British-born, food and travel author, and food television personality Simon Majumdar has unveiled the story of one of the best meals he has ever had during his recent trip to Armenia.
Published on the Sauté Magazine, the article details Majumdar's experience in the unlikely setting of a cave in Armenia.
"The meal in question came towards the end of a three-week sojourn to the region of the Caucasus. By the time we reached Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, we were already convinced that this region was deserving of more time in the culinary spotlight, and what we experienced throughout this extraordinarily hospitable country served to confirm it even more," he said.
"On one of our early trips away from the capital, we had been fortunate enough to be given a tour of the Areni-1 Wine Caves, an archaeological dig that is uncovering the earliest known wine-making facility known to man, dating from some 6,000 years ago. We were still talking about what we had seen when our guide indicated to our driver that we should pull off the road into a small clearing, and announced to us that this was where we would be having lunch.
"There was nothing much there, apart from a few benches under an awning to protect them from the sun and the rain, to suggest that this was going to be a premium dining location. Our guide led us across a small gurgling spring into a cool cavern where we met the owner, Vardges. He explained that “The Cave” was the result of years of plentiful hard work as he and his family cleared the wild undergrowth to reveal what was now the location of their kitchen and a small elevated private dining area."
According to the author, the lack of “big agriculture” defnitely has had a positive effect when it came to the quality of produce, which by default had to be seasonal in availability and locally sourced. In fact, as Vardges explained , much of what was put before us was grown by the family themselves.
"There must have been at least fifteen different dishes on the table waiting for us. As well as the re-hydrated lavash, there were assorted cheeses, including a traditional string cheese laced with nigella seeds. There were plates of fresh meaty tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers so dense they could barely be equated with supermarket versions you might find in the U.S. There were jet black olives, roasted vegetables and hot sauce with pickles that had a balance of sharp and sweet that I have been trying to recreate (unsuccessfully, I might add) since I returned home. Best of all, there was a bowl of thick, creamy and tangy matzoon, a sour dairy product, similar to yogurt, that seems to be at the heart of so many Armenian meals," the article says.
"The matzoon was served with a large mound of assorted fresh herbs, which included dill, tarragon, basil, parsley, wild oregano and mint, as well as a small number of fresh green onions, which like the herbs, had also been harvested that morning. As instructed by our dining companions, I began to fashion a roll comprised of a handful of herbs and onions, a layer of string cheese and a plentiful dollop of the matzoon. The first bite, which delivered an amazing combination of the freshness of the herbs, the saltiness of the cheese and the tang of the strained yogurt, was enough to convince me why Armenians like to begin every meal this way.
"So taken was I with these hand rolls that I almost forgot about the lamb, which had been brought sizzling to our table. That would have been a shame, as it was every bit as delicious as Vardges had promised us.
"I added some of the lamb to the rolls of herbs, cheese and matzoon. The sweet, crisp and charred lamb fat gave way to the meat below, which dribbled juices onto my chin as I dug in. It was a bite that confirmed everything that we had been excited about during our journey to the region, and one that confirmed that a meal in a cave in The Caucasus would go straight into the top whenever when people next ask me, “What is the best meal you have ever eaten?”