Category Archives: history

Armenian Cookbooks and a History Lesson

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Armenian_Empire.png

I’ve been shopping for Christmas presents this afternoon – for an affordable Armenian cookbook, in particular. I didn’t realize how difficult the task would be. I guess I didn’t realize (until I looked at a map a few minutes ago) just how small and insignificant Armenia is in the world. I mean, Armenia is on par, size-wise, with Israel. But I’m not saying that Israel is insignificant. I guess I’m saying that people see Armenia as insignificant, but it’s not.

Here’s a fact for you: People complain about Israel or Palestine “losing” land – or any number of “countries” (IE: ethnic/religious groups in that region) but Armenia seriously lost a lot of land to Turkey. It’s like 700 km from Yerevan to the Mediterranean, and you’ve got to figure that Armenia at one point stretched at least 200 km both to the North and South of Musa Dagh, which is basically right on that sea. But let’s keep in mind that the history of this region of the world has always been messed up. Land is trading hands all the time, and it’s been that way for way over 2000 years. I don’t want to get into a debate over whose land it really is… My opinion is that all land is on loan from God, and one day he’s going to take it all back for himself anyway…

So my quick history/geography lesson came as a result of researching various regions of “Armenia”. You see, to at least some Armenians, they still call parts of what is now Turkey “Armenia”. I don’t disagree. But I also don’t think it matters, in some senses. What I mean is: politically what you call a place matters. Historically what you call a place matters. But when it comes to calling a place your home, if you’re an Armenian, if you grew up in Cilicia, for example, you’re likely to call your childhood home “Armenia.” I think.

Back to my quest for an quality Armenian cookbook.

I’m not sure there is one. I’ve found a lot of “church lady cookbooks” – you know, the ones the ladies at churches compile and print for their congregations? Yeah…

If I had the money, I think this was the most promising one I found. Again, I think it’s too much money:

http://www.armenian-cuisine.com/about.htm

– this bad boy is 65 USD, including shipping!!!

Looks pretty cool, but you can’t really look inside. A ton of pictures, but could probably use either fewer and more recipes or just fewer all together. And cheaper, please. But again, this one hits the mark as far as hip factor goes. It sounds like the authors have a killer restaurant in Lebanon…

My second and third choices are pretty much equals, and I’d hate to settle on my gift by buying one of these seemingly lesser cookbooks. Again, the problem with shopping for cookbooks online is that you can’t really get a good feel for them. Here are those two:

The Recipes of Musa Dagh – $20 on Amazon.

and…

Simply Armenian – Only $17.

So what do you all think I should do? I’m totally torn. Oh yeah, this search has also help me to come to the conclusion that Armenians don’t use cookbooks, so the mere fact that I’m even looking for one is paradoxical.

The Strange Tendency of History to Repeat

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@jaymathesmusic: Reading “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” right now. Why can’t we prevent history from repeating itself? Oh yeah, now I remember: politics.

Clarification: I’m reading a translation, in English…  The picture to the left is a copy of the first edition.

I’m only one hundred pages in to the book right now, but a lot of what I’ve read so far sounds vaguely familiar: Nazi Germany, Sudan, and the Trail of Tears all come to mind.

I do have one, big clarification, though, on my tweet: I think there are occasions where the main reason countries do no intervene in preventing genocide is because they do not have the resources – financial or otherwise – to stop it. For all practical purposes, this was probably a big factor in WW2. Not most of Europe together could stop Nazi Germany, even though they wanted to.

I think at the heart of this global problem is the fact that people inherently react to events with self preservation as the highest priority. I can bring this theory in to the practical: I love my son. Very much. But when he runs at me when I’m lying on the floor, full-speed, and I don’t see him until the last instant, my only reaction is to lift my arm, shielding my body from the blow, regardless of the consequences to him. Thank God I haven’t hurt him yet this way, but he has definitely lost his breath on a number of occasions.

I’d just like to humbly conclude by saying that this is an area of great interest to me, and one that I know almost nothing about. I tend* to be a serious cynic when in comes politics, and the American political system, in particular, and this obviously affects my views here. I’m open to discovering the truth behind what I’m talking about – even if it means revising my entire view of the matter.