CONTENTS:

Cultural Overview

Recipies:

• Azerbaijan

• Saudi Arabia

The art of cookery in Azerbaijan has a long history since the past. In many places archaeologists found primitive implements made in Stone Age. Stone axes, hammers, utensil and other house implements found in ancient camps testify to the origin of primitive cattlebreeding and agriculture. All these ancient implements as well as on-rock carvings in Gobustan represent an original ethnographic encyclopaedia of the people. Even in Neolith the population of Azerbaijan grew wheat and barley which were main ingredients along with meat to cook meal. In Bronze Age with cattle-breeding development people started to use milk products in their food. Azerbaijanians used clay churns even from time of immemorial. In process of evolution the culture of nourishment cookery ability of the Azerbaijan people have been improved. It is widely known among other oriental cuisines and some of its dishes were included in the menu of international cuisines. It has a lot of historically stipulated expedient corresponding to the national style, taste and mode of life. Dishes of the Azerbaijan cuisine are mentioned in ancient manuscripts, notes of travellers and researchers. Geographic position of Azerbaijan on the junction of ancient and busy trade ways from north to south and from east to west promoted the penetration of generous gifts from the land of Azerbaijan to the world market along with recognition of the local food products obtained by hardworking and artistic hands of Azerbaijanians. Historically the life of the Azerbaijan people proceeded and developed close to other peoples and impacted their national cuisines by introducing new dishes and developing new habits. But at the same time the Azerbaijan cuisine has got its own originality and national color specified by cooking techniques, flavour and traditions of the Azerbaijan table parties.

CONTENTS

This agricultural success is all the more impressive considering the geography of the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia is a large country without permanent rivers, and less than two percent of its land surface is under cultivation. The Rub AlKhali (Empty Quarter), the largest sand desert in the world, stretches across the southern part of the Kingdom. Overall, only an average of about four inches of rain falls annually in the country - one of the lowest rates in the world. At the same time, the Arabian Peninsula has always harbored fertile regions. The farmers of the Asir region in the southwest have long practiced rainfed agriculture, raising maize, wheat, barley and an array of vegetables and fruit in their terraced fields. Verdant palm oases, such as Al-Qatif and AlHasa in the Eastern Province, have always enlivened the brown of the desert.In Hail and Al-Qasim provinces, long stretches of arable farmland yield grains and vegetables and are dotted today with chicken and dairy farms.

Water, of course, is the key to agriculture in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom has successfully implemented a multifaceted program to provide the vast supplies of water necessary to achieve the spectacular growth of the agricultural sector. A network of dams has been built to trap and utilize precious seasonal floods. Vast underground water reservoirs have been tapped through deep wells. Desalination plants have been built to produce fresh water from the sea for urban and industrial use, thereby freeing other sources for agriculture. Facilities have also been put into place to treat urban and industrial run-off for agricultural irrigation. These efforts collectively have helped transform vast tracts of the desert into fertile farmland. Land under cultivation has grown from under 400,000 acres in 1976 to more than 8 million acres in 1993. While fish production through traditional offshore fishing has increased steadily in recent years to more than 56,000 tons in 1992, the Kingdom is exploring ways of further increasing its catch and to encourage greater private investment. One of the new areas in which the private sector is investing with government support is aquaculture. The number of fish farms, either in pens in the sea or in tanks onshore, has been increasing steadily. Most are located along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast.

The kingdom's most dramatic agricultural accomplishment,noted worldwide, has been its rapid transformation from importer to exporter of wheat. In 1978, the country built its first grain silos. By 1984, it had become self-sufficient in wheat. Shortly thereafter, Saudi Arabia began exporting wheat. Production rose from 26,000 tons in 1970 to 416,000 tons in 1981. In 1992, production was estimated at 4.2 million tons. In the major producing areas of Tabuk, Hail and Al-Qasim, average yields have more than quadrupled to 3.6 tons per acre. Saudi Arabia has exported wheat to 30 countries, including China, the former Soviet Union, nations of the European Economic Community, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and various Arab and Islamic countries.Between 1986 and 1992, Saudi Arabia exported approximately 12 million tons of wheat. The Kingdom is not only increasing wheat exports, but it is also stockpiling a reserve supply and has increased its silo capacity to approximately 2.5 million tons. In addition, Saudi farmers grow substantial amounts of other grains such as barley, sorghum and millet.

The Kingdom has also stepped up fruit and vegetable production by improving both agricultural techniques and the roads that link farmers with urban consumers. Saudi Arabia is a major exporter of fruits and vegetables to its neighbors. Among its most productive crops are watermelon, grapes, citrus fruits, onions, squash and tomatoes. At Jizan in the country's well-watered southwest, the Al-Hikmah Research Station is producing tropical fruits including pineapples, paw-paws, bananas, mangoes and guavas. This agricultural transformation has altered the country's traditional diet, supplying a diversity of local foods unimaginable just a generation ago. Dates are no longer the vital staple for Saudi Arabians that they were in the past, although they still constitute an important supplementary food. Saudi Arabia has approximately nine million, or one-tenth, of the world's productive dates palms. Dates production grew to more than 543,000 tons in 1992. Much of this is used as international humanitarian aid. Several factories, including one in Al-Hasa, are dedicated entirely to the production of dates for foreign aid and send tens of thousands of tons of dates each year to relieve famine and food shortages in Arab, Islamic and other nations. A large portion of Saudi Arabia's wheat production is also provided as assistance to. needy countries. At least 16 countries have directly benefited from Saudi Arabia's food aid offered through the United Nations World Food Program. The Kingdom is second only to the United States in contributions to the program. To encourage private investment in the agriculture rural sector, Saudi Arabia has allocated substantial financial resources for improving roads linking producing areas with consumer markets. The land distribution and reclamation program, which was introduced in 1968, aims at distributing fallow land free of charge, mostly in small plots, as a means of increasing the area under cultivation and encouraging crop and livestock production. The beneficiaries are required to develop a minimum of a quarter of the land surface within two to five years.Upon compliance, the-full ownership of the land is transferred to the farmer.Under the Fifth Development Plan (1990-94), allocations for the agricultural sector were increased to 3.84 billion dollars. The government continues to assist new farmers in implementing capital-intensive projects with special emphasis on diversification and greater efficiency. To raise farm productivity,the government also funds and supports research projects aimed at producing new food crops to increase harvest and develop plant strains with greater resistance to pests. These programs are conducted in cooperation between local farmers and scientists at agricultural research facilities at Saudi Arabian universities and colleges.