Azerbaijan

In the old town district of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan—You'll find Qaynana. It was a hustling and bustling restaurant so I knew it had to be good. I went for dinner one night and had some incredible food. I remember walking in the front door, to the left was a waist high, vertical stone oven where they were slapping raw dough into on the inside walls—this was tandir çörəyi being made in a Tandir oven. Tandir çörəyi is a traditional Azerbaijani bread shaped into an oval and then slapped directly to the hot interior walls which is what gives it that blistered look from the coals. Once done, it's topped with black nigella seeds and served with Adjika for the whole table to be torn by hand by everyone, a true homage to breaking bread.

Moving onto main entrees, I wish I could remember the name of the dish I had in the cast iron server. It was pieces of lamb with potatoes, peppers, onions and herbs, with the rendered fat at the bottom. I ordered this with a side of simple rice and a bowl of soup called dovga, it's similar to tzatziki but it's not. It's a very thin yogurt based soup made with lots of fresh herbs and served cold. It goes with the tandir bread so it paired perfectly. I wound up dipping the bread in it as well as spooning it over the rice and the meat dish. It was so damn good.

Down stone stairs to the underground and filled with nostalgia and a very traditionally decorated atmosphere, you'll find Firuze restaurant. 

I had a simple meal here, I started with some fresh baked bread and a greek style village salad. I also tried for the first time, Dushbara soup—a traditional Azerbaijani soup that has tiny meat filled dumplings in a delicious and aromatic broth and served with a side of vinegar to add in per your taste. This is perhaps one of the best soups I have ever eaten. For the main course, I had a ceramic dish filled with lamb, apricots, and rice—I remember clearing the entire thing.

Dolma, in Baku, worth a stop hands down. The main highlight here was the Kufta Bozbash, a classic Azerbaijani meatball soup. A giant ground-meat ball made of lamb with potatoes, herbs, and a clear golden broth. Such a simple collection of ingredients but hands down one of the best damn things you'll ever eat, perfect on a cold day or any day for that matter.

For the main entree, I can't recall the name but it was a dark brown, thick, paste-like stew with a sweet tart flavor due to the added prune juice and served with rice. It gets thick from the added ground walnuts that break down after it's cooked for hours and turns the pot dense and gives you that texture. It doesn't have the prettiest presentation but it's damn good.