Murabba Festival: Gabala waiting for sweet tooth

All those sweet tooth of the country and foreign guests should not miss the next edition of the traditional Gabala Murabba (Jam) Festival.

The 4th International Jam Festival, which annually puts on display a wide range of delicious and unusual jams, is scheduled for August 27.

The event will bring together manufacturers from the regions of Azerbaijan, as well as six foreign countries. Best jam producers will be awarded in various categories.

Gabala, which is already become a world-famous for international cultural events its hosts, hosted the Jam Festival since 2013. Every year the number of participants increases.

The festival, which usually brings together many officials and more than 4,000 local people and foreign tourists will be remembered by all of them as a sweetest day.

Last year, the Gabala Festival welcomed foreign cookers from Turkey, Russia, Iran, Serbia and Kyrgyzstan.

Last year jams from the Republic of Sakha Yakutia and Azerbaijan’s Guba region were recognized as the tastiest.

The festival is co-organized by the Gabala City Executive Power, Culture and Tourism Ministry, National Cuisine Center and National Culinary Association. The event aims to preserve the intangible cultural heritage of the country, as well as promote tourism in the region.

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

Murabba in Azerbaijani refers to sweets made by boiling of berries, fruits, nuts, some vegetables and flowers.

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

There are different kinds of murabba in Azerbaijan which provide us with enough material to put together a book on it. Among them are strawberry, quince, cherry, apricot, rose, blackberry, walnut, plum and even tomato and eggplant murabba.

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.