Armenian food

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July 6, 2011 | 12:58 PM | By

Top ten pastimes at L.A.’s Navasartian Games, the ‘Armenian Olympics’

Photo courtesy of Helena Gregorian/Flickr

Help, too much soujoukh! The Navasartian Games mascot, July 2011

While others were attending cookouts and pool parties over the Fourth of July weekend, Multi-American guest blogger Lory Tatoulian was taking in the sports-related drama at the 2011 Navasartian Games, what she describes as the “mini Armenian Olympics.”

Legend has it that the games got their start as chariot races and javelin throwing contests some 4,000 years ago on the Armenian plateau. Today they’re held in L.A., taking place each year over the holiday weekend on the Birmingham High School campus in Van Nuys, where more than 8,000 athletes of various ages compete in basketball, volleyball, soccer and swimming during the three-day sports fest. The less athletically inclined compete in events like ping-pong and chess.

There is also a substantial amount of food, music, and tens of thousands of Armenian American attendees celebrating what Lory terms “their cultural personhood.”

Here she has compiled a list of her top ten favorite Navasartian Games pastimes, most of them not related to sports:

1. The pressed soujoukh sandwiches (hot panini style spicy sausage sandwiches with garlic spread). The garlic spread is also known as an effective defense strategy when playing basketball.

2. Watching Armenian soccer moms engage in heated exchanges with referees while jangling their Cartier jewelry midair and yelling hyphenated Armenian-English insults.

3. The jewelry vendor that sells blue evil-eye charms that claim to ward off the vile energy of gossipy neighbors or jealous friends.

4. Female basketball players shooting three-pointers, while sporting Kim Kardahsian style smoky-eye make up and perfectly blown-out hair.

5. Beautiful wide-eyed kids with snow cone-stained lips walking around with their parents who met at the Navasartian Games 15 years ago.

6. The variety of German luxury cars in the parking lot.

7. The Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza celebrating America’s independence, but with legendary Armenian singers Harout Pamboukjian and Karnig Sarkissian performing Armenian patriotic songs.

8. Watching the Triple AAA Men’s Division, 40-years-and-up teams doing slam-dunks in spite of pot bellies and a variety of old injuries from the 1988 Navasartian Games.

9. The impressive number of times you hear the word “bro” being called out across the campus.

10. Grandmas sitting around tables, drinking coffee and playing the most important sport of “match-maker” between their grandkids.

My personal favorite among these is #7. And the grandmas, who were likely doing the same thing back in the chariot race days.

Lory is the author of Multi-American’s guide to navigating the Armenian American supermarket, part one and part two.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Armenian food, Lory Tatoulian, Navasartian Games
July 1, 2011 | 4:29 PM | By

The new American barbecue: Carne asada, galbi, lula kebab y más

A helping of carne asada. Photo by Sifu Renka/Flickr (Creative Commons)

In Los Angeles, the aroma that wafts from backyard barbecues on the Fourth of July varies slightly depending on the neighborhood one finds oneself in.

In large swaths of the city, from the Eastside to South L.A. to the southeastern suburbs, the smell of cumin and garlic from Mexican carne asada beckons. Drive north toward Glendale and you’ll catch a whiff of the distinctive smell of grilled lamb from Armenian kebab. Head east into Downey and you’ll find more garlic in the air, rising from the Cuban mojo smothered on pork chops.

Smelling one’s way through neighborhoods is one thing, but eating the offerings is better. If you haven’t been invited to one of these backyard feasts, the solution is simple – make one yourself.

A few recipes:

Carne Asada

There are few better backyard meals than tacos made with a good carne asada, grilled flank or skirt steak that has been marinated in a blend of spices that includes chiles, garlic, cumin, lime and orange juice. This comprehensive recipe lists not only the marinate and prep details for this grilled Mexican staple, but the necessary fixings to accompany it.

Galbi

Also referred as kalbi, these are Korean braised short ribs, usually beef. That Korean barbecue madness that has gripped the nation? It’s because Korean barbecue is really, really good. Like the best grilling marinades, the one for galbi employs garlic, along with with soy sauce, sugar and other ingredients. Skip the urge to buy those frozen Korean barbecue “street” tacos and grill some galbi at home instead.

