This recipe is courtesy of the St. John Armenian Apostolic Church in San Francisco, founded in 1924.
The season of Great Lent is a time of renewed devotion as we are called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving (charity). If you’re keeping a strict fast, the St. John Armenian Apostolic Church in San Francisco offers the following Lenten-friendly recipe for family and friends. “Maintain a fast from certain foods, this builds discipline and conscientiousness in your daily life, and promotes health. A strict Lenten fast in the Armenian Church prohibits all animal products, but if your health or circumstances can’t allow for it, start smaller. It shouldn’t become an obsession, but a precursor to spiritual growth.”
Baking teacher, recipe developer, and writer Andrew Janjigian writes, “That’s why we (Armenians) are equally serious about our meatless dishes, which reflect a thriftiness born out of that deep-rooted poverty. They’re also a matter of piety: Historically, the Armenian Apostolic Church restricted meat consumption on many days throughout the year. Though only the most devout among us still regularly abstain, the community’s appreciation for meat-free cooking persists. Consequently, we have elevated vegetarian cooking to something of an art form.”
He adds, “Take vospov kofte. It’s the vegetarian analog of canonical, relatively costly chi kofte, which consists of a mixture of minced raw beef or lamb, bulgur, tomato paste, and spices that is formed into logs or balls, served with a mixture of chopped herbs, and eaten inside a shroud of pita or lavash. Vospov kofte-perhaps the ultimate expression of tensions between scarcity and abundance, restriction and freedom-trades the meat for inexpensive red lentils and bulgur and a good amount of butter or olive oil to mimic its richness (the tomato paste is usually left out), resulting in a dish that is light but satisfying and beloved by Armenians the world over.”
“…It is thanks in large part to these restrictions that Armenians have a ‘general liking for whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, bread, cheese, yogurt, olives, vegetables, and fruits,’ as Alice Antreassian and Mariam Jebejian note in their book, Classic Armenian Recipes: Cooking Without Meat (1981), and that the cuisine is rich with hearty, nutritious meatless dishes such as vospov kofte.”
Regarding his use of Aleppo pepper, Janjigian says, “The moderately spicy, fruity dried red pepper is used extensively in Armenian cooking and is the only spice my grandmother considered essential in her vospov kofte. (Much of Aleppo pepper has been sourced from spice traders outside of Syria-particularly Turkey-since the Syrian civil war began.) I like to use a generous teaspoonful and amplify its warmth and complexity with cumin, black pepper, and allspice.”
