Within the framework of the changes carried out in the structure of the Institute of Folklore of ANAS taking into account the scientific challenges of the modern era and the cultural and spiritual needs of the country, the department of Ceremonial folklore and national culinary traditions was established on the basis of the department of Ceremonial folklore at the expense of internal the decision was made at a special meeting of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan in Khankendi – Karabakh University.

The new department was created under the leadership of the President of ANAS, academician Isa Habibbayli due to the need to expand the research spectrum of folklore science in the context of institutional reforms carried out to direct the activities of scientific research institutions of ANAS to the leading scientific challenges in the world and the national interests of our state.

The scientific researches carried out in the department of Ceremonial folklore of the Institute of Folklore of ANAS for many years and the results obtained created conditions for the formation of a valuable research base in this area. These scientific foundations open up wide opportunities for the structural reorganization of the activities of the department and the complex, systematic and comprehensive study of folk ceremonies, rituals, as well as their important component, culinary traditions. In the conditions of widespread socio-anthropological approaches in modern folklore studies, the study of kitchen traditions as one of the main carriers of collective memory and folk knowledge is considered necessary from a scientific point of view.

At the same time, the systematic study of national cuisine, as well as the presentation and promotion of this area on a scientific basis, is of particular importance in the light of the fact that Azerbaijan has become an attractive country in terms of tourism in the region and globally. The research to be carried out in this direction is of great importance both from the scientific-theoretical and socio-cultural point of view.

At the same time, in the current conditions of increasing attempts to assimilate and falsify our national culinary heritage, the study of this area in the context of folklore is of strategic importance in terms of protection and promotion of national-cultural identity.