Armenian cuisine () includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and drinks. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived and where Armenian empires existed. The cuisine also reflects the traditional crops and animals grown and raised in Armenian-populated or controlled areas.
The preparation of meat, fish, and vegetable dishes in an Armenian kitchen often requires stuffing, frothing, and puréeing.Pokhlebkin, V. V. (1978). Russian Delight: A Cookbook of the Soviet People. London: Pan Books. Lamb, eggplant, and bread (lavash) are basic features of Armenian cuisine. Armenians traditionally prefer cracked wheat to maize and rice. The flavor of the food often relies on the quality and freshness of the ingredients rather than on excessive use of spices.
Fresh herbs are used extensively, both in the food and as accompaniments. Dried herbs are used in the winter when fresh herbs are not available. Wheat is the primary grain and is found in a variety of forms, such as whole wheat, shelled wheat, bulgur (parboiled cracked wheat), semolina, farina, and flour. Historically, rice was used mostly in the cities and in certain rice-growing areas (such as Marash and the region around Yerevan). Legumes are used liberally, especially chick peas, lentils, white beans, and kidney beans. Nuts are used both for texture and to add nutrition to Lenten dishes. Of primary usage are not only walnuts, almonds, and pine nuts, but also hazelnuts, pistachios (in Cilicia), and nuts from regional trees.
Fresh and dried fruit are used both as main ingredients and as sour agents. As main ingredients, the following fruits are used: apricots (fresh and dried), quince, melons, and others. As sour agents, the following fruits are used: sumac berries (in dried, powdered form), sour grapes, plums (either sour or dried), pomegranate, apricots, cherries (especially sour cherries), and lemons. In addition to grape leaves, cabbage leaves, chard, beet leaves, radish leaves, strawberry leaves, and others are also stuffed.
Background A typical meal in an Armenian household might consist of bread, butter, buttermilk, cheese, fresh and pickled vegetables, and radishes. Lunch might include a vegetable or meatball soup with sour milk.
Lamb, yogurt, eggplant and bread are basic features of the Armenian cuisine, but there are some regional differences. In Soviet cookbooks the Armenian cuisine is always stated to be the oldest of Transcaucasia and one of the oldest in all of Asia. Armenian dishes make use of cracked wheat, while Georgian variations use maize. Armenian cuisine also makes use of mixed flours made from wheat, potato and maize, which produces flavors that are difficult to replicate. Archaeologists have found traces of barley, grapes, lentils, peas, plums, sesame, and wheat during excavations of the Erebuni Fortress in Yerevan.
Herbs are used copiously in Armenian cuisine, and Armenian desserts are often flavored with rose water, orange flower water and honey. Salads are a staple of the Armenian diet, along with various yogurt soups and lamb stews, which sometimes include apricots. Pomegranate juice is a popular beverage. Murat Belge wrote that both Armenian and Iranian cuisine have meat and fruit dishes, where meat is cooked together with fruits like quince and plums, which are uncommon in Ottoman cuisine.
Mezes made with chickpeas, lentils, beans and eggplant play a role in Armenian cuisine, often served with traditional lavash bread. Lavash may also be used as a wrap for various combinations of fried meat, vegetables, cheese and herbs. Armenian cuisine also features filled pastry called boereg, various types of sausages, toasted pumpkin seeds, pistachios, pine nuts, basturma (seasoned pressed beef), and dolma.
Cinnamon is a common spice in Armenian cuisine; it is sprinkled on soups, breads, desserts and sometimes fish. Salads are served with a lemon-cinnamon dressing alongside as an accompaniment to meat kebabs. In a survey of Armenian-American cuisine, ginger was rated an important spice.
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Armenians were affected by the ongoing Ottoman–Persian Wars (one text said "The whole land is enslaved by the cursed Suleyman") and produced many literary works in the 16th and 17th centuries emphasizing the Christian identity of Armenians in troubled Anatolia. Food became a central theme in this body of Armenian literature. In contrast with prohibitions in early Armenian law codes against Armenians eating or drinking with Muslims, a "sort of blasphemous" 17th century Armenian drinking song describes a feast in Van attended by Armenian priests, laymen and Turks, with the refrain repeating "Intercede to the great barrel, bountiful is its wine." The poem contains many Armenian terms for common foods. Some of the terms found in Andreas are: Halva Porak Paxlava Harisa Lahana K'ufta Xorovac
Ardashes H. Keoleian's Oriental Cookbook (1913), a collection of recipes from the Middle East "adapted to American tastes and methods of preparation" includes some recipes from Armenian cuisine.
Mark Zanger, a Boston-based food reporter, wrote that Armenian-American cookbook author Rose Baboian's collection of traditional Armenian recipes "stands out as a model of American ethnic food because she recorded so many traditions". She is considered to have anticipated Armenian American fusion cooking with recipes like "chocolate yogurt".
Grains and legumes Grains used in traditional Armenian cuisine included millet, wheat, barley, rye, peas and maize. Various legumes were also consumed such as lentils, chickpeas, and beans.
Grains are used for a variety of purposes: traditional lavash bread is made from wheat flour and grains are also added to soups to give them a thicker consistency. Lavash is baked in a traditional clay tonir oven. Bread is a very important staple of Armenian cuisine.
