Banquets of the Nations: Armenia

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“Armenia“ from Banquets of the Nations by Robert H. Christie, 1911.

Pirindj Tchorbassi. (Rice Soup.)

Prepare two quarts of good mutton stock; melt in an enamelled pan two ounces of butter, then put in one small cucumber, peeled and finely sliced, one large stock of lettuce, or two small ones, finely shred; cook for ten minutes, being careful to keep them from browning. Mix one tablespoonful of flour with a little of the stock, add to the vegetables, then all the stock, with the addition of four cupfuls of boiled rice, and simmer all together for fifteen minutes.

Kuzi Rostossi. (Roast Lamb.)

If you cannot get a, whole young lamb, take a forequarter, take out first, all the ribs, then the breast-bone; slit up and take out the shoulder-blade, then the shank-bone to the first joint. Make a good stuffing of boiled rice and the minced liver. Season with chopped onions, pepper and salt; stuff the shoulder well, and sew up so that stuffing may not escape. Roast about an hour and a half, basting it well with some melted butter and its own dripping. Serve with bread.

Baklava. (Pastry with honey.)

Take six ounces of wheat flour and fry in six ounces of butter. Then make a syrup of six ounces of sugar and put fifteen grains of essence of lemon in it. When it becomes very thick, spread it on a big plate, and when cold make a hollow in it and put the fried flour therein, also the butter. Grease your hands and spread the whole over a big plate. When the plate is all covered, wrap it together, and pull it with both hands into thin threads, and then roll the threads into rolls two fingers in thickness, and one in length. Place them in the oven to brown, and pour over hot melted honey.

Elma Composto. (Stewed Apples.)

Pare and core half a dozen medium -sized apples. Sprinkle well, and fill up the hole with sugar. Put in a closed jar with a little water, and put in a hot oven for half an hour. Serve with syrup.

Hind Taouk Rostossi. (Roast Turkey.)

Stuff a young turkey with a mixture made of boiled rice, a handful of sultana raisins, half a handful of pine cone seeds (pistachio nuts will do), and some pounded roasted chestnuts moistened with a little milk, and put in where the crop was taken out; sew it up, and put a large skewer through the wing, the under side of the thigh, and the body, to the thigh and wing of the other side; press down the legs and put another skewer through them, down the side of the vent; have a piece of tape, put it firmly round the turkey, and fasten it on the point of each of the skewers, to keep the skin of the bird from giving way; fix a piece of paper upon the breast of the turkey, and put it to roast before the fire for a hour and a half. When the steam draws towards the fire it is nearly done. Dredge with flour, baste with butter, dish it, and pour the gravy over. Serve with bread.

Bamia. (Stewed Bamia.)

Clean the vegetable and put some in with a pound of meat cut in small pieces. Season with pepper and salt and a little vinegar. Stew slowly till cooked, and serve with bread. Brussels sprouts boiled to a pulp may be substituted.

Haiwa. (Stewed Quinces.)

Take three pounds of quinces. Pare, cut in halves, and remove the seed. Make a syrup of two pounds of sugar and the same weight of water, and after it is clear by careful skimming put in the fruit, and simmer for two or three hours, or till quite tender. Serve cold.

Yalandji Dolma. (Rice Timbales.)

Mix some uncooked rice (which has been steeped for two hours and then well-washed) with olive oil, and season with pepper and salt, grated cheese, and the pulp a of fried tomato. Roll the mixture in vine leaves. Place them carefully in a stew-pan and boil till cooked. When taking them out be careful not to break them. When cold, pile them neatly on a dish, and serve with lemons.

Adjem Kiftassi. (Mutton Croquettes.)

Take one pound three ounces of minced meat and let an eighth part of it remain uncooked. Have some pieces of onion fried in butter, and when they become of a brown colour have the meat also fried in it, and put some water in so that the meat may be boiled. When this is done take it out, and put some salt, pepper, ground ginger, almonds, and onions in it, then grind the eighth part of the meat which was kept uncooked and mix it with the fried meat. Put in two ounces of cream and two eggs with the meat, then make into little rolls about the length of two inches and diameter of a two-shilling piece, and have them fried in butter, and serve with bread.

Kimali Beurek. (Rissoles of Chicken.)

Make some good puff paste, which roll out very thin, and wrap pieces round balls of a mixture made of chopped cooked chicken seasoned with pepper, salt, ground onion, and a suspicion of caraway, and bound with a good white sauce made of milk, butter, and flour. Bake in the oven.

Sudlash. (Rice Pudding.)

Wash some rice well and soak in water for two hours, and then fry it in clarified butter. The butter should be equal in weight to the rice. When the rice is fried take some sugar double in weight to the rice; boil it, and mix the syrup with the boiled rice. Pour some raisins and some pounded cinnamon in the mixture, and cook till the moisture is gone.

Khoshab. (Stewed Raisins.)

Soak some table raisins till swollen and quite soft. Then put on the fire in the same water, and cook till tender. Eat cold.

Christie, Robert H. Banquets of the Nations: Eighty-Six Dinners Characteristic and Typical Each of Its Own Country. J. & J. Gray & Co. 1911.

Robert H. Christie

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