Chuletas de puerco

My own Fourth of July barbecue meal will likely consist of these Cuban-style pork chops, drenched in the garlicky marinade referred to as mojo crillo and lovingly tended to on the grill by my father. Chuletas are your basic supermarket pork chop – what makes them wonderful is the mojo. It’s best to make your own, as my dad does, but novices can get a taste with the bottled mojo sold in many Latin American grocery stores.

Lula kebab

While commercial outdoor grilling is banned in the city of Glendale, fortunately backyard grilling is not, allowing the city’s Armenian American residents to grill fragrant delicacies like lula kebab. Typically made with seasoned ground lamb, lula kebab is shaped around a skewer then thrown on the grill. In some recipes, an egg helps hold the shape. It goes nicely with a traditional pilaf.

Picanha

This Brazilian grilled favorite is served off a large skewer in churrascarias, but it’s relatively easy to grill at home. It’s typically made with a large cut of tri-tip or rump steak, rubbed with garlic and often served with a tomato-based relish. There are some helpful links on how to find the right cuts of meat, along with this entertaining how-to video.

Not that there’s anything wrong with burgers and chicken. Whatever your holiday meal is, enjoy.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Armenian food, Brazilian food, Cuban food, Fourth of July barbecues, Korean food, Mexican food
May 27, 2011 | 3:49 PM | By

Five ethnic food tastes worth acquiring: The meat edition

Photo by Manogamo/Flickr (Creative Commons)

A bowl of raw kitfo, at right, with spongy injera bread

Last week, Multi-American delved once more into that culinary landscape where some diners fear to tread, the territory of the unsung ethnic delicacy.

These are the dishes that don’t necessarily sound good, look good or or even smell good, but are worth trying because they are unexpectedly delicious.

Our first series in March covered a range of foods, from drinks like the Vietnamese avocado milkshake to main dishes like arroz con calamares en su tinta, a particularly unattractive squid dish served in several Latin American countries.

The series last week focused on meat dishes, cooked, raw and canned. True to form, none sound like anything one would rush out to try, but don’t be put off. For any carnivores who might have missed these treats, here they are in a convenient list. Dig in.

  • The clever and delicious Spam musubi, which looks like a giant piece of sushi and is a popular snack in Hawaii. In a typical preparation, the sliced Spam is grilled and simmered in a mix of soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine. It is then placed atop a giant piece of Spam-sized molded sushi rice (there is actually a gadget called a Spam musubi rice press) and, in the simplest version, the entire thing is wrapped with a piece of nori, the dried seaweed wrapper common to sushi. Sounds odd, looks odd, tastes great.
  • The very red, very raw chee kufta, popular in Armenian and Turkish cuisines (and known as kibbeh nayyeh in Lebanon). Eaten as a cold appetizer, it consists of ground beef or lamb mixed with fine wheat bulghur and seasonings, which in the typical Armenian preparation consist of red and black pepper, water and salt. It is then garnished with scallions, parsley and a generous amount of olive oil. The trick to a great chee kufta is very lean meat, preferably ground by the cook. One reader described it as “a special luscious dish.” Continue reading →
FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Armenian food, Cabrit, Chee kufta, Cuban food, Dominican food, Ethiopian food, Haitian food, Hawaiian food, Kitfo, Rabo encendido, Spam musubi
May 24, 2011 | 6:48 PM | By

Spam rocks? Much, much love for Spam musubi

Spam musubi to go, October 2006. Photo by klyphord/Flickr (Creative Commons)

One of a series of posts last week that explored unsung ethnic delicacies highlighted Spam musubi, a popular snack made with Spam and sushi rice that is popular in Hawaii.

The series focused on those dishes or items that may not look or sound good, but are in fact delicious. I knew that Spam musubi was well-loved on the islands, and at least by one person in Washington, D.C., that being our Hawaii-raised president. But judging by the flood of comments that came in to KPCC’s Facebook page, there is a great deal of Spam musubi love out there.

