YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. Generosity, passion, love and simplicity: this is how famous Lebanese blogger Anthony Rahayel, who is in Armenia during these days, describes the Armenian cuisine.
The blogger arrived in Armenia to show to the world the Armenian cuisine with all its features.
No Garlic No Onions project’s shooting team arrived in Armenia to discover tasty Armenia on the sidelines of the policy of the State Tourism Committee of Armenia’s ministry of economic development and investments to increase Armenia’s attractiveness in Lebanon and Arab countries of the Gulf.
Anthony Rahayel gave an interview to ARMENPRESS.
Anthony Rahayel and No Garlic No Onions project
I am Anthony Rahayel, I am a Lebanese blogger and I am showing to the world the real cuisines of different countries through my No garlic No onions project which are not seen on TV, discovering their national, traditional dishes and spreading happiness everywhere. This project is a unique “guidebook” for those interested in gastro-tourism. It tells about cuisine features of different countries, famous and not so famous restaurants by discovering the entire gastro-tourism potential of that country.
No Garlic No Onions project in Armenia
We are doing two things within the frames of No Garlic No Onions project – spread happiness and share positivity everywhere. It is already 7 days we are in Armenia and trying to discover this amazing country, to show what has not been told and showed. We already visited Dilijan, Goshavank, Sevan, Garni, Geghard, Gyumri, Yerevan’s Victory park and etc. We will also visit Areni, Noravank, Khor Virap monastery, Goris, Tatev monastery and Jermuk. By our project we also want to show the reality and change the people’s perception on this or that issue. We are here to discover this amazing country with its amazing people and show through media what has not been told for quite a long time.
In reality we are two peoples who live in one country, in other words, more than 800.000 Armenians live in Lebanon and we are quite close and share the same culture. The fact that the flight from Lebanon to Armenia lasts 2 hours is perfect, there is no need for visa and I invite everyone here to “taste” this amazing country. When you say an Armenian cuisine in Lebanon, people immediately understand garlic, spices and other different things. When I was visiting Armenia, I couldn’t imagine well what to expect, what I will see and feel. Coming here I saw people who really love live, enjoy it, but as for the cuisine here, I didn’t see any similarity with the Armenian cuisine of Lebanon. I have been in many countries, and all cuisines are very different, there are cuisines that are based on passion or are more sophisticated for gourmets. Armenian cuisine is very simple for me, but at the same time is very complicated and full of passion.
Armenian cuisine through Lebanese eyes
In the Armenian reality, the spices are relatively less, but at the time the tastes are different and very varied, are more focused on greenery, herbs and spices and every dish lets you “travel” around Armenia. I liked the variety of things in Armenia, especially the white cheese which we had again and again and every time it was better and better, all the breads I had are amazing and the way of doing lavash was quite interesting to me. In Lebanon all breads are different, but here all breads and lavash are being done with the same receipt and all are very tasty. You, Armenians, have the best jams. I have already bought the walnut jam, the eggplant jam, the apricot jam are also very tasty, and the dried fruits are “out of this world”.
New “ambassador” of Armenian cuisine
I felt passion and love in all Armenian dishes I tried. I can say that I will be the new ambassador of the Armenian cuisine and will show everyone the Armenian cuisine.
There are passion, generosity, love and simplicity in Armenian dishes. This is how your cuisine is and it’s simply amazing.
Interview by Lilit Demuryan
English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan