An Artsakh Update

April 22, 2021 by John Lee

Well, we did it! Thanks to all of you who backed our Indiegogo campaign (more about the story in this post), we were able to raise 4.25k to Armenia Fund, helping Armenia recover from the 2020 Artsakh war.

All of you who contributed to our campaigned not only funded the printing, packaging, and shipping of the publication but also helped us make the donation as large as possible.

What's more is that we have extra copies through our Etsy store. All proceeds from every additional copy of Artsakh we sell will be donated. If you have friends or family who may be interested in a copy, please forward the link and we can grow our total donations.

This Saturday marks the 106 anniversary of the Armenian genocide. The New York Times reports that President Biden is likely to officially recognize the genocide, adding the United States to the long list of countries who have already done so. Despite all that happened with the 2020, this is a time of hope for Armenia.

Thank you again for all of your support.

Artsakh, Part 2

December 16, 2020 by John Lee

We started a fundraiser for Artsakh.

We teamed up with award-winning veteran book designer Alice Chau, and are producing a limited edition magazine about the Artsakh that we came to know during our research trips there.

The magazine will be 9.5x13 inches four-color on thick stock, with more than fifty pages filled with John’s photographs and the recipes we collected during our trips.

The fundraiser is an Indiegogo campaign until the end of Dec 2020.

100% of the proceeds after expenses (printing, shipping, and Indiegogo fees) will go to the Armenia Fund.

Tonir hats in Stepanakert

Alla Arzumanyan’s kitchen at Mayrik Cafe in Askeran

Stepanakert

Mulberry harvesting in Shushi

Mulberry harvesting / Berries at the central bazaar in Stepanakert

Alla Arzumanyan’s kitchen at Mayrik Cafe in Askeran

Stepanakert

Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi

Vahram Papazian Drama Theater in Stepanakert

Shushi

Khorovats in Shushi

Stepanakert

Jingalov hats at the central bazaar in Stepanakert

Stepanakert

En route to Domaine Avetissyan winery

Artsakh

October 10, 2020 by John Lee

Words & Photos: John Lee

As we watch the reports about the recent conflict in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), our thoughts go back to our various trips there during our book research.

We made our first trip to Artsakh back in 2015, when coauthor John Lee and his Tumo food photography workshop students explored Stepanakert’s central bazaar with its teams of jingalov hats makers, Alla Arzumanyan’s cooking at Mayrik Cafe in Askeran, and Saro Saryan’s khorovats in Shushi. Coauthors Kate Leahy and Ara Zada made a whirlwind research trip with Tumo’s Marie Lou Papazian in November 2017. And all three of us together made one more trip to Artsakh in April 2018 where, among other things, we got to the bottom of exactly what kinds of greens go into jingalov hats.

So it is with heavy hearts and frustration that we witness the violence and destruction which has been unfolding the past weeks. Our friends in Hayastan who have helped guide us during our book research, are seeing their own friends and family members take to the front lines to fight. And some have tragically fallen.

This compelled us to look back at some of the pictures John shot during our trips to Artsakh—quiet and peaceful times when its strong and resilient citizens showed us their hospitality, humor, and whimsy. The Artsakh depicted in these pictures should be the normal. The tragedy we’re witnessing now is a vile deviance.

The Year of the Sword

April 23, 2020 by John Lee

Growing up Armenian in America, I was constantly reminded about the Armenian genocide. I remember sitting with my dede, grandfather, the first time he told me the story of what happened to our family.

Adventure Soup + Recipe

April 19, 2020 by John Lee

It took a trip to Dilijan, a beautiful vacation mountain town in northern Armenia, to understand that poison ivy soup isn’t really made with poison ivy. Here’s the whole story.

Panrkhash + Recipe

April 16, 2020 by John Lee

Here is a wonderfully simple recipe that you can make using some leftover lavash, some cheese, butter and half an onion. Panrkhash is a comfort food dish found in the northern Armenian city of Gyumri.

Jingalov Hats + Recipe

April 08, 2020 by John Lee

This vegan flatbread filled with greens has been the Republic of Artsakh’s best kept secret until recent years. We first fell in love with it when we were taken to the Artsakh capital of Stepanakert back in 2015, at the city’s central bazaar where a team of ladies making jingalov hats hold court. In the following video, Kate Leahy holds a tutorial on how to make jingalov hats at home with greens you can find in your local supermarket.

