Baku, Azerbaijan

  • Date
  • 1 May 1999

Dinner at a caravan serai. We drank Turkish red wine and ate delicious food. Beet salad, tomatoes and cucumbers, cheese, bread, and caviar to start. Then for entrée, Jim had beef with pilaf. I ordered “shrimp in pastry with special sauce” expecting some exotic creation. To my disappointment, the shrimp were fried in batter and the special sauce tasted like a bad version of Tartar sauce. I couldn’t believe my bad choice. Then we drank tea and ate a small piece of baklava – the best I’ve ever had because it was not too sweet.