An Armenian Church Supper : A CENTURIES-OLD FAIRE IS KEPT ALIVE AT ST. JAMES CHURCH

Long before Armenia was sliced up and its inhabitants scattered throughout the world centuries ago, it was a tradition for devout women to gather in a communal kitchen to prepare foods for whatever festivities centered around the church.

That was the tradition then and that is the tradition now wherever Armenians live.

Nothing much has changed in the way women divide their communal culinary duties, or even in the foods they have managed to keep alive.

The women at the St. James Armenian Church on Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles prepare lulu kebab and shish kebab as did their ancestors in the Old World. They still make an incredible sou beoreg that is so much like lasagna you wonder which came first.

There is kufta, the boiled stuffed meatballs that Armenians love to eat for snacks as well as meals. There are the fabulous desserts--baklava and kadaif-- laced with thick honey-like syrup than tantalizes the sweet tooth.

Many of these dishes are common to countries throughout the Middle East, the recipes having been exchanged during the economic and political upheavals that have occured over thousands of years; but there are culinary variations within the Armenian regional cuisines unheard of elsewhere.

These unique dishes have existed for centuries, and the women of St. James Ladies Society have been preparing them as part of church festivities since the church was founded in Los Angeles in 1942.

It isn’t easy putting a group of good, Armenian cooks together. And there is no reason to dispute that they are all good cooks. Most have been cooking for families, friends and the church since their early teens.

And there are rivalries, true. After all, a good cook’s pride is sacred. And tampering with one’s culinary honor is fraught with danger. However, most of the society’s cooks concede to the communal melding for the sake of the cause. Raising money for the church activities is hard work requiring team effort.

Nor do they mess about with the egos of the eldest cooks in the group. Out of respect the younger cooks defer to age and experience, even though some may, in their heart of hearts, think that their cooking is as good or better.

“I don’t make that the way she does it,” says a younger cook of an elder, a hint of hauteur escaping in her tone.

So when we visited St. James Armenian Church recently, there were activities in the church kitchen that would bring you, too, back to the Old World of sights, sounds and smells; activities that have long provided a backbone of social and spiritual life for women like these.

“It’s a way of keeping our people together,” said Harmena Serabian, who was removing the kufta from the vats of boiling water with a huge slotted spoon. Both Serabian and her friend, Mannig Vahanian, have resigned themselves to being the kufta vat cooks for both the bazaar activities and the $5-per-person kufta dinners (with vegetable, salad, bread and coffee) that are held the third Tuesday of each month. “We keep saying this will be the last year, but we always come back,” said Vahanian.

There were Marta Essegian, Maritza Apkarian, Alice Hekimian, Lucy Medina, Virginia Demirjian and Virginia Ekmanian, along with Aghavan Kasabian and Rose Hovsepian, the senior ladies of the St. James Ladies Society, tending to some of the 1,400 kufta (meatballs) being produced. It was a production line of kneaders, rollers and fillers for the several steps required to mix ground lamb, shape the meat into balls, thumb out cavities, stuff the cavities with an onion-meat mixture and reshape them into patties before plunging them into simmering water to cook.

And there was Mary Jendian, saying how she pitied the “poor women,” who, years before the advent of electric mixers, had to mix the meaty dough by hand.

There was Astrid Merjanian, loosening the angel hair-like kadaif (shredded dough) in preparation for layering the dough with nuts before baking. “In the old days they’d make and shred their own dough, but it’s so much easier buying the dough already prepared today. All you have to do is add the filling of nuts and cinnamon,” she said.

Arpi Barsan, the church’s choir director and member of the Junior Ladies Society, learned from her mother how to prepare all the dishes mastered by the elders. “A girl brought up in an Armenian household learns how to be a good cook,” she said.

Lucy Medina rolled the sou beoreg dough (sou, meaning water , and beoreg meaning pastry). The egg pasta is boiled before layering, hence the name. There were 16 trays to prepare, and Medina was working on her third tray. “Rolling the dough is truly an art. You have to make sure it’s rolled thin enough without tearing it,” Medina said. “It’s something you learn as a child and continue to practice throughout your life.”

There is a gnawing worry among the senior members of the church that one day the younger generation will not know how to prepare lule kebab, sou beoreg or any of the countless specialties of the Armenian cuisine. There are fewer cooks today than a generation ago, and even fewer cookbooks on the subject.

“Wouldn’t it be a shame if all disappeared?” said one of the women.

“That’s why we still cook for the church. It’s a way of keeping our precious recipes alive,” said Merjanian.

And that they are doing.

ARMENIAN KUFTA

1/2 pound fine bulgur

1 1/2 cups water, about

1 pound lean ground lamb (ground 3 times)

Salt

Meat and Onion Filling

Gradually add bulgur and enough water to lamb to make mixture soft and pliable. Add salt to taste and continue to knead until well mixed. Mold mixture into 20 meat balls.

Place each meat ball in palm of hand, then with thumb, press large cavity in center. Fill cavity with ball of Meat and Onion Filling. Close cavity by pressing all sides of outer meat ball over filling, completely sealing in filling. Flatten ball into rounded patty.

Drop kufta in boiling salted water and cook until kufta floats to surface, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Serve hot or cold. Makes 20 meat patties.

Meat and Onion Filling

1 pound fine-ground beef

1 onion, minced

Salt, pepper

Dash allspice

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Saute meat until browned and crumbly. Add onion. Cook until onion is tender and golden. Add salt and pepper to taste and allspice. Blend in parsley, mixing well. Cool and shape into 20 balls. Refrigerate until ready to use.

ARMENIAN PILAF

1/4 cup medium vermicelli noodles

1/4 cup butter

1 cup long-grain rice

2 cups boiling chicken stock

Salt

Brown noodles in oven at 350 degrees 5 to 7 minutes. Remove. Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add noodles and rice and saute until slightly glazed. Add chicken stock and salt to taste. Cook, covered, over very low heat 35 to 40 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

SOU BEOREG

2 eggs

1 teaspoon corn oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

2 cups flour

Cornstarch

3/4 cup butter, melted

Cheese Filling

Beat eggs. Add oil, salt and water. Beat in flour until dough is smooth and leaves sides of bowl. Dough should be firm.

Divide dough into 8 balls and place balls 1 inch apart on tray. Cover with plastic wrap and/or damp cloth and let stand 3 hours.

Roll out each ball into 13x9-inch rectangle, sprinkling with cornstarch to ease stretching of dough. Trim dough sheets to neat 13x9-inch rectangles.

Bring 2 gallons generously salted water to rolling boil in large pot. Drop 1 dough sheet at time into boiling water and cook 15 seconds or until sheet rises to surface. Remove sheet gently with wooden spoon and plunge immediately into ice water to prevent further cooking. Remove from ice water, squeeze gently by hand, then pat dry with cloth.

Continue to cook remaining sheets until all are cooked. Brush 13x9-inch baking pan with melted butter. Fit cooked dough sheet into bottom of pan. Brush sheet with melted butter. Continue to layer pan with 3 more dough sheets, brushing each with melted butter.

Sprinkle Cheese Filling over dough. Cover with remaining layers of dough, brushing each with melted butter. Butter top sheet generously. Score top into 2 1/4-inch squares, using sharp knife. Do not cut entirely through dough.

Bake at 400 degrees 45 minutes or until golden brown. To serve, cut through dough using scoring as guide. Serve hot. Makes 24 squares.

Note: Large sheets pasta dough, sometimes available at pasta stores, may be used in place of sou beoreg dough. Commercial pasta will absorb less melted butter.

Cheese Filling

2 pounds grated Jack cheese

1 bunch parsley, minced

Combine cheese and parsley.

TABBOULEH

1 cup fine bulgur

3/4 cup cold water

4 medium bunches parsley, finely chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/4 cup dry mint, crushed

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/3 cup lemon juice, about

1/3 cup olive oil, about

Salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Soak bulgur in cold water 20 minutes until water is absorbed. Add parsley, green pepper, onions, mint, tomatoes, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

Mold, using back of spoon, into oval or circular shape. Adjust seasoning adding more olive oil and lemon juice to taste. Garnish with lemon and tomato slices, if desired. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

KADAIF

1 pound kadaif (shredded filo dough)

3/4 pound unsalted butter

1/2 pound finely chopped walnuts

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Syrup

Place kadaif in bowl. Separate strands gently with fingers until loose. Melt butter. Reserve 2 tablespoons and pour remainder evenly over kadaif. Divide dough mixture into 2 equal parts. Spread half kadaif mixture into 13x9-inch pan.

Mix walnuts with cinnamon and sugar. Spread walnut mixture evenly over kadaif mixture layer. Top with remaining kadaif layer, spreading evenly. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and bake at 350 degrees 30 minutes or until golden.

Remove from oven. Sprinkle with milk. Cover with damp cloth 20 minutes. Uncover and pour syrup evenly over kadaif. Let stand 1 hour before serving. Cut into 1- or 2-inch diamond shapes to serve. Makes 48 (1-inch) or 24 (2-inch) diamonds.

Syrup

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in saucepan. Cook 5 to 7 minutes to medium syrup. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Food Styling by Minnie Bernardino and Donna Deane