Category: 2023

Using late-night munchies to crossbreed cultures is a long-held tradition of the L.A. food scene. Add in comedy, a rekindled friendship between a Mexican Armenian comic and an Armenian chef to the mix, and suddenly you have a tasty new menu of multicultural creations.

Like most good things, it started with a burrito. Correction: a “Lahmarito”

Imagine a piece of lavash — a Middle Eastern flatbread akin to a tortilla — the size of a pillowcase. Add a couple fistfuls of shredded cheese as a first layer underneath crispy rounds of Lahmajune — think small Armenian pizzas topped with minced meat and minced vegetables. Add fresh pico de gallo, serrano peppers, carne asada, Mexican rice, a dried spiced meat called basturma, creamy hummus and spicy salsa. The whole concoction is wrapped tightly, grilled golden brown on both sides and sliced in half to reveal the layers of bliss inside.

When they first stepped back and admired their creation while filming an Instagram video for their followers, comedian Jack Assadourian Jr. and chef Ara Zada knew they had something special on their hands before they even took a bite. And not just because of the millions of views from followers salivating over their food while laughing at their cartoonish, knife-flipping, food-prepping techniques. Their belly-busting “Arm-Mex” cuisine also showcased a pairing that’s as L.A. as anything you could put on your plate.

“People immediately hit our DMs asking where we could order the food,” Assadourian said. “Ara does this for a living, he’s a chef, I’m a comedian, so to put those two elements together is a fun experience.”

Each video features Assadourian and Zada tag-teaming the creation of one of their new Armenian-Mexican dishes as they rattle off ingredients and one-liners in fast-cut-style instructional videos (there’s usually more laughter than instructions). Part of the reason the food ideas work is because the cultures pair together as well as the flavors.

“Mexicans and Armenians are very similar when it comes to culture, the family bonds are very much the same … I have a bunch of Mexican friends, and they all have the same family values,” Zada said. “So the food is different in spices, but culturally we’re the same.”

For Assadourian, this fusion has been with him his entire life. Born to a Mexican mother and Armenian father — the owners of the Haha Comedy Club in North Hollywood since 1988 — his parents revamped the club decades ago after it started as a Mexican restaurant.

As a half-Mexican, half-Armenian comedian, Assadourian has carved out his own niche in comedy, producing shows that cater to both sides of his heritage on separate occasions. The recent food videos with Zada presented a chance to finally bring the two sides together.

Assadourian and Zada grew up as childhood friends, running amok and singing karaoke inside the club during off hours while their parents met and socialized. They remained close up until their early teens when Zada’s father died. Gradually, they lost touch and went their separate ways. Jack went on to become a comedian, while Zada became a chef. Earlier this year, the two reconnected randomly when Zada’s fiancée (now wife) decided to take him out to see a comedy show to get him out of the house. It was during a rough time for Zada, who had just overcome kidney cancer.

The night he revisited the Haha, his fiancée hadn’t told him where they were going; but when they pulled up to the club, Zada immediately recognized it and they went inside looking for Assadourian, who was away on tour at the time. After finding out Assadourian had become a touring comedian, Zada direct-messaged him on Instagram. Like any good friendship, the two of them picked up where they left off —with jokes.

“I was like, ‘He has a ton of followers and probably won’t even answer my message right away,’” Zada said.

“Do you remember me?” Zada typed.

Assadoruian quickly replied “f— man, I thought you died!”

While catching up on the last 25 years or so, the friends realized some striking similarities in their stories — both had married, divorced and remarried, and now had blended families. The two started constantly hanging out again.

“We even started singing karaoke together again like nothing ever happened,” Assadourian said.

While Assadourian went into the family business, Zada became a chef focused on exploring Armenian cuisine, even co-authoring a book on it called “Lavash” in 2019. The book established him as an authority on the flavors of Armenia, which are hard to master given that food preparation varies depending on where a particular group of Armenians migrated to following the Armenian genocide.

