Armenian cuisine

Pilaf (), pilav, pilau or plov () is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables and meat, and employing some technique for achieving cooked grains that do not adhere.

Shawarma (; ) is a Middle Eastern dish that originated during the Ottoman Empire, consisting of meat that is cut into thin slices, stacked in an inverted cone, and roasted on a slow-turning vertical spit. Traditionally made with lamb or mutton, it may also be made with chicken, turkey meat, beef, falafel or veal. The surface of the rotisserie meat is routinely shaved off once it cooks and is ready to be served. Shawarma is a popular street food throughout the Arab world, Israel and the Greater Middle East.

upright=1.2|thumb|Modern ceramic wood-fired tandoors

Tahini (; , or, in Iraq, ) is a Middle Eastern condiment (a seed butter) made from ground sesame seeds. The most common variety comes from hulled seeds, but unhulled ones can also be used; the latter variety is slightly bitter, but more nutritious. The seeds are more commonly roasted than raw. Tahini can be served by itself (as a dip), made into a salad dressing, or used as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, or halva.

Dolma is a family of stuffed dishes largely associated with Ottoman cuisine. It mainly includes vegetables and leaves, and occasionally seafood, offal, fruits, and meats, that are hollowed out or wrapped, then filled with a mixture of rice, minced meat, herbs, and spices. The leaf-wrapped type can be specifically known as sarma, but colloquially dolma is used for both.

Shashlik, or shashlyck ( shashlyk ), is a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, similar to or synonymous with shish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and from the 19th century became popular as shashlik across much of the Russian Empire and nowadays in former Soviet Union republics.

Börek (also burek or byrek) is a family of pastries or pies made in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes. A börek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. They are usually baked but some varieties can be fried. Börek is sometimes sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds, and it can be served hot or cold.

thumb|Coarse bulgur

dish of cabbage leaves with a filling

dish

Kibbeh (, also kubba and other spellings; ; ) is a popular dish in the Arab world and the Levant in particular, made of spiced lean ground meat and bulgur wheat. Kibbeh is considered to be a national dish of Lebanon and Syria.

Lahmacun, lahmajun or lahmajo is a Middle Eastern flatbread topped with minced meat (most commonly beef or lamb), minced vegetables, and herbs such as onions, garlic, tomatoes, red peppers, and parsley, flavored with spices such as chili pepper and paprika, then baked. Lahmacun is often wrapped around vegetables, including pickles, tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, parsley, and roasted eggplant.

Sujuk, sugou or sucuk (/suːˈd͡ʒʊk/) is a dry, spicy and fermented sausage which is consumed in several Anatolian, Balkan, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cuisines. Sujuk mainly consists of ground meat and animal fat usually obtained from beef or lamb, but beef is mainly used in Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Georgia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

culinary traditions of Armenia

thumb|right|Pastirma

Simit is a circular bread, typically encrusted with sesame seeds or, less commonly, poppy, flax or sunflower seeds, found across the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, especially in Armenia, Turkey and the Balkans. Simit's size, crunch, chewiness, and other characteristics vary slightly by region.

Pirozhki (, ; ; see also other names) is the Russian name for baked or fried yeast-leavened boat-shaped buns with a variety of fillings in Russian and Eastern European cuisine in general. Pirozhki are a popular street food and comfort food. They are especially popular in countries with large ethnic Russian communities, and may also be found in other parts of the world.

type of food

Chorba, ( ; ) shorwa, shurba, shurpa, shurbah or shorba ( ) is a broad class of stews or rich soups found in national cuisines across North Africa, The Middle East, Iran, Turkey, Southeast Europe, Central Asia, East Africa and South Asia. It is often prepared with added ingredients but is also served alone as a broth or with bread.

thumb|Turşu in Turkey Torshi, tursu or turshi () are the pickled vegetables of many Middle Eastern, Caucasian, Slavic and Balkan cuisines.

potato dish

Kashk, kishk, ( Kašk, ), () qurut, qurt, kurut, kurt, qqet, jameed, shilanch (Tuvan and , , , , , Tajik: қурут, ), chortan ( chort’an), aaruul or khuruud (Mongolian: ааруул or хурууд) is a range of dairy products popular in Iranian cuisine, Caucasian cuisine, and Central Asian cuisine. Kashk is made from strained yogurt, drained buttermilk (in particular, drained qatiq) or drained sour milk by shaping it and letting it dry. It can be made in a variety of forms: rolled into balls, sliced into strips, and formed into chunks.

cabbage, vine leaf, or other leaf roll

Ghapama () is an Armenian stuffed pumpkin dish, usually served as a dessert. It is prepared by removing the inside of the pumpkin (known as դդում in Armenian, pronounced in Eastern Armenian and in Western Armenian) and stuffing it with cooked rice, butter, honey, dried fruits, nuts, and meat, to be baked. Dried fruits used in the dish include figs, apricots, prunes, and raisins, while the nuts include walnuts and almonds.

Harees, haresa, hareesa, arizah, harise, jarish, jareesh, (), harisa (), or korkot () is a dish of boiled, cracked, or coarsely-ground cracked wheat or bulgur, mixed with meat and seasoned. Its consistency varies between a porridge and a gruel. Harees is known throughout Armenia where it is served on Easter, and the Arab world, where it is commonly eaten in Arab states of the Persian Gulf in the month of Ramadan, and in Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain during Ashura by Shia Muslims.

250px|thumbnail|right|Abgoosht served at a traditional-style restaurant in Iran thumb|right|180px|A dizi dish during consumption Abgoosht or abgusht ( Âbgušt, ; literally "meat broth") is an Iranian stew. It is also called dizi (, ), which refers to the traditional stoneware crocks it is served in. Some describe it as a "hearty mutton Persian soup thickened with chickpeas."

egg-based homemade dessert

The muhammara or mhammara () is a dip made of walnuts, red bell peppers, pomegranate molasses, and breadcrumbs. While commonly associated with Syria, muhammara can also be found in Western Armenian cuisine. In western Turkey, muhammara is referred to as acuka and is served as part of the mezze platter appetizer course.

Ajapsandali ( ) or ajapsandal ( ) is a traditional Georgian and Armenian dish, also popular in the Northern Caucasus.

Tarhana is a dried food ingredient, based on a fermented mixture of grain and yogurt or fermented milk, found in Central Asian, Southeast European, and Middle Eastern cuisines. Dry tarhana has a texture of coarse, uneven crumbs, and it is usually made into a thick soup with water, stock, or milk. As it is both acidic and low in moisture, the milk proteins keep for long periods. Tarhana is very similar to some kinds of kashk.

raw meat or vegan bulgur dish from the Turkish cuisine

Tsoureki () also known as bsatir, čʿorek, katʿnahuncʿ (), çyrek (Albanian), kozunak (), cozonac (Romanian), paskalya çöreği (Turkish), or šurēk (), is a sweet holiday bread made with flour, milk, butter, eggs, and sugar. It is commonly seasoned with lemon and orange zest, mastic resin, or mahleb.

type of kebab, made from minced meat

Khorovats (, ) is an Armenian grilled meat dish. The meat may be marinated before grilling, but it does not have to be. It can be made with lamb, pork, beef, chicken, fish, or even veal. This is generally a dish reserved for "festive occasions".

Leblebi (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a snack made from roasted chickpeas, common and popular in Iran, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria and sometimes seasoned with salt, hot spices, dried cloves, or candy coated.

Bamia, bame, bamieh, bamje, bamiya or bamya is a Middle Eastern and Central Asian main dish, a stew made with okra, lamb, and tomatoes as primary ingredients. It is commonly made in the following countries and cultures: Afghani, Albanian, Armenian, Assyrian, Jordanian, Azerbaijani, Egyptian, Greek, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Kurdish, Lebanese, Palestinian, Romanian, Somali, Sudanese, Syrian, Tanzania, and Turkish. Additional ingredients used can include tomato sauce or tomato paste, onion, garlic, cilantro (coriander), pomegranate molasses, vegetable oil, cardamom, salt and pepper.

Turkish sweet bun (çörek) with tahini

eggplant dish

thumb|Pilaki Pilaki is a style of meze and may refer to several dishes that are cooked in a sauce made out of onion, garlic, carrot, potato, tomato or tomato paste, sugar, and olive oil. Beans used in this style are white beans, or borlotti beans. They are served cold, garnished with parsley and slices of lemon. Fish pilaki is also a popular recipe. In Greek cuisine, this style is known as plaki. In Bulgarian cuisine the name is "plakiya". thumb|Pilaki ==See also== Gigandes plaki, a similar Greek dish. Piyaz, another Turkish bean dish. Rajma, an Indian dish. Red beans and rice, a Louisiana C

Turkish and azeri dish

Apples stuffed with lamb and rice

Armenian liver dish

Mombar () is a rice sausage dish. Different versions of it with various different names are eaten in Syria, and Libya. In Egypt it is made from sheep casing stuffed with a rice mixture and deep fried.

type of Aush

thumb|200px|Matagh of a rooster at the entrance of a monastery church (Alaverdi, Armenia|Alaverdi, [[Armenia, 2009), with inset of bloody steps.]] In Armenian Christian tradition, matagh ( mataġ) is a lamb or a rooster slated for slaughter as thanksgiving to God, a practice which has continued from Armenia's past. In many regions of Armenia today, this practice is very much alive in the regular slaughter of chosen animals in front of churches. Matagh is done often to ask God for either forgiveness, health, or to give him something in return. People generally gather at the house where the Matag

Topik or topig () is an Armenian dish, sometimes thought of as a vegetarian meatball, consisting of a chickpea- based paste, usually mixed with potatoes or flour, surrounding a filling of onions, nuts, and currants, and flavored with herbs, spices, and tahini.

Dish made from raw vegetables and herbs

Boraki (, ), also known as alboraki () and tatar-boraki (), is a traditional Armenian dish made with minced meat, onions, and various spices, wrapped in layers of dough. It is a common dish among Armenians and is widespread throughout nearly the entire territory of Armenia.