Delicacies

There is nothing wrong in having something to eat after all this activity.

The dish you will be offered first off is

which is an Azerbaijani favourite and originated here, so this is the best place to taste it. This aromatic stew made of young lamb and chickpeas, flavoured with onion and spices, is cooked for a few hours in individual clay pots in the oven, then served with homemade bread baked in a tandoor. Eating piti is a science; the broth and meat are put onto the plate, and the bread should be soaked in the soup. This can be eaten as a first course. The second course will be the chickpeas at the bottom of the bowl, saturated with the aroma of the other ingredients and seasoned with thin slices of onions and a popular local spice called sumac. If any of your Azerbaijani friends offer you piti you should understand that they will, beyond any doubt, come from Sheki.

Another delicacy you will be offered is a special Sheki You can buy it in the market, but the best thing is to go to the shop where it is made. The long queue at the shop door early in the morning will point you in the right direction, as Sheki’s halva is a popular gift for holidays and locals always know who makes the best quality. Don’t be shy of asking to visit a workshop where halva is being made, as Azerbaijanis are open people and probably won’t object. You will see how a master craftsman makes an open-work carcass for the base out of a liquid rice dough. Layers of rice lace are placed in the moulds, then