11 Can’t Miss Culinary Experiences In Armenia

A cuisine that is remarkably numerous from its north to south, Armenian food stuff isn’t just abundant in flavors – it’s rich in background, as very well. Offered with modest simplicity, the dishes and wine traditions listed here, some of the initially in the earth, can only be understood as soon as you move foot in the state, creating Armenia a place that need to no for a longer period be ignored, in particular by gastronomes and oenophiles.

But what is it about Armenian food stuff which is worthy of a discerning traveler’s focus? And why now? Probably it’s the explosive flavors that appear with every chunk. Or the traditions and tales behind even the most basic of dishes, from khash to horats panir. Or this excerpt from cookbook writer Lena Tachdjian in Vegan Armenian Kitchen area that responses individuals inquiries perfectly, “​it’s the sturdy taste of the regional deliver – no matter whether it be eggplants, mushrooms, tomatoes, or even just fresh greens and herbs. Armenian delicacies will allow for basic foods that emphasize these components to glow and communicate for them selves.”

When examining out the regional restaurants and cafes in Yerevan presents guests a surface-amount introduction to Armenian meals, there are far far better ways to check out the cuisine – and to do a deep dive into its traditions, techniques, and the people preserving this component of their heritage alive. And that signifies obtaining out, receiving your fingers soiled, and checking out by way of these 11 unique culinary ordeals in Armenia.

Go on a Wild Foods Experience with 2492

Journey to a land untouched with 2492’s Wild Food items Adventures, an interactive culinary working experience set in Armenia’s terrific outdoors in which neighborhood hosts sit down and share a 3-program meal designed with classic recipes and locally sourced ingredients with fascinated visitors. Below, you won’t just study about Armenia’s wealthy culinary traditions and background – you are going to turn into a part of them. Decide on in between three adventures: the Areni Cliffs, an Areni winery, or the Yeranos Mountains. The Areni Cliffs give you the opportunity to see endangered bezoar goats with a bird’s-eye look at of the 13th-century Noravank Monastery even though the Areni vineyard encounter gives you the chance to sip regional wine in a golden-hued industry as the sunlight sets behind you. Or, lastly, go for the 2492 adventure in the Yeranos Mountains the place you’ll be transported to a Martian-like terrain right before settling down to a conventional meal between the mountaintops.

Go Foraging at Sona Guesthouse

Dsegh village is a single of Armenia’s most sought after escapes and Sona Guesthouse is the great quit for hungry tourists passing via. Run by Ashot and Anahit Bezhanyan, the guesthouse is named right after a person of their grandchildren. With a handful of culinary experiences to choose from, each individual of them necessitates placing in some get the job done just before you can take pleasure in the fruits of your labor. Dependent on the year, forage for mushrooms, area herbs (these kinds of as hornbeam and malva), berries (which include blackberries, rosehip, and cornel), or other vegetation in the inexperienced mountains and forests of Lori. After you’ve rounded up your haul, Ashot and Anahit will train you how to make soups, salads, preserves, or juice, the common Armenian way.

Make Sasna Klulik at Noosh Guesthouse

In Aragatsotn province, the little village of Ashnak is dwelling to Noosh, a guesthouse and restaurant run by area Ani Hovhannisyan and her close friend, Gayane Malishenko. The Armenian term for almond, the guesthouse’s title signifies the 23 almond trees situated on the guesthouse grounds. Noosh offers a deep dive into Sasun society and cooking, a society that stays strong nowadays soon after they had been forced to relocate listed here more than a century in the past. Company are specified the chance to test their hand at creating sasna klulik, a savory dish manufactured from pickled cabbage, wheat, and spices. If you strategy your excursion at the appropriate time, you may possibly even have the chance to enjoy performances of yarkhushta, kochari, and other traditional dances though experiencing a food with your new Sasun pals.

Bury Horats Panir at Aged Martiros Guesthouse

Hamlet Yeghiadzaryan and Gohar Babayan are the partner-wife group that operates Previous Martiros Guesthouse in 1 of the oldest villages in Armenia. Produced to cater to adventurers hunting to get advantage of the new hiking trails designed in the region, the guesthouse not only presents a relaxed put to continue to be for the evening but friends are also greeted with a wide range of culinary ordeals, this sort of as studying how to make ‘horats panir’ cheese, a buried cheese that originates in Yeghegnadzor, Vayk, and close by villages. Gohar will clearly show you how to push the cheese into clay pots and include nearby, hand-picked mountain herbs in concerning layers to enrich its taste. You’ll then head to the cellar to keep it, where it will keep on being for 3-5 months just before it is all set to be enjoyed.

