Armenians determined to keep traditional culture, cuisine alive
By Rosemary Ford
Eagle-Tribune
What exactly is Armenian food? It’s a question many people — Armenians included — can find difficult to answer.
Armenia has been tested through the ages, and as a result, the culture, including its culinary traditions, has at times become convoluted.
The country lies at a crossroads between the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. Over the centuries, its people have found themselves under the rule of various empires — Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian and Ottoman.
The stories that accompany the takeovers are fraught with suffering, most horribly during the Armenian genocide that resulted in the deaths of more than 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 at the hands of Ottoman Turkey.
The country finally gained independence — ultimately from the Soviet Union, in 1990.
But before and after the genocide, many Armenians left their homeland. The survivors and their relatives, including those who landed here in the Merrimack Valley, have had to work to keep Armenian traditions alive.
Among local immigrants is Sossy Jekavorian of Chelmsford, a member of St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church of the Merrimack Valley in North Andover, and a local general when it comes to marshaling the troops to prepare Armenian food for church functions.
“Our lives haven’t been that easy, but we have done well,” Jekavorian said.
Despite their tribulations, Armenians know how to celebrate, she said. The fact was evident at a recent church festival, where about 350 people, some Armenian and some not, turned out to drink up the culture through food and music.
“I am Italian and I am married to an Armenian, and I love the food,” said Maria Annaian of North Andover. “It reminds me of Italian food, all the Mediterranean flavors and spices. And the Armenians love to eat — just like the Italians do.”
Rose Gentile of Salem, Mass., who comes from an Armenian background, traveled to the North Andover church for the celebration.
“We were brought up on it,” she said of the food. “We love it.”
The staple of the festival, and of most Armenian tables, is rice pilaf. But the pilaf’s form can vary greatly depending upon who is serving it.
“It’s a competitive thing — they all have to have the best rice,” Annaian said.
“It’s like potatoes to the Irish, or pasta to the Italians,” said Violet Garabedian of Methuen.
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