Dagestan and Chechnya adjoin each other in the region lying just north of the Caucasus (see azerbaijan and georgia), one mountainous and the other on the edge of the steppe. Both border on the Caspian Sea.
Very little has been published about their cuisines, but a series of pioneer papers by Magomedkhanov (1991, and 1993; Magomedkhanov and Luguev 1990) has given quite a bit of detail about the food habits and customs of Dagestan, which may be supplemented by the relevant chapter in Chenciner (1997). The diet is a simple one, built on enduring traditions. A roll-call of the daily fare would include mutton (kebabs, especially shashlik), dried meat, pasta dumplings, stuffed pancakes, flatbreads such as lavash, cheese and the other dairy products of the region, honey. Tea is the beverage.
