From: ‘Moon Of The Faith:’ A History Of The Apricot And Its Many Pleasures by Joel S. Denker:
“Apricots flourished throughout the Islamic dominions. The Moors, who conquered Spain, planted apricots in [Granada]. Syria was another bastion of the fruit. In the garden oasis outside Damascus, the 19th century English naturalist Canon Henry Baker Tristram wrote, ‘The great apricot-trees were laden and bent down under strings of ripe, golden fruit. The lanes were strewn with apricots. Asses, mules, and camels in long strings carried heaped panniers of these ‘golden apples.’”
“To conserve the splendid produce throughout the year, the Syrians convert it to amardine. According to Middle Eastern food expert Sonia Uvezian, peasant women traditionally crushed apricots with their feet in stone troughs. They then extracted the pits and spread out the paste in the sun to dry…”
Uvezian was born and brought up in Beirut, Lebanon. A leading authority on Middle Eastern and Caucasian cooking and the winner of a James Beard Award, she is the author of six other highly acclaimed cookbooks, including The Cuisine of Armenia, Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen, Cooking from the Caucasus and The Book of Yogurt. Several of her books have been selections of Book-of-the-Month Club and published internationally. Uvezian has contributed articles and recipes to Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Vogue and numerous other publications.
“The recipes and variations in The Cuisine of Armenia include highly original specialties from the Caucasus, which were previously unknown in the West. As a bonus, the book contains a number of Ms. Uvezian’s own superb creations, derived from the Armenian tradition, which are important contributions to a vigorous culinary style. Long recognized as the standard in its field, The Cuisine of Armenia is the first book in any language to offer a comprehensive view of Armenian cookery. Written by one of America’s most gifted cookbook authors, it is a ‘must have’ volume, whether you already own one or a dozen books on Armenian, Middle Eastern, or Eastern Mediterranean cooking. Her celebrated Armenian lamb and apricot stew is simple to make, and is tender and delicious.”
