The Armenians have always followed old customs and traditions. Besides the national customs each family has its own tradition. Many of them are connected with dishes. Our family also has a dish which we always make on holidays, which is duck, with rice, made by my grandmother. When I was a little girl it was a great pleasure for me to watch how my grandmother made it, and other dishes as well. I tried to remember them. Now I make it myself and I can do can make it very well. For the first time I made my favorite dish last year. It was very tasty.

Take a duck. Clean and wash it. Flavor the stomach of the duck and put it into a frying-pan. Wash a cup of rice and put the raw rice in the stomach of the duck then sew it (with a needle and thread). Then make the paste (sour cream, black and red pepper, salt) and cover the whole duck with it. Then put it into the oven and cook while the skin becomes red. Take it out of the oven put it on flat plate. Take out stitches and enjoy both the duck meat and the rice made in it. Flavor it with sour cream, tomato paste or other flavorings as you wish.

If aveluk is boiled with wine it stops pain in the spleen. The juice of aveluk stops toothache. Aveluk also regulates blood circulation. We often use aveluk - both as food and as medicine. If anybody has not used aveluk, let them use it! It is very useful and delicious. We ought to keep on using our Armenian meals, the meals which were used by our ancestors, and are used by us, with great pleasure.

Aveluk (ah-veh-LOOK) is a wild plant that is dried into long braids, then prepared by steaming or boiling.

As you approach the cocktail, the smell of melted ice-cream, succulent and appetizing strawberry puree, bananas pine-apple tickle your nostrils. Your sense of smell gives information to your stomach and it begins to produce special liquid which makes your mouth produce saliva and then splutter along your chin. Your hands begin to tremble, the cocktail drives you mad with desire to take the glass and taste it. As your lips touch it, small drops of that magic and mysterious liquid glide into your mouth, moving smoothly through your larynx and pharynx and then reaches your stomach. Your stomach is surprised! It begins to digest the juice violently, spreading its nutritious elements and vitamins into your blood vessels and that feeling remains inside you forever...

I think there is nobody in the world who does not like eating. There are different types of food. Some people prefer vegetables, others like sweets while some prefer meat — but we all like eating! We are a family of five and each of us has different taste. Though there are some dishes which we all like, like this mushroom dish. It is made in the following way: Cut boiled mushroom into thin slices and fry them. Then add well—fried beef or pork, onion, pepper, grated carrots (that was fried in melted butter) and seasoning. Then ad layers of chicken breast and put meat filling between each layer. Roll it up and cook it in the oven. All our family likes Pakhlava, from Georgian cuisine. I compare it with life. It takes much effort to make it - just like periods of our lives - but in the end, after tasting it, we understand that all our efforts were not spent in vain. The same thing happens in life. We understand that our efforts were not in vain and that we have really reached some heights.

Pakhlava is made of more than 16 layers which are joined one to one another by sugar, melted butter, cinnamon and a filling of nuts. Cut it in diamond shapes, and put it into the oven. After it is ready, pour melted honey on it. Although Pakhlava is liked, Dolma (an Armenian dish) is the most favorite food in my family. The main part of Dolma consists of a meat filling, which is then rolled in cabbage- or grape leaves. There is also another type of Dolma in Armenian cuisine, called "Summer Dolma".

Meat is used as a filling inside vegetables, like peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. It is called "Summer Dolma" because these vegetables are found in summer.

Magic Mount Ararat is seen in a distance, just opposite the sun, and its white glow that reflects from the slopes, covered with snow, fascinates you. There are many villages and towns in front of it. Old Minass and his wife, Gohar, lived in one of the small villages. Minas had met a lot of obstacles and insults in his life, but his courageous spirit was not broken. He lived and inspired other brave Armenians.

It was daybreak. After rain in the night, nature seemed to come to life. The air was filled with the pleasant smell of wet soil. The sun, like a capricious beauty, was coming out behind the mountains. There was some excitement in old Minass’ family. His sons, their wives and daughters with their husbands and children came to their paternal home. All the members of the family sat at the big table. Radishes, glasses of natural mulberry vodka, cheese and lavash (Armenian bread) were on the table. The clay bowls of khash were on an iron tray. Blazing sparks of fire and coals kept the khash hot, to the very last piece.

The atmosphere was warm. They were speaking about life, their present and future, and they were drinking toasts. Somebody was offering toasts and then the others joined with their wishes. But old Minass was the first to offer a toast and everybody stood up and listened to him. After his words the dinner started. Minass’s granddaughter, Arpine, was sitting next to Gohar. She was looking very carefully at her grandmother’s flexible fingers which were crumbling lavash into khash and she followed her example.

The steam rising from the dough whetted her appetite. She ate some pieces. It was very tasty. She looked at her grandmother sitting next to her and asked, "How do you make khash?" "It’s a long story," said her grandmother. "Tell me about it," said Arpine. "Let’s drink for the stability of Armenian family," said someone, interrupting them. Arpine bent her head for some minutes; then she gazed at her grandmother. Gohar smiled, stroke her head gently and began speaking. "We clean a cow’s legs and put it under flowing, cold water. Some days later the meat is cleaned. Before cooking we wash it again and put it into a pan and fill it with water. It must be 15-20 cm above the meat. We cook it till the meat is separated from the bones."

Then Arpine asked, "Don’t we add salt or garlic?" "No dear," said her grandmother. "We ad squashed garlic and salt. We put into the broth." Then Arpine asked, "Why don’t they drink wine with kshash?" Her grandmother laughed. "They say kshash likes neither a woman nor wine. It is a joke. They drink only vodka with khash," she answered. "Can we make khash every day?" asked Arpine. "No. We make khash only during the months what have letter "r" in the names (in Armenian). Khash is one of our traditional dishes. We got it form our fathers and you must go on making it," explained the grandmother. "Khash is the dish which gathers all the members of the family and makes them forget all their difficulties and obstacles."

In Armenia each holiday has its traditional food. For example, at Easter we put Pilav with raisins, boiled eggs, fish and fried vegetables on the table. The New Year's traditional food is Dolma. I would like to tell you about Harisa. Let's go back in history. In 1915, during the Armenian genocide, the inhabitants of the villages near Mousa Ler (the mountain of Mousa) fought for 40 days to defend their homeland.

Musa ler is situated in Western Armenia near the Mediterranean Sea. After the genocide the inhabitants of Musa ler immigrated to Eastern Armenia and established a village near Echmiadzin. They called it Musa ler. Every year the inhabitants of Musa ler village celebrate the 40-day defending of their mountain. That day there is music in the village all day long. Big copper pots are put on the fire in the yards and Harisa is made with wheat and chicken. Only men cook this dish on that day. They mix meat and wheat with big wooden ladles until the meat is almost mixed with the wheat.

Then the men have a national Armenian circle dance. That day any visitors in the village or passers-by are treated with this dish. No matter how big the number of guests, there is enough Harisa for everyone.

In the second week of February Arminians celebrate the Day of Saint Sargis. This is the day of love and blessing of young people (like Saint Valentine's Day). On that day the traditional meal is again Harisa. However it is not only on these days that Harisa is made. In our family, Harisa is a favorite dish. Sometimes my mother decides to cook Harisa. We invite our relatives and neighbors to us. We talk a little, joke and enjoy the Armenian traditional and very delicious dish – Harisa.

"WHISKIT"

"What am I doing now?"

"You’re whisking."

"And if I am tired, what shall I say?"

"Whisk it."

The name of this dish came from the expression "whisk it". The Armenian for it is "Hari sa". Harissa has been an Armenian national dish from ancient times. People ate harissa during the protection of mount Moussa. This dish, and the way it is prepared, contains religious and ceremonial soul. The preparation of the dish was different then: pieces of lamb, grease, cut gristles and peeled wheat. All these were cooked together. Harissa was a holiday dish.

Every year it was cooked during thrashing and harvest time. It must be cooked for a whole night on a low heat, or slow fire. The water evaporated and only the solid mass was left. That solid mass must then be whisked well. Harissa is one of my favorite dishes and I am always looking forward to when my grandmother makes it. It is a pity that it is winter dish. Usually the oldest person in the family makes it. We never eat harissa alone; we always eat it with our relatives.

Take a chicken and boil it very well. After boiling, cut away the meat from the bones and cut it into thin strips. Then put it in wheat, which was wetted beforehand. Usually for one chicken we take 4 cups of wheat. Cook that mass and chicken broth for 5 hours. 15 Minutes before it is ready, add salt (according to your taste). You must stir it continuously. The chicken and the wheat must be whisked. Harissa is served hot. While eating you can add melted butter, if you wish.

There are many traditions in our family and most of them have come from immemorial times. Most of the traditions concern dishes. Many dishes are generally made at our home. Every day, looking through the old pages of a cookbook, my mother decides what she is going to make that day. In the evening, when the whole family gathers together at home, my mother lays the table and puts many tasty dishes on it. In a few minutes all our family gathers around the table and we start eating.

The most popular dish in our family is fried chicken and barbeque. But here I want to tell you about another good tradition. It is an old tradition. You know that the Armenians are the first Christian nation in the world and the thing I want to tell you about is the following. When Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, one of the women put some eggs under his feet and they were colored red by the holy blood. That tradition is kept up to now. On the eve of Easter the eggs are colored red and pilaf is made. Different people put different sweets into it. I think my mother makes it better than the others, and her recipe was passed down by my grandmother. Do you want me to tell you how to make it? Do you? Ok. I’ll tell you.

Take 0,5kg of rice, lavash (it is a kind of Armenian bread), persimmon, different kinds of dried fruit, an egg and different sweet things. Put all these into a pan and cook. When it is ready, put it on the edge of the plate. When everybody comes home in the evening, sit at the table to have dinner together and have a taste. Enjoy!

I am a human being and I want to live a beautiful life. I want to be a real human being and live a real life. What do I need for that? One of the things is health. What do we need for health? For a healthy life we need a clean environment, good quality food and a regular daily schedule. I think it’s better to eat vegetables and fruits. We have to eat fresh things, we must not use salt and sugar too much. We must think about our meal before eating; we have to understand that people don’t need that much to eat.

If we stop to think about it, we’ll see that often we don’t eat as much as we need, but more than what we need to. So we should think a little before eating. On the other hand, people have to eat what they want. If someone wants to eat much he has to eat things which are useful. For example, I like vegetable salads, rice, fruit and I think that vegetables and fruits are delicious and very useful. However, there are some delicious things that people like and want to eat, for example if someone likes cakes he should eat it but after eating he has to do sport.

Sometimes we eat things only because they are delicious, but we don’t think if the meal is useful or not. Sometimes when people are sad they eat delicious things in order to forget about their sadness, but we have to understand that meal is not happiness. We can find other pleasant things. For example, we can go out with friends. As a conclusion, I would like to say that food is something pleasant and delicious and if you eat something and you like it you must also remember and understand that food is not only for pleasure but essential for living and you must enjoy not only eating but going to out, meeting friends and so on.

Put oil on ‘lavash’, followed by meat and mushrooms. Put all these into the oven for 30 minutes. After taking it out add some cheese, olives and another type of meat, which is called basturma. It is meat covered with cumin.

I like pizza very much. Once my mother made it in a very interesting way. The Armenians have very tasty bread called lavash. Have you ever tried lavash? It is very tasty and thin bread. We make it in tonir (in is a kind of oven but dug and built in the land). Lavash is made of flour, salt and water. We make dough of all these, knead and divide into the balls. Then we roll these balls very thin and bake in the tonir. Try it! I think you will like it. So this pizza must be cooked with lavash.

I have always dreamed of having the ability to read people's thoughts. Certainly, you will ask why. Only for the reason to find out why loving couples offend each other; why they quarrel if they can live in perfect harmony and realize the other person's mistakes, try to ignore or explain them. You will probably think that it is always easy to give advice, to criticize, but everybody understands in his heart that each human being inclines to make mistakes. Why do I tell you all these things?

I don't know how else to begin my story. Certainly it is connected with my family, especially with my parents. My parents are one of the couples who still love each other with frank and honest love. After living together for many years they never let the severe ordeals of life cause everyday or everlasting quarrels. I have always seen their mutual understanding and have learnt only the best things from them.

I remember one of the bad days in my life when I woke up in the morning and realized that there is coldness in the air. I decided to stay at home that day and make some tasty dish myself. Certainly I made my favorite dish: satsivy (from Georgian Cuisine). I couldn't make it without an adult's help. I called my grandmother and after getting all the necessary instructions directions I began my work. I don't know if you will believe me or not, but I had never made such a tasty thing before. I am sure the reason was the strong desire coming from inside of me and the goal that I wanted to reach and put before me.

In the evening, when everybody was at home, I asked all my family to have supper and I could return the warm atmosphere which had always been in our house. And now when we have a party you can always see and also taste that immortal dish which has become traditional dish for our family.