Son illər erməni təcavüzünə məruz qalmış bütün Azərbaycan xalqı

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meat kept in onion, vinegar or lemon juice before cooking. One of its varieties 
is lula kebab which is made of minced meat strung on a ramrod in the form 
of "round cutlets". Kebab and lula kebab are served with tomatoes, Bulgarian 
pepper, eggplants and potatoes baked over a fire on a ramrod.
Lamb and beef are used to 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 cooked from the hooves of the 
cattle), kalla-pacha (soup prepared from ram's, lamb's or sheep's head and feet) 
and various soups. Yakhni and govurma are mentioned in the ancient Turkic 
monument of Kitabi Dada Gorgud. Khash is mentioned in written sources of 
the 11th-12th centuries. The meat serves as a garnish (gara) in different forms 
for pilaf and chilov. In Lachin District, one large dolma meal in cabbage lea-
ves, weighing about 200-350 grams, is served at weddings and funerals. This 
custom is also widespread in Gabala and Ismayilli districts of Azerbaijan.
Karabakh cuisine has a lot of vegetarian dishes: sikhma, suyug, kata with 
herbs, etc. Flour is used to make khashil, khorra, sum-suma from grain - vari-
ous kinds of hadik, govurga, govut, nukurd, gatmali, ayranli, yalanchi dolma, 
siyig, sudlu siyig, yarma khashil, pilafs, chilovs and many more. Legumes are 
also used in cuisine.
As a dessert, they prepare various kinds of tar halvah and umaj halvah, 
shirin kata, koka, baklava, shakarbura, guymag and govud for holidays and 
rituals. Fruits are also served on the table.
As for drinks, a variety of sorbets, khoshabs and drinks prepared on the 
basis of bakmaz (boiled juice of mulberries, grapes) are served.
Excellent honey is made from Karabakh herbs. Children had honey, fresh 
gaymag or butter for breakfast.
As the sauce, they used the boiled thick pomegranate juice "narsharab", 
and pomegranate is also used to prepare the additive "nardacha". This was 
recorded by the German traveler Adam Oleary in the 18th century: "Wild gre-
nades are all sour, and a lot of them are near rivers in Karabakh.
"Grains are removed from them, dried and sold in other places under the 
name of nardan (nar - pomegranate apple). These grains are consumed in order 
to make the meal dark and sour: they are soaked in water and the juice is squ-
eezed from them through linen. They also boil fresh pomegranate juice, pro-
duce and store it. They usually use it to embellish their saracha millet (rice) at 
feasts, which makes them pleasantly acidic. They also use fruits of the dyeing 
Takhir Amiraslanov, Aynura Amiraslanova

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wood we know for the same purpose." Such thick sauces are also made from 
Cornelian cherries, sloe, zirinj (barberry) and other plants.
The Turkish scientist Dr. Yasar Kalafat writes: "Karabakh cuisine is a brid-
ge between the cuisines of western and eastern Azerbaijani Turks - between 
the cuisines of these two parts of Azerbaijan (the author is referring to Iranian 
Azerbaijan, where most Azerbaijanis live and the Azerbaijan Republic – T. 
A.)." In addition to the diversity of options, there is no difference.
Yasar Kalafat names such Karabakh dishes as:
Soups: dovga, evelik shorba, umaj, arishta shorba, borsch (came from 
Slavic cuisine – T. A.), chicken shorba, khash (khash – T. A.) and bozbash.
Dolma (cooked by wrapping round forcemeat mixed with rice in vine lea-
ves or cabbage): dolma made from apples, quince, dough, tomatoes, eggplants, 
yarpag (grape leaves - T. A), dolma, cabbage dolma.
Vegetable dishes: from evelik, nettle, green beans, spinach, shomu (sort of 
spinach – T. A.), merovga, zirish, mountain coriander, gushappayi, gutabs, kata 
with greens, kuku and other dishes with greens.
Kebabs made from potatoes, tomatoes and peppers.
Meat dishes: rennet gutabs, bozartma, basdirma kebab, rib kebab, lula ke-
bab, doyma kebab, tika kebab, fish kebab (sturgeon) and gut kebab.
Sweets: guymag, baklava, halvah, shor gogal, Karabakh kata and kurabye.
Karabakh families went to the mountains to visit pastures and relax in 
summer.
The Russian scientist, I. L. Segal, also reported about the holidays of 
Karabakh beys in 1902. "In summer, almost all Karabakh beys come to Shusha. 
They live here as in their estates in a totally Asian way: they eat and sleep on 
the floor strewn with carpets. After the meals, dishes are washed, dried and 
placed on wide ledges in the room." Incidentally, Segal also gives information 
about Karabakh carpets here - "The main contingent of skilled craftswomen 
are Muslims."
In winter, people went to the lowlands, the Castilian ambassador Clavija 
recorded in the early 15th century...
"We were told (March 3, 1405) that the ruler Omar Mirassa (Timur's son 
Omar Miranshah – T. A.) was in Karabakh. He spends the winter together with 
his troops there. This Karabakh is rich in pastures."
He continues to write in his diary about the hospitality of the Karabakh 
people.
Karabakh cuisine 

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In his diary, he records: "On Sunday, the ambassadors came to the village 
of Santgelan (Zangelan - an area in Karabakh – T. A.). We dined in the village 
of Tusalar. The local tribe calls itself Turkaman. In each of these villages, the 
ambassadors were treated to food. Such is the custom here. The ambassadors 
must dismount from their horses and sit down on the carpet. Food was imme-
diately brought for them from all houses. They brought bread, a dish filled with 
gatig (yogurt) and usually various rice dishes. If the guests stayed overnight, 
then they brought a lot of meat dishes for them. What was brought at the be-
ginning was only aimed at welcoming them."
Like the rest of Azerbaijan, Karabakh was open and hospitable. 160 years 
ago, it gave shelter to Armenians who betrayed their former "homeland" - the 
Ottoman Empire and the Iranian state. They found new land for themselves. 
And there, they erected a monument in honor of the 160th anniversary of the 
resettlement of Armenians to Karabakh. But someone who once betrayed will 
betray again by habit.
Azerbaijan is doing everything possible today not only to support the one 
million Karabakh Azerbaijanis, building modern housing for them and provi-
ding them with free public services, free treatment, free university education 
and many other things, but also to protect spiritual and material culture (mu-
sic, folklore, carpet-weaving, etc.) in general and culinary culture in particular 
from assimilation.
With the help of the Refugee Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic, the 
Ministry of Culture and Tourism collects and studies the culinary heritage of 
Karabakh.
On July 20-23, 2011, the Festival of the National Cuisine of Azerbaijan 
was also attended by Karabakh cooks from Shusha and Barda. Karabakh chefs 
took first place in kebab competitions and third place in pilaf competitions. 
In the competition on the "kata", which the Armenians are now appropria-
ting, Tovuz District, which does not border on Karabakh, took first place. Like 
Gazakh District, Tovuz is far from Karabakh, but borders on Armenia from 
where Armenian "Christians" are still killing innocent civilians - children and 
the elderly - in these districts.
In 2011, a culinary team from Karabakh, which represented Azerbaijan in 
international championships attended by 32 countries, won a bronze medal in 
the team championship. And in the youth culinary championship, a representa-
tive of the Karabakh team won a gold medal.
Takhir Amiraslanov, Aynura Amiraslanova

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