A FOOD TRADITION

Western Armenian Cuisine

Western Armenian cuisine developed across historic western Armenian communities in Anatolia, Cilicia, the Levant and the diaspora, and remains relevant in Armenian cultural life in Armenia as well as abroad. It commonly emphasizes wheat and bulgur, lamb, beef, poultry, eggplant, peppers, herbs, yogurt, pulses and dried fruit. Characteristic techniques include hand-forming dumplings and meatballs, stuffing vegetables, slow braising, baking filled pastries and preserving produce. Representative dishes include manti, topik, kufta and su-boreg, with regional and family variations especially common. The tradition overlaps substantially with neighboring Anatolian, Levantine and Caucasian cuisines, so it should not be presented as an exclusive national invention.

Catalogue preview Cuisine connections may be unreviewed. Regional comparisons include their food references and do not establish the ingredients of a particular meal.