Traditional Armenian dishes to be registered as cultural heritage

The Armenian national cuisine is set to be formally recognized as part of the country’s cultural heritage, with efforts underway to register traditional dishes at the state level.

At a press conference on Friday, Sedrak Mamulyan, President of the Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions NGO, stated that the initiative aligns with the 2019 National Security Strategy, which highlights the importance of national cuisine as a cultural asset.

An interdepartmental working group formed by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports includes ethnographers, food technologists and education specialists. Each dish will be individually documented and submitted for government approval.

Svetlana Poghosyan, Deputy Director of the Armenian Ethnography Museum, emphasized the cultural significance of cuisine in understanding national identity. Meanwhile, NGO Vice President Armen Avetisyan noted that many Armenian dish names reflect preparation methods or tools rather than ingredients, and traditional recipes often avoid mixing protein with starch, favoring vegetables for better digestion. 

“Our ancestors knew that proteins require an acidic environment to be digested properly," he said.

Mamulyan added that while significant documentation has been done since Soviet times, ongoing efforts are uncovering and formalizing previously undocumented traditional dishes to be officially recognized as part of Armenia's culinary heritage.