The young server is rushed yet careful as she slides an order of Aleppo Kebab onto the table and keeps moving.
It’s a bustling Thursday night on Aram Street, a pedestrian artery of central Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. And Marilda Café, one of a growing number of successful Syrian restaurants, is packed. The rich Levantine cuisine has taken Armenia’s food scene by storm in the past five years, as Syrians fleeing their war-torn country have settled here and filled a demand for something new, yet not too foreign.
Marilda’s Aleppo Kebab – a seasoned and grilled minced-meat skewer, named to commemorate the owners’ hometown – is enveloped in lavash, a thin Armenian flatbread baked in a tandoor oven. Tucked a bit deeper is bivaz – a garnish of thinly sliced red onions and parsley, dressed with pomegranate molasses. It could be said that these regional staples and ingredients carry with them stories of empires, wars and revolutions.
Armenia is a small country in the Caucasus region, bordering Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The ancient nation gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and earlier this year had a peaceful revolution that overthrew an old, corrupt, elite regime. Over 98 percent of its 3 million citizens share the same ethnicity, religion, and culture. And more than double that amount make up the vast Armenian Diaspora around the world.
Some Armenians who survived genocide by the Ottoman Turks a century ago settled in Syria. An estimated 90,000 ethnic Armenians were living in Syria by the time the country’s bloody civil war began in 2011 – with some two-thirds residing in the city of Aleppo. Most Syrian Armenians have now fled to various destinations around the world, and 22,000 have returned to Armenia.
“When we came to Yerevan in 2012 we thought we would go back to Aleppo,” said Hagop Azelian, a Syrian Armenian immigrant who ran a steel factory in his native Aleppo. But when the city was under siege and its international airport was shut down in January 2013, the Azelian family – and many other Syrian Armenians who came for temporary refuge – found themselves stranded.
“We had to think of something,” said Azelian. “My mother and mother-in-law could cook, so they started to make kebabs, and it wasn’t even a restaurant. At first, friends came to support us, then we grew and needed a bigger space.” Azelian opened Derian Restaurant, which has now expanded into two locations in Yerevan. His mother and mother-in-law are still running the kitchens.
Dzovag Soghomonian has interviewed hundreds of Syrians in Yerevan for the RepatArmenia Foundation and says Azelian’s story is pretty classic. “The women mostly stayed home in that society, so they knew how to cook,” said Soghomonian, who moved to Armenia after surviving a bomb blast in Damascus. The families saw a niche they could fill and, she said, it was the skill of the wives and mothers that made it work.
“A lot of classic staple Armenian dishes are left over from this one particular cookbook from the Soviet Union,” said Satine Iskandaryan, an Armenian-American writer living in Yerevan. While many Diaspora Armenians have preserved their traditions, language, and religion – few made it to Armenia during the 70 years of Soviet rule. This means that unlike those who remained behind, Diaspora Armenians don’t speak Russian, and don’t recognize certain peculiarities that have been integrated into the culture – often by necessity.
“Armenian food has no spice. Everything is boiled, very Soviet,” said Azelian, echoing complaints from both Armenian-born diners and recent arrivals. For example, traditional dishes include harissa, made of wheat porridge and meat; stews of vegetable and meat – and the traditional fast food is grilled meat.
“Syrian-Armenian cuisine is heaven for vegetarians,” said Sona Margaryan, a native Armenian, who is part of the growing vegetarian community in Yerevan. For Armenian vegetarians, Syrian restaurants are a welcomed alternative to the meat-heavy menu that dominated previous casual eateries. A variety of meat-free dishes such as hummus (chickpea dip), fattoush (salad with fried flatbread), shanklish (cheese marinated with spices), falafel (chickpea patties), fetteh (eggplant dip), and tabouli (parsley and bulgur salad) are now on menus around Armenia.
The young generation of Armenians have grown up in a globalized world, and make up a natural customer base. For example, Armenian vegetarians are part of a thousands-strong Facebook group, where they share tips on restaurants and recipes. What is perhaps more surprising is that the generations that lived under Soviet rule, cut off from much of the world, have also embraced the Levantine flavors.
“Syrian food is this accepted level of spice,“ Iskandaryan said. “Most Armenians I know aren’t really willing to try Asian food,” for example, the rare Indian or Thai restaurant in Armenia feels much too foreign for many. “Syrian food is accepted because it’s so close; and because there are Armenians there,” she explained.
The “spice” Armenians praise in Syrian dishes has nothing to do with heat, but rather a combination of dried herbs, typically called za’atar. The condiment generally includes ground thyme, oregano, marjoram, and is sometimes mixed with spices such as sumac – tangy red berries – and variations such as toasted sesame seeds.
With more Syrian restaurants opening, even outside the capital city, Armenians continue to embrace the cuisine, which is also adapting to its new home – for example, serving Armenian lavash with meals, instead of the traditional saj flatbread.
And Syrian Armenians say they’ve felt embraced as well.
“Armenians were so welcoming,” said Shaghig Rastkelenian, who moved from Aleppo in 2012. She helped her family open Zeituna – a popular, trendy café in central Yerevan, where her mother is the chef. “Until now they tell us, ‘Thanks that you came here; for doing business here.”
