Armenian cuisine includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and dishes. 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.
Fresh and dried fruit are used both as main ingredients and as sour agents. As the 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.
A typical meal in an Armenian household might consist of bread, butter, sour milk, 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 cuisine of the Caucasus, and in this regard, Armenian cuisine is often similar, but there are some regional differences. Armenian dishes make heavy use of bulgur, especially in their pilavs, while Georgian variations use maize, and Azeri cuisine favours rice. Armenian cuisine also makes use of mixed flours made from wheat, potato and maize, which produces flavours that are difficult to replicate. Armenians call kofta kiufta and tail fat dmak. Archaeologists have found traces of barley, grapes, lentils, peas, plums, sesame, and wheat during excavations of the Erebuni Fortress in Yerevan.
Typical dishes
The "everyday" Armenian dish is the dzhash (Ճաշ). This is a brothy stew consisting of meat (or a legume, in the meatless version), a vegetable, and spices. The dzhash was typically cooked in the tonir. The dzhash is generally served over a pilaf of rice or bulgur, sometimes accompanied by bread, pickles or fresh vegetables or herbs. A specific variety of dzhash is the porani (պորանի), a stew made with yoghurt, of possibly Persian origin.
Examples of dzhash are:
Meat and green beans or green peas (with tomato sauce, garlic, and mint or fresh dill)
Meat and summer squash (or zucchini). This is a signature dish from Ainteb and is characterized by the liberal use of dried mint, tomatoes, and lemon juice.
Meat and pumpkin. This is a wedding dish from Marash made with meat, chickpeas, pumpkin, tomato and pepper paste, and spices.
Meat and leeks in a yoghurt sauce.
Urfa-style porani, made with small meatballs, chickpeas, chard, and desert truffles.
Grilled meats are quite common as well and are omnipresent at market stalls, where they are eaten as fast food, as well as at barbecues and picnic. Also, in modern times, no Armenian banquet is considered complete without an entree of kabob. Kabobs vary from the simple (marinated meat on a skewer interspersed with vegetables) to the more elaborate. Certain regions in Western Armenia developed their local, specialized kabobs. For example, we have:
Urfa kabob, spiced ground meat interspersed with eggplant slices.
Orukh and khanum budu, two Cilician specialities in which lean ground meat is kneaded with dough and spices and lined on a skewer.
Breakfast
The modern Armenian breakfast consists of coffee or tea, plus a spread of cheeses, jams, jellies, vegetables, eggs, and bread. Armenians living in the Diaspora often adopt local customs. Thus, Armenians in Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt may include "ful" (stewed fava beans in olive oil).
Traditional Armenian breakfast dishes were hearty. They included:
Khash, sometimes colloquially called the "Armenian hangover cure", is a basic dish of simmered cow's hooves. Khash is mentioned in 12th century medieval Armenian texts.
Kalagyosh: There are many variants of this dish. It can be a meat and yogurt stew or it can be a vegetarian stew made with lentils, fried onions, and matzoon. In either case, it was traditionally eaten by crumbling stale lavash bread over it and eating it with a spoon.
Pamidorov Dzvadzekh (Tomato & Egg Scramble): This is a very common breakfast item. Essentially a simple scramble with tomato as the base. Some iterations of this dish can include, most commonly, onions and bell peppers. This is usually served with traditional lavash bread, Alani panir (Armenian Feta) and herbs (Tarragon, Purple Basil, Cilantro)
Appetizers
Meals in Armenia often start with a spread of appetizers served for "the table". Armenian appetizers include stuffed vine leaves (called yalanchy sarma, a type of dolma), a fried cheese-stuffed pastry called dabgadz banir boerag, stuffed mussels (midye dolma) and several types of pickled vegetables generally known as torshi. Toasted pumpkin seeds are a popular snack; Armenians call them tutumi gud. Chickpea balls called topik are made by Turkey's Armenian community; they are spiced with currants, onions, and cinnamon and served with a tahini sauce.
Salads
Many, if not most, Armenian salads combine a grain or legume with fresh vegetables—often tomato, onions, and fresh herbs. Examples of Armenian salads include:
Eetch – cracked wheat salad, similar to the Middle Eastern tabouleh.
Lentil salad – brown lentils, tomatoes, onions, in a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, and chopped parsley. This salad has many variations, with the lentils being replaced by chickpeas, black-eyed peas, chopped raw or roasted eggplant, etc.
Typical homemade byorek, with meat, caramelized onion and bell pepper filling
Byoreks (Armenian: բյորեկ) are pies made with phyllo pastry and stuffed with cheese (panirov byorek, from Armenian: panir for cheese (Eastern Armenians refer to this as Khachapuri) or spinach (similar to spanakopita in Greek cuisine). They are a popular snack and fast food often served as an appetizer.
Msov byorek is a bread roll (not phyllo pastry) stuffed with ground meat (similar to Russian pirozhki).
Semsek, from the region of Urfa, is a fried open-faced meat byorek.
A specific Lenten byorek is made with spinach and tahini sauce.
Soups
Armenian soups include spas, made from matzoon, hulled wheat and herbs (usually cilantro), and aveluk, made from lentils, walnuts, and wild mountain sorrel (which gives the soup its name). Kiufta soup is made with large balls of strained boiled meat (kiufta) and greens.
Another soup, khash, is considered an Armenian institution. Songs and poems have been written about this one dish, which is made from cow's feet and herbs made into a clear broth. Tradition holds that khash can only be cooked by men, who spend the entire night cooking and can be eaten only in the early morning in the dead of winter, where it served with heaps of fresh garlic and dried lavash.
T'ghit is a very special and old traditional food, made from t'tu lavash (fruit leather, thin roll-up sheets of sour plum purée), which are cut into small pieces and boiled in water. Fried onions are added and the mixture is cooked into a purée. Pieces of lavash bread are placed on top of the mixture, and it is eaten hot with fresh lavash used to scoop up the mixture by hand.
Karshm is a local soup made in the town of Vaik in the Vayots Dzor Province. This is a walnut based soup with red and green beans, chickpeas and spices, served garnished with red pepper and fresh garlic. Soups of Russian heritage include borscht, a beetroot soup with meat and vegetables (served hot in Armenia, with fresh sour cream) and okroshka, a matzoon or kefir based soup with chopped cucumber, green onion, and garlic.
Arganak (Armenian: արգանակ arganak) – a chicken soup with small meatballs, garnished before serving with beaten egg yolks, lemon juice, and parsley.
Blghourapour (Armenian: բլղուրապուր blġurapur) – a sweet soup made of hulled wheat cooked in grape juice; served hot or cold.
Bozbash (Armenian: բոզբաշ bozbaš) – a mutton or lamb soup that exists in several regional varieties with the addition of different vegetables and fruits.
Brndzapour (Armenian: բրնձապուր brndzapur) – rice and potato soup, garnished with coriander.
Dzavarapour (Armenian: ձավարապուր dzavarapur) – hulled wheat, potatoes, tomato purée; egg yolks diluted with water are stirred into the soup before serving.
Flol (Armenian: flol) – beef soup with coarsely chopped spinach leaves and cherry-sized dumplings made from oatmeal or wheat flour.
Harissa (Armenian: հարիսա harisa, also known as ճիտապուր) – a porridge of coarsely ground wheat with pieces of boned chicken
Katnapour (Armenian: կաթնապուր kat’napur) – a milk-based rice soup, sweetened with sugar.
Katnov (Armenian: կաթնով kat’nov) – a milk-based rice soup with cinnamon and sugar.
Kololak (Armenian: կոլոլակ kololak) – soup cooked from mutton bones with ground mutton dumplings, rice, and fresh tarragon garnish; a beaten egg is stirred into the soup before serving.
Krchik (Armenian: Քրճիկ kṙčik) – soup made from sauerkraut, pickled cabbage, hulled wheat, potatoes, and tomato purée.
Mantapour (Armenian: մանթապուր mantʿapur) – beef soup with manti; the manti are typically served with matzoon or sour cream (ttvaser), accompanied by clear soup.
Matsnaprtosh (Armenian: մածնաբրդոշ matsnaprt'oš) - this is the same as okroshka, referenced earlier, with sour clotted milk diluted with cold water, with less vegetation than okroshka itself. Matsnaprtosh is served cold as a refreshment and supposedly normalizes blood pressure.
Putuk (Armenian: պուտուկ putuk) – mutton cut into pieces, dried peas, potatoes, leeks, and tomato purée, cooked and served in individual crocks.
Sarnapour (Armenian: սառնապուր saṙnapur) – pea soup with rice, beets and matzoon.
Snkapur (Armenian: սնկապուր snkapur) – a mushroom soup.
Tarkhana (Armenian: թարխանա t’arxana) – flour and matzoon soup
Vospapour (Armenian: ոսպապուր ospapur) – lentil soup with dried fruits and ground walnuts
Armenian cuisine includes many typical seafood dishes like fried mussels (midye tava), stuffed calamari (kalamar dolma), mackerel (uskumru) and bonito (palamut). The trout from Lake Sevan is called ishkhan and can be prepared different ways including a baked dolma version stuffed with dried fruits (prunes, damsons, or apricots) and a poached version marinated with red peppers. Ishkhan is also sometimes served in a walnut sauce. One recipe for fish tirit is given by a 1913 cookbook that adapted Near Eastern recipes for the American palette.
For a relatively land-locked country, Armenian cuisine includes a surprising number of fish dishes. Typically, fish is either broiled, fried, or sometimes poached. A few recipes direct the fish to be stuffed. Fish may have been used to stuff vegetables in ancient times, though that is not common anymore.
There are several varieties of fish in the Republic of Armenia:
Sig (Armenian: սիգ sig) – a whitefish from Lake Sevan, native to northern Russian lakes (endangered species in Armenia).
Karmrakhayt (alabalagh) (Armenian: կարմրախայտ karmrakhayt) – a river trout, also produced in high-altitude artificial lakes (e.g., the Mantash Reservoir in Shirak Province).
Koghak (Armenian: կողակ koġak) – an indigenous Lake Sevan fish of the carp family, also called Sevan khramulya (overfished)
Main courses
Fasulya (fassoulia) – a stew made with green beans, lamb and tomato broth or other ingredients
Ghapama (Armenian: ղափամա ġap’ama) – pumpkin stew
Ghapama made with butternut squash, instead of pumpkin
Kchuch (Armenian: կճուճ kč̣uč̣) – a casserole of mixed vegetables with pieces of meat or fish on top, baked and served in a clay pot
Tjvjik (Armenian: տժվժիկ tžvžik) – a dish of fried liver and kidneys with onions
Ritual Foods
Nshkhar (Armenian: նշխար nšxar) – bread used for Holy Communion
Mas (Armenian: մաս mas) – literally means "piece" a piece of leftover bread from the making of Nshkhar, given to worshippers after church service
Matagh (Armenian: մատաղ mataġ) – sacrificial meat. It can be of any animal such as goat, lamb, or even bird.