Azerbaijan's food traditions have a lot in common with Iranian and Turkish cuisine
Common meats in Azerbaijani cuisine are lamb, cattle and poultry. The most common fish species are sturgeon (from which they also get real caviar), salmon, kutum, mullet and sardine.
Rice and wheat are the main cereals and eggplant, tomato, peppers, spinach, cabbage, onion, meadow acid, beetroot, radish, cucumber, leeks, grass onions and spring onions and broad beans are the most common vegetables. Herbs such as mint, coriander, dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, thyme, marjoram and cress are widely used. The most commonly used spices are salt, pepper, ginger, cardamom, sumac and saffron. Almonds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and walnuts are often used for sweet foods.
Of fruits and berries, apricot, grapes, apple, pomegranate, peach, figs, strawberries, cherry, quince, spring cornel, plum and watermelon, in addition to dried fruits are used in many dishes.
One of the most famous Azerbaijani dishes is the pilaff (plov) of rice with saffron. In Azerbaijani cooking, there are over 40 different plov recipes.
For dessert, baklava (pakhlava), girmapadam and shekarbura are common.
Black tea is the national drink of Azerbaijan.
