Hi, I am Chef Zara. In this post, I will guide you through the Armenian Cookbooks.
I love discovering new food and more cooking with friends and family. One of the most common questions that I often get is for cookbook recommendations. I have created this guide for friends, family, and new friends alike. I hope that you enjoy our site.
- 1. Ultimate Armenian Cookbook
- 2. Lavash
- 3. The Armenian Cookbook
- 4. Armenian Vegan: A Pure Vegan Cookbook
- 5. The Complete Armenian Cookbook
- 6. Taste of Persia: A Cook’s Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan
- 7. The Armenian Table Cookbook
- 8. The Cuisine of Armenia
- 9. The Recipes of Musa Dagh
- 10. Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore
Armenian food, right here!
Armenian cuisine is known for incorporating the region’s freshest fruits and vegetables, as well as a variety of spices, herbs, meats, and seafood. Although some of the dishes, such as kebab and tabbouleh, may resemble those from other regional cuisines, each one has a distinctively Armenian flavor. Every dish reveals a different aspect of Armenian history, proving how mindful and masterful they were and continue to be when it comes to food and cooking. Come to know more about what makes Armenian cuisine so exceptional.
Here are 10 Armenian Cookbooks to surprise your family! 👇
1. Ultimate Armenian Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
Anyone looking for authentic homemade Armenian dishes should get this Armenian cookbook. The author, who is also a foodie, describes her recipes as “what Armenian grandmothers have made for decades.” This is a cookbook you should not miss if you’re of Armenian descent and want to reconnect with your roots or if you enjoy the cuisine.
Review 📖
You can now make an Armenian feast in the comfort of your own kitchen with The Ultimate Armenian Cookbook. This book has 111 of Armenia’s best traditional cuisines, focusing on classics. Everything from the more well-known lavash to the more exotic gata dessert is nutritious and widely available, keeping everything simple and approachable. The meals in this cookbook are “what Armenian grandmothers have made for decades,” and they are both delicious and wholesome. This handy cookbook is packed with healthful and well-balanced meals, including numerous low-carb options. This beautiful collection of recipes will thoroughly satisfy your palate and is an excellent introduction to Armenian cuisine.
2. Lavash
Why We Love It ❤️
This isn’t just an Armenian cookbook. It’s a cookbook, a coffee table picture journal, and a history book all in one. It’s a celebration of Armenian cuisine, culture, and Lavash, the country’s national bread, even recognized by UNESCO as part of their Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The careful selection of recipes, narratives, and picture reveals the country’s depth and beauty with each turn of the page.
Review 📖
This Armenian cookbook, named after the UNESCO-recognized bread lavash, contains over 60 regional recipes for foods that complement it nicely. These foods are hearty stews, salads, and soups seasoned with fresh herbs. By promoting lavash, this book aims to broaden people’s understanding of Armenians and how varied regional and political influences have impacted their cuisine. Armenia is a small but captivating country that readers can learn about through historical facts, interesting stories, and recipes passed down from generation to generation through easy-to-follow instructions. If you want to add to your collection, you should definitely get this book.
3. The Armenian Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
Reading this Armenian cookbook will transport you back to your childhood, when you were sitting in the kitchen with your grandmother, learning how to prepare authentic Armenian food by sight and feel while hearing about life in the ancient country. Not fancy, but genuine and tasty! This book is ideal for both novice and experienced cooks. It has simple instructions and lovely line illustrations.
Review 📖
The Armenian Cookbook shows that Armenian food is much more than the pilaf or stuffed grape leaves that the casual diner has timidly sampled at Near Eastern restaurants. And here it is in all its dazzling diversity, with savory appetizers to tantalize the taste buds; delicious, rich soups to replenish the soul; juicy meat, fish, and poultry dishes for robust dinners, and fascinating, diverse combos of grains and vegetables. The author, Rachel Hogrogian, has even made delicious bread and pastries accessible to the intermediate baker with her easy-to-follow instructions. And her meltingly delicious desserts will be the perfect ending to any dinner. A terrific introduction to traditional Armenian meals, with a bit of history, added for good measure.
4. Armenian Vegan: A Pure Vegan Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
This Armenian cookbook includes recipes for breakfast, diners, soups, salads, sumptuous entrees, bread, desserts, and more, all carefully picked and provided from the grand tradition of meatless Armenian meals. Stuffed Grape Leaves, Rice and Bulgur Pilaf, Vegetable Medleys, Paklava, and Hearty Bread, are all included, using well-chosen ingredients and simple instructions. The recipes use readily available ingredients that you may get at the grocery store.
Review 📖
Armenian Vegan: A Pure Vegan Cookbook contains over 200 nostalgic recipes that hit home. All of the recipes are carefully selected and presented from the long heritage of meatless Armenian dishes. This book features dishes that are healthy, easy to cook, and appealing to both vegans and non-vegans. The recipes in this book include a wide variety of traditional and contemporary Armenian dishes with food substitutes, replacing animal products with plant-based foods. Armenian Vegan will introduce you to a new world of gastronomic delights, with meals that will satisfy even picky eaters while inspiring you to experiment with your own creative touches. Whatever and whoever you’re cooking for, these recipes will be a joy to make and a treat for your family and friends.
5. The Complete Armenian Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
The Complete Armenian Cookbook is widely regarded as the gold standard in Armenian cookbooks. This book, first published in 1987, contains classic recipes for traditional dishes that are difficult to find elsewhere, such as lokum, an Armenian fruit paste. We absolutely suggest this tremendous and comprehensive classic, which has a wide range of recipe categories that could be described as “Armenian food mothers would make.”
Review 📖
The Complete Armenian Cookbook, now in its fifth printed edition, has proven to be a timeless classic. The author, Alice Bezjian, elevated Middle Eastern cooking to the level of gourmet food while adapting her simple recipes to the modern kitchen. Over 280 pages of family recipes dating back about 80 years, as well as the author’s own creations and favorites from family and friends for over 40 years, are included. This delectable collection of more than 175 Armenian dishes consists of some of the best, whether vegetarian, meat, pork, or poultry. This book also tries to explain that, while not all of the dishes were originally Armenian, Armenians added their own spin and made them distinctively theirs. The recipes are easy to follow and can be efficiently completed by a novice. The more seasoned and sophisticated cook who does a lot of entertaining would also find it appealing.
6. Taste of Persia: A Cook’s Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan
Why We Love It ❤️
This beautiful cookbook adequately covered the cuisines of the area. The recipes come with clear, easy-to-follow instructions and tons of helpful tips and comments that will come in handy when cooking. Aside from being a collection of beautiful recipes, it also tells fascinating stories. This book is enjoyable to read, engaging, and definitely worth grabbing.
Review 📖
Through this delightful book, author Naomi Duguid, who has spent more than 20 years bringing unique recipes and captivating stories from places that seem to be out of our reach, takes us on a gastronomic voyage. A gastronomic paradise where ancient legends and ruins coexist with fresh beginnings is introduced to us through more than 125 recipes that are framed by stories and images of people and places. This culinary paradise’s rich history and culinary traditions make it an intriguing destination to read about for cooks, travelers, and anybody who wants to try foods from other parts of the world. You can expect traditional fare like grilled kebabs, barbari bread, pilafs, hearty soups, and stews called ash, as well as tempting desserts like rose water pudding and date-nut halvah.
7. The Armenian Table Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
There are some fantastic recipes in this Armenian cookbook that you won’t find anywhere else. If you’re searching for a new cuisine to explore, this is a good one to try out. This cookbook includes Armenian cookery 101 and much more—what a terrific way to learn about the cuisine. The author has effectively made the recipes approachable and simple to execute.
Review 📖
Both time-honored favorites and creative modern variations are presented in this Armenian cookbook. Through the tastes, scents, and seasonings of Armenian cooking, a cuisine that combines Mediterranean flavors with Persian, Arabic, and Russian accents, the author takes us on a thorough tour of the typical Armenian pantry, complete with nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, fragrant extracts, and a plethora of fresh ingredients. Each chapter begins with tips and commentary on essential foods like fresh yogurt, starters (maza), baked bread, salads, pilafs, meatballs, and other meat, fish, and vegetable dishes, as well as confections. A chapter is also devoted to the Armenian people and their home country. Both Armenians and lovers of Greek, Turkish, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern food will enjoy this sincere and heartfelt cookbook.
8. The Cuisine of Armenia
Why We Love It ❤️
This Armenian cookbook includes a substantial number of carefully chosen recipes. This is an excellent cookbook with simple and more complex recipes, classics that have been passed down through generations. This is well-thought-out, well-written, and genuine. They are laid out clearly and neatly, with just the right amount of elegant drawings sprinkled throughout the text.
Review 📖
The Cuisine of Armenia has 375 recipes of classics and adaptations. In addition, the book includes several of Sonia Uvezian’s amazing original recipes based on Armenian tradition and significant contributions to a vibrant culinary style. This packed Armenian cookbook contains recipes for Pomegranate-Glazed Roast Chicken with Apricot and Chestnut Stuffing, Fried Fish with Oranges, Black Olives, and Mint, Saffron Rice Pilaf with Toasted Almonds and Sesame Seeds, and Yogurt Cream. These are a few of the dishes you can find in this complete Armenian cookbook. A useful glossary, a selection of cohesively arranged menus, and bits of historical knowledge are also included. The Cuisine of Armenia is the first book in any language to provide a complete view of Armenian cooking, and it has long been acknowledged as the standard in its field. Major publications have given it excellent reviews, and it has been a must-have for decades.
9. The Recipes of Musa Dagh
Why We Love It ❤️
This cookbook is an homage to an exquisite and distinctive style of Armenian cooking. The siblings who wrote this aimed to preserve the recipes their mother had given them, together with the background of how and why they came to be. The Recipes of Musa Dagh combines a well-written cookbook with a history book and a tribute.
Review 📖
This cookbook is a labor of love to record the Armenian cooking practiced in the villages of Musa Dagh. The cuisine of the Armenians who resided in the Syrian settlements on Musa Dagh Mountain was different from any of the other Armenians and their Middle Eastern recipes. This Armenian cookbook compiles the cuisine from that area, which was a tiny Armenian homeland that was transported from Syria to Turkey in 1939. This wonderful cookbook was written by three sisters and included tales of their childhood town and dishes that their mother taught them. Slowly, the recipes that Mom and Anna had in their heads and had been serving us for years found their way onto paper. Over a period of almost ten years, Anna cooked, Alberta measured and wrote, and Louisa edited and formatted recipes.
10. Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore
Why We Love It ❤️
This Armenian cookbook is compact but packed with recipes, both basic and those that are hard to come by. The recipes are made approachable, including extensive historical and cultural references and anecdotes. A valuable and comprehensive chapter on herbs and spices is also included, which is essential if you want to delve deeper into Armenian cooking.
Review 📖
This fascinating Armenian cookbook about modern Armenian food and drink, or Hayastan, as Armenians refer to their homeland, is the result of the desire to create a brief, informative guide about it. But the authors’ curiosity drew them deeper and deeper into the past and culture of this legendary place. They conducted interviews with historians, housewives, chefs, and ethnographers while touring Armenia. Not to mention the countless hours spent poring over old books and manuscripts in libraries. This is the first book of its sort that focuses on the historical and contemporary food culture of Armenia. It stands out since it is written as an insider’s account outside Hayastan. This book is a work of art.
Final Thoughts
Armenian cuisine is something to keep an eye on. Its recipes are a harmonious blend of freshness and flavor, and they have a rich and beautiful history to boot. It’s definitely worth looking into, adding to your library, and expanding your cooking repertoire. Surprise yourself and your loved one the next time you make a special meal in the kitchen.
About Armenian Cooking
Armenia’s delectable cuisine reflects its rich heritage and geography. Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran have been influenced by traders and conquistadors from the Mediterranean. According to Forbes, Armenia is emerging as the next food (and wine) travel destination, and it’s not hard to wonder why. Armenian cuisine, like the other cuisines of the region, is exotic and well-known. They share many characteristics, but even with these similarities, many differences distinguish Armenian cuisine. One reason is their conscious use of the freshest ingredients and beautiful herb and spice blends that are uniquely theirs. Their tradition of using traditional dried spices, particularly as a condiment, is one of the most prominent features that differentiates Armenian cuisine from others in the area. Pick up an Armenian cookbook to learn more. We’ve compiled a list of ten of the best Armenian cookbooks out there to get you acquainted with and inspired to add this to your cooking repertoire. Armenian food also reflects the cuisine of Middle Eastern and Eastern Europe.
Armenian Cuisine
The staple foods of Armenian cuisine include lamb, eggplant-based, yogurt, and lavash, with bulgur typically taking the place of grains or corn. The quality and freshness of the ingredients, rather than the liberal use of spices, frequently determine the flavor of Armenian food. Armenian cuisine makes great use of both fresh and dried herbs. 300 different varieties of wildflowers and herbs are used by Armenian chefs as seasonings and sometimes as main dishes. The prominent grain is wheat, which is also available as bulgur, whole wheat, semolina, and shelled wheat. Nuts and legumes are widely used. Many Armenian recipes include a range of fresh and dried fruits as crucial components and souring agents, such as apricots, pomegranates, sour cherries, and sumac berries. You’ll find these ingredients constantly in Armenian cookbooks.
Popular Armenian Recipes
Armenian cuisine is diversified, fresh, and flavorful. While reading through Armenian cookbooks, look for the following mouthwatering and must-cook dishes: Khorovats (Armenian kitchen-style barbecue), Tolma, Harissa, Kufta, Gata, and the ever-popular Lavash that’s part of CNN’s list of Best Breads Around the World. And the list goes on. There are hundreds upon hundreds of delicious appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, snacks, and desserts that can cater to vegans and those with other special diets. It is a wonderfully vibrant cuisine.
