Armenian cuisine

Armenian cuisine includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and dishes. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived as well as sharing outside influences from European and Levantine cuisines. The cuisine also reflects the traditional crops and animals grown and raised in Armenian populated areas.

The preparation of meat, fish, and vegetable dishes in an Armenian kitchen often requires stuffing, frothing, and puréeing. Lamb, eggplant, and bread (lavash) are basic features of Armenian cuisine. Armenians traditionally used cracked wheat (bulgur) in preference to maize and rice. The flavor of the food relies on the quality and freshness of the ingredients rather than on excessive use of spices.

Fresh herbs are used extensively, both in the food and as accompaniments. Dried herbs are used in the winter, when fresh herbs are not available.Wheat is the primary grain and is found in a variety of forms, such as: whole wheat, shelled wheat, bulgur (parboiled cracked wheat), semolina, farina, and flour.Historically, rice was used mostly in the cities and in certain rice-growing areas (e.g., Marash and the region around Yerevan). Legumes are used liberally, especially chick peas, lentils, white beans, and kidney beans. Nuts are used both for texture and to add nutrition to Lenten dishes. Of primary usage are walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, but also hazelnuts, pistachios (in Cilicia), and nuts from regional trees.

Fresh and dried fruit are used both as main ingredients and as sour agents. As main ingredients, the following fruit are used: apricots (fresh and dried), quince, melons, and others. As sour agents, the following fruits are used: sumac berries (in dried, powdered form), sour grapes, plums (either sour or dried), pomegranate, apricots, cherries (especially sour cherries), and lemons. In addition to grape leaves, cabbage leaves, chard, beet leaves, radish leaves, strawberry leaves, and others are also stuffed.

Background

A typical meal in an Armenian household might consist of bread, butter, sour milk, cheese, fresh and picked vegetables, and radishes. Lunch might include a vegetable or meatball soup with sour milk.

Lamb, yogurt, eggplant and bread are basic features of the cuisine of the Caucasus, and in this regard, Armenian cuisine is no different, but there are some regional differences. Armenian dishes make heavy use of bulgur, especially in their pilavs, while Georgian variations use maize, and Azeri cuisine favors rice. Armenian cuisine also makes use of mixed flours made from wheat, potato and maize, which produces flavors that are difficult to replicate. Armenians call kofta kiufta and tail fat kyurdyuk. Archaeologists have found traces of barley, grapes, lentils, peas, plums, sesame, and wheat during excavations of the Erebuni Fortress in Yerevan.

Herbs are used copiously in Armenian cuisine, and Armenian desserts are often flavored with rose water, orange flower water and honey. Salads are a staple of the Armenian diet, along with various yogurt soups and lamb stews, which sometimes include apricots. Pomegranate juice is a popular beverage. Murat Belge has written that both Armenian and Iranian cuisines have meat and fruit dishes, where meat is cooked together with fruits like quince and plums, which are uncommon in Ottoman cuisine.

Mezes made with chickpeas, lentils, beans and eggplants play a role in Armenian cuisine, often served with traditional lavash bread. Lavash may also be used as tortilla-style wrap for various combinations of fried meat, vegetables, cheese and herbs. Cold cucumber soup is a common dish. Bozbash is a soup of fatty lamb meat that may include various fruits and vegetables such as quince and apples. Armenian cuisine also features filled pastry pies called boereg, various types of sausages, toasted pumpkin seeds, pistachios, pine nuts, past́́ırma, and dolma.

Cinnamon is a very commonly used spice in Armenian cuisine; it is sprinkled on soups, breads, desserts and sometimes even fish. Salads are served with a lemon-cinnamon dressing alongside as an accompaniment to meat kebabs.In a survey of Armenian-American cuisine, ginger was rated an important spice.

There are many Turkish loanwords used in Armenian for various foodstuffs: tel paynir, su byorek, tarkhana, fasulya, lavaş, basturma and kadaif are examples. In her 1989 book Russian Food Jean Redwood wrote the following about Armenian cuisine:

A long unbroken religious cohesion and a strong national consciousness over the centuries, despite decimation and dispersion of their numbers over the globe, has kept their culture intact. Because of this they have tended to influence rather than be influenced in their manner of cooking. They travelled around the Caucasus more than the other nationalities and were the main commercial traders.

Other writers have expressed their doubts noting that "the culinary dishes which Armenians sometimes characterize as 'authentically Armenian' are on the one hand common features of the non-Armenian cuisine in many Arabic countries as well as in Cyprus and Greece and, on the other hand, popular throughout Iran".

Grains

Grains are used for a variety of purposes: traditional lavash bread is made from wheat flour and grains are also added to soups to give them a thicker consistency. Lavash is baked in a traditional clay tonir oven. Bread is a very important staple of Armenian cuisine.

Herbs

Armenians make extensive use of various herbs in their dishes. One porridge prepared from cereals and wild herbs is called kerchik. (The same name is used by Kurds and Yazidi.) Armenians usually eat kerchik with pickled cabage, whereas Yazidi eat it with knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). The Eastern Anatolia region, where many Armenians lived prior to the Armenian genocide, has an immensely rich plant biodiversity with over 3,000 vascular plant taxa—of these almost 800 are endemic species. The inhabitants of this region often lived in inaccessible area and were dependent on local cultivated and wild flora. Some of the most important areas of the region, in terms of plant diversity, include Harput, Lake Hazar and Munzur.

Dairy and cheese

Chechil is a type of smoked Armenian cheese. Tan is the traditional Armenian name for strained yogurt.

Dairies form an important part of the Armenian diet, especially in the cold winter months where, in past times, the only available vegetables were dried or pickled.

Yogurt (մածուն) and yogurt-derived products are of particular importance in the cuisine. In past times, villagers made a distinction between different types of yogurt, such as the yogurt made with the first milk of spring, etc. From yogurt is made tahn, a refreshing drink made from yogurt, water, and salt. Yogurt is also strained (քամված մածուն) and, thus prepared, may be used as a dip or mixed with broth in soups or stews (since the strained yogurt does not curdle as easily as plain yogurt). As a mean of long-term preservation, yogurt was also strained, formed into balls that were allowed to dry in the sun. This preparation is known as չորթան ("dry" yogurt).

An interesting preparation is the use of yogurt and bulgur to make թարխանա (tarkhana). The bulgur is kneaded with yogurt (and sometimes dried mint), dried in the sun, then broken into pieces that are stored in jars (or, traditionally, cloth sacks that were hung from the rafters). The preserved product could then be used in the winter to make soup or stews.

Yogurt forms the base of many stews and sauces. Պորանի (porani) is a stew with many variants but with the common characteristic of using yogurt. Many Armenian soups are made with yogurt. Generally, rice, bulgur, or vermicelli is boiled, and yogurt, or strained yogurt, is mixed to make soup. There are of course many variants involving the addition of legumes, herbs, spices, etc. In Western Armenian cuisine, a common side dish or dip is սխտոր մածուն ("garlic yogurt"), made by beating raw mashed garlic and salt into yogurt.

In addition to yogurt, Armenians use all the typical dairy products, from milk itself, to milk cream, sour cream (թթվասեր, t'tvaser), etc. Clotted cream, known as սերուցք (serootsk), is a staple of Western Armenian sweets.

Fruits and other sweets

The main ingredients in Armenian sweets are honey, fruits, nuts, yogurt and sesame. Both dried and fresh fruits are used.

There are many fruit-based Armenian desserts including smoked peaches and nuts cooked in honey and various fruit compotes. Armenian syrupy walnuts (called churchkhela in Georgia) are sweetened with mulberry or grape juice. Yogurt and nuts can be sweetened with honey. Cinnamon is heavily used as spice for desserts like apricot compote and kurabiye (a type of cookie).

Armenian and Persian peaches were reportedly traded westward during the era of Alexander the Great. One Soviet-era writer reports that Armenia's apricots, peaches, walnuts and quince are "equal or superior to the world's best grades." Another writes "Armenian peaches are famous, and her brandies are popular throughout the world". Grapes, figs, and pomegranates are also popular. Grapes and apricots are commonly used to make bastegh, a dried "fruit leather" of possible Persian origins that resembles Fruit Roll-Ups.

The Armenian version of the wheat berry pudding ashure is called anoushabour. Since Armenians serve this pudding during Christmas and on New Year's Eve, it is sometimes called "Armenian Christmas Pudding". The pudding may be accompanied by kurabiye or nuts such as almonds and pistachios. Like ashure, the Christmas Pudding may be garnished with pomegranate seeds and flavored with rose water, and shared with neighbors during the Christmas season. This festive pudding is the centerpiece of the New Year's table, which is often decorated with dried fruits, nuts and pomegranates.

