White Coat Pink Apron features 12 Armenian and Middle Eastern mezze or appetizer recipes that everyone will love on their holiday table, including hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, muhammara, and more. Diana Balekian, the creator of the White Coat Pink Apron food blog, is an Armenian-American allergist, blogger, and busy mom from the Boston area.
“At Christmas,” she says, “Most Armenian families pull out all the stops. It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you were born or grew up: Armenian families tend to serve many delicious appetizers, side dishes and main courses like pilaf (rice and bulgur), cheese boureg, yalanche (grape leaves), hummus, lahmajoun, kufta, and shish kebab. Plus trays of buttery gata, choreg, baklava, and bourma — the ultimate dessert sweets that are traditional to each family. This feat is accomplished by planning a menu to ensure that each family member gets to enjoy the thing they love the most — and to avoid the embarrassment that arises from not having enough food around this special time of year.”
“Appetizers are often an introductory course to a bigger meal. A mezze is a meal by itself. Another difference is that a mezze is a centerpiece uniting food and family for as long as they have stories to tell. Each year, our family comes together to make 10 or more fabulous appetizers to serve for our holiday celebration. Maybe more, depending on what counts as an appetizer. In fact, almost everyone fills up on appetizers and hardly has any room left for the actual meal (don’t worry, we make room). Since these appetizers are so traditional, we can’t seem to give them up. Many dishes that are too labor intensive or decadent to make during the year make an appearance at everyone’s Christmas table — and we all go completely nuts trying to enjoy them all.”
“Since many Middle Eastern appetizers are popular, I want to share some of these dishes with my readers. Here are dishes you might find at any Armenian Christmas (or New Year’s or Easter) celebration. And get creative with the flavors and ingredients: add almost anything to your homemade hummus or baba ghanoush dips, swap out grains for healthy gluten-free options, fill your boureg or turnovers with something different — the possibilities are endless,” adds Diana.
Hummus, Baba Ghanoush
“These two recipes are from photographer, stylist and writer Alexandra Daum,” says Diana. “Each recipe on her seasonal vegetarian recipe blog, Occasionally Eggs, has been carefully tested in Alexandra’s home kitchen. Recipes are updated with instructions and more photos if they don’t already have them, so they’re easy to follow. Fresh ingredients come from her home garden so they are about as local and seasonal as it gets.”
