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Nakhchivani cuisine

Ask Azerbaijanis about Nakhchivan and we’ll often think of its distinct cuisine, which is packed with fresh herbs, fruits, vegetables and lamb. One local lamb stew, qovurma shorbasi, served with beans, potatoes and a poached egg on top, is still cooked and stored according to ancient tradition: underground in earthenware pots. Another popular lamb dish is the imaginatively named dadli qala (‘delicious fortress’): ribs cooked inside a tandoor oven and served with buckwheat, roast potatoes and tomatoes. Ordubad, a town in the east of the region, is known for its puffy omelettes soaked in honey and its bountiful orchards producing figs, apricots, peaches and pears. Even our most delicious lemons come from Ordubad! All of these fruits are then dried for winter and sold in Nakhchivan’s bustling local bazaar – another place well worth visiting.