Sunday, November 20, 2005
Thanksgiving Advance Work
Thursday was the National Day of Revival, thus a holiday, so M and I headed down to the Teze Bazaar to scope out the Thanksgiving products on offer. Teze Bazaar is sort of like our Costco -- if it's not there, in vast quantities, you probably don't really need it.
Is there anything that cannot be improved by pickling?
The Teze Bazaar is also the place to go for all kinds of meat products. Tripe, boiled sheep heads, trotters, tongue, even the forbidden meat-- it's all there. You have to a be little bit careful though. The floor is slippery with mystery slime and you have to duck shrapnel from "butchers" hacking away at carcasses with hatchets.
One-stop shopping at Teze Bazaar
I found the Turkey lady who supplied excellent birds last year. She was wearing the same green headscarf and had a varied selection of turkeys and chickens, already butchered and cleaned. A "free-range" tom in Azerbaijan isn't going to weigh more than eight pounds, and we have 20+ people coming for dinner, so I ordered two of her biggest for pick-up on Wednesday. Although she's not a particularly squeamish veg, M recused herself from the negotiation.
After exploring the old copper market and negotiating for Goychay pomegranates and mandarins from Lankaran, we decided it was time to head off to the wholesale liquor market (at least as important for Thanksgiving dinner as the turkey).
As we pulled out the bazaar, I saw one of those things that reminded me, as if it was necessary, that for all its nouveau riche vulgarity, Baku still has at least one foot planted firmly in the third world.
"Don't look, Don't look!" I yelled at M, who was paying off the guy who blocks traffic for you as you back out of the parking spot. I grabbed for my camera, since I am incapable of NOT looking.
A guy had opened the back of his Lada station wagon and pulled out by the horns the recently-removed head of a huge, hairy water buffalo.
She had just missed it.
Fortunately for her, the guy set the water buffalo head down on the sidewalk and returned to the station wagon. He pulled out the head of a much smaller black and white cow, grabbing, it like a bowling ball, thumb in the eye socket.
We screamed like little girls.
Gourds are nice, too
Is there anything that cannot be improved by pickling?
The Teze Bazaar is also the place to go for all kinds of meat products. Tripe, boiled sheep heads, trotters, tongue, even the forbidden meat-- it's all there. You have to a be little bit careful though. The floor is slippery with mystery slime and you have to duck shrapnel from "butchers" hacking away at carcasses with hatchets.
One-stop shopping at Teze Bazaar
I found the Turkey lady who supplied excellent birds last year. She was wearing the same green headscarf and had a varied selection of turkeys and chickens, already butchered and cleaned. A "free-range" tom in Azerbaijan isn't going to weigh more than eight pounds, and we have 20+ people coming for dinner, so I ordered two of her biggest for pick-up on Wednesday. Although she's not a particularly squeamish veg, M recused herself from the negotiation.
After exploring the old copper market and negotiating for Goychay pomegranates and mandarins from Lankaran, we decided it was time to head off to the wholesale liquor market (at least as important for Thanksgiving dinner as the turkey).
As we pulled out the bazaar, I saw one of those things that reminded me, as if it was necessary, that for all its nouveau riche vulgarity, Baku still has at least one foot planted firmly in the third world.
"Don't look, Don't look!" I yelled at M, who was paying off the guy who blocks traffic for you as you back out of the parking spot. I grabbed for my camera, since I am incapable of NOT looking.
A guy had opened the back of his Lada station wagon and pulled out by the horns the recently-removed head of a huge, hairy water buffalo.
She had just missed it.
Fortunately for her, the guy set the water buffalo head down on the sidewalk and returned to the station wagon. He pulled out the head of a much smaller black and white cow, grabbing, it like a bowling ball, thumb in the eye socket.
We screamed like little girls.
Gourds are nice, too
Comments:
<< Home
i kinda miss the flower infused honey they sell for a shirvan a bottle.
say hi to the chicken lady for me.
Kelvin
Post a Comment
say hi to the chicken lady for me.
Kelvin
# posted by 
: 7:47 AM
: 7:47 AM << Home