Meats

Armenians eat various meats like mutton, cattle and goat but the most popular meat in Armenian cuisine is pork. Roasted piglet, called gochi is a traditional holiday meal prepared for New Year's celebrations. Roasted pork chops (chalagach) are a favored item for barbeques. Horovats is an Armenian-style kebab that is usually made from pork, but can also be made with lamb. This kebab is prepared with vegetables like eggplant, tomato and green pepper. The Armenian Lulu kebab is very similar to Adana kebab the only difference being that Lulu kebab is spiced with cinnamon.

Keshkegh is a bulgur pilav based dish with lamb or chicken; it is cooked in a broth and flavored with butter, cinnamon and pepper.

Tavuklu çullama is a chicken dish that is sometimes identified as Armenian, but there are conflicting accounts about its region of origin and preparation of the dish varies substantially between regions. Some say it's a specialty of the Kırşehir region, while another variation served in simple syrup is prepared annually in Maraş, Turkey.

Basturma is a salted meat that is dried and pressed before being rubbed with a special spice paste called çemen;it is a common food item in Armenia.

Yershig (Armenian: երշիկ yershik or սուջուխ suǰux) – a spicy beef sausage

Kiufta (Armenian: կոլոլակ kololak) – meaning meatball comes in many types, such as Hayastan kiufta, Kharpert kiufta (Porov kiufta), Ishli kiufta, etc.

Tehal (Armenian: տհալ, also known as ghavurma) is potted meat preserved in its own fat.

Doughs

Kocagörmez, which means "husband doesn't see", is a dough-based dish; the anecdotal tale behind this particular dough is that it is named for a woman who always prepares meat dishes when her husband is home, but eats this simple dough herself to conserve the resources of the household.

Matnakash (Armenian: մատնաքաշ matnak’aš) – soft and puffy leavened bread, made of wheat flour and shaped into oval or round loaves; the characteristic golden or golden-brown crust is achieved by coating the surface of the loaves with sweetened tea essence before baking.

Bagharch (Armenian: բաղարջ) – ritual bread prepared for New Year's Eve, Mid-Lent, etc.

Choereg (or choreg) – braided bread formed into rolls or loaves, also a traditional loaf for Easter.

Zhingyalov hats (Armenian: Ժինգյալով հաց) - Not entirely a bread you would eat with your everyday meal. Zhingyalov hac is an Armenian dish that is made with dough, dried cranberry, pomegranate molasses, that go inside the dough, and 7 different greens which include spinach, coriander, parsley, basil, scallions, dill, mint. There is a variety of combinations that can be used in the bread and these greens can easily be substituted for other greens. The greens are placed in the bread and the bread is folded like a calzone.

Typical dishes

There are a few national dishes in Armenian cuisine.

Harissa is a porridge made of wheat and meat cooked together for a long time, originally in the tonir but nowadays over a stove. Traditionally, harissa was prepared on feast days in communal pots and served to all comers. The wheat used in harissa is typically shelled (pelted) wheat, though in Adana, harissa is made with կորկոտ (korkot; ground, par-boiled shelled wheat), similar to bulgur. Either lamb, beef, or chicken is used as the harissa meat.

he "everyday" Armenian dish is the dzhash (Ճաշ). This is a brothy stew consisting of meat (or a legume, in the meatless version), a vegetable, and spices. The dzhash was typically cooked in the tonir. The dzhash is generally served over a pilaf of rice or bulgur, sometimes accompanied by bread, pickles or fresh vegetables or herbs. A specific variety of dzhash is the porani (պորանի), a stew made with yoghurt, of possibly Persian origin. Examples of dzhash are:

Meat and green beans or green peas (with tomato sauce, garlic, and mint or fresh dill)

Meat and summer squash (or zucchini). This is a signature dish from Ainteb, and is characterized by the liberal use of dried mint, tomatoes, and lemon juice.

Meat and pumpkin. This is a wedding dish from Marash made with meat, chick peas, pumpkin, tomato and pepper paste, and spices.

Meat and leeks in a yoghurt sauce.

