Indulgences

1. Paxlava

   Paxlava (layered nut-and-sugar pastry cut into diamonds)

   Usage

   Crushed almonds (or hazelnuts, walnuts) with sugar between sheets of thinly rolled dough, cut into diamonds and baked. It is listed with şəkərbura among the sweets of Novruz, the spring festival, and there are distinct Bakı, Şəki, Quba, Gəncə and Naxçıvan versions. The word also has an adjectival sense, patterned with diamonds

2. Şəkərbura

   Şəkərbura (crimped half-moon pastry with a nut filling)

   Usage

   A pastry filled with sugar mixed with walnut, hazelnut or almond, its edges twisted shut and its face patterned. It is one of the symbols of Novruz, and the pattern is worked with a tool called a nəqqaş

3. Badambura

   Badambura (layered pastry with an almond filling)

   Usage

   Dough of wheat flour, sour cream, egg, soda and yeast is layered with fat, wrapped round a filling of crushed almond, sugar and cardamom, baked and dusted with icing sugar. It usually shares a plate with paxlava and şəkərbura, and is also called badamlı borucuq

4. Şəki halvası

   Şəki halvası (the layered rice-flour sweet of Şəki)

   Usage

   A sweet particular to the Şəki district, made from rice flour, water, hazelnut or walnut, sugar and coriander seed, and also called Şəki paxlavası. It is not the same thing as halva in the general sense, which is flour fried in fat with doşab, or a sweet of sesame and nuts

5. Şorqoğal

   Şorqoğal (savoury spiced spiral bun)

   Usage

   Qoğal divides by filling into şorqoğalı, the savoury one, and şirinqoğal, the sweet one. The savoury filling takes cardamom, pepper and other spices and the top is strewn with poppy seed; the sweet one is flour, turmeric and sugar, topped with sesame. Qoğal itself means a small round bun, with or without fat and milk

   Grammar Note

   Both şorqoğal and şorqoğalı are used as spellings, and shops use both

6. Noğul

   Noğul (small sugar sweets around a coriander seed)

   Usage

   A small round sweet with a rough surface, built around a coriander seed. It is one of the sweets of the Novruz table. It usually sits beside nabat next to the tea

7. Nabat

   Nabat (crystallised rock sugar made with fruit juice)

   Usage

   A clear crystalline sweet made from fruit juice and sugar. It is dropped into tea or bitten between sips. The word also carries a figurative sense for anything very sweet. Nabat is also a woman's name, which derives from this sweet

8. Mürəbbə

   Mürəbbə (whole fruit preserved in sugar syrup)

   Usage

   Fruit or berries boiled in sugar syrup. Examples: Zoğal mürəbbəsi (cornelian cherry) and Gilas mürəbbəsi (sweet cherry). It belongs on the tea table. There are also versions made from walnut, quince, fig, watermelon, aubergine and even rose petals

9. Şərab

   Wine

   Usage

   An alcoholic drink made from grapes, the same as çaxır. Wine is legally produced here and sold in shops and restaurants. Plenty of people do not drink, so ask before pouring for someone; the default drink of hospitality is tea. Note that Narşərab, the pomegranate sauce, carries şərab in its name but contains no alcohol

10. Tut arağı

    Tut arağı (mulberry spirit)

    Usage

    The distillate of fermented mulberry juice; an example is Tut arağı. It runs between 40 and 80 percent alcohol, with some kinds aged in barrels for several years. It is very strong, so start small. Other fruits give other spirits, such as zoğal arağı from cornelian cherry

11. Pivə

    Beer

    Usage

    A low-alcohol foaming drink made from barley malt, a Russian loanword. Xırdalan is a domestic brand that shares its name with a town. There is also the word pivəxana, a place that sells beer

12. Qəlyan

    Qəlyan (water pipe, hookah)

    Usage

    A device for smoking tənbəki, shredded tobacco leaf. The parts are sər (the body), lülə (the perforated bowl for the leaf), marpuç (the hose) and şüşə (the water glass). Nargilə is the same thing. The derived qəlyanaltı has nothing to do with smoking: it means breakfast or a light meal

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