FOOD

Ara: About food

Remarks about his mother’s cooking, many vegetable and bulgur dishes as meat was expensive. Comments on nutrition, lent and importance of spices. Remarks on the use of arabic seven spices, which cut the smell of bad meat. Sweets and desserts. Remarks it was difficult to find lemon when first came to the United Kingdom. Remarks on making at home v. buying from the corner shop.

(Interviewed by Erica, November 2024)

Arda: Food as Identity Marker

Awareness of being Armenian through food, language, relatives and friends. Food really important. Lebanese influence on how it is prepared. When in Armenia, she was aware of some differences.

(Interviewed by Kenan, March 2025)

Maral: Food

Discussion of the food loved by all. Difficult to identify specifically Armenian cuisine. Describes what lahmacun is and its Armenian specificity.

(Interviewed by Gabriella, July 2024)

Richard: Food memories

Richard mentions names of dishes made for large family meals, what the table looked like. Mentions the hybrid nature of their American Thanksgiving meal: American and Armenian dishes cohabiting. Church picnics. Richard misses manti especially. Time-consuming process of making Armenian dishes.

(Interviewed by Max and Melanie, June 2024)

Tina: Armenian food culture

Every summer in Armenia, Tina describes it as an ‘open air restaurant.’ Homemade food brought every day by family members. Detailed descriptions of favourite dishes.

(Interviewed by Arda and Nikolaos, June 2024)

Vazken: Armenian Coffee

Coffee sourced from Henry’s Coffee, owned by third-generation Romanian-Armenian, which he came across in Armenian Museum of America in Boston. Childhood memory of drinking coffee with grandmother; she would share sips during visits.

(Interviewed by Max and Melanie, September 2024)

Tania: Founding Jakob’s

Story of how Tania opened Jakob’s restaurant in London with her father’s guidance; comments on the Armenian spirit; mentions a wide range of guests to the restaurant, notably the priests; and about the role of Jakob’s as a community space.

(Interviewed by Ben and Phoebe, October 2024)