What to eat ARMENIA 🇦🇲 Harissa

Harissa

Harissa is a dish of shelled or cracked wheat, also known as wheatberry, that has been boiled with meat until it forms a porridge. The name harissa is derived from the semitic word haras, meaning to break. It describes how the wheat breaks apart to become the consistency harissa is known for.

In Armenian folkloric traditions, Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint of Armenia, is said to have offered the meal to the poor. Wheat was added when there was insufficient lamb to stretch existing resources. It was, one could say, his water to wine moment.

Gregory the Illuminator allegedly advised, “Harekh!” Or, “Stir it!”

In this version of the origin story, the name of the national dish comes from the lips of the patron saint of the country and its people. As far as culinary myths connecting the people and their cuisine, it is impeccable.

Harissa is traditional in Armenia as a charity meal due to this tale. It is also commonly served on Easter and to commemorate the Armenian genocide a century ago. Both seemingly have resurrection themes in common.

The meal is served in somber remembrance due to the fact that the dish helped people survive during the famed resistance of six Armenian villages on Mount Musa in what is the modern day Hatay province of Turkey. In the Armenian language, the mountain is known as Musa Lek and in Turkish Musa Daği.

The Ottoman deportation order reached the mountain’s half dozen Armenian villages in July of 1915, but the population refused the order and fought back against their Ottoman overlords. For 53 days lasting into September of that year, the villagers mounted a stiff resistance, falling back to Mount Musa and surviving on harissa during this time. Eventually five French ships came to their rescue, evacuating 4,000 surviving villagers to Port Said.

In 1918, the Sanjak of Alexandretta consisting of present-day Iskenderun and Antakya, Turkey, came under French control. Previously, the territory had been part of the Aleppo vilayet, but World War I saw a shift in colonial leadership. The former residents of the villages that put up such resistance in the face of deportation were granted the right of return. In 1932, the villagers erected a monument to honor their past sacrifice on Mount Musa.

The story of the Armenian resistance on the mountain became the subject of Franz Werfel’s 1933 novel, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. Six years after the novel was published, Nazi Germany was on the march conquering much of Europe. The book became popular with young adults, some of whom found themselves in similar circumstances to the Armenian villagers, and Jewish resistance fighters from Warsaw and Vilnius - all the way to Białystok!

However, on June 29, 1939, the winds shifted again and an agreement between France and Turkey saw the province given to Turkey. Armenians from the six villages emigrated from Hatay province to Anjar, Lebanon, which is divided into six districts, each commemorating the six villages of origin of the town’s Armenian residents.

Only the residents of one of the villages, Vakifli, chose to stay. It remains the last ethnic Armenian village in Turkey, with a population of a little more than 100 Armenians. Vakifli overlooks the Mediterranean border and its dialect of Western Armenian is distinct from other Western Armenian dialects due to its relative isolation.

A similar dish known as harees is popular throughout the Arab world. Like Armenian harissa, harees is served on the special occasion of Ramadan throughout the Persian Gulf region. In Shia-dominant countries like Bahrain, Iraq and parts of Lebanon, harees is customary during the Ashura holiday.

The earliest record of harissa appears in medieval Arabic cookbooks. Ibn Al Karim’s seventh century Kitab al-Tabikh (the book of dishes) is the earliest known record of harissa but it was followed up by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq’s tenth century Kitab al-Tabikh. It later appeared in thirteenth century cookbooks from Baghdad to Al Andalus, or present-day Andalusia, Spain.

To prepare ancient harissa, wheat is soaked overnight, simmered in water, butter and sheep fat. The remaining liquid is drained from the dish and the wheat is crushed and seasoned. It is then garnished with butter that may be seasoned with cinnamon, sugar, or other spices depending on local tastes. Variations of the dish can be found from Kashmir to Ethiopia to Zanzibar.

In Armenian culture, meat is replaced with spices during Lent or other religious occasions marked by fasting or penance. Part of the tradition of making harissa is the process, which is extremely time consuming. The amount of time it takes to make harissa is part of the ritual, and part of a cherished ritual in Armenian households around the world.

One final note on the Armenian struggle regarding diplomatic recognition, in Geneva and beyond. In December 2011, UNESCO handed the designation of “intangible cultural heritage” of the dish Armenians know as harissa under the Turkish name keşkek at the same time it handed down similar designations for Korean traditional tightrope walking and Mexican mariachi music.

The name keşkek comes from the Slavic word kasha for buckwheat, which may have been borrowed from the Persian name kishk. Keşkek has a deep similarity to Armenian harissa but symbolic meanings diverge in Turkish and Armenian culture. In Turkey, it traditionally marks the morning of weddings, for instance.

Turkey’s application for the UNESCO nomination omitted the name harissa as an alternative way of referring to keşkek. When UNESCO obliged Turkey’s petition, Armenia reacted with outrage, decrying the “Turkification” of the national dish. UNESCO itself was attacked for honoring an effort many saw as cultural appropriation if not outright theft.

In response to the drama around this food fight, Armenian news site News.am reported, “young Armenian ethnographers are gathering all information on Harissa so as to appeal this decision."

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Two small onions
Two chicken flavored bouillon cubes or 2-4 kilos of chicken or lamb
Butter
Olive oil
150-200 grams of cracked or shelled wheat or wheatberry (same thing, different names)
Maldon salt
Piment d’espelette

Directions:

Step 1: Dice two small onions.

Step 2: Turn the heat onto medium. Add two tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil and add onions. When onions begin to sizzle, turn down to a low heat to caramelize. If using chicken or lamb instead of onions, brown in oils and then turn down to low.

Step 3: After onions caramelize or the meat is browned, add 450 grams of water. If using onions, dissolve two bouillon cubes in the water first. If using chicken or lamb, cover with approximately four inches of water. Cover and let simmer for approximately 30-40 minutes until meat is cooked or flavors are absorbed into each other.

Step 4: Place the shelled wheat, also known as wheat berry, in a bowl and cover with water to soak and rinse.

Step 5: After 30-40 minutes, drain the shelled wheat and pull the meat from the water, if you have opted to use meat. Using your fingers, shred the meat, which can be done in concert with the next step.

Step 6: It is now time to add the shelled wheat to the boiling water. Stir every five or so minutes after adding to ensure none sticks to the bottom until all water is absorbed. If you have opted to use meat, you can add this to the water once it is shredded.

Step 7: When there is about ten minutes left on the harissa, melt 150 grams of butter until clarified.

Step 8: As the harissa nears completion, take a potato masher to it to break the shelled wheat up further.

Step 9: Pull off heat and stir in 1-2 tablespoons of piment d’espelette. Serve the harissa with a teaspoon of the butter on with piment d’espelette on top.

Tips, tricks and notes:

I preferred to grill the meat rather than boil it with the shelled wheat and add as an accompaniment after. I used a dry rub on the lamb of fresh rosemary, piment d’espelette and Maldon salt.

Additionally, the cracked wheat I purchased in Switzerland did not totally break apart into porridge, like many traditional Armenian recipes have it. Nonetheless, it was delicious, especially accompanied with lamb, which might make this recipe more harissa-inspired than the pure deal.

For purists, I would tip my hat to this adorable Armenian granny, who can lead you through the steps in Armenian (with English simultaneous translation):

For the shelled wheat and piment d’espelette: in Bern I turned to Loeb Lebensmittel at Schauplatzgasse 39, located across from the street from the department store of the same name.

Learn where to eat Armenian food in Switzerland.

Follow our social media pages @swissglobaldining on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube