Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Oct 26 2006

The joy of cooking

By Linda Pinkow/ Staff Writer
Thursday, October 26, 2006 – Updated: 02:01 PM EST

They’ve been cooking for months.

In teams of 10 to 15, the women of the First Armenian Church of
Belmont have been preparing and freezing ingredients for traditional
Armenian pastries, breads and other delicacies.

Their work culminated in the church’s annual Fall Harvest Bazaar
last Saturday, where hundreds of area residents sat down to a
collectively prepared feast for lunch or dinner – or both – and went
home with home-made snacks as well as Armenian books, CDs and crafts.

Proceeds from the bazaar help support orphans and students in
Armenia and Lebanon, and other charities and church programs.

"Each food item is made by a different team," said Carol Nahigian
of Arlington, as she helped sell take-home packages of cheoreg (small
strips of sweet dough), manti (rolls filled with meat), string
cheese, and yalanchi (grape leaves stuffed with rice and pine nuts).

"The real old-timers, they grow their own [grape leaves]," said
Nahigian. They pick the leaves in June, boil them and then freeze
them.

"That’s like a big party when they all get their leaves in June,"
she said.

Nahigian said it takes cooperation to cook together: "One is team
captain, and you have to do what she says."

But cooperation in the kitchen is a tradition, she added:
"Armenians never worked alone."

Helping to dish out the luncheon buffet, Seta Norian of Lexington
said last week was the busiest.

"I’ve been here almost every day this week," she said.

Norian pointed out that the women of First Armenian Church cook
together "year round." They prepare traditional meals for holidays
and fundraisers.

Cooking together, she said, "You get ideas off each other, and
you enjoy each other’s company."

The men of the church had their own culinary camaraderie. Some of
them were in the church’s large kitchen, preparing the kebabs for the
meals.

The buffet also included rice pilaf, salad and fresh pita bread,
and there was cappuccino, popcorn and cotton candy between the meals.
But attention really focused on the three tables of sweets.

There was cheese beoreg in puff pastry or filo dough, paklava
(known in other countries as baklava), shaabiat (triangles of filo
dough with sweet cream filling and ground pistachios), kadayif with
nuts or with cream, and assorted cookies.

There were also Halloween-theme cookies and brownies created by
the Sunday School parents and children.

"I could eat this always," said the Rev. Gregory Haroutunian,
wiping the remains of a cheese beoreg from his fingers.

Haroutunian, who has been pastor of First Armenian Church for
almost three years, explained that his congregation, "from the
youngest to the oldest," prepares for the annual Fall Harvest Bazaar
with "enthusiasm."

The women, in particular, "are so gratified seeing the people’s
joy," he said.

"They’re happy that people are happy, and that’s what we were
praying for," said Haroutunian. "You want this to be a blessing to
the community."