“This is one of my favorite foods!” Joanne Kakuda wrote.

“Hot dogs are worse than spam so I don’t understand the prejudice against it,” Tracy Munar-Ramos wrote. “Spam rocks!”

Okay, not entirely sure about that. Vanessa Lee put it in perspective:

Love spam musubi, but can’t eat the pink canned stuff any other way.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Armenian food, Cuban food, Dominican food, Ethiopian food, Ethnic food tastes worth acquiring, Haitian food, Hawaiian food, Spam musubi
May 17, 2011 | 5:48 PM | By

More ethnic food tastes worth acquiring: Chee kufta

A parsley-laden dish of chee kufta

This week, Multi-American is again exploring the unsung ethnic delicacies that may not sound or look like much, but are worth a try. And for whatever reason, people are suggesting meat dishes this time around.

Today’s suggestion comes from blog contributor Lory Tatoulian, and it’s not for the faint-hearted. Chee kufta, a raw meat dish, is what she describes as something that “sounds risky but tastes delicious.”

The dish is popular in Armenian and Turkish cuisines as an appetizer and consists of ground beef or lamb that is mixed with fine wheat bulghur and seasonings, which in the typical Armenian preparation consist of red and black pepper, water and salt. It is then garnished with scallions, parsley and a generous amount of olive oil.

Here’s how Lory describes a good chee kufta:

The redder the meat, the more delectable. It is best to use zero percent fat meat, and there should absolutely be no fat or no tendons in the patty. Chee kufta can be eaten with Akh Makh cracker bread, but it is best eaten when your mom is preparing it in the kitchen and hands you a small sample to ask if more or less salt is needed.

The dish is to be prepared and served quickly. Here are a couple of tips from one recipe, which calls for V8 juice among the seasonings:

Always grind Chee Kufta meat yourself.
Keep very cold while preparing and serve right away.
Leftovers should be refrigerated and may be fried or baked later.

I’ll confess here that I’m a recovering onetime vegetarian, so while I am perfectly content to nosh on things like Hawaiian Spam musubi - yesterday’s entry – I’m leaving it up to Lory and other dedicated carnivores to rave about raw delicacies like chee kufta, which like other global relatives of steak tartare (such as Lebanese kibbeh nayyeh or the spicy, beloved Ethiopian kifto) has legions of fans who have either grown up with it or discovered it along the way.

Know of an ethnic dish worth discovering that gets a bad rap? Share your suggestions in the comments below.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Armenian food, Chee kufta, Ethiopian food, kifto
April 19, 2011 | 9:53 AM | By

Navigating the Armenian American supermarket: Part 2

A post yesterday kicked off an occasional series of informal guides to navigating the ethnic supermarket, the mega-store grocery chains catering to immigrants that have become a part of Southern California’s regional landscape as its immigrant communities have grown and evolved.

Guest blogger and L.A. comic Lory Tatoulian started us on a tour yesterday of Glassell Park’s Super King, part of a popular Armenian supermarket chain. We left off with Lory in the meat section, a part of which she reserves a special name for.

Photo by Lory Tatoulian

In the meat section at a Super King in Glassell Park, April 2011

(Continued from yesterday)

Then there is the science project section, which houses strange organs that look like they belong in a medical school laboratory.

These meats are for advanced carnivore consumers and are usually reserved for old Armenian men who classify the more bizarre the meat, the more delectable. In the early morning winter months is it not unusual to see Armenian men, dressed in business suits, huddled over a boiling vat of khash at Griffith Park while having a very loud conversation about world politics. Khash is a dense soup of beef tripe and trotters lavishly seasoned with garlic and also known to induce contentious conversation and cure a host of physical ailments.

Make sure to browse down the olive oil aisle and marvel at the copious collection that is imported from around the world. Noteworthy is the subliminal positioning of the bottles from the Middle East: Israeli olive oil is placed next to Lebanese olive oil and Armenian olive oil is next to Turkish olive oil, a proverbial homage to peace in the Middle East. All the countries that are at odds, living harmoniously together on the Super King shelf.