Urfa-style porani, made with small meatballs, chickpeas, chard, and desert truffles.

Grilled meats are quite common as well and are omnipresent at market stalls, where they are eaten as fast food, as well as at barbecues and picnic. Also, in modern times, no Armenian banquet is considered complete without an entree of kabob. Kabobs vary from the simple (marinated meat on a skewer interspersed with vegetables) to the more elaborate. Certain regions in Western Armenia developed their local, specialized kabobs. For example, we have

Urfa kabob, spiced ground meat interspersed with eggplant slices.

Orukh and khanum budu, two Cilician specialties in which lean ground meat is kneaded with dough and spices and lined on a skewer.

A common dish of Armenian cuisine is pilaf (եղինց; yeghints). Pilaf is a seasoned rice, bulgur, or shelled wheat dish often served with meats such as lamb or beef. Many pilafs (especially in Western Armenian cuisine) are made with vermicelli in addition to the rice or wheat. Pilafs can also include meats, vegetables, and/or dried fruits to make them more substantial (similar to the Indian biryani). Rice pilaf with dried fruits is part of the Eastern Armenian Christmas Eve tradition. Pilaf made with bulgur and liver is a specialty of Zeitoun (Cilicia, Western Armenia).

Breakfast

Egypt may include "fool" (stewed fava beans in olive oil).

Traditional Armenian breakfast dishes were hearty. They included:

Hash, sometimes colloquially called the "Armenian hangover cure", is a basic dish of simmered cow's hooves. Hash is mentioned in 12th century medieval Armenian texts.

Kalagyosh: There are many variants of this dish. It can be a meat and yogurt stew or it can be a vegetarian stew made with lentils, fried onions, and matzoon. In either case, it was traditionally eaten by crumbling stale lavash bread over it and eating it with a spoon.

Appetizers

Meals in Armenia often start with a spread of appetizers served for "the table".

Armenian appetizers include stuffed vine leaves (called yalanchy sarma, a type of dolma), a fried cheese-stuffed pastry called dabgadz banir boerag, stuffed mussels (midye dolma) and several types of pickled vegetables generally known as torshi. Toasted pumpkin seeds are a popular snack; Armenians call them tutumi gud.

Chickpea balls called topik are made by Turkey's Armenian community; they are spiced with currants, onions, and cinnamon and served with a tahini sauce.,

Takuhi Tovmasyan discusses several Armenian mezzes in her book Sofranız Şen Olsun including stuffed mackerel, a dish of beans in sauce served over stale bread (leftover yufka or lavash may be used also) called fasulye paçası, and a type of olive-oil based appetizer with mussels called midye pilakisi.

Salads

Many, if not most, Armenian salads combine a grain or legume with fresh vegetables—often tomato, onions, and fresh herbs. Mayonnaise is used in Western or Russian-inspired salads (e.g., Salade Olivier). Examples of Armenian salads include:

Eetch – cracked wheat salad, similar to the Middle Eastern tabouleh.

Lentil salad – brown lentils, tomatoes, onions, in a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, and chopped parsley. This salad has many variations, with the lentils being replaced by chick peas, black-eyed peas, chopped raw or roasted eggplant, etc.

Byorek

Byoreks (Armenian: բյորեկ), are pies made with phyllo pastry and stuffed with cheese (panirov byorek, from Armenian: panir for cheese, Eastern Armenians refer to this as Khachapuri) or spinach (similar to spanakopita in Greek cuisine). They are a popular snack and fast food, often served as appetizer. Su byorek lit. 'water burek' is a lasagna-style dish with sheets of phyllo pastry briefly boiled in a large pan before being spread with fillings. Msov byorek is a bread roll (not phyllo pastry) stuffed with ground meat (similar to Russian pirozhki).

Semsek, from the region of Urfa, is a fried open-faced meat byorek.

A specific Lenten byorek is made with spinach and tahini sauce.

Soups

Armenian soups include spas, made from matzoon, hulled wheat and herbs (usually cilantro), and aveluk, made from lentils, walnuts, and wild mountain sorrel (which gives the soup its name). Kiufta soup is made with large balls of strained boiled meat (kiufta) and greens.

