New life for old cuisines

Minced lamb [Photo by Feng Yongbin / China Daily]

Caspi proclaims its nationality with a sign emblazoned with Baku's Flame Towers rising over the Caspian seashore. Restaurateur Asim Alishov explains that about 90 percent of selections hail from his homeland. Others honor Georgian, Russian and Turkish favorites. The six cooks are Azerbaijani.

Plov, he declares, is from Azerbaijan.

Points of national pride include "national salad", with tomatoes, cucumbers and lemon. And duck. "Beijing has Peking duck. We have Baku duck," Alishov says.

Dumplings seal a bulk of native specialties. Shuarma packs meat and vegetables into thin wraps. Alishov calls doshbara "Azerbaijani little ravioli". Meat is sheathed with leaves, including the pip leaf, which can only be harvested five days a year.

Dolmas are also enfolded in foliage. Caspi proffers a platter of the "three sisters" - eggplant, tomato and bell-pepper dolmas. The restaurant also does Azeri breakfast, starring olives speckled with mint and drizzled with lemon.

More than 60 percent of ingredients are imported from Azerbaijan. Strawberries and walnuts set off crumbly motal's sharpness. Ayran is conjured with homemade yogurt.

Baku mutton is big, from lamb chops to deep-fried liver with potatoes, and kebabs slung like the sails of a metal-statue ship sailing on the serving plate. Guests can also order a whole roasted sheep (1,600 yuan, or $260).

Diamond-sliced baklava is a dessert-menu gem.