“In 1914-1915 there was a genocide and millions of Armenians were killed by Turks, and a bunch of people got to flee. So they fled and then they basically went to different regions and assimilated with them,” Zada said. “Some people changed their names — my family changed their last name when they fled to Egypt — so they adapted to the region and cooked their Armenian cuisine with that region’s influence and flair.”

Armenian food in the U.S. never really came into prominence the way other cultures did, or in some cases the food got even more homogenized and changed its identity. “One thing you’ll always notice is that there’s no Armenian restaurants, they’re always ‘Greek,’” Assadourian pointed out.

One reason the videos fusing Armenian and Mexican food have taken off is how both cultures have a knack for absorbing flavors, especially in L.A. The harmony comes together in simple ways in the dishes they create on camera.

“Armenians from our region here in L.A. have a Mexican influence, and that’s a good influence,” Zada said. “If this was 200 years ago, our Armenian Elote dish would just be Armenian food. I mean, we’ve absorbed what the flavors are around.”

This week, the pair will be taste-testing their menu in real life, bringing their first monthly pop-up restaurant experience to the Haha on March 11 from 3-6 p.m, followed by a comedy show at 8p.m. featuring Armenian and Mexican comedians. The menu, based on their most popular videos, will include Armenian Elote, Sujuk Fries and the Lahmarito. The pop-up inside the Haha will also be paired with an “Arm-Mex” comedy show featuring a mix of Armenian and Mexican comics. For Assadourian and Zada, using the popularity of their funny TikTok videos to bring cultures together to laugh and enjoy food is a recipe for real-life impact.

“I got a DM from someone who said, ‘My kids are half Armenian, half Mexican and you’re a pioneer,’” Assadourian said. “You’re our leader!”

“The feedback of Armenian food and Mexican food together has been ridiculous,” Zada adds. “Everybody wants to taste it and everybody wants a piece.”

Russia said Monday that its forces helped end a deadly weekend clash between Azerbaijani soldiers and the police of Nagorno-Karabakh, urging all parties to show restraint.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. In 2020, Azerbaijani troops routed Armenian forces in six weeks of fighting that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal allowing Azerbaijan to take a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and reclaim nearby areas which had been in Armenian hands for nearly two decades.

Tensions soared again in December when Azerbaijani protesters claiming to be environmental activists blocked the main road between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving its 120,000 residents short of food and other basic supplies.

Last month, the United Nations' highest court ordered Azerbaijan to allow the resumption of free movement along the so-called Lachin corridor, but the situation has remained tense.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said a shootout occurred when Azerbaijani soldiers went to check vehicles suspected of transporting weapons along an auxiliary dirt road that links Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia's Interior Ministry dismissed the claim and described the shooting as an “ambush,” saying that three police officers from Nagorno-Karabakh were killed.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that its troops patrolling the region as peacekeepers under the 2020 Moscow-brokered deal moved quickly to halt the clash. The ministry confirmed that three Nagorno-Karabakh police officers were killed and added that two Azerbaijani troops also died in the shootout.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern about Sunday's shooting and urged all parties to show restraints and make steps to de-escalate the situation.

Russia said Monday that its forces helped end a deadly weekend clash between Azerbaijani soldiers and the police of Nagorno-Karabakh, urging all parties to show restraint.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. In 2020, Azerbaijani troops routed Armenian forces in six weeks of fighting that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal allowing Azerbaijan to take a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and reclaim nearby areas which had been in Armenian hands for nearly two decades.

Tensions soared again in December when Azerbaijani protesters claiming to be environmental activists blocked the main road between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving its 120,000 residents short of food and other basic supplies.

Last month, the United Nations’ highest court ordered Azerbaijan to allow the resumption of free movement along the so-called Lachin corridor, but the situation has remained tense.

