Oval Useful news from Azerbaijan and Caucasus

Aubergines (eggplants), tomatoes and onions grow in abundance in Azerbaijan in summer. Aubergine caviar is a tasty way of preserving this summer produce for the cold winter months. While this aubergine paste is primarily a way of preserving aubergines, it can also be eaten freshly made with bread or salad. …

The term khangal (xəngəl) is used for a variety of dishes made from wheat pasta found across the Caucasus. An ancient Turkic word, khangal occurs in the medieval Turkic chronicle the Oguzname. The recipe below is for a lamb soup with pasta squares. Preparation time: 40 min Cooking time: 15 …

This salad of aubergines (eggplant), peppers and tomatoes cooked on a barbecue has a delicious, smoky flavour. Although its name in Azerbaijani, soyug salat, translates as cold salad, the name barbecue salad is a better reflection of the dish. If the salad ingredients are the first food to go on …

An Azerbaijani sherbet (şərbət) is a refreshing, cooling drink made from fruit, sugar and water. The word sherbet comes from the Persian sharbat, itself an adaptation of the Arabic for drink, sharab. Sherbet entered the English language as sorbet, which is now more of an iced dessert or palate cleanser …

  Baklava, or pakhlava, is a sweet of pastry, nuts and honey popular across the Caucasus, Middle East and eastern Mediterranean. Azerbaijani cuisine has several varieties of baklava. Baku baklava is traditionally served at the Novruz spring holiday, together with shekerbura and gogal, but is also enjoyed throughout the year. …

The term dolma covers a variety of stuffed vegetable dishes, widespread in the Middle East and Mediterranean area. Stuffed aubergines (eggplant), peppers and tomatoes are a very popular form of summer dolma across Azerbaijan. Usually, all three are made at the same time. As in yarpaq dolması (stuffed vine leaves), …

Global tourism is big business. Billions of the world‘s travel dollars go to corporations from industrialized countries who operate resort complexes. Responsible travel is known as Alternative Travel, Green Travel, Ecotourism, Environmental Travel. Money and jobs from well-planned ecotourism programs provide conditions for developing countries to preserve their environment and …