Tweet
ARMENIAN CUISINE
NOW LEBANON
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=341887&MID=0&PID=0
Dec 12 2011
Aline Kamakian and Barbara Drieskens' new cookbook brings an emotional
history to a wider audience
You are what you eat, they say. And if what you're eating comes from
another culture, the smells, spices and textures you encounter are
doing more than just giving your taste buds a change of scene; they're
inviting you to stick your spoon into a whole different culture. A
new cookbook, Armenian Cuisine, is offering readers a record of a
gastronomic legacy as well as a history of a community in exile.
Armenians have been a feature of Lebanon's kaleidoscopic ethnic
landscape for centuries, but the majority of families that make up
today's population of approximately 150,000 were driven here on
the terrible "death marches" devised by the Ottoman Turks during
the First World War. Another influx of persecuted Armenians arrived
in 1939 when Syrian territory was ceded to Turkey, and an Armenian
community settled in Anjar, where it still exists today.
Welcomed into Lebanon, the Armenian community flourished, and today,
it has its own churches, schools and cultural centers, while being
fully integrated into the Lebanese life and language. In the last
few years, one particular aspect of Armenian ethnicity has become
a source of pride and a way for the community to share its unique
qualities through that most essential forum of cultural exchange:
the dining table.
"Before people used to think that Armenian food is just soujouk and
basterma," says Aline Kamakian, co-author of the book Armenian Cuisine
and co-owner of one of Beirut's first Armenian restaurants, Mayrig.
"Now they start to realize that there's much more to it."
The crowded launch of the cookbook at Mayrig included a traditional
"kinetson" ceremony, "baptizing" a volume in a basin of wine, and
the sale of small spicy pepper plants, a gesture toward the famous
red pepper paste that gives many Armenian dishes their distinctive
character.
"It's my way to give back to the Armenian community," says Kamakian.
"It's my way to thank all Armenian mothers who kept their tradition
alive, although they really went through a hard time to do that."
More than a record of the recipes of Armenian mothers and grandmothers,
the book - in English with the Armenian names of dishes in Roman
script - is a tool for spreading awareness on the Armenian story
worldwide and encourages young Lebanese of Armenian origin to continue
to connect with their heritage.
Kamakian, described in the Armenian Cuisine as "one who lives full
speed, experiences and 'does'," needed a partner to realize her
dream, but it took a little persuading for Barbara Drieskens, an
anthropologist, to get enthused by the project. "In the beginning I
was thinking a cookbook is nothing for me," she says. But "little by
little I got won over by [Kamakian's] enthusiasm, by her willingness
to do something toward the Armenian community, and I started to find
out there's a lot of anthropology in it, a lot of culture and a lot
of identity of the people that gets transmitted through food."
The recipes in Armenian Cuisine take the cook or reader on a journey
from houses on the slopes of Mount Ararat, through food markets in
Aleppo, to Harissa porridge-making ceremonies in Anjar. The stories
of fighters and survivors, and particularly of women, are woven into
the pages of recipes for salads, mezze, pastries, meat and fish dishes
and more, brought to life by reams of luscious photography.
This is a cuisine to be celebrated and shared. "There is so much
sharing in it," reflects Drieskens. "It's the language, the religion
and the food that make the identity of a people, and [Armenians]
have so much pride in their food. Also, [the mothers] have so much
patience, cooking for hours and hours to make tables full of different
dishes." With Armenian Cuisine, the legacy of these mothers and their
memories has been recorded for all to share.
Armenian Cuisine can be bought at all major bookstores, from Amazon
or via the dedicated website
From: A. Papazian
NOW LEBANON
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=341887&MID=0&PID=0
Dec 12 2011
Aline Kamakian and Barbara Drieskens' new cookbook brings an emotional
history to a wider audience
You are what you eat, they say. And if what you're eating comes from
another culture, the smells, spices and textures you encounter are
doing more than just giving your taste buds a change of scene; they're
inviting you to stick your spoon into a whole different culture. A
new cookbook, Armenian Cuisine, is offering readers a record of a
gastronomic legacy as well as a history of a community in exile.
Armenians have been a feature of Lebanon's kaleidoscopic ethnic
landscape for centuries, but the majority of families that make up
today's population of approximately 150,000 were driven here on
the terrible "death marches" devised by the Ottoman Turks during
the First World War. Another influx of persecuted Armenians arrived
in 1939 when Syrian territory was ceded to Turkey, and an Armenian
community settled in Anjar, where it still exists today.
Welcomed into Lebanon, the Armenian community flourished, and today,
it has its own churches, schools and cultural centers, while being
fully integrated into the Lebanese life and language. In the last
few years, one particular aspect of Armenian ethnicity has become
a source of pride and a way for the community to share its unique
qualities through that most essential forum of cultural exchange:
the dining table.
"Before people used to think that Armenian food is just soujouk and
basterma," says Aline Kamakian, co-author of the book Armenian Cuisine
and co-owner of one of Beirut's first Armenian restaurants, Mayrig.
"Now they start to realize that there's much more to it."
The crowded launch of the cookbook at Mayrig included a traditional
"kinetson" ceremony, "baptizing" a volume in a basin of wine, and
the sale of small spicy pepper plants, a gesture toward the famous
red pepper paste that gives many Armenian dishes their distinctive
character.
"It's my way to give back to the Armenian community," says Kamakian.
"It's my way to thank all Armenian mothers who kept their tradition
alive, although they really went through a hard time to do that."
More than a record of the recipes of Armenian mothers and grandmothers,
the book - in English with the Armenian names of dishes in Roman
script - is a tool for spreading awareness on the Armenian story
worldwide and encourages young Lebanese of Armenian origin to continue
to connect with their heritage.
Kamakian, described in the Armenian Cuisine as "one who lives full
speed, experiences and 'does'," needed a partner to realize her
dream, but it took a little persuading for Barbara Drieskens, an
anthropologist, to get enthused by the project. "In the beginning I
was thinking a cookbook is nothing for me," she says. But "little by
little I got won over by [Kamakian's] enthusiasm, by her willingness
to do something toward the Armenian community, and I started to find
out there's a lot of anthropology in it, a lot of culture and a lot
of identity of the people that gets transmitted through food."
The recipes in Armenian Cuisine take the cook or reader on a journey
from houses on the slopes of Mount Ararat, through food markets in
Aleppo, to Harissa porridge-making ceremonies in Anjar. The stories
of fighters and survivors, and particularly of women, are woven into
the pages of recipes for salads, mezze, pastries, meat and fish dishes
and more, brought to life by reams of luscious photography.
This is a cuisine to be celebrated and shared. "There is so much
sharing in it," reflects Drieskens. "It's the language, the religion
and the food that make the identity of a people, and [Armenians]
have so much pride in their food. Also, [the mothers] have so much
patience, cooking for hours and hours to make tables full of different
dishes." With Armenian Cuisine, the legacy of these mothers and their
memories has been recorded for all to share.
Armenian Cuisine can be bought at all major bookstores, from Amazon
or via the dedicated website
From: A. Papazian