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.