Armenian cuisine is considered one of the oldest in Asia and the most ancient in the Caucasus. Its characteristic features have been formed over the course of millennia, since the Armenian people constantly wandered from one place to another. Preparing for cooking is a difficult and painstaking job. In Armenian cuisine, there are many recipes for cooking minced meat, fish, stuffed vegetables etc.

Many recipes have survived from ancient times, for example, khorovats (shashlik) and berek (dough with meat filling). Armenians have been preparing these dishes for almost 1500 years.

Armenians use about 300 types of herbs and wild plants as a spice. Sometimes they are even served as a separate dish.

The quality and exclusivity of the taste of food is strongly influenced by the climate and other geographic conditions. Armenian food is very nutritious. Festive table literally bursting with the abundance and variety of dishes, salads and desserts. It is impossible to imagine an Armenian meal without cilantro, tarragon, parsley, dill, coriander, cardamom, basil, lemon balm and green onions.

Armenians eat a lot of meat, beef, pork, chicken, lamb and fish. The meat is fried on a spit on wood or in a tandoor (oven-brazier), hence special flavor khorovats. It is served with grilled vegetables. Horovats - favorite dish Armenians.

Khash is a dish made from cow's legs. It is eaten with garlic and dried pita bread. This dish is very nutritious, so it is eaten in the morning in winter.

Other Armenian dishes:

Lavash - traditional thin bread, prepared in tandoor

Sujuk - spicy sausage with garlic, based on beef and spices

Basturma - beef jerky wrapped in a thin layer of chaman with caraway seeds

Spas - yoghurt soup with wheat

Fish - Armenians use grayling and ishkhan, Sevan trout from Lake Savan for cooking

Harisa - a mushy mass of chicken and wheat

Khashlama - boiled beef with potatoes, tomatoes and onions

Dolma - minced meat and rice, wrapped in grape or cabbage leaves, they are also filled with tomatoes, eggplants, peppers

Lahmajun - Armenian pizza; Spicy minced meat is placed on a bread cake in a thin layer (usually lamb is used)

Khachapuri - puff pastry with cheese or meat

Armenians also love Russian dumplings, Georgian khinkali and several Arabian dishes.

Desserts in Armenia

Armenia is full of sweet fruits: apricot, pomegranate, apple, pear, grape, cherry, peach, plum, quince, fig, melon, watermelon, black and white mulberry, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, rosehip, etc. In truth, apricot is more than just a fruit for Armenians. It symbolizes one of the colors of the Armenian tricolor (red, blue and apricot colors).
It is impossible to imagine an Armenian dessert without delicious dried fruits, green fruits and raisins, which are usually made from apples, plums, peaches, grapes and, of course, apricot (tsiran).
Local ice cream and pastries are good, including gata (a traditional wide flatbread made from puff pastry stuffed with butter and sugar) and baklava (puff honey baked goods with a thick nut filling) are in special demand. Oriental coffee is usually the end of the meal. Sometimes it is replaced with thyme, mint or rosehip tincture.

You can talk about real Armenian cuisine for a long time. Simply because it is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest in the Caucasus. And already at the dawn of its development, fermentation processes in baking were used in full force. And these are not empty words, but the true results of archaeological excavations carried out by scientists.

History of Armenian cuisine

The formation and development of Armenian cuisine began about 2500 years ago. It was influenced by the history of the development of the people themselves, its geographical position and, of course, cultural traditions. The Armenians now and then found themselves under the rule of the Romans, Turks, Mongols and Arabs. Nevertheless, this did not prevent them from protecting their culinary habits and recipes for preparing the most popular dishes. On the contrary, it allowed to have a huge impact on the development of other cuisines.

The indisputable advantage of Armenia is the favorable climate that has reigned here from time immemorial. Together with fertile lands and a huge number of large and small rivers, it gave its inhabitants the opportunity to engage in livestock breeding. Subsequently, this occupation influenced the very Armenian cuisine, as it made meat and meat dishes its basis. In addition, it was cattle breeding that once gave Armenians delicious dairy products, from which they now produce their famous cheeses.

Agriculture has been another favorite occupation of this people since ancient times. It was thanks to him that a huge amount of vegetables and grains such as rice, barley, wheat appeared in Armenian cuisine, which later turned into mouth-watering side dishes for meat and fish dishes. Along with them, legumes and greens were revered here.

The Armenians cooked exclusively on fire. Later they got a special oven - tonir. It was a deep hole in the ground, the walls of which were laid out of stone. With its help, the peasants not only baked lavash and stewed meat, but also smoked food, dried fruit and even warmed their homes. Interestingly, in pre-Christian times, such a stove was called the symbol of the sun. Therefore, when baking bread in it, women always bowed to her, believing that in fact they were sending their obeisances to the sun. Interestingly, in villages that did not have churches, priests could even conduct wedding ceremonies in front of the tonir.

