What to Eat in Yerevan | Page 2 of 2
Spas: Armenian Yogurt Soup
Spas is an Armenian yogurt soup made from matsun, thickened with hulled wheat or rice and cooked with constant stirring so the yogurt doesn't curdle. It's served hot in winter and cold in summer. It has two names, a Cossack legend the dictionaries won't back up, and relatives in Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. In Yerevan they serve it in portions that would pass for a main course anywhere else.
Putuk: Armenian Mutton and Chickpea Soup from a Clay Pot
Putuk is a thick Armenian soup of mutton, chickpeas and potatoes, named after the small clay pot it simmers in for hours and is traditionally served from. Azerbaijan has the same dish under the name piti, and the two countries argue over it just as they argue over tolma. It is a filling winter dish you eat with a spoon, mopping up the broth with bread - though in Yerevan you will often get it on an ordinary plate.
Arishta: Armenian Noodles Toasted Before They Hit the Water
Arishta are Armenian homemade noodles of flour, water and salt that get dried, then toasted in a dry pan until golden, and only then boiled. The name and the technique are shared with Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan; the Armenian version stands apart in one thing: the dough has no milk in it. It used to be a winter staple; today it is also sold in packets in supermarkets, and it is served most often with butter and matsun.
Harissa: Armenian Wheat and Meat Porridge
Harissa has nothing in common with the Tunisian chili paste except the name. In Armenia it is a thick porridge of cracked wheat and meat, simmered for hours with constant stirring and drizzled with butter. Armenians consider it their national dish. Here I look at where the name comes from, what the siege of Musa Dagh has to do with it, and what you pay for it in Yerevan.
Vegetable Khorovats: Eggplant, Pepper and Tomato from the Armenian Grill
Vegetable khorovats is eggplant, pepper and tomato grilled whole on a skewer over charcoal, the same way Armenians grill their meat. Once it comes off the fire, the vegetables are stripped of their charred skin and served either warm and whole, or chopped into a salad with onion, cilantro and vinegar. They do the same all across the Caucasus, in Turkey and in Iran - what is Armenian is the name and the ritual around the mangal.
Ararat: The Armenian Brandy They Call Cognac at Home
Ararat is an Armenian brandy made from grapes of the Ararat plain that nobody at home calls anything but cognac - and the European Union paid Armenia three million euros to drop the word by 2043. What is true about Churchill and Stalin, why Yerevan has two distilleries sharing one family tree, and how a tasting of three ages at the brand's museum turned out.
Noy: The Armenian Brandy That Used to Be Called Ararat
Noy is Yerevan's second great brandy, aging in cellars on the site of the old Erivan Fortress. It didn't take the name of the biblical Noah until 2002; before that the product was called Ararat. The factory was founded in 1877 by the merchant Nerses Tairyan, and it was made famous by the Russian merchant Shustov, who entered its cognac anonymously and won the Grand Prix in Paris.
Lavash Restaurant: Armenian Cuisine in Yerevan with Its Own Farm
Lavash Restaurant in central Yerevan serves the Armenian classics with a modern twist, and most of what it cooks with comes from the farms of the Yeremyan Projects group. Downstairs it bakes lavash in a clay tonir, breakfast comes with a glass of milk straight from the cow, and the menu runs through most of Armenian cooking, from khorovats ribs to nraneh soup. It became my most frequent stop in Yerevan.
Tavern Yerevan: Armenian Cuisine with Music and a Live Show
Tavern Yerevan is a Yerevan restaurant chain that serves Armenian cooking with an evening show: folk songs with a duduk, and down by the Hrazdan River a show that runs for hours and ends in fire. Three locations, a cover charge that depends on your view of the stage, and a cocktail served under a dome full of smoke.
GUM Market: Yerevan's Covered Market With a Soviet Name
GUM Market in Yerevan takes its name from the Soviet department store that once stood on the spot, and its stalls hold the whole of Armenian cuisine: dried apricots, walnut sujukh, braids of wild sorrel and cheese that ages buried in a clay pot. I walked it in 37-degree heat, turned down every taste I was offered and left without buying a thing - but with a list for next time.