Azerbaijani cuisine wows crowds at major Italian food festival PHOTO

Azerbaijani honey and traditional sweets have attracted hundreds of visitors at the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2026 international gastronomic festival in Turin, Italy.

The State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan said the country participated in the festival, held from September 24 to 27 under the motto “Biodiversity at the Centre of Attention”, Caliber.Az reports.

Azerbaijan presented its national pavilion, “Azerbaijan: Biodiversity, Heritage and Taste,” featuring a variety of national products, including hazelnuts, different types of honey, tea, local varieties of rice and wheat, as well as traditional jams and pickles.

The pavilion also offered a contemporary menu inspired by Azerbaijani national cuisine, highlighting the country’s traditional tea culture and sweets. Visitors were able to sample govut, shakarbura, pakhlava, walnut halva, samani (malt) halva and enjirfaraj (fig paste), among other traditional delicacies.

The State Tourism Agency said the presentation generated significant interest, with long queues of hundreds of foreign tourists forming at the pavilion to taste Azerbaijani confectionery and sweets.

“The aroma of govut and natural Caucasian honey, spreading through the streets of Turin, led to long queues of hundreds of foreign tourists forming in front of our pavilion,” the agency said.

It added that tastings and live demonstrations allowed participants to explore how Azerbaijani cuisine combines the preservation of endangered recipes and flavors with sustainable development and the protection of the country’s cultural heritage.

By Vafa Guliyeva