Azerbaijani cuisine is a mixture of Turkic, Iranian, and Mediterranean cultures. The most common main dish is plov, or pilaf, which is made of rice and other foods that are cooked and served in separate dishes, then combined at the table. Over 100 varieties of plov come from Azerbaijan. Plovs are often both sweet and sour; pomegranate juice, dried lemons, or sour plums add a little tartness, while the sweetness comes from apricots, raisins, or cherries. Kebabs and other meat and poultry dishes are often accompanied by thin slices of onions and fresh herb sprigs on a flatbread called lavash. Braised quail in a walnut and pomegranate sauce is another enticing Azeri dish. Herbed feta cheese is often found on an Azeri table, as well as cucumber-and-yogurt dip. A special Azeri soup contains meatballs stuffed with sour plums. Meals are often accompanied by a light and refreshing fruity sherbet drink. Desserts in Azerbaijan are often made with honey, such as the layered pastry, baklava. Another favorite dessert is silky saffron pudding.

Pastimes vary depending upon several factors including location and economic conditions. One activity maintaining its popularity is sitting at a “caykhana” (tea cafe), discussing life, and often playing backgammon or dominoes. This activity remains largely gender segregated: a woman playing backgammon at a tea cafe is seen rarely. Increasingly popular are computer games and chat, and not only in Baku, as the number of internet cafes is steadily increasing in major towns and cities throughout Azerbaijan. At approximately 70 cents per hour, many people find internet cafes affordable. Especially in the capital Baku, shopping along the main closed pedestrian walkway remains popular in the afternoons and evenings, and all day on the weekends. The summer months are especially marked by visits to seaside dachas, outdoor barbecues, strolls along the city’s seaside boulevards, and an increasing vibrant selection of outdoor restaurants and discos.

Uzeyir Hajibeyov (18851948) is considered Azerbaijan’s most brilliant and beloved composer. The first Azeri to be awarded the title People’s Artist of the USSR, Hajibeyov combined Azeri traditional instruments such as the tar, zurna, and kamancha, with western traditional musical instruments and musical forms to create Azerbaijani modern music. Azerbaijan was also the first country of the Caucasus region to produce an opera: Hajibeyov’s “Leyli and Majnun.” The composer produced a total of seven operas and three musical comedies.

Famous Azerbaijanis include prominent scientists such as Dr. Lotfi Zadeh, the developer of “fuzzy logic,” a form of logic that tries to account for the “gray” areas of human behavior and perception and has been used by scientists and engineers in the design of hundreds of everyday items, such as air conditioners, computers, microwaves, televisions, washers, and dryers; and Dr. Ali Javan, who invented the gas laser in 1960, which is instrumental in the telecommunications industry.

"Cultural Handbook for the East European and Eurasian States" American Councils for International Eduction: ACTR/ACCELS, ed. Lisa A. Choate and Dan E. Davidson
http://www.americancouncils.org/pdfs/cultural_handbook_03.pdf