Kofta can be made with bulgur, finely chopped vegetables, herbs and often lamb. There are variations intended to be eaten cold or served hot. Sini keufteh is a dish similar to kibbeh, but layered and baked in a baking dish. The two outer layers are made with bulgur, lamb mince, onion and spices. The inner filling includes butter, onion, lamb mince, pine nuts and spices.
Harissa (Armenian հարիսա harisa, also known as ճիտապուր) is a thick porridge made of wheat and meat cooked together for a long time, originally in the tonir but nowadays over a stove. Ardashes Hagop Keoleian called it the "national dish" of Armenians. Traditionally, harissa was prepared on feast days in communal pots. The wheat used in harissa is typically shelled (pelted) wheat, though in Adana, harissa is made with կորկոտ (korkot; ground, par-boiled shelled wheat). Harissa can be made with lamb, beef, or chicken. A small piece of butter is often put on top of the harissa.
A common dish of Armenian cuisine is pilaf (եղինձ; yeghints). Pilaf is a seasoned rice, bulgur, or shelled wheat dish often served with meats such as lamb or beef. Armenian recipes may combine vermicelli or orzo with rice cooked in stock seasoned with mint, parsley and allspice. One traditional Armenian pilaf is made with the same noodle rice mixture cooked in stock with raisins, almonds and allspice. Armenian rices are discussed by Rose Baboian in her cookbook from 1964 which includes recipes for different pilafs, most rooted in her birthplace of Aintab in Turkey. Baboian recommends that the noodles be stir-fried first in chicken fat before being added to the pilaf. Another Armenian cookbook written by Vağinag Pürad recommends to render poultry fat in the oven with red pepper until the fat mixture turns a red color before using the strained fat to prepare pilaf. Pilaf made with bulgur and liver is a specialty of Zeytun (present day Süleymanlı).
Lapa is a kind of savory rice porridge or gruel eaten in Armenia, but it also is an Armenian word with several meanings.Robert Dankoff, Armenian Loanwords in Turkish, . p. 53 snippet One is "watery boiled rice, thick rice soup, mush"; lepe refers to various rice dishes differing by region. Antranig Azhderian describes Armenian pilaf as a "dish resembling porridge".
In Agn (present-day Kemaliye) a thin flatbread called loshig was baked and dried. It was soaked again before being eaten. Badjoug was a pastry of fat and flour stamped with designs and sent as a wedding invitation. Glodj was unleavened bread made for Lent and klrdig was a bread made of semolina.
Herbs, spices and sauces Armenians make extensive use of various herbs in their dishes. One porridge prepared from cereals and wild herbs is called kerchik. (The same name is used by Yazidis.) Armenians usually eat kerchik with pickled cabbage, whereas Yazidis eat it with knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). The Eastern Anatolia region, where many Armenians lived prior to the Armenian genocide, has rich plant biodiversity with over 3,000 vascular plant taxa—of these almost 800 are endemic species. The inhabitants of this region often lived in inaccessible areas and were dependent on local cultivated and wild flora. Some of the most important areas of the region, in terms of plant diversity, include Harput, Lake Hazar and Munzur.
In Armenia there are more than 3,600 wild plant species. Those include stinging nettle (mostly used for tea), asparagus and mallow an herb that formed the original basis for marshmallows.
Commonly used spices include black pepper, sumac, cumin, caraway, cardamom, mahleb, clove, anise, curcuma, fennel, fenugreek, blue fenugreek, allspice, ziziphora, saffron, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon. Some greens were dried and used to season cooking including garlic, spinach, parsley, mint, coriander, dill, summer savory, thyme, tarragon, leek, chive, celery, marjoram, bay leaves, and basil. Red pepper pulp was dried in the sun. Sprigs of terebinth were dried and infused in a mixture of water, olive oil and brine, then toasted and ground. The ground terebinth was added as a seasoning for eetch, tabouleh, and baked breads.Complete Armenia Cookbook; Vezjian;
The Armenian spice mix cemen () consists of caraway, paprika, blue fenugreek, fenugreek, black pepper, allspice, cumin, garlic, salt, and sometimes cayenne. When used as a marinade (mostly for basturma), the spice blend is added to tomato paste, parsley, crushed garlic cloves, and either olive oil or matzoon. A sweet Armenian “spice mix” called khoritz, which is used to prepare Armenian desserts like gata and nazook, is made of sugar, flour, and butter. In some variations walnuts are added.
One Armenian sauce that is also the base of some Armenian dishes is lecho (). It is made with tomato, peppers/paprika, parsley and salt, and it is usually served hot. Red jajek (), also called matsnaprtosh ( matsnaprt'oš) in Artsakh, is a yogurt sauce made with matzoon, sour cream, red beet, onion, garlic, cucumber(optional), black pepper, dill, and coriander. Matzoon alone can also be used as a sauce, and spices and herbs are often added to it then. Other popular sauces used in Armenian cuisine include ajika and jajek.
Dairy and cheese
Typical dairy items in Armenian cuisine include matzoon, strained yogurt, butter, cream, and cheese.