"Armenian Cuisine" book gaining popularity across the globe

PanARMENIAN.Net - Co-authors Aline Kamakian and Barbara Drieskens from Lebanon wrapped up a month-long, AGBU-coordinated tour across the U.S. and Canada to promote their widely acclaimed publication "Armenian Cuisine".

Equal parts cookbook, photo essay, and oral history, the recently released hardcover is quickly finding its place on kitchen counters and coffee tables in homes around the world. The book's concept was developed by Kamakian, who, as a Lebanese-Armenian chef and owner of the renowned Beirut restaurant, Mayrig, had two goals for the project: the first, to record her mother's cherished recipes, and the second, to resolve her clients' questions about why the Armenian foods listed on Mayrig's menu were known by Turkish names.

The two embarked on an emotional three-week journey across almost 2,000 miles to trace the roots of both Armenian food and people, in a place where neither seemed to have survived. The result is a striking volume filled with 139 classic recipes and hundreds of photographs of landscapes and natural foods that have made it a 2012 New York Photo Festival contender.

For their next endeavor, Kamakian and Drieskens plan to translate the book for the Turkish public, according to the Armenian Reporter.