On Sunday, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said a shootout occurred when Azerbaijani soldiers went to check vehicles suspected of transporting weapons along an auxiliary dirt road that links Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s Interior Ministry dismissed the claim and described the shooting as an "ambush," saying that three police officers from Nagorno-Karabakh were killed.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that its troops patrolling the region as peacekeepers under the 2020 Moscow-brokered deal moved quickly to halt the clash. The ministry confirmed that three Nagorno-Karabakh police officers were killed and added that two Azerbaijani troops also died in the shootout.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern about Sunday's shooting and urged all parties to show restraints and make steps to de-escalate the situation.

Over 90 flights from the Azeri Silk Way Airlines cargo company have landed at the Israeli southern airport of Ovda in the past seven years, reports revealed on Monday.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Silk Way Airlines is one of the few foreign companies to land in Ovda and with authorization to carry explosives in Israel’s airspace.

The report notes that Ovda is the only Israeli air base authorized to receive and launch outgoing and incoming flights carrying explosives. Contrary to Ovda, located in the Negev Desert, Israel’s main gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, is located in a densely populated area in the center of the country, which is why cargo planes carrying explosives are not allowed to land there. Also, Ovda serves simultaneously as an air base for both civilian and military flights.

The Haaretz report notes, however, that three weekly Silk Way Airlines flights are operating between the airport in Baku and Ben Gurion.

The report comes as tensions heighten again between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. The area lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of Armenia since1994. In 2020, the two sides fought for six weeks, allowing Azerbaijan to reclaim part of the disputed territory. 

It is no secret that ties between Baku and Israel have deepened over the past three decades, though much of the scope of these relations has been kept discreet. Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran and is a major Shiite state, though the variant of Shiite Islam practiced there is significantly more moderate than the radical Shi'ism of Iran. As such, Jerusalem considers Baku an important security and strategic partner.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute revealed in 2021 that Israel has been selling Azerbaijan weapons, and in return Baku has been selling Israel fuel while either sharing or enabling the intelligence it collects on neighboring Iran. Foreign reports, such as the Times of London, have also claimed that Azerbaijan authorized the Mossad to set up shop in the country, though Israeli authorities never confirmed such reports. Israel didn't confirm either Azeri statements on selling Baku advanced weapon systems, including ballistic missiles and attack drones, with the latter allegedly used against Armenia in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Israel has an embassy in Baku, but Azerbaijan has no embassy in Israel. Last November, Baku announced it would open an embassy in Israel in what was considered a major diplomatic achievement for then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

Cooperation between the two countries continues under the Netanyahu government. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke on the phone with his Azeri counterpart, Zakir Hasanov, at the beginning of February. In the conversation, Hasanov expressed his belief that the military cooperation between the two countries would continue to expand. On Feb. 23, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter met in Jerusalem with a large Azeri delegation that came to Israel in order to expand agriculture cooperation between the countries.

Earlier this week, Israel announced that Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov is expected to visit Israel on March 29 in order to open his country’s first embassy. Azerbaijan will be the first Shiite-majority country to open an embassy in Israel.

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/03/israel-exporting-arms-azerbaijan-tensions-soar-armenia-report 

AKIPRESS.COM - Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan, on March 4, said that Armenia – India relationships are developing fast and both nations could achieve more in terms of trade, economy, investment, culture and tourism, The Print reported.

While talking to media in New Delhi, Safaryan said, “Since last year, we’ve been trying to take our relations to the next level. For the past 30 years relations between Armenia and India are developing very fast. We could achieve more in terms of trade, economy, investment, culture & tourism.”

Safaryan, who attended the 8th Raisina Dialogue hosted by India in New Delhi, is one of the keynote speakers at the Panel Discussion on “Peace In Pieces: New Pathways For a UN That Works.”

The speakers in the panel discussed the challenges that the international security system and the rules-based world order are facing as well as issues on the UN reform agenda.

