Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan, rich with delicious culinary traditions, will host the first International Dolma Festival on July 1.

Dolma is a traditional meal in the Land of Fire that no Azerbaijani can imagine living without. Dolma is one of the most popular and widespread dishes of Azerbaijan. It is the number one guest of all feasts along with rich flavored Plov.

The festival will be organized by the Azerbaijani Culture and Tourism Ministry, National Culinary Center, Absheron District Executive Power and the Azerbaijani National Culinary Association.

Some 300 kinds of dolma will be exhibited at the festival. Besides the Turkic-speaking countries, guests from around the world will take part in the international festival.

This stuffed meal is widely prepared in kitchens across the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia.

However, in Azerbaijan dolma is iconic, you can meet it at every table not only during the traditional holiday, but also on ordinary days. The name of this delicious dish came from the process of its creation, and means to stuff.

The most common type of dish in Azerbaijan, dolma has about 50 species in the country.

The word "dolma" originated from the Azerbaijani verb "doldurmag", which means to stuff. Yarpaq dolmasi (stuffed grape leaves), Badimjan dolmasi (stuffed eggplant) and Kelem dolmasi (stuffed cabbage leaves) are kinds of this ancient national dish.

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

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