Take in the Most effective of Meghri at Khachats Toun

More of a Diy knowledge, heading to Armenia’s much south features the prospect to knowledge an overall new environment of flavors, fruits, and hospitality. Positioned on the Iranian border, Meghri’s archaeological finds date back to the 7th-century BC, and the city features a food lifestyle all its own. The town is specially known for its pomegranates, which also occur to be a single of the countrywide symbols of Armenia. Travelers will also discover olives, quince, persimmons, medlar, kiwi, and additional increasing in the location.

To truly knowledge the hospitality and meals of Meghri, prevent into Khachats Toun Heritage Lodge. Founded by nearby Shahane Khachikyan in her family’s historic residence, Khachats Toun hosts guests from all over the globe hunting to put their taste buds to the examination with some of the greatest elements from Southern Syunik, such as the region’s greatest fruit-infused vodkas.

Go to an Armenian Gastro Property at Yeganyans

A area the place company can truly practical experience the neighborhood tradition, Armenia’s new ‘gastro yards’ give tourists the chance to flavor their way as a result of community dishes, and even consider a culinary masterclass when they are at it. Today, you can obtain them dotted across various areas of the country, with a person in unique in Ashtarak really worth trying to find out – Yeganyans’ Guest Household and Wine Property. Run by locals Nelly and Sedrak, Sedrak has his very own vineyard nearby where by he grows more than ten varieties of grapes that he uses to make his possess wine. Guests are invited to find out more about this process and will even have the possibility to bottle wine to get dwelling with them. Even though tourists expend time with Sedrak studying about Armenian wine, it’s Nelly’s homemade foods that round out this gastro property take a look at.

Style Armenian Cheese at the Mikayelyan Loved ones Farm

In the small village of Artsvakar in Armenia’s Gegharkunik area, gastronomes will be delighted to come across Mikayelyan Family members Farm, a loved ones-owned cheesemaking farm that has received nationwide recognition across Armenia in modern years. The fashionable facility is a position where you can study additional about caseiculture (the artwork of building cheese), tour the cheese cellar, and pair the knowledge with an assorted platter of cheese and local wines. What’s most one of a kind about this knowledge are the Armenian-centric elements highlighted in the cheesemaking approach – sample all the things from a astonishingly delightful sea buckthorn distribute to cheese rinds well known with cognac, wine, or mint and pick your beloved cheeses to just take with you on the road.

Sit Among the the Vineyards at Momik Wines

Wine ordeals in Armenia are a dime a dozen but Momik Wines gives an expertise like no other. The Armenian winery has been in Nver Ghazaryan’s family for approximately half a century, and they concentration on developing endemic Areni grapes from the area, which also occurs to be exactly where the world’s oldest vineyard is uncovered. These days, Nver and his wife Narine are not just famed for their grapes – the winery is a prime example of OneArmenia’s Farm-to-Bottle initiative, a application that inspired regional grape farmers to keep their produce and generate their individual wines rather of promoting to larger sized makers. For the very best working experience at Momik Wines, e-book a wine tasting paired with a smaller variety of food and sit between some of the world’s oldest vines whilst sipping on wine produced from these extraordinary Areni and Kharji grapes.

Take a Culinary Masterclass at Resort Mirhav

Found in the coronary heart of Goris, Resort Mirhav is one particular of the to start with motels developed in article-Soviet Armenia. Whilst the emotion below is luxurious without the need of the pretentiousness, it’s the gastronomic encounters the lodge gives that really established it apart from other folks in the area. Hotel director Gayane Martirosyan teaches eager (and hungry) friends how to make all the things from tolma to Armenian plov to zhengyalov hats in the comforts of Mirhav’s spacious kitchen area and dining area. Lodge Mirhav can also established up visitors with area households to learn how to distill vodka with dwelling-grown mulberries, wild pears, rosehips, and additional.

Make Chanakh and Pokhind at Chalet Gyumri

Gyumri is Armenia’s 2nd-largest metropolis and quickly one particular of the most underrated spots in the location. A town renowned for its humor, Gyumri also has some uniquely Armenian dishes to demonstrate off to guests, and at Chalet Gyumri visitors are specified the chance to test them out. Under the assistance of operator Karine Tumasyan hungry guests are specified the probability to make her relatives recipe for chanakh, a Gyumri convenience food manufactured in a clay pot. Even though the chanakh cooks, Tumasyan continues the lesson, exhibiting attendees just one more family members recipe – this time in the type of the dessert pokhind.

Learn to Make Gata with Legends Guesthouse

Close to Yeghegis in the village Artabuynk, Legends Guesthouse is a household-owned business that combines a masterclass the place guests find out how to make 1 of Armenia’s favourite sweets, gata, with a journey to the close by Smbataberd Fortress. When Gata can be located throughout the place (like in Artabuynk), but with distinct regional variations, it’s the model from the Upper Azat Valley’s Geghard and Garni that is most renowned. Below, guests will understand how to make gata in a tonir (a stone oven buried in the ground) with the guesthouse’s owner Tamara ahead of having a short hike with Vardan and Karen to Smbataberd.