Another soup, khash, is considered an Armenian institution. Songs and poems have been written about this one dish, which is made from cow's feet and herbs made into a clear broth. Tradition holds that khash can only be cooked by men, who spend the entire night cooking, and can be eaten only in the early morning in the dead of winter, where it served with heaps of fresh garlic and dried lavash.

T'ghit is a very special and old traditional food, made from t'tu lavash (fruit leather, thin roll-up sheets of sour plum purée), which are cut into small pieces and boiled in water. Fried onions are added and the mixture is cooked into a purée. Pieces of lavash bread are placed on top of the mixture, and it is eaten hot with fresh lavash used to scoop up the mixture by hand.

Karshm is a local soup made in the town of Vaik in the Vayots Dzor Province. This is a walnut based soup with red and green beans, chick peas and spices, served garnished with red pepper and fresh garlic. Soups of Russian heritage include borscht, a beet root soup with meat and vegetables (served hot in Armenia, with fresh sour cream) and okroshka, a matzoon or kefir based soup with chopped cucumber, green onion, and garlic.

Arganak (Armenian: արգանակ arganak) – chicken soup with small meatballs, garnished before serving with beaten egg yolks, lemon juice, and parsley.

Blghourapour (Armenian: բլղուրապուր blġurapur) – a sweet soup made of hulled wheat cooked in grape juice; served hot or cold.

Bozbash (Armenian: բոզբաշ bozbaš) – a mutton or lamb soup that exists in several regional varieties with the addition of different vegetables and fruits.

Brndzapour (Armenian: բրնձապուր brndzapur) – rice and potato soup, garnished with coriander.

Dzavarapour (Armenian: ձավարապուր dzavarapur) – hulled wheat, potatoes, tomato purée; egg yolks diluted with water are stirred into the soup before serving.

Flol – beef soup with coarsely chopped spinach leaves and cherry-sized dumplings (Armenian: flol) made from oatmeal or wheat flour.

Harissa (Armenian: հարիսա harisa, also known as ճիտապուր) – porridge of coarsely ground wheat with pieces of boned chicken

Katnapour (Armenian: կաթնապուր kat’napur) – a milk-based rice soup, sweetened with sugar.

Katnov (Armenian: կաթնով kat’nov) – a milk-based rice soup with cinnamon and sugar.

Kololak (Armenian: կոլոլակ kololak) – soup cooked from mutton bones with ground mutton dumplings, rice, and fresh tarragon garnish; a beaten egg is stirred into the soup before serving.

Krchik (Armenian: Քրճիկ kṙčik) – soup made from sauerkraut, pickled cabbage, hulled wheat, potatoes, and tomato purée.

Mantapour (Armenian: մանթապուր mantʿapur) – beef soup with manti; the manti are typically served with matzoon or sour cream (ttvaser), accompanied by clear soup.

Matsnaprtosh (Armenian: մածնաբրդոշ matsnaprt'oš) - this is the same as okroshka, referenced earlier, with sour clotted milk diluted with cold water, with less vegetation than okroshka itself. Matsnaprtosh is served cold as a refreshment and supposedly normalizes blood pressure.

Putuk (Armenian: պուտուկ putuk) – mutton cut into pieces, dried peas, potatoes, leeks, and tomato purée, cooked and served in individual crocks.

Sarnapour (Armenian: սառնապուր saṙnapur) – pea soup with rice, beets and matzoon.

Snkapur (Armenian: սնկապուր snkapur) – a mushroom soup.

Tarkhana (Armenian: թարխանա t’arxana) – flour and matzoon soup

Vospapour (Armenian: ոսպապուր ospapur) – lentil soup with dried fruits and ground walnuts.

Pekhapour (mustache soup) – chick peas, shelled wheat (ծեծած), lentils, in a vegetarian broth and fresh tarragon. This soup originates from Aintab.

Fish

Armenian cuisine includes many typical seafood dishes like fried mussels (midye tava), stuffed calamari (kalamar dolma), mackerel (uskumru) and bonito (palamut).

The trout from Lake Sevan is called ishkhan and can be prepared different ways including a baked dolma version stuffed with dried fruits (prunes, damsons, or apricots) and a poached version marinated with red peppers. Ishkhan is also sometimes served in a walnut sauce.

For a relatively land-locked country, Armenian cuisine includes a surprising number of fish dishes. Typically, fish is either broiled, fried, or sometimes poached. A few recipes direct the fish to be stuffed. Fish may have been used to stuff vegetables in ancient times, though that is not common anymore.