Armenians have always been famous for the technology of cooking their dishes. Since ancient times, they have tried to stuff vegetables and stuff meat with herbs and vegetables. Their cooking often took a long time. Simply because they respected and honored food and considered the process of preparing it to be a sacred ritual.

Features of Armenian cuisine

Authentic Armenian cuisine is distinctive and unique. Moreover, it is distinguished from others by its characteristic features:

• Duration of cooking- quite often the whole process can take several days or even months when it comes to cooking sweets.
• The ability of Armenians to combine incongruous within one dish- a vivid example of this is Arganak. He's getting ready for chicken broth from chicken and venison. Besides him, they like to mix grains and legumes in one plate.
• Special technology for making soups- almost all of them are cooked here on an egg or sour milk basis.
• The pungency and piquancy of dishes- it is achieved thanks to a huge number of spices, seasonings and wild herbs, of which there are more than 300 species. Caraway, pepper, garlic remain the favorite. Moreover, they are put not only in meat dishes, but also in snacks and soups.
• Lots of salt- it is explained by the climatic conditions of the region, since in hot weather the body uses it intensively.

Traditions of Armenian cuisine

Whatever it was, but this land is really famous for its winemaking. The results of excavations confirm that wine was made here already in the XI-X century. BC NS. Herodotus and Xenophon wrote about them. Along with them, the Armenians made cognac, which today is associated with Armenia.

Moreover, like hundreds of years ago, in many regions of the country, lavash is baked in autumn, which is then dried and put into furnaces to store for 3-4 months. If necessary, it will be enough to moisten it and cover with a towel. After half an hour, it will become soft again.

Today in the diet of Armenians there is a huge amount of meat (mainly from beef, pork, chicken, goose, duck) and fish dishes (most often from trout). Among vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, beets, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, pumpkin, peppers, carrots, cucumbers and eggplants are widely used. Among the fruits, pomegranate, figs, lemon, quince, cherry plum prevail.

Basic cooking methods:

The traditional Armenian table is fabulously rich in delicacies and dishes. Nevertheless, the following dishes occupy a special place in it:

Khorovats - barbecue from large pieces meat.

Kufta - meat balls made from boiled meat.

Amich is a poultry (chicken or turkey) stuffed with dried fruits and rice.

Pastiners - lamb stew with vegetables.

Kololak is an analogue of meatballs.

Harisa is a porridge made from wheat and chicken.

chicken with eggplant and fermented milk appetizer, fried in a special way.

The peculiarities of the cuisine of the Armenian people were formed not even for a hundred, but for millennia. It is known that the Armenians are one of the most ancient ethnic groups living on our planet today. They have been living in Transcaucasia for many thousands of years; they were among the first on Earth who began to engage in sedentary agriculture and cattle breeding, they adopted Christianity.

The most famous dishes of Armenia in the world are traditional thin bread - pita and Armenian cabbage rolls wrapped in grape leaves - dolma... And, of course, the cognac is unique and unsurpassed! The great gourmet Winston Churchill himself preferred it to other alcoholic beverages. And he, at the very least, understood the culture of drinking.

Complex lunch: first, second, third

So, having drunk a small glass of Armenian brandy for appetite, let's start in order - with the first courses. It should be noted: both for 1x and 2x dishes of Armenian cuisine, the presence of a large amount of greens is characteristic: parsley, cilantro, basil, etc.)

1. Khash... Perhaps the most famous soup not only in Armenia, but also in the entire Caucasus region. He is rich broth from the legs of a ram or goby and a rumen (cleaned stomach, entrails). It is eaten strictly hot, adding finely chopped herbs (cilantro, parsley, celery) and garlic to the broth. Separately, in addition to khash, they serve grated radish and basil with tarragon.
2. Bozbash... Lamb broth based soup with peas, sweet peppers, eggplants, onions and potatoes. However, only the rich lamb broth is unchanged in the recipe. The composition of vegetables varies depending on what is available at the time. Fruits can also be added: apples, plums and cherry plums. They add some sourness to the bozbash flavor.
3. Poch... This is a soup made from a long time cooked beef tail, with tomato ingredients, hot pepper, onions and herbs.
4. Yaini... Meat broth soup with dried apricots (dried peach and apricot). Besides, traditional recipe suggests the presence of potatoes, onions and parsley with cilantro in this soup.
5. Chulumbur Singapore- rice soup with eggs, milk and fried onions and sunky Singapore- too rice soup, but also with mushrooms.
6. Saved... An original first course of its kind, which is a soup made from fermented milk products: sour cream and matsuna(the Georgian interpretation of this name is better known - yogurt). In these fermented milk products, cereals, eggs, onions, mint and cilantro are cooked.

