Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan the meal builds to plov — saffron rice mounded on a platter, its crackly golden crust (the qazmaq) broken over the top, ringed by stewed meat, chestnuts and dried fruit. There are dozens of versions and it is the undisputed king of any celebration table, carried out last and with ceremony.

Before it comes a spread of smaller pleasures: qutab, thin griddle breads folded over pumpkin or herbs; grape-leaf dolma; and in Sheki a sealed crock of piti, mutton and chickpeas slow-cooked with chestnuts until you tip it over saffron-soaked bread. The country runs on tea — strong, black, poured endlessly into slim armudu glasses shaped like a pear and taken with cherry jam and a lump of sugar held between the teeth. Down south they stuff fish and chicken with walnut-and-herb levengi; in Sheki they layer saffron halva into golden sheets. Slow food, poured over long afternoons.