Lavash-Wrapped Trout

April 01, 2020 by John Lee

Here’s a wonderfully simple and delicious way to make trout, using lavash to help cook the fish. And you don’t need to be limited to trout. Any fish will do. (Salmon is excellent with this method!)

A Baklava Lesson

March 30, 2020 by John Lee

After ordering baklava in a small cafe, we were surprised when what arrived was a flakey, buttery, not-too-sweet pastry filled with walnuts that miraculously held in place. Rather than sticky with honey or syrup, the diamond-shaped pieces were firm enough to pick up by hand and eaten. This wasn’t like any baklava we’d had before.

Making Lavash on a Wok

March 26, 2020 by John Lee

Griddling the first lavash in a batch is like cooking the first pancake, and you may have to adjust the heat of the cooking surface to prevent parts of it from burning before the rest is cooked. One of the most fun ways to griddle lavash is on an overturned wok. It’s not the only way, though. This post not only has a video demonstrating the wok method but also a recipe for our lavash and tips on using other surfaces (a pancake griddle works great, too!).

Earth-Shattering Lavash

December 15, 2019 by John Lee

When I went to Armenia for the first time to teach a photography workshop, one of my students, Inessa Karapetyan, took me and a few students to watch her maret tatik—grandmother on her mother's side—make lavash in the village of Zovk.

Part 2: Creating the Book

October 20, 2019 by John Lee

By the time we had our book deal, we knew the first thing we had to do was book our first team research trip to Armenia and set that recipe list for good.

Guest Post: Secrets of Making Murabba (Our Recipe Backstory)

October 02, 2019 by John Lee

Have you ever wondered what goes into recipe research? For a book like Lavash, it required the help of Armenian food sleuths from all over the world. In this guest post, Dorothy Garabedian takes us behind the scenes to how she investigated the best methods for making murabba, a beloved fruit preserve in which the fruit stays suspended in syrup.

The Real-Life Dangers of Cookbook Photography

August 02, 2019 by John Lee

Food photography is not supposed to be dangerous, but shooting a cookbook during a revolution may be the exception to the rule. Here, read John Lee’s experience following a protest in Yerevan during Armenia’s Velvet Revolution that ended when the police arrested Nikol Pashinyan.

Part 1: Forming Team Lavash

July 08, 2019 by John Lee

The beginning of this book journey involved three people from different backgrounds who met through a shared love of Armenian food and travel.

My Path to Armenia

August 04, 2018 by John Lee

It was March of 2015, and John had woken up to an email from Eric Grigorian, an old college photographer buddy. John hadn't spoken to him in a few years, but in the email he wanted to know whether he would teach a food photography workshop to a bunch of high school kids in Armenia. That’s how the adventure started.

How to make Khorovats, Armenia’s Favorite Grilling Pastime

July 17, 2018 by John Lee

Sitting on a cliff overlooking the Debed Gorge in northern Armenia, the Haghpat monastery is a stunning UNESCO World Heritage site worth the hair-raising tour bus ride up a mountain road. Yet the monastery's ancient kitchen has stood empty for years, and the only other food option is a snack bar at the edge of the property. So after working up an appetite wandering around the Medieval site, the best thing to do is drive a few minutes away for some khorovats, Armenian grilling par excellence.

How to Build a Clay Tonir

May 31, 2018 by John Lee in lavash

On the way from Gyumri to Yerevan, we made a stop in Sarnaghpyur to pay Spartak Aslanyan a visit. Aslanyan, and his cousin, Mrktich Aslanyan, make clay tonirs using a process that probably hasn't changed much in centuries.

How to write a cookbook in the middle of a revolution

May 10, 2018 by John Lee

Here is a video we put together for a talk we did at Tumo, discussing how we researched a cookbook during the middle of a revolution.

Protests, Road Blocks, and the Making of a Cookbook

May 03, 2018 by John Lee

On May 2, we woke up in Stepanakert, the capital of the Republic of Artsakh, packed up our Airbnb, and headed to a nearby bakery to meet the bakers and buy a few rounds of tonir hats (bread baked in a tonir). This is a cookbook research trip after all, and we figured that we'd be on the road for a long time and would need some fuel. We were right about the road fatigue, but not for the reasons we had expected.