Dandeegeen Diaries—Chapter 10: An Armenian Birthday Feast

“I want you to make me Armenian food,” he said.

The first week of June, one of my very close non-Armenian friends was celebrating a birthday. He chose to celebrate with just me, since he was unable to have his typical big party. This friend is a major foodie; he loves to try cooking new dishes and is open to trying new flavors. He had never had Armenian food before, and he specifically requested for his quarantine birthday that I make him an Armenian meal.

I was overwhelmed at first. I had never cooked Armenian food before, as my mother or grandmother would usually make it at home or I would buy it from local Armenian markets. After consulting with my family and a few friends on dishes that would be fun and exciting but still palatable for someone who had never tried this type of food before, I decided to combine four different dishes to make a full Armenian meal: lahmajun, yalanchi, hummus and jajookh. In true Armenian woman fashion, I was making an entire feast for two people.

I did not have any recipes for these dishes and had no idea where to begin. Like any good Armenian daughter, I consulted my mother and grandmother. Through their social networks and recipe boxes, they were able to give me all the information (and fresh parsley) I needed to get started. My friend’s birthday was on Thursday, so my grandmother offered specific advice for the cooking order of operations: first, I would make the yalanchi filling on Monday. On Tuesday, I would put the filling in the grape leaves and cook them. On Wednesday, I would make the hummus. On Thursday, I would mix ingredients for the jajookh and make the lahmajun fresh. Cooking a full meal like this certainly takes time, but I was grateful to be able to space it out over multiple days.