A taste of life (and a recipe for Armenian lentil soup)

Armenian cooking keeps traditions alive

by Maria Titizian

Published: Friday June 12, 2009 in Food

Armenian Lentil Soup .

Yerevan - For most Armenian families, food is more than just sustenance. It's the medium through which we communicate, commemorate, celebrate, grieve, and express love.

Recipes handed down from mother to daughter, transcending generations and continents, can be found in every Armenian home. Recipes come to us from the villages of our grand­parents in Western Armenia - from Kharpert, Moush, Aintab, Urfa, Marash, Musa Ler, and so on. While there may have been variations in the recipes, the core ingredients, the heart and soul of the dishes are always, always preserved.

Growing up as a first-generation immigrant in Canada, with a mother who was born in Aleppo, raised in Beirut, living in a cold faraway land, away from family and traditions, amongst odars, as she always said, I remember her making jars of preserved apricots and peaches while lines of homemade soujoukh (which we would help her make) would be hung along on strings she had fastened in one of the narrow hallways of our tiny apartment. The lahmajoun she used to make was the most heavenly lahmajoun that any child ever had. She would make sahleb for us every Sunday evening, when we would return from Sunday school, warm and sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon; I still remember the taste and sensation of that wonderfully smooth and creamy sahleb. Some Saturday evenings we would roast chestnuts and eat them on the living room floor with butter while we watched the "Jackson Five" or "Sonny and Cher" on the television.

Armenian food is a reflection of our history and geography. It is regionally influenced and thus has elements of Turkish, Russian, Persian, Greek, and Arabic cuisine. Depending on which country you were raised in, elements of the local cuisine also crept into your evening meals.

For those who have somehow lost their mothers' and grandmothers' recipes, there are Armenian cookbooks to be found, in both Armenian and English. Websites and YouTube also provide infinite opportunities to search for and find your favorite recipe, something that reminds you of your childhood, of Sunday barbecues and family get-togethers. Food  is an integral part of our common and shared heritage, so keep cooking and share your favorite and innovative Armenian recipes with us!

My mother's recipe: Armenian Lentil Soup

2 cups red lentils

1 cup Italian rice

1 large onion quartered

2 small onions chopped

1 tablespoon cumin

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ cup oil

6-8 cups chicken broth (or water)

Salt to taste

Wash the lentils and rice thoroughly.

Place lentils, rice, and chicken broth (or water) in a large pot or pressure cooker. (My mother always used a pressure cooker, but since I'm afraid of them, I use a pot.)

Add the salt, the quartered onion, cumin, and allspice and cook for approximately ½ hour (pot) or 15 minutes in the pressure cooker.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions until golden brown.

Mix the oil and fried onions into the soup. Use a hand blender to puree the soup.

Serve hot.

Strange and curious recipes: Armenian Apricot Soup

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 onions, diced

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3 cups red lentils, rinsed

10 cups water

12 ounces dried apricots, chopped

salt

Heat the oil in your soup pot over medium heat, then stir in the onions and carrots. Saute for about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and stir well. Decrease the heat, cover, and let the vegetables sweat for ten minutes.

Add the lentils and pour in enough of the water to cover. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for twenty minutes, or until the lentils and carrots are tender. Add more of the water as needed as the lentils soften and expand.

Remove from the heat, stir in the apricots and any remaining water, and season with salt. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth; alternatively working in batches, puree in a regular blender until smooth. Take care not to over salt this soup. The right amount will bring out the flavor of the apricots but leave the onions in the background. Serve hot.

Serves 8 to 10.

From The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups by David Ansel (Ten Speed Press, 2005).

connect:  www.101cookbooks.com