OP: Treasured Armenian Recipes
The Detroit Women’s Chapter of Armenian General Benevolent Union, New York, 1999. Comb bound. Very Good Minus.
The Armenian General Benevolent Union is a charitable organization, founded in 1906, with the goal of preserving Armenian culture and providing aid to the diaspora. After the Armenian genocide, chapters were established globally, everywhere from Argentina to South Africa and Netherlands.
The Detroit chapter of the AGBU produced at least two cookbooks. Treasured Armenian Recipes, which we offer here, first appeared in 1949 and went through nearly thirty printings in 50 years. Written with those already familiar with the cuisine in mind, the recipes offer minimal explanation in the form of headnotes and instructions. However, at over 100 pages with multiple recipes per page, it is a superb resource for a cuisine underrepresented in the current publishing landscape.
Of the many dishes, you might try:
- Midia meechoog—a cold dish of mussels and rice, flavored with currants, cinnamon, allspice, and pine nuts
- Blor—oatmeal and bulgar dumplings in hot lamb or beef broth with onions, tomatoes, and spinach
- Apple “dolmas” stuffed with rice and raisins, best served with a meat dish
- Katah—yeasted coffee cake, often elaborately designed, for which there are 5 variations
Peppered with all the charming turns of phrase we expect from a community cookbook—“enough apples,” “design on top of dough with a fork or some other gadget”—this is a delightful foray into Armenian cuisine. We’re happy to offer it.
Our copy, issued in 1999, is clean and crisp; however three rungs of the plastic comb are broken, the rest are sturdy.
