How many varieties of apricot are there in Ordubad?
Apricot varieties «Ağ ərik», «Şalax», «Badamı», «Novrəstə»… — a town's apricot map and the qakh tradition.
Ordubad is Azerbaijan's apricot capital. Local gardeners distinguish more than 20 varieties of apricot: the early-ripening «Novrəstə», the sweet and large «Şalax», «Badamı» with its almond-flavoured kernel, the pale «Ağ ərik», and «Xosrovşahı» and «Təbərzə», considered the best for qakh. Each variety has its own time and its own use — one is eaten fresh, one goes into jam, one into qakh.
Qakh is Ordubad's thousand-year-old method of preserving. The apricot is split in two, the stone removed, and it is dried on the rooftop, on the shaded side, by the wind alone; qakh dried in the sun loses its colour and flavour. Good qakh stays soft when pressed by hand and has a light amber colour.
Ordubad has another tradition of its own: "kernel qakh", in which a kernel is placed where the stone used to be. In our chests, apricot qakh comes made exactly this way — in season, on the rooftops, dried by the wind.
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