Monday Mix 10/23/23

Hey jan

Happy Mondays, everyone. I spent the past weekend making rye breads for my book (rugbrod and vollkornbrot, both of which were excellent). And making ghapama, which is a classic Armenian New Years/Christmas dish that is a baked pumpkin stuffed with jeweled rice. I’m developing a recipe for Serious Eats, and it will be available before the holiday season, so stay tuned for that.

Ghapama is so beloved by Armenians that there is even a song all about it called '“Hey Jan Ghapama,” which translates to “Hey Sweet Ghapama” and tells the story of someone coming home to find a hundred people at their home needing to be fed, leaving them no choice but to make the dish. Here are some of the lyrics:

A hundred ravenous people
What shall I do, shall I do?
One hundred people, one squash!

They came, they came...

The father and father’s sister came
The mother and mother’s sister came
The uncle on the mother’s side and his wife came
The in-laws and the groom's brother's wife

The godson and godson's mother came
The sister of the bride and brother of the bride

The sister’s brother’s wife came
The male cousin's wife's brother (came too)

The sister of the groom and her husband came

They even brought the dog with them
They came from near and far
The bride's mother, the groom’s mother, the godfather!

Hey! sweet ghapama
Whoever eats it is satiated
Hey! dear, sweet ghapama
Whoever doesn’t eat it, understands nothing!!

They even brought the dog with them. (This song is so popular that Armenian-American hardcore band System of a Down plays a version of it in their live shows.)

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Later this week I have another guest post, this one from Devin Kate Pope on the sticky subject of using “ethical flour” in baking, one I’ve talked about myself here multiple times before.

What did everyone else get up to in their kitchens this weekend?

—Andrew