Baku hosts delightful tea party

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan – a classic tea drinking country in the Caucasus – for the first time hosted the International Tea Festival on October 20.

Guest countries that shared this experience with Azerbaijan included Turkey, Japan, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, China, Iran, India and Tajikistan.

All participants put their tea culture on display at the event. The festival’s visitors had the opportunity to take part in a tea ceremony, enjoy a variety of teas and taste national dishes and sweets of the participating countries.

Representatives from each participating country, dressed in national costumes, informed the guests about the rituals of the tea ceremony and the traditions and customs of their countries.

The Director General of the Azerbaijan National Cuisine Center, Tahir Amiraslanov, addressed the event, noting that the festival is part of World Cuisine Day, which is taking place in the country for the third time.

Azerbaijani MP Ganira Pashayeva also attended the festival, where she was awarded diploma for the support to the Azerbaijan National Cuisine Centre and the National Cuisine Association.

In her remarks, Pashayeva assessed the efforts of the Centre and the Association of the National Cuisine in promoting Azerbaijani cuisine around the world.

She emphasized that national cooks successfully participate in international cooking competitions, achieving numerous medals and top places.

In Azerbaijan, where the custom of tea drinking is widespread, tea is considered a symbol of hospitality and respect for guests.

Azerbaijanis are well known as a nation that loves to drink tea, mainly black tea.

Not a single important event for Azerbaijanis can go without tea. Tea drinking, however, unlike the Japanese or Chinese is not considered a special ceremony. Every meal for Azerbaijanis begins and ends with tea. According to an old tradition, the host has to offer tea to every visitor, even if the visit is supposed to last only five minutes.

Tea culture is so pervasive that people can be seen drinking tea all day long from the early morning until late at night, despite the season. A cup of tea from a pear-shaped “armudu” glass is always a good idea here.

Azerbaijan is among the leading countries in terms of tea consumption per capita. Statistics show that annual consumption of tea by the over 9.5 million population is no less than 11,600 tons per year.