Armenia to Officially Register Its National Dishes

YEREVAN — Armenia plans to protect its national cuisine at the state level. Sedrak Mamulyan, president of the Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions public organization, presented details of the initiative at a press conference on Friday.

“The Strategic Concept for the Development of National Cuisine has been circulated, designating national cuisine as part of the country’s cultural heritage. At the suggestion of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, a working group has been formed, including ethnographers, education specialists, and other relevant experts,” said Mamulyan.

According to him, a considerable amount of work lies ahead — each traditional dish must be documented, after which the draft concept will be submitted to the National Assembly.

Mamulyan noted that the ministry is also considering the creation of a catalog, for which citizens will be invited to contribute information on various dishes. A significant amount of material has already been collected and published. Notably, the 1963 edition of National Cuisine, edited by Aram Piluzyan, has been reissued.

“All of this information simply needs to be organized. Each dish must be assigned its own ‘passport’ outlining all relevant details and full characteristics. Then, the appropriate government body should register these dishes as state property. After that, we plan to publish a comprehensive encyclopedia,” Mamulyan concluded.