If anything identifies the Armenian cuisine, it is the traditional form of bread, called Lavash (very large oblong thin bread made entirely by hand and baked in stone or clay tonir (oven) buried in the ground.

Throughout the ages, Lavash have not only occupied the highest place in Armenian cuisine, but also acquired the sacramental meaning, symbolizing the soul of Armenian people.

In 2014, "Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia" was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The CNN has included Armenian lavash on its list of the 50 of the world's best breads.

The recipe for Armenian Lavash is extremely simple: water, salt and flour. It does not include yeast, which is considered to be an obvious advantage. Its preparation is typically undertaken by a small group of women, and requires great effort, coordination, experience and special skills.

To shape the Lavash, groups of women gather to roll and stretch dough across a cushion padded with hay or wool. It takes a practiced hand to slap the enormous sheets onto the inside of conical clay tonir, where they bake quickly in the intense heat. After thirty seconds to a minute, the baked bread is pulled from the oven wall.

The fresh Lavash is beautifully soft and easy to eat with any kind of food. Taking a strip of Lavash and wrapping it around cheese and some scallions, cilantro, dill, parsley, and purple basil makes for a quick meal any time of the day.

You can always join Phoenix Tour Armenia to have a lunch at the local village house in Garni and observe the thousand-year-old tradition of Lavash making. For more information, please contact us at info@phoenixtour.am

To learn more about Armenia's food & drink, please visit our ARMENIAN CUISINE page

At the bottom of this post, you can watch a few videos from our YouTube channel on how people make Lavash in Armenia.