Recipe: Kalagosh!
Hey everyone! I’m still in Yerevan! I’ve had a week of classes with some extremely, extremely bright students. We’re making a short comic book cookbook of some uniquely Armenian recipes! We’ve discussed layout, typography, content organization, and the ways that comics can make instructions easier to understand. Each student is working on a recipe (with a few teaming up for the longer ones). No one picked Kalagosh/Kyalagyosh, so I decided to do it myself as a way to model each of the steps.
Like many of the dishes our class is working with, Kalagosh is shared with neighboring countries, but historians have reasons to believe it originated in Armenia. Originally this dish was made with choratan, a type of yogurt that’s dehydrated to preserve it, and lavash sheets left