Sunday, April 24, 2011

Milli süfrə kvarteti...or...Quartet of Azeri traditional cuisine...

If/when you travel to Azerbaijan you would notice that when you stop in cafes and restaurants to have a meal, together with starters you would be also offered to have greens that would come next to cheese, cucumber and tomato plate. Greens would include basil, tarragon, mint, coriander and many more depending on season and preference. And then for those who have never been to Azerbaijan before would be amazing to see that people would just pick up greens from the table and eat it…that’s the tradition…now when the world is talking about what is good and healthy no one would question how healthy is to have greens accompanying your lunches and dinners…and our great-grandfathers knew it looooooooooooong ago...

Greens as almost anything else are availabe the whole year but in spring we all here know that they are super natural since its the season...you would even hear people saying that greens are gone wild (göyərti yaman qızışıb)...

Now...when I was putting my younger son to bed I was thinking how to name my this post and this very title came to my mind...I was wrong to think that there are only four plates in the picture...later I saw that there are four plates and bread...this composition is as traditional as it can ever be...Thus although there are five objects but actually "table quartet" would be: cheese, greens, cucumber+tomato and bread...this tastes excellent, believe me )

We in Azerbaijan as I believe anywhere else love food, tasty food...knowledge of what goes well with what is inherited almost with blood). On this theme I wrote before about what goes great with watermelon here.

photo taken back in 2008 in Sheki bazaar waiting for its turn to be posted...generosity of nature is amazing...
as traditional Azeri start for the casual meal as it can ever be...photo taken earlier this week when we stopped for lunch on our way to Sheki...
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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Spring cleaning...


Today I am writing the post devoted to “spring cleaning”. I could basically repeat what I wrote in 2007...as things haven’t changed since then…

I spent Novruz holidays in Sheki this year. Again got impressed how most of women are keen to keep their households immaculately clean and even if everything looks perfect still spring deep cleaning is a must.

Although modern technologies are welcome there are things which kind of just can't get any better )…such as…broom....nothing is simple with brooms either...since there is "tuğ" (which is soft broom works great indoors and with dust) there is "süpürgə" which is harsh broom works great with carpets or better outdoors and there is another type of "süpürgə" with which you can even broom your garden. And I must mention that everything is made from a natural material and this knowledge comes from ancestors…

When I got acquainted with Feng shui and read about keeping ones living environment clean I caught myself thinking that Sheki people (and not only) inherit Feng shui habits with their upbringing…since spring cleaning is just another norm be it in Sheki be it in Feng shui

Couple of photos...

"brushed" saffron at background...
"broomed" garden in Sheki awaiting spring...
"broomed" garden in Sheki awaiting spring...II
brooms rushing to the market...courtesy of Far Fario...
everyone can find THE broom for her household...I took this photo in 2007! in Sheki bazaar to share it with you only now...)
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