspian sturgeon grilled with narsharab, the pomegranate syrup poured over.

Narsharab

Pomegranate juice reduced to a dark sour syrup, served with fish.

Kufta bozbash

A large meatball with a plum hidden inside, poached in saffron broth.

Shekerbura

Crescent pastries filled with ground almond and cardamom, made for Novruz.

Pakhlava

Diamond-cut nut pastry with a walnut at the centre of each piece, for Novruz.

Shekerchorek

Crumbly sugar biscuits scented with cardamom, baked for the spring festival.

Firni

Rice flour pudding with rosewater, dusted with cinnamon in a pattern.

Ayran

Salted yoghurt drink served cold with plov and kebab.

Sherbet

Cooled fruit and herb syrups, poured at weddings from tall glass jugs.

Chay

Black tea from Lankaran in an armudu glass, drunk with jam, never with milk.

Tandir chorek

Bread baked against the wall of a clay tandir and sold hot in the morning.