There are several varieties of fish in the Republic of Armenia:

Sig (Armenian: սիգ sig) – a whitefish from Lake Sevan, native to northern Russian lakes (endangered species in Armenia).

Karmrakhayt (alabalagh) (Armenian: կարմրախայտ karmrakhayt) – a river trout, also produced in high-altitude artificial lakes (e.g., the Mantash Reservoir in Shirak Province).

Koghak (Armenian: կողակ koġak) – an indigenous Lake Sevan fish of the carp family, also called Sevan khramulya (overfished)

Main courses

Fasulya (fassoulia) – a stew made with green beans, lamb and tomato broth or other ingredients

Ghapama (Armenian: ղափամա ġap’ama) – pumpkin stew

Kchuch (Armenian: կճուճ kč̣uč̣) – a casserole of mixed vegetables with pieces of meat or fish on top, baked and served in a clay pot

Tjvjik (Armenian: տժվժիկ tžvžik) – a dish of fried liver and kidneys with onions

Sweets

Alani (Armenian: ալանի alani) – pitted dried peaches stuffed with ground walnuts and sugar.

Baklava – ground pistachio nuts, cinnamon, and cloves in layers of phyllo pastry soaked with a sugar syrup which usually contains orange flower water.

Kadaif (ghataif) – shredded dough with cream, cheese, or chopped walnut filling, soaked with sugar syrup.

Bastegh or pastegh (Armenian: պաստեղ pasteġ) - homemade fruit leather.

T'tu lavash (Armenian: թթու լավաշ t’t’u lavaš) – thin roll-up sheets of sour plum purée (fruit leather).

Ritual foods

Nshkhar (Armenian: նշխար nšxar) – bread used for Holy Communion

Mas (Armenian: մաս mas) – literally means "piece" a piece of leftover bread from the making of Nshkhar, given to worshippers after church service

Matagh (Armenian: մատաղ mataġ) – sacrificial meat. can be of any animal such as goat, lamb, or even bird.

Drinks

Armenian coffee (Armenian: սուրճ) – strong black coffee, finely ground, sometimes sweet

Kefir (Armenian: կեֆիր) – fermented milk drink

Kvass (Armenian: կվաս) – sweet, fermented bread drink

Tahn (Armenian: թան) – yogurt drink (still or carbonated)

Jermuk (Armenian: Ջերմուկ J̌ermuk) – a brand of mineral water from the Jermuk area.

Hayq, Sari – a brand of bottled mountain spring water from the Jermuk area (in Armenian Hayq stands for Armenia and Sari for from the mountains).

Tarkhun soda (Armenian: թարխուն t’arxun) – tarragon-flavored soda.

Alcoholic drinks

Beer

Beer (Armenian: գարեջուր gareǰur)

Armenian produced beer is considered to be one of the favorite drinks of Armenian men. The beer industry is developing barley malt and producing beer from it. The preparation of beer in Armenia was known from ancient times. According to the Greek historian Xenophon the manufacture of beer in Armenia has begun from BC 5th-4th centuries. Armenians used beer grains for brewing (barley, millet, hops).

In 1913 there were 3 beer factories that produced 54 thousand deciliters of beer. In 1952-78 new factories in Yerevan, Goris, Alaverdi, Abovyan were built while existing factories were expanded and improved upon. For providing raw materials for beer production in Gyumri was launched large malt plant, based in the production of barley melt of Shirak valley farms (with the capacity of 10 thousand tons of production). In 1985 was produced 6 million deciliters of beer.

Popular Brands

Kotayk

Kilikia

Erebuni (produced by Kotayk Brewery)

Gyumri[permanent dead link]

Aleksandrapol

Brandy

Armenian brandy (Armenian: կոնյակ konyak), known locally as konyak is perhaps Armenia's most popular exported alcoholic drink. It has a long history of production. Armenian brandy made by Yerevan Wine & Brandy Factory was said to be the favorite drink of British statesman Winston Churchill. It was the favorite alcoholic drink of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Churchill at the Yalta conference at 1945.

The history of Armenian brandy begins in 1887, in the winery of Armenian merchant N. Tairov (Yerevan). By 1890-1900 Yerevan was becoming a center for the production of brandy, numbering a number of factories owned by Gyozalov (1892), Saradjev (1894), Ter-Mkrtchian (1899), and others. In 1899, N. Tairov sold his factory to Nikolay Shustov’s well-known brand in Russia. In 1914, there were 15 factories in the province of Yerevan (the largest the one now owned by Shustov) produced 210,010 deciliters of brandy. In 1921, the Soviet state took over Shustov’s factory, and it was renamed to “Ararat”. This became the main factory for wine manufacturing.

Despite the fact that only brandies produced in the Cognac region of France have the copyright to be called “cognac” according to Western trade rules, Armenian brandy is called cognac inside Armenia. Yerevan Brandy Factory is now negotiating to obtain an official privilege to market its brandy as cognac.

Armenian brandy is categorized by its age and method of aging. The rated stars indicate the age of brandy since its fermentation starting from 3 stars. The most expensive cognacs have passed additional vintage for more that 6 years and have special names. The brandy is aged in oak barrels and is made from selected local white grapes grown in the Ararat Valley which is giving it a shade of caramel brown.

Popular Brands

Ararat

Noy

Oghi

Oghi (Armenian: օղի òġi) – an Armenian alcoholic beverage usually distilled from fruit; also called aragh. Artsakh is a well-known brand name of Armenian mulberry vodka (tuti oghi) produced in Nagorno-Karabakh from local fruit. In the Armenian Diaspora, where fruit vodka is not distilled, oghi refers to the aniseed-flavored distilled alcoholic drink called arak in the Middle East, raki in Turkey, or ouzo in Greece.

Mulberry vodka (Armenian: թթի արաղ t’t’i araġ) A traditional Armenian vodka made from distilling the mulberry, which is grown all over Armenia, especially in the highlands and Artsakh.

Wine

The alcoholic drink with the longest history in Armenia is wine. One of the oldest wineries in the world was discovered in Armenia. Historically, wineries in Armenia were concentrated along the Ararat valley. Of particular note was the district of Koghtn (Գողթն, current Nakhichevan area). Today, Armenian wineries are concentrated in the Areni region (district of Vayots Dzor).

Armenian wine is mostly made from local varietals, such as Areni, Lalvari, Kakhet, etc., though some wineries mix in better known European varietals such as Chardonnay and Cabernet. Winemaking took a downward plunge in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but is undergoing a revival, with the addition of world-class labels such as Zorah Wines. A yearly wine festival, held in Areni, is popular with the locals and features wines from official wineries as well as homemade hooch of varying quality. Armenian wines are predominantly red and are sweet, semi-sweet (Vernashen, Ijevan), or dry (Areni).

Armenian Highland engaged in winemaking since ancient times. It has achieved considerable development of Urartu times (9th - 6th centuries. BC). During excavations in the castle of Teyshebaini have been found around 480, and in Toprakkale, Manazkert, Red Hill and Ererbunium 200 pot.

The evidences of high-level and large-scale wine production in Armenia are as foreign (Herodotus, Strabo, Xenophon and others) and Armenian historians of the 5th-18th centuries, as well as sculptures of architectural monuments and protocols. Armenia's current area began wine production in the 2nd half of the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century, next to the small businesses in Yerevan, Ghamarlu (Artashat), Ashtarak, Echmiadzin (Vagharshapat ), there were 4 mill.

In addition to grapes, wines have been made with other fruit, notably pomegranate (Armenian: նռան գինի nran kini), apricot, quince, etc. In some cases, these fruit wines are fortified.

Mineral waters

Among the soft drinks Armenian mineral water is known for its healing specialty and is recommended by doctors. This spring water is originating from the depth of earth and flowing from ancient mountains in the city of Jermuk.

Armenia has rich reserves of mineral water. After the establishment of the Soviet Union the study and development of multilateral disciplines in these waters have begun. First industrial bottling was organized in Arzni, at 1927. In 1949, were put into operation Dilijan and Jermuk mineral water factories. In 1960-1980 were launched “Sevan”, “Hankavan”, “Lichk”, “Bjni”, “Lori”, “Arpi”, “Ararat”, mineral water bottling plants and factories, which are involved in the production unit “mineral water of Armenia”. ASSR in 1985 produced 295 million bottles of mineral water.

Source from Wikipedia