ANTHROPOLOGY MEETS FOOD IN ‘ARMENIAN CUISINE’ COOKBOOK
Aline Kamakian
The Daily Star
March 21 2012
Lebanon
BEIRUT: Cooking is a form of storytelling according to the authors of
“Armenian Cuisine” – a vibrant, new cookbook that captures Armenian
cooking traditions and a slice of their history through home recipes
and personal accounts.
“As always the kitchen is the place where stories come out,”
says Barbara Drieskens, co-author of “Armenian Cuisine” and an
anthropologist who teamed up with the co-owner of the restaurant
Mayrig, Aline Kamakian, to help Kamakian achieve her dream of
publishing her mother’s recipes.
“Armenian Cuisine,” launched in December, is first and foremost a
cookbook – an introduction to the cuisine featuring more than 139
recipes, from basic to elaborate dishes. Kamakian, who is Lebanese
of Armenian origin, wanted to showcase Armenian food and show it as
its own cuisine originating from distinct circumstances.
“After having the restaurant [Mayrig] and hearing people say,
‘this food is not Armenian,’ I wanted to prove that it is definitely
Armenian,” she explains, seated at a table in her popular Beirut
restaurant.
The main components of Armenian cuisine are based on a few simple
ingredients or recipes, according to Kamakian, with pepper paste,
yogurt and nuts among the most important.
The pepper paste is “aromatized but not hot,” and each Armenian home
prepares its own version as well as its own yogurt which is combined
into many classic dishes, such as mante (baked meat dumplings) or
stuffed vegetables. Many dishes are also made from a combination of
fish, rice and nuts, with nuts as the basic element.
But Kamakian did not want to stop with just a description of Armenian
cuisine and needed help to accomplish her goals for the book.
“I’m a cook. I know how to cook but I don’t know how to write. … I
wanted [Barabara] to write this book. And her first reaction was
definitely no. A doctorate in anthropology and [a] cookbook? This
was too different. So when I started to explain to her what I saw
for this book and what I wanted people to know about Armenians, she
found a lot of anthropology in it – discovering Armenian culture and
writing about it through food.”
The first step for Drieskens was to get in the kitchen with Kamakian’s
mother to document her cooking – a task made difficult by having
her explain routines that had become second nature after years of
producing the same recipes.
“In the beginning I spent time with Aline’s mother in the kitchen,
just writing down the recipes and trying to follow the way she cooks.
You know the way a mother cooks – Aline told her, ‘you have to tell
her the measurements, you have to tell her how much,’ and then she
would be adding things saying, ‘so I put some water in,’ and I ask,
‘how much water?’ She says, ‘it’s already in it! You see it!’ Then
she’d say put four or five garlic cloves and you go count and there
are 12.”
Drieskens began to spend time in the kitchens of Kamakian’s aunts and
friends and soon learned that the ritual of cooking could lull people
into a frame of mind in which they felt comfortable sharing moving,
personal stories.
“It was also really touching to see how food is a form of consolation.
A woman would start to tell about the place she comes from, Urfa [a
city now situated in southeast Turkey], and she tells an incredibly
touching story about her mother. She cries, Aline cries, I almost cry
and then the woman starts to talk again about food … It’s a way of
talking about things that are otherwise difficult to speak about.”
These stories became a part of the book, adding a narrative from the
cooks who gave their recipes.
Kamakian and Drieskens eventually embarked on a literal, culinary
journey to eastern Turkey toward the end of the writing process, to
trace recipes back to where they originated. The trip was especially
emotional for Kamakian, who was visiting for the first time the
homeland her ancestors had fled long ago.
Together, the pair covered 2,800 km to source ingredients and recipes.
“We traveled through all these places and saw where the recipes come
from. You start to understand more and more why. Because in certain
places there is a lot of cheese, certain places produce honey, or
you have all these sheep. In Urfa I had a crisis: no more aubergine,
too much aubergine!” says Drieskens.
For Kamakian, finding the towns where various ingredients come from
is a part of the narrative connecting ancient Armenia and current
Armenian traditions.
“Sometimes people say show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you
are. I say, tell me what you’re eating and I’ll tell you who you are.
It’s history. I can tell you from what you’re eating, which region of
old Armenia your parents are from – from how you use the ingredients
to what kind of ingredients,” she says.
Kamakian sees this cookbook as her contribution to preserving the
traditions of those who preceded her.
“It’s my way of thanking each Armenian mother by keeping up their
recipes, keeping the tradition and keeping a sense of who you are.”
For more information or to purchase “Armenian Cuisine,” visit the
website:
Spicy sausages with lemon-tomato sauce
INGREDIENTS:
– 4 spicy sausages (soujouk)
– 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
– 6 tomatoes peeled and diced
– 1 tablespoon pepper paste
– 2 tablespoons lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS:
Put the sausages in hot water for a minute to peel them easily. Make
a cut in the skin lengthwise and remove the skin. Cut in slices of
1 1/2 cm.
Fry the slices in sunflower oil for 2 to 3 minutes until they change
color. Add the tomatoes and stir-fry until they change color. Blend
in the pepper paste and the lemon juice.
Serve warm as mezze.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Lifestyle/2012/Mar-21/167429-anthropology-meets-food-in-armenian-cuisine-cookbook.ashx#axzz1pmkmoVvI
http://www.armenian-cuisine.com/index.htm