Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The appetizing 3rd annual Jam Festival came to an end in one of Azerbaijan’s most picturesque regions, Gabala, on August 29.

Organized by the Gabala City Executive Power, Culture and Tourism Ministry, National Cuisine Center and National Culinary Association, the event brought together thousands of local and foreign visitors.

The sweets festival welcomed many pastry chefs from the country’s 35 cities and regions, as well as about 500 chefs from five foreign countries.

Carmen D. Padilla, the President of the UNESCO International Organization of Folk Art said, the festival is a sample of richness of Azerbaijani cuisine, as well as wide range and high quality of sweets.

“I tasted tomato and aubergine jams for the first time at the festival. Gabala is the perfect place for this festival,” she said.

A jury of 12 professionals evaluated the jams according to cooking technique, taste, color and appearance.

The festival included the variety of jams including cherry, blackberry, quince, walnut, apricot, flower, and plum.

Among foreign countries, jams from the Republic of Sakha Yakutia and Guba region of Azerbaijan were recognized as the tastiest.

Yakutia’s delicious jams made from north cloudberries, wild strawberries, cranberries, rosehip, fir cones, honeysuckle, forest blueberries, and black currants left all who tried it in awe.

Second place went to Turkey and Chuvash Republic, while Iran and Kyrgyzstan jams placed third.

Among Azerbaijani regions, Gabala’s blackberry jam took the first place. Sheki’s apricot and Zagatala’s rose jams gained second place. Third place went to Goranboy’s cherry, Absheron’s cherry and Neftchala’s watermelon jams.

In recent years, Gabala Jam Festival has been gaining momentum, attracting ambassadors, artists, and more than 4,000 foreign and local tourists.

Every year, the delicious festival draws in thousands of guests who are eager to taste delicious varieties of Azerbaijani jams, or “murabba.”

Murabba is the main dessert on the Azerbaijani table and is served at every tea party.

It goes very well with both bread and tea at breakfast. It is also used as a filling for pies and added to cakes and pastries.

In addition, murabba is used for treating colds. Various types of murabba like dogwood, blackberries, and currants – rich with vitamin C – usually serve as treatment for the flu in Azerbaijani households.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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