They exchanged views on the involvement and role of international organisations and individual states, including small and developing countries, in the multilateral system. The importance of efficient application of international and regional mechanisms in the settlement of ongoing conflicts in different corners of the world was highlighted.

In his remarks, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan noted that since its independence and joining the United Nations, Armenia has been constantly advocating for an effective implementation of multilateral platforms.

In 2020 and during the subsequent period, after Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia felt the negative impact and consequences of the international system's shortcomings in properly responding to the conflict. Safaryan added that despite the difficulties, Armenia, with the involvement of international partners, is negotiating with Azerbaijan in good faith aimed at the normalisation of relations.

The deputy Foreign Minister noted that multilateralism and mechanisms of the UN system continue to be an important tool for overcoming the existing challenges. The priority of investing the necessary efforts by all actors in the effective implementation of the above-mentioned mechanisms was also emphasised.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has made headlines in May 2022. The region has been a recurrent bone of contention between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia and India celebrated 30 years of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2022 and both countries maintain active political ties. Effective cooperation exists between the two nations within international bodies.

After Armenia’s independence in 1991, Diplomatic relations were established between the Republic of Armenia and India in 1992. India and Armenia signed a Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation in 1995. But the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries cannot be deemed adequate.

Armenia can play an important role in the Indian-backed International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the Iranian-backed Black Sea-Persian Gulf Transport Corridor.

https://akipress.com/news:696671:Armenia-India_relationship_developing_fast,_says_Armenian_Deputy_Foreign_Minister_at_Raisina_Dialogue/

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called for restraint on the part of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The diplomat’s comment on Monday, March 6, was published on site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Zakharova recommended that the parties to the conflict take steps to de-escalate the situation and urged to strictly comply with the provisions of the Statement of the leaders of Russia Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Armenia Nikol Pashinyan dated November 9, 2020 on a complete ceasefire and all hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

The diplomat expressed serious concern over the escalation of tension in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. She noted that in recent days the ceasefire regime has been repeatedly violated there.

In particular, Zakharova drew attention to the shootout with the dead that took place in Karabakh on March 5, which is part of the conflict. According to the representative of the Foreign Ministry, the incident once again confirms the need for Baku and Yerevan to return to negotiations as soon as possible within the framework of the implementation of the provisions of the tripartite statements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which, among other things, relate to the unblocking of regional communications, the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the preparation of a peace treaty.

“Any issues related to ensuring security and life in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPK) must be resolved peacefully in contact between the parties under its auspices,” Zakharova stressed.

On Sunday, March 5, a sabotage group of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces attacked a Nagorno-Karabakh police car. As a result, three people were killed and another was shot.

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border worsened in the autumn of 2022. Yerevan and Baku accused each other of the escalation, and also reported deaths on each side.

After that, it became known about the blocking of the Lachin corridor. This is the only road that connects Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. On December 30, Zakharova said that Moscow was concerned about the lack of progress in restoring the full functioning of the Lachin corridor for the movement of citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions.

On December 29, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the work of Russian peacekeepers on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh deserves the highest appreciation, since thanks to them security is maintained in the region. In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that Russian peacekeepers are working hourly to resolve the situation in the Lachin corridor.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated against the backdrop of contesting the ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh, which in 1988 announced its secession from the Azerbaijan SSR. During the military conflict of 1992-1994, Baku lost control over Karabakh. In September 2020, Baku took control of a number of settlements during military operations. In November of the same year, Armenia and Azerbaijan, with the participation of the Russian Federation, signed an agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The EU deplores the outbreak of violence on the Karabakh Line of Contact, which led to at least five deaths on 5 March.

The circumstances of the fatal incident should be fully investigated, said Peter Stano, the EU’s lead spokesman for foreign affairs and security policy, in a statement.

“We urge all stakeholders to show restraint in order to prevent any further actions which could further undermine regional stability and threaten the peace process,” says Peter Stano.

Find out more

Press release