country Essentials · 12 foods
Armenia Essentials
A considered first route through Armenia: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Armenia foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
12 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Azerbaijan
Lavash
Լավաշ
Paper-thin bread slapped on a tonir wall, dried in stacks and revived with a sprinkle of water.
Armenia
Khorovats
Խորոված
Large cuts grilled over vine cuttings and pulled off the skewer straight onto lavash at the table.
Armenia
Armenian Tolma
Տոլմա
Vine leaves rolled finger-thin around lamb and rice, eaten hot under garlic matsun.
Armenia
Spas
Սպաս
Hot matsun soup thickened with wheat and loaded with mint, the herb doing most of the work.
Armenia
Basturma
Բաստուրմա
Air-dried beef under a centimetre of fenugreek and garlic paste, sliced translucent.
Armenia
Matsun
Մածուն
The fermented milk under half of Armenian cooking — soup base, sauce and drink at once.
Armenia
Gata
Գաթա
Buttery sweet crumb sealed in pastry and stamped with a pattern that changes town by town.
Syunik, Armenia
Zhingyalov Hats
Ժենգյալով հաց
A thin griddled flatbread packed with a changing mix of wild and cultivated greens, associated with southeastern Armenia and now sold across the country.
Armenia
Ghapama
Ղափամա
A whole pumpkin baked full of rice, apricot, walnut and honey and cut open at the table.
Yerevan, Armenia
Armenian Brandy
Կոնյակ
Grape brandy aged in Caucasian oak in Yerevan since 1887, sold by age from three years up.
Vayots Dzor, Armenia
Areni
Արենի
Light, high-acid red from Vayots Dzor, grown beside the oldest winery yet excavated anywhere.
Armenia
Khash
Խաշ
Unsalted cow's-foot broth eaten at dawn in winter, with garlic and salt added at the table.