Shaki to celebrate fourth edition of Sweets festival
By Arzu Abdullayeva
Shaki, one of the oldest cities not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the Caucasus with more than 2,500 years of existence, is a neat and well-groomed town with an impressive architecture resembling a typical European provincial town with roofs of houses laid out with red tile.
The city, once called Nukha, has preserved many historical and architectural attractions, including majestic Palace of Shaki Khans with luxurious wall paintings and openwork windows, erected in 1797 by Muhammad Hasan Khan. In terms of architectural attractions, Shaki Fortress is also notable, featured in many history related books as a place of bravery acts, including Leo Tolstoy’s celebrated novel, “Hadji Murat.”
The city is historically renowned as one of the main centers of the national cuisine of Azerbaijan, especially with its sweets dominating, including Shaki halvasi and pakhlava, which stand out due to their flavors and diversity.
Annually since 2014 the Int’l Festival of Sweets is held in the city, aiming to protect and promote Azerbaijanis' non-material heritage, and expand the city's tourism potential to international levels.
This year the festival is scheduled for July 20, which will be organized by Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Culinary Center of Azerbaijan, the Association of National Cooking of Azerbaijan and Shaki Executive Power, involving representatives of many regions of Azerbaijan and countries of the world offering their national and traditional sweets.
Participants of the festival will present their dishes in national costumes, in special pavilions equipped with household items, carpets related to their place of residence.
Back in 2014, representatives of 15 countries, including Russia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Korea, Mongolia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Romania, as well as 22 regions of the country took part in the festival with their sweet dishes (firn, hashil, sweet pilaf and others), flour confectionery products (baklava, fasyali, crazy halva, etc.), as well as various sweets (nogul, xamyani halvasi, etc.).
There are more than 30 varieties of Azerbaijani pastries that use unique ingredients such as poppy seeds, walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, ginger, and cardamom, which make the treats spicy and especially tasty.
Every region of Azerbaijan has its own special recipe for local sweets, which may even have different shapes depending on the traditions of the region.
Pakhlava, shekerbura, and badambura, symbols of the Novruz holiday, are among the most famous Azerbaijani sweets.
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