ORS Gatorade

While not a universally held opinion, most PCVs are in agreement that the Oral Rehydration Salts (ORSs) we get in our medkits taste pretty terrible. So we thought we'd kick this blog off with simple little recipe to turn your basic ORS packet into an easy DIY Gatorade. This is a great drink to sip on if your stomach is having trouble adjusting to the food and water in Armenia, recovering from a night out in Yerevan, or if you're just looking to stay hydrated while exercising under the hot Armenian sun. Check out the how-to video ((COMING SOON)), with recipe details below:

ORS Gatorade:
Time: ~10 minutes
Cost: 
Servings: Makes about 3 liters, or approximately 12 to 15 servings

Ingredients:

- 1 packet ORSs
- 2 3/4 L Filtered  or boiled water, plus an additional 2 - 4 Tbls in a separate small saucepan or srchep
- 1 1/4 Cups sugar
- Juice from 1 and 1/2 lemons
- 1 tsp citric acid

Instructions: 

1) Create a simple syrup by dissolving the sugar in 2 to 4 Tbls water over the stove. Set aside.

2) Juice 1 and 1/2 lemons (DRAM SAVVY SAVER TIP: If you're strapped for cash, use only 1 lemon, peel the zest from the lemon and boil it in the sugar syrup water for approximately 5 minutes prior to adding the sugar. This will get all you all the lemon flavor you need, and you can save the actual lemon to use in something else. If you go this route, remember to strain your sugar syrup prior to adding it to the rest of the Gatorade mix to remove bits of lemon zest.) 

3) In 3-liter container (we find the large compote jars work well), combine water, ORS packet and citric acid. Stir until dissolved. 

4) Add sugar syrup and lemon juice. Stir thoroughly. 

5) Serve cold.  

Shopping and Pricing:

All of the ingredients are easily procured throughout Armenia, although if you live in smaller village, you may have to travel to your bank town to purchase groceries. Below you'll find price estimates and procurement tips for the ingredients required in this recipe:

Oral Rehydration Salts:

Cost: Free (to us)

Availability: Found in every PCV medkit. Email or stop by the PC Medical Office for refills.

Filtered Water:

Cost: +/- Free to ~300 AMD, depending on if your filter is set up/clean/working or not. If you're making this recipe because you've been having stomach trouble, it's highly recommended that you use filtered, boiled, or bottled water. If you end up purchasing your water, plan to spend about 300 AMD. 

Availability: Freely available throughout Armenia. 

Sugar: 

Cost: 

Availability: Sugar comes in several forms in Armenia, the most common one to see on the shelves is cubed sugar, and if you ask for "shakar//շաքար", you'll most likely be directed to this. Granulated sugar goes by the name "shakaravaz//շաքարավազ" (literally: sugar-sand) or "pesok//պեսոկ"․ Granulated sugar is the type we use for this recipe. Bonus Tip: If you're ever looking for powdered sugar, it goes by the name "shakari poshi//շաքարի փոշի" (literally: sugar-dust).

Lemons:

Cost: ~400 dram each. This is by far the most expensive ingredient in this recipe, but we feel like the flavor it imparts is pretty vital to the drink's success. If you're looking to save some dram, check out the Dram Savvy Saver Tip above to reduce the number of lemons required in this recipe. It is also possible that you'll find bottled lemon juice in your region- although the cost for these bottles of juice vary widely, and the flavor is generally less desirable than fresh-squeezed. 

Availability: Although the price may vary somewhat seasonally, the good news is that lemons are widely available year-round in Armenia, and are generally sold most cheaply by the local greengrocers (fruit-khanuts), although you may find them in larger khanuts or markets as well.

Citric Acid:

Cost:

Availability: Although this sounds like it might be difficult to source, it's actually very easy. Citric Acid is found in most markets throughout Armenia in the spice-packet section under the name "limoni agh//լիմոնի աղ" (literally: lemon-salt). See photo below for reference:

And that's our do-it-yourself ORS Gatorade recipe. Feel free to adjust ingredient amounts to fit your tastes and budget. We'd love to hear about anything you try in the comments below! 

Welcome to Cooking in Armenia

Cooking In Armenia is a blog written for Peace Corps Armenia Volunteers, by Peace Corps Armenia Volunteers. It was originally conceived of as a way to help PCVs in Armenia with limited cooking experience expand their culinary options in this country during their service. The more we investigated the need for this project, the more realized that many volunteers weren't just struggling with the lack of convenience foods ("կես եփած//kes yepats" or 'half-cooked' foods in Armenian) available to them here, but also with filling all their basic nutritional needs in a healthy and satisfying way.

As we learned this, we also found through our own exploration of food preparation in Armenia, that cooking with our Armenian friends was one of the more rewarding activities we did during our service. Coming together to cook and eat food is one of the most effective ways to bridge knowledge gaps, language barriers, and cultural differences. The discussions we've had over simmering sauce pans or while breaking bread have lead to some of the most profound moments of cultural exchange we've had in Armenia. 

Thus, the purpose of Cooking in Armenia has evolved from merely providing tasty recipes for PCVs who don't know how to cook (although, we still hope to achieve that goal). We now hope to provide PCVs- whether living with a host family or living independently- with the tools to provide themselves with adequate nutrition, emotionally satisfying meals, and with the know-how to cook together with their Armenian friends and family to continue the amazing cultural exchange that this can facilitate. 

To achieve this, we'll be writing a variety of posts for this blog. We'll take you shopping with us everywhere from small village shops ("խանութներ//khanutner") to large supermarkets in the capital city of Yerevan. We'll discuss which ingredients are or aren't available in country, and what locally available substitutes you can use instead. We'll also talk about which ingredients are available when- fruit and vegetable availability in Armenia is highly seasonal, so it's important to know when you can plan on being able to buy what, and for the best price. And, of course, we'll be publishing recipes for you to use, experiment with, and make your own.

At least to start, almost every recipe we publish here will come in three different versions: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. The Basic versions will be aimed at three audiences: the not-cooks (folks who really don't want to spend any time or effort on their food because they've got other things going on in their lives) the not-yet-cooks (aspiring cooks who have very little experience in the kitchen) and the budget-cooks. Basic versions of recipes will be as stripped down as possible to make them both time- and wallet-friendly. Intermediate versions, on the other hand, will be aimed at those folks who enjoy cooking or feel slightly more confident around the kitchen, and may not mind spending some of their discretionary money on extra ingredients to make the meal taste a little better. Finally, the Advanced versions of each recipe may include techniques which the average American cook might find challenging or include ingredients only available in Yerevan specialty markets. While we may not show every version in the associated recipe video, full instructions for each version will be available in the associated blog post.

We look forward to growing and evolving even further as we hear feedback from all of you, so that we can make this blog as useful to the PCV community in Armenia as possible. So be sure to send in thoughts, questions, critiques and advice as we embark on this culinary adventure together.