Don Curry and the Unknown Bird

Don Curry also considers himself a researcher and discoverer in the culinary field who is fundamentally open to new taste experiences. Whether fried tarantulas in Cambodia, beaver goulash in Lithuania or zebra steak in Namibia - Don Curry likes to open his mouth and stomach to regional specialties. And sometimes he even allows himself to be persuaded to eat something that he has no idea what it is.

However, the breakfast at the Vego Hotel offered nothing unexpected or even mysterious; with sausages and various slices of sausage, it was at best significantly more meat-heavy than Don Curry's previous breakfast offerings. But with enough tea, a lot of things could be washed down. Strengthened, he checked out and went on a long walk through the center of Ganja. The hammam and the mosque in front of the front door made a very good impression, even in daylight. Beyond a small tree-lined park, the central square opened up into a huge open space, at the end of which a stern-looking copper statue of Heydar Aliyev loomed larger than life. The left front of the open space was occupied by a huge, palatial building surrounded by police posts: the local administration. As Don Curry hurriedly climbed the stairs to take the shortest route to the cross street, a police officer barked vigorously at him. Don Curry didn't have the freedom to choose his own path here; he had to go back up the steps and go around the stairs.

At the end of the cross street, the famous bottle house, which a long-deceased loner had designed over the course of many years, was waiting for him. Thousands of bottles decorated the facade in an artful arrangement. But it didn't seem all that impressive. He walked past the Russian churches into the Xan Bağı, the Khan Garden - a beautiful park with several tea rooms, monuments, an open-air theater and the remains of the former city fortifications. From there it was just a few steps left to get back to Kia in front of the Vego Hotel.

Two more destinations on the outskirts of Ganja were still on his agenda. First he headed for the huge Heydar Aliyev Park, which welcomes visitors with a mighty triumphal arch à la Paris. Here you have the opportunity to rent bicycles so that you can really do justice to the wide area of the park. Don Curry made do with his feet and only explored the front part, where dozens of gardeners were busy watering the flowers and tending to the artfully trimmed boxwood figures. A particularly large bush had been trimmed into the shape of a concert grand piano complete with a pianist and singer. Don Curry also found a dozens-meter-long tunnel through a boxwood thicket impressive.

His last destination in Ganja was the modern mausoleum of Nizami, the most important Iranian poet in the Middle Ages. Almost like a rocket ready to take off, it rose steeply into the sky; in the subtly oriental interior you could look down on the writer's marble sarcophagus, surrounded by precious carpets.

For the rest of the day it was Kia's turn to take Don Curry around 400 km from Ganja in the middle of Azerbaijan to the very southeast, almost to the Iranian border. Here lie the Hyrcanian Forests, one of the few extensive forest areas in the country that extend far into neighboring Iran. Since it was already getting dark, Don Curry was no longer able to go on a hike, but instead admired the unspoiled green landscape mainly from the car; Only in a few places did he step out briefly to get a more detailed look.

His pre-booked hotel, Xan Lankaran, is on the edge of the port city of Lankaran. While a caravanserai served as accommodation for traveling merchants in earlier times, a Han served as an inn for all other travelers. This tradition lives on in Xan Lankaran to this day. The half-timbered building offers wonderfully oriental rooms that also have all of today's technical amenities. The attached restaurant also maintains the tradition of earlier inns. Don Curry was surprised that there was only one table in the courtyard but half a dozen waiters. Only gradually, after he had secured the "only" table, did he notice that all the remaining tables were in separate rooms where the waiters brought the ordered food and drinks. This gave families and groups of friends the opportunity to dine privately and undisturbed.

In addition, as Don Curry had read, the Xan Lankaran restaurant is famous for its levengi, another Azerbaijani culinary specialty that is primarily native to the Absheron Peninsula and right here in the southeast of the country. Levengi usually comes as stuffed fish or stuffed chicken, but the Xan Lankaran knows four other types of levengi, including stuffed duck and stuffed coot. However, the waiter recommended Don Curry a Gərəf-Levengi; that would be best for an individual. When Don Curry asked what a gərəf was, the waiter simply replied: "It's a bird." So Don Curry plunged into the unknown and also ordered a dovga soup, which consists of yogurt, rice, chickpeas and herbs, and a lentil plov to accompany the levengi. For the first time, Don Curry wanted to treat himself to a glass of Azerbaijani red wine with this special meal. The waiter poured vigorously from the bottle - and lo and behold, the red wine was a white wine. Embarrassed, the waiter tried to throw away the wine. But Don Curry insisted on at least trying it - a good fruity, off-dry white. Don Curry had the glass filled completely and postponed the red wine until later. Then the waiter brought a large tray of various appetizers and salads for Don Curry to choose from. He chose a piece each of walnut Kükü and watercress Kükü (Küküs are very thick, airy omelettes) and an eggplant levengi. He had barely finished eating the little delicacies when the rest went onto his table. He was particularly excited about the Gərəf-Levengi. The filling of all Levengis consists of walnuts, fried onions, dates, raisins and cherry plums, which are chopped and made into a grainy paste. Unfortunately, the sour cherry plums made the Levengi a little too sour for Don Curry's taste. And the stuffing filled not just the bird halves, but the entire pan, so that the gərəf was actually bathing in it. He still couldn't identify the bird; too big for a quail, too small for a type of chicken. Possibly a pigeon? No matter, the bird was tasty, even if the numerous small bones meant intensive, almost surgical work. Thankfully, several cats gathered around Don Curry's table and devoted themselves to the Gərəf bones. Did they know what kind of bird that was? A particularly small kitten even dared to sit on the table, but was quickly chased away by the waiters rushing past. Don Curry had long since been served the Azerbaijani red, which was also delicious. At the end of the opulent meal, the white wine that had not been ordered but was drunk did not appear on the bill.

Back in his beautiful room in the Xan Lankaran, Don Curry spent some time researching the Internet to determine the identity of the Gərəf, unfortunately without success. Who knows what he took in there...

PS: Further investigations after the return journey revealed that Gərəf is a teal, a particularly small species of duck.