The ingredients are simple and healthy, but the flavours are truly fantastic. Armenian fare is also easy to prepare and has a lot in common with Middle Eastern cuisine
Cook of the Month
Name: Silva Toutikian
Nationality: Canadian Armenian
Belief: Women make better cooks, though the best chefs are men.
The good thing about Armenian food: Armenian fare is very simple and healthy. We try to avoid meat and instead use wheat, vegetables, dried chickpea, fibrous food, lentils and a light oil.
My fav Armenian dish: Chicken with burghol.
Shopping tip: Shop in the afternoon. That way you can avoid the crowds and choose the best veggies.
To be honest, we did not know what to expect. For one thing, we had only a basic knowledge of Armenian cuisine. And Silva Toutikian, a Canadian Armenian heading the local branch of a Swiss defence company in Abu Dhabi, had promised to serve us "the real thing" from her homeland.
Just for the record, Armenia shares borders with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia. So the cuisine, we presumed, would have some truly exotic flavours. And we were not to be disappointed.
Although she's lived most of her life outside Armenia, Silva has not lost touch with her roots. And this is more than demonstrated by her avid recount of a brief history of Armenia as soon as we step into her flat.
"Do you know that the Armenian civilisation dates back nearly 6,000 years?" she asks. She rattles off her country's history which was peppered with invasions until it achieved independence in 1991. "Due to this tumultuous history, many Armenians fled their country and settled in various parts of the world. Turn a rock over, and you will find an Armenian, my grandmother often used to say."
Silva was born in Lebanon, grew up in Australia, married in Canada and has spent 18 years in Abu Dhabi. But, like most Armenians, she has maintained links with her homeland. "I'm very involved with the activities of the local Armenian community here, having helped in setting up the recently-opened Armenian embassy in the UAE."
Politics fades as we survey the spread she has laid out for us over a pretty pink tablecloth jazzed up with silver candelabra and cutlery. "I would say our food is very close to Middle-Eastern cuisine."
For example, Armenians eat Dolmas - vegetables stuffed with assorted fillings which the Arabs call Kusamache, and similar flavouring agents, such as powdered sumaq. Olive oil is also used, but Silva is careful never to heat up the oil. She subscribes to the theory that olive oil in its natural form is what's healthy.
Lunch begins with one of her favourite Armenian dishes since she was a child - Chicken with Burgol - which is really a mish-mash of burghol (available in supermarkets), deboned chicken and chickpea topped with crisp-fried bread. Her ingredients are all fresh. "You will never see frozen food in an Armenian pantry or freezers with TV dinners. Instead, the pantry shelves will be lined with jars filled withÊ pickle, jams and preserves."Ê
The burghol dish is truly the tastiest thing I've ever eaten. It must be the happy combination of these ingredients and their flavours. Next comes Nivik, a chickpea dish. Silva picked up cooking from her mother who handed her a bunch of recipes after she married and left home. But, it was really her liking for this "creative activity" which made her an expert.
"I love working with my hands. I have a passion for cross-stitch as well. I used to try out every recipe published in a popular magazine in Australia." Having tried and tested many dishes from varying cuisines in her 22 years of cooking, Silva has become a whiz at coming up with her own creations.
For example, in her Fish with Rice Pilav, which is traditionally eaten with lemon juice on it, she uses her own sauce made from margarine, currat (a green found in the parsley and mint section in supermarkets) and butter. Today, she can stir up any cuisine but has a penchant for Armenian and Italian food.
She's always had to balance her cooking with her work and other interests. "But, I'm extremely organised and I like my family to eat well every day. I always plan ahead of time and make a weekly schedule which I stick to."
Silva was not always the supercook she has become. Her first meal was not much of a sizzler! Newly-married, she had invited her husband's cousin and family for dinner. But, nervous about the meal, she started on the barbecue hours before dinnertime only to end up serving dry, cold meat to the guests. But they were sweet about it.
"You have to like cooking to cook every day and a 'good taste' is important. You need to make the food visually attractive too." At this point we had moved onto her Mante and the Armenian nutmeg cake. Both of which were not only attractive but also tasty. The Mante, made of a number of tiny diamond-shaped flour pastries filled with minced meat, is a great starter.
"I know Armenians are also famous for their kebabs, but I felt anyone can do a kebab. Instead, I wanted to give you creative, presentable and healthy food to represent our cuisine. I don't like foods loaded with spices. You cannot taste the meat then."
The best dish - the Anoushabour - was kept for last. It got a 10 on the "wow" scale. Served in ice-cream cups, this dessert is simply scrumptious. Made from barley and apricots, it's topped with cinnamon bark.
Tzavarov Havoo Pilav Chicken with burghol
Tzavarov Havoo Pilav.©Gulf News |
1 whole chicken, boiled and de-boned
1 cup burghol
2 cups water
5 tbsp butter
1 can of chickpeas
Salt
A few pieces of bread
Method
Wash burghol, add water, salt, chicken and chickpeas, and cook on slow fire till water is absorbed. In a pan, heat butter and fry the bread pieces. When the bread turns brown and crispy, take out the slices and drizzle excess butter over the prepared pilav and mix well. Decorate pilav with the crispy bread. Serve with yoghurt or salad.
Nivik
Nivik.©Gulf News |
1-1/2 cups chickpeas
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tomato paste
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 tsp sugar
750 gms spinach, chopped roughly
Method
Wash chickpeas well, place in a bowl and cover with 4-1/2 cups cold water.Ê Leave to soak overnight. N
