So much bread!

This week wasn’t overly exciting. I woke up on Wednesday morning to see that America re-elected the great promise-breaker. We all saw it coming but I am truly saddened that we will have to deal with Obama’s incompetence again. As a self-driven conservative, liberalism goes against every grain in my body. In other news, I am volunteering at Repat Armenia as an English language editor and semi-journalist. 

Haters gonna hate.

It is about time I wrote a post about food. I wrote a similar style blog while I was abroad in Dortmund, Germany in which I explained my dietary choices and mishaps. This experience is entirely different, perhaps because I already know what adjusting to another country’s dietary customs is like. I can sum up the diet in a few words - BREAD & BREAD; but I'll explain something other than BREAD if you continue to read.

Nakhajash, or breakfast, is something pretty basic for me. I am a huge advocate of yogurt, which I eat every day. At first, I would only buy the German products because I trust their quality more than Russian things. I like to eat fruit at breakfast which varies depending on what my host family brought back from the village in Vanadzor. There are usually apples and peaches around, and last week my host brother brought back clementines from Georgia. Coffee is quite different here. I love Armenian coffee, which is served in small coffee cups. It tastes great but the serving size is quite small so it doesn’t completely satisfy my desire for a warm beverage in the morning. Therefore, I must resort to instant coffee, which seems to be the norm around here anyways. I haven’t even seen a drip coffee machine around so I don’t think it’s a thing in Armenia. Instant coffee is nasty compared to fresh brewed American or German style coffee, but I don’t really have a choice.

Snack time! Bonchik is Armenia’s donut. At Grand Candy, Armenia’s widely known candy company, one ‘bonchik’ costs 80 dram (about 20 cents). A bonchik is a fried dough blob that is filled with a kind of cream. It sounds like a donut, but is better because it is always served fresh – piping hot fried goodness. Unfortunately napkins in Armenia are even worse than in Germany. Bonchiks are served with a wax paper napkin. As if a slip of wax paper is going to get the grease and powdered sugar off of my mouth and fingers…!

Ponchik-monchik!

Lunch time is usually around 1pm or later because work generally starts at 10am (as opposed to 9am like in the US/Germany). My work schedule varies from day to day so lunch is always a surprise for me as well. Some days I will go to the supermarket during my break to get some sarma and tabouleh. The sarma at the local ‘STAR’ supermarket is pretty good. Tabouleh is way better at Nana’s house. I really miss the Lebanese/Armenian food we eat at home like zatar, hummus, feti, labneh, and tabouleh. If I’m wanting to eat something more starchy I’ll get a Khachapuri. Khachapuri is a triangle shaped bread thingy filled with cheese. Sometimes the dough is flaky, sometimes it is soft. The kids at school go bonkers for this stuff.

Armenians pride themselves on two things (not including khorovats): lavash bread and dolma. Lavash bread is a traditional flatbread that can be eaten with every meal. You can of course find loaves of bread everywhere, but they sell rolls of lavash as well. I can eat everything with lavash but my favorite is trusty Nutella. Be careful though, because lavash dries out quickly and becomes unappetizing. Everyone’s mother can make dolma better than the next person’s. Dolma is a traditional dish that consists of a hollowed out vegetable (squash, bell pepper, cabbage) that is filled with rice, meat, and spices. I don’t like to eat much meat in general so I’ll pass on the khorovats.

One of my favorite oddities spotted so far is the connection between Costco’s Kirkland brand and the SAS supermarket chain in Armenia. Kirkland is Costco’s own brand so its products are high quality at a low cost. My family loves the Costco wholesale stores in the states so  the first time I saw the Kirkland sign in Armenia I had a huge smile on my face. No, they don’t give free samples here (sorry Hirig). I tried to take a picture of the glorious KIRKLAND sign in the SAS supermarket but I got yelled at by an employee who told me I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside. Stupid soviet mentality is still highly visible in certain aspects. 

Dolma - stuffed peppers, grape leaves, etc.

Fruits and vegetables here are fantastic. They don’t use pesticides and pomegranates really do grow everywhere. There is pretty much the same variety as in the US, but strawberries are really expensive and I haven’t seen a pineapple in a while. Armenians like their persimmons, apricots, plums, and figs (which are even better dried)!  And fruits are sold everywhere. On the side of the road, in 'fresh fruit' markets, and in...soviet cars!

Pomegranate Lada - thanks, https://www.facebook.com/TarverdiPhotography

As winter rolls around, the prices for fruits and veggies will skyrocket so the alternative is homemade fruit and veggie preserves. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment! I have a feeling I will become good friends with potatoes by the end of this year…

Visited Sanahin and Haghpat over the weekend in the Lori province. Far drive, not so exciting.