Among the second courses, such dishes of national cuisine as:

1. Dolma... The grape leaves begin minced meat(in the canonical recipe - from lamb), mixed with steamed rice, herbs, onions and peppers. The sauce for these national cabbage rolls is usually matsun with garlic.
2. Khorovats... Traditional Armenian shish kebab. These are rather large slices of meat fried on charcoal along with chopped tomatoes, eggplants, bell pepper and onions. There are many recipes for marinating meat for khorovats. And, of course, every chef is sure that his recipe is the best.
3. Borani... This is a whole chicken baked in a special way along with eggplant, green beans and matsun. When cooking, the meat is placed between two layers of vegetables, generously flavored with herbs and cinnamon.
4. Plav... Armenians know a lot about pilaf, not inferior to gourmets from Central Asia. The original Armenian pilafs are chrov melt - with the addition of dried fruits; nrov float- flavored with grenades; aphtats tzkov floating- with smoked fish.
5. Tisvzhik. This is a mix of meat offal (liver, heart, lungs), bacon, various greens, peppers, tomatoes.
6. Kufta. Possessing the most delicate taste balls of beaten meat that look like meatballs or meatballs. They are not boiled in water, but in meat broth... Before the final stage of cooking, the meat balls are coated with an egg and saffron; served on the table with butter and spicy zitsak pepper.

National cuisine of Armenia offers various drinks (non-alcoholic, alcoholic)

Sour milk is widespread (in particular, matsun and tan- diluted cold water and lightly salted matsun. Lungs and healing properties are known far beyond the borders of the country. mineral water Armenia. For example, the famous water Jermuk. The natural "Tarragon" is very good (made from the extract of this herb, not from a synthetic concentrate). The daily diet of Armenians is unthinkable without tea.

In addition to the already mentioned excellent brandy recognized all over the world, excellent grape, cornel and mulberry vodka is prepared in Armenia. But winemaking, unlike neighboring Georgia, did not become widespread in Armenia and its traditions were not included in the golden fund of local gastronomy.

Bread is the head of everything. National types of bread and pastries

Not a single meal is unthinkable without lavash in Armenia. These thin unleavened cakes made from wheat flour in many regions to this day they bake on the inner walls of old clay ovens - toners... Another one has a purely Armenian origin. traditional bread – matnakash, also a flat cake, but not thin, but lush, round or oval in shape.

Before use, not only pieces of fried meat are wrapped in pita bread, but also any other products. For example, salted cottage cheese with herbs. Such a roll not only has excellent taste, but also very satisfying.

From local pastries, one cannot fail to mention durum- small baked cheese sandwiches; puff pies kayata and nazuk... They are baked with sweet fruit fillings, each layer of these pies is coated with ghee, which gives them the characteristic “melting in the mouth” effect. A puff pastry known far beyond the borders of Armenia has a similar structure. gata.

Other Armenian sweets - shujukh(nuts strung on a thread and soaked in thick fruit and flour syrup); alani- dried peaches, stuffed with nuts, raisins and fragrant fruit sugar; chablit, spot, bagarj – homemade cookies; shalah- candied apricots.

Sunny Armenia is extremely rich in fruits. In addition to apples, pears, plums, etc., which are common in the European part of Russia, here every year it brings solid harvests of grapes, pomegranates, apricots and peaches.

The question "where to eat" is completely irrelevant here. Armenia is famous for its hospitality and the desire of every host and hostess to impress with their culinary skills, to pleasantly surprise the guest.

Therefore, both in a chic Armenian restaurant and in a modest cafe, everything will be done to make the visitor satisfied with the tasting. traditional dishes national cuisine.

Armenian cuisine or the national cuisine of Armenia considered one of oldest cuisines the world. Many of her recipes have been passed down from generation to generation for more than one century, remaining practically unchanged throughout history. Many famous today oriental dishes originally from the sunny country of Armenia.

But what makes this kitchen stand out among all the others, what is its peculiarity ?! First of all, it is unique in that in the preparation of almost any dish it is necessary to use quite a large number of various spices. In general, in the preparation of dishes of this cuisine, more than three thousand different spicy herbs... In addition, the recipes of Armenian cuisine cannot be called simple. All dishes in the manufacture are quite complex, these processes are intricate and strictly require the implementation of a certain sequence of actions.

Also, a feature of Armenian cuisine is the preparation of dried fruits for the winter. On the contrary, canning, so familiar to the Slavic peoples, is practically not used. Thus, instead of the traditional jams for us, the Armenians enjoy themselves with dried apricots, prunes and other dried berries and fruits.

Perhaps the most famous in Armenian cuisine is its bread, called lavash. It is a thinly rolled cake reaching a radius of up to one meter. It is baked to this day in traditional clay ovens - tonirs. Lavash, as a rule, was harvested with a margin. You can store them for three to four months and at the same time they did not deteriorate at all. Before eating, such bread was simply moistened with water and left for a while, covered with a linen piece of cloth. After carrying out such a procedure, the baking becomes fresh, as if the lavash had just been taken out of the oven.

Vegetables are widespread in Armenian cuisine. The most commonly used are potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, green beans and many, many others that have been growing in this region from time immemorial. However, in this case vegetables alone are rarely used to prepare independent dishes, as a rule, they go in addition to meat or fish... Although such a dish as ajapsandali will be an exception to the rule. In our understanding, it represents vegetable stew, which consists of tomatoes, eggplants, green beans, sweet bell peppers, onions of garlic, basil, cilantro, which are fried in sunflower oil in a frying pan. It turns out such a dish is really delicious with a subtle hint of oriental spices!

The traditional cuisine of this country pays special attention to soups. They are loved in Armenia, and therefore they are cooked quite often! One of the most famous Armenian soups is bozbashi. Its base is a broth prepared on the basis of fatty lamb brisket with the addition of all kinds of vegetables and even fruits. Bozbashi has a very delicate, slightly acidified taste. Also in traditional national cuisine Soups with meatballs (kololiki), soups with chicken broth, vegetable and cereal soups (they combine cereals, legumes, beet tops, sour cabbage, dried fruits, nuts, buttermilk, yogurt), as well as sour-milk soups with cereals (sarnapur, slas and others).

As for the second courses, they are most often represented by meat ones; they are quite widespread in Armenian cuisine. They are prepared mainly from beef, veal, lamb. Pork is practically not used. Poultry meat is also widespread in this cuisine, for example, chicken. By the way, adjika is a common sauce for meat dishes, however, unlike other oriental varieties of adjika, Armenian is distinguished by its softness. It is not so acute, and therefore does not have such an irritating effect on the stomach.

Armenians also love to cook all kinds of desserts. One of the most famous is baklava. Its delicate honey taste cannot leave anyone indifferent! Likewise, the traditional gata biscuits, although less well-known, but nevertheless very tasty, cannot but delight everyone who tastes it. It is also a sweet flour cake with some kind of sweet filling.

In general, going to a cafe or restaurant of traditional Armenian cuisine, be prepared for the fact that the variety of dishes will make your eyes run wild! Memorize the names of the dishes you like, and we will help you translate them into your own home kitchen, with help detailed photos recipes with detailed cooking instructions!

The history of the Armenian cuisine, recognized as the oldest in the Caucasus, has more than two millennia. Its characteristic features, which have developed during this time, are carefully preserved, and the technology of preparation of many dishes has practically not changed. For example, shish kebab and kutap are prepared in the same way as many years ago. Armenian dishes are different spicy taste and poignancy. Various seasonings and spices are added to them: garlic, cumin, basil, thyme, pepper, cilantro. Confectionery generously flavored with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom or saffron.

Armenian meal traditionally begins with serving snacks- aromatic meatballs or cheese. Sometimes small pies or vegetable salads are offered.

Very difficult to prepare second courses are distinguished by long-term multistage preparation of meat, which indicates a respectful attitude towards this product. Armenian cuisine traditionally uses beef, lamb, chicken and turkey, less often pork. Various variations of cooking barbecue, pilaf with pomegranate, smoked fish or dried fruits - popular dishes Armenian cuisine. Dolma, which resembles Russian cabbage rolls, is widespread among Armenians. These are rolls from grape leaves with minced meat. Basturma, khash and kyufta are no less famous.

An important role in Armenian cuisine is played by sauces... There are several of them here: tomato, pepper and a sauce made from chopped sesame seeds - tkhina. Remarkably, sauces are usually served hot rather than cold. They are used already in the cooking process and are added to soups or stews... As for the first courses, cold or spicy hot soups prevail here, to which lavash is always served.

Loved in Armenia and desserts... One of the most popular is gata - sweet tortilla round shape with toasted flour filling. Another bakery is no less famous - baklava. These are cookies with a nut and honey filling. Common in Armenian cooking are alani - dried peaches stuffed with nut crumbs.

Matsun is made from cow or sheep milk - national fermented milk product... Grape juice is used to make doshab, a cherry-colored aromatic syrup with medicinal properties.

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