The Islamic Culinary Congress, which is taking place in Baku these days, works to ensure that wealth and diversity of the world culture are preserved, the President of the National Culinary Association, the head of the National Culinary Center, vice president of the Congress Tahir Amiraslanov said, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza on the sidelines of the event.
"There are UNESCO and ISESCO, there are the UN and the League of Arab States. All these organizations complement each other. Let's say no one knows Islamic culture and cuisine better than Muslims, and no one knows Slavic customs and mores better than Slavs - and if the people promote themselves, show their traditions and cultural heritage, the world will be richer. In addition, we need to put some cultural barriers to protect our national cultures in the days of globalization," he noted in the first place.
"One of the essential parts of national culture is cuisine. The Islamic Culinary Congress was created two years ago to preserve Islamic cuisine and show it to the whole world. Just as we promote kosher or vegetarian cuisine, we promote our culinary traditions. And the most important thing here is so that people feel the special taste of Islamic cuisine in different countries. And we can promote both our culture and our worldview through cuisine," Tahir Amiraslanov stressed.
A significant share of the Azerbaijani cuisine at the Congress is the merit of the Azerbaijani chefs. "I think that other countries will start working more actively, and maybe some of them will make up the bulk. In general, we have been promoting national cuisine for many years, so we are well known," the president of the Azerbaijan National Culinary Association said.
Tahir Amiraslanov said that the cookbook with the Erivan Khanate recipes will be published soon. "Now there is a trend towards revival of old traditions. For example, the 'Erivan Khanate' book with Azerbaijani recipes from the Erivan region will be released soon. Earlier we presented a book of Karabakh recipes, now we are working on a book of Baku cuisine," he said.
