I asked my friend Paul Agopian, an Armenian chef, to write some information about the story of Armenian sarmals, the country where, most likely, the oldest recipe of this dish comes from:
"History
ITin Armenian it is called Tolma. In the distant past it was a dish that was prepared for certain holidays, weddings, funerals and New Year. Gradually it became a regular dish that is consumed quite frequently in Armenian kitchens.
Some linguists claim that Tolma is a word based on two Urartian linguistic roots "toli" meaning "vine leaf" and "ma" meaning "wrapped" - Tolma meaning "wrapped in vine". The Kingdom of Urartu (13th -11th centuries CE) was established in the Iron Age and was located in the area of Lake Van and the Armenian Heights, the Urartians being considered the ancestors of the Armenians. Over time, a lot of vestiges of vine cultivation in this area have been brought to light.
In the Areni area, 60 km from Mount Ararat, considered the place where Noah's Ark came to rest, the oldest wine-making workshop was discovered, dating back 6100 years. It is said that this is where Noah made his first stop after the flood and where he planted the first vines. In ancient times there was a famous garden in Yerevan, it was called the Dalma Garden, which was actually a vineyard with ancient varieties of vines that were said to have been planted by Noah himself.
In the museums of Armenia there are many mentions and even recipes about Tolma preserved in cuneiform writings. For example, Erebuni Tolma, a recipe preserved at the Erebuni museum in Yerevan, dating back to AD 782. This is made from chicken, mushrooms, Tel Banir cheese (it's a traditional kind of cheese like a braided rope that unravels into hair-thin strips) and walnuts.
Also here, we can mention Taron Tolma, after the settlement of the same name, a popular dish at the court of the Mamigonian royal dynasty (IV-VIII century), made from beef tongue, served with cherry sauce. Also Bayazet Tolma prepared from rice, carrot, mushrooms and garlic, served with cherry sauce.
Method of preparation
A variety of leaves are used to wrap the filling: vines, green bean leaves in the Artsakh region, raspberry leaves in the Tavush and Sevan regions, quince leaves, beet leaves, unfertilized pumpkin flowers in the Lori region, less often , nettle leaves or lettuce. Basil, dill, oregano, tarragon, mint, local aromatic herbs are used as spices. Most of the time, the vegetarian versions are served with lemon slices and garlic yogurt sauce. As a rule, vegetarian Tolma were prepared in the past during religious fasts, so that in modern times they have become common dishes.
In general, Armenian Tolma is rolled in a cylindrical shape, with the ends closed, but there are also cases where the filling is rolled in the respective sheet, generally cabbage, with the ends remaining open. In this case, a plate is placed in the pot with the mouth down so that they do not open during boiling. Other times, less often, they are shaped in the form of small oval, flattened buds or small spirals, for those wrapped in vine leaves.
Types
Pasut Tolma - it is a vegetarian dish that is prepared especially during fasting, also having a ritual significance, the filling being made up of seven types of grains (chickpeas, beans, lentils, bulgur, peas, rice, corn) symbolizing the number of divine perfection. It is one of the few dishes that use sauerkraut leaves that are said to have a beneficial role on the digestive system. For versions of Tolma that contain meat, raw cabbage leaves scalded in salted water are usually used.
Yerevan Tolma (Tolma as in Yerevan) – carrots, potatoes, quinces, rice – rolled in raw cabbage leaves.
Kaghambi Tolma - it is prepared from mutton or beef, rice, greens and spices (coriander, dill, mint, pepper and cinnamon), rolled in cabbage leaves.
Tpov Tolma – pork/beef, greens, rice, rolled in vine leaves, dried plums are added when cooked. They are served with lemon slices and yogurt sauce.
Tolma with rice - specific to the Dilijan region - rice, greens, spices - in vine leaves. They are served drizzled with olive oil, lemon and yogurt sauce.
Dzetov Tolma – just rice and oil, wrapped in vine leaves.
Mush Tolma – minced pork, beef, mutton and bulgur – wrapped in vine leaves
Ishkhan Tolma - in the area of Lake Sevan, it is prepared from the meat of an endemic species of crayfish that lives in this lake or with crayfish meat and wrapped in strawberry leaves.
Thal Tolma – a type of Tolma made with Ghavurma, mutton cooked in its own fat (such as mutton sloi in Muntenia). This meat is mixed with bulgur.
Alashkert Tolma – Tolma with hemp – a rather strange and rare dish even for Armenians. It has a complicated preparation process – the hemp seeds are ground or put through a mincing machine, the mince is mixed with oil, onion and Urtz (similar to thyme) until a dense dark paste is obtained, they are wrapped in sheets of pickled cabbage. They are boiled in a sauce similar to Tahine, the sesame paste also made from ground and strained hemp seeds. They say they are very tasty. It is specific to old families from the Alashkert area, a province in western Armenia. This type of Tolma is cooked on the Good Friday before Easter or when the weather is cold outside. Tradition says that the pot with Tolma must sit on the table for several days in a row.
Nowadays
Starting from 2011, an annual festival dedicated to this dish is organized in different regions of Armenia. A lot of chefs from the big restaurants in the country and amateurs are participating. Old recipes inherited from families are presented, but also own approaches, reinterpretations.
At the 2013 festival, a contest was organized, the winner managing to roll the longest Tolma in vine leaf, which was 7 meters long.
At the 2017 festival, almost 60 kinds of Tolma were presented, and the record for the longest Tolma was 60.44 meters.
In 2019, a Guinness record was set for the longest Tolma in the world, measuring 100 meters. Also, the number of presented versions is increasing from one edition to another, in 2019 over 70 types of Tolma were presented for judging, one of them being mounted on a skewer and prepared on embers".
photo credit: armeniadiscovery.com
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