Drinking coffee and eating seeds are favorite pastimes of Armenians. It’s during these recreational activities that family issues are hashed out, world politics are argued and gossip is exaggerated and spread. Super King has an entire department dedicated to Coffee and Nuts. The sweet girl behind the counter is imitation Kim Kardashian, and she will guide you through the popular selections: salted pumpkin, lemon and squash seeds.

Armenian coffee is preeminent. The muddied coffee is poured into little demitasse coffee cups from a small pot called a jezveh. After drinking, flip your coffee cup over and “translate” the impressions left from the grinds. It is believed that one’s future is etched inside. It’s like reading a Rorschach test, except the readings result in exciting predictions, such as a letter from a faraway land, money, or marriage.

Sweet confections are the best compliment to the coffee. Try halva (a blend of tahini and crushed sesame) rojeeg (walnuts covered in syrup) or pakhlava, what’s also referred to as baklava.

Take caution, though, and stay away from the frozen grape leaves. And don’t buy the cold wax remover or the green tarragon soda.

Now that you have conquered your battle and filled your cart with the best of Indo-European booty, the real battle awaits: Getting out of the parking lot that is an endless sea of SUVs and German luxury cars.

This is when a return to the small Armenian market, with the same products, but more soul, seems alluring.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Economy, Armenian food, Ethnic supermarkets, Glassell Park, Lory Tatoulian, Super King
April 18, 2011 | 4:39 PM | By

Navigating the Armenian American supermarket

As Southern California’s immigrant enclaves have grown and evolved, so have their grocery stores. The ethnic mega-supermarket is now part of the regional landscape, making it as easy to buy once hard-to-find products from around the world as it is to shop at Vons or Ralphs. Want banana leaves for Central American tamales? No need seek out a carnicería in Pico-Union any more. Southeast Asian sambal sauce? There are supermarkets that practically stock aisles of it.

All you need is a good guide. So this week, Multi-American is kicking off an occasional series of informal guides to navigating the ethnic supermarket. Your first guide comes from guest blogger Lory Tatoulian, a writer, comic and highly savvy Armenian supermarket insider. Welcome, Lory.

Photo by Lory Tatoulian

The produce section scene at the Super King in Glassell Park, April 2011

The Armenian spirit is big, and so is its belly.

As the Armenian population in Los Angeles has exponentially grown in the last fifty years, so have its supermarkets. Since the 1960’s, little bodega-type markets unobtrusively appeared in Armenian enclaves: Pasadena, Hollywood, and Glendale. For years, these small markets were the best-kept secret in Los Angeles, offering exotic Mediterranean groceries for dirt-cheap prices. A place where the cashiers called you hokis, a term of endearment that means “my soul.”

Then came Super King Markets, the loud and flamboyant response to a city that now hosts ten percent of the six million Armenians in the world.

This colossal warehouse grocery chain is bodega on steroids, featuring a dizzying assortment of industrial-sized jugs of olive oil, five-gallon buckets of tahini (sesame paste) and 20-pound bags of bulghur (durum wheat). Its the Costcoization of the mom and pop market which now draws Latinos, Asians and Armenians, all clamoring for the five pounds of cantaloupe for 99 cents.

When entering the Super King in Glassell Park, one should proceed as if competing in a sporting event. Your opponents are the little Armenian grandmas, dressed in black, who will push, prod and pull you away in order to get to those 10-cents-a-pound tomatoes faster than you can. They will dig through a bin of cucumbers with a Buddhist concentration, and then throw you a fierce look from the corner of their eye, as a warning to not even think about taking their plundered possessions.

Yes, these are the same sweet grandmas who nurture and love their children to eternity, but when it comes to buying groceries (especially at discount prices) their combative instincts kick in. Don’t be intimidated, use your metal shopping cart as armor and continue on your pursuit through the vertiginous aisles of low-priced goods.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Economy, Armenian food, Ethnic supermarkets, Lory Tatoulian, Super King