Unforgettable ARMENIAN FOOD Experience + Smoking Fish the Traditional Way! | Etchmiadzin, Armenia

My third day in Armenia continued with more exploration of the holy city of Etchmiadzin! Come along with me as I have an unforgettable Armenian food experience and have some traditional smoked fish in Etchmiadzin, Armenia!

Lusine: https://www.instagram.com/guin_dalera
Armenia Travel: https://www.instagram.com/armeniatravelofficial

We began at the Machanents Cultural Center, a museum that contains lots of artifacts like a medieval clay pipe that people used to transport cow milk to the village.

There was pottery from the 12th and 13th centuries, as well as Bronze Age pottery from the 2nd century BC. There was also a water jar that women carried to the closest water source to bring back water to their families.

In the back of the museum was a woman weaving wool carpets. Carpet weaving in Armenia dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries BC! The weaving style here uses the double knot technique.

The cultural center reminded me of a farmhouse. They also have food and hold master classes. It’s a cultural school where kids come to study.

Then, we went to lunch. I started with some cheese and the Greek-like salad and rolled it up in the lavash. It was so fresh, tasty, and healthy. I really loved the cheese containing red pepper. The lavash was unbelievable!

Next was a crumbly cheese in the lavash, which was strong but delicious. Then, ten more dishes I had never seen before arrived!

I had to start with the roasted eggplant with beef, cheese, and cream, which blew me away. The lentils were nice and dense, and the fried lavash was similar to fried wontons. Next was a buttery veal stew with soft, delicious roasted vegetables!

The bulgur wheat with onions was my least favorite. Then, I went for eggplant cooked with brandy, which was unreal! Then, I added a creamy garlic sauce called matsoun on the lentils.
Then, it was time for our master class. We’d get to see fish cooked in a really unique way! They added the pieces of salted, raw trout to a glass pan with walnuts. They then put the pan in a contraption that catches the sunlight, which cooks the fish!

They move and rotate the dish to catch the light from the sun. It gets to 700 degrees Celsius inside the dish.

While it cooked, I climbed a tree and got some apricots from it. The apricot was so tasty and juicy and not too ripe, but I tried a better, riper one just before the fish finished cooking.

The trout had a smoky walnut flavor! It’s also cooked in no oil or butter. It was so delicious! I loved the skin, eyes, and head of the fish!

The Machanents Cultural Center also has a bed & breakfast with 12 unique rooms. There’s also a tavern where they keep and age wine and have poems about wine in different languages. They age the wine underneath the glass tabletops.

It was beautiful and felt like an old-school tavern. There are also wines for different people and some of the bottles had been warped because they were cooked in an oven. The wines are from lots of different countries.

Next, we went to the Song of the Old Days Room, which was made for grandparents to work in. It was really incredible.

Then, we headed back to Yerevan, and visited a park near my hotel that celebrates the 2,800th anniversary of Yerevan with 2,800 water jets in a fountain. There’s a tunnel of water streams that collapses without warning. I ran through! It was really cool and refreshing!

What an epic day with an unforgettable Armenian food and cultural experience at the Machanents Cultural Center in Etchmiadzin, Armenia! I highly suggest everyone visit and stay there.

I hope you enjoyed coming along on my Armenian food experience in Etchmiadzin, Armenia! If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and leave a comment. Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of my upcoming travel/food adventures!

Where have you been?

Subscribe Here! http://bit.ly/DavidsbeenhereSub
Check out my top videos! http://bit.ly/DavidsbeenhereTopVideos

Follow Me:
+ INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/davidsbeenhere
+ FACEBOOK ► https://www.facebook.com/davidsbeenhere
+ TWITTER ► https://twitter.com/davidsbeenhere
+ MY BLOG! ► http://davidsbeenhere.com/

Contact Me:
+BUSINESS EMAIL ► [email protected]

#Yerevan #Etchmiadzin #Armenia #ArmenianFood #DavidInArmenia #Davidsbeenhere

About Me:

My name is David Hoffmann. For the last decade, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,100 destinations in 76 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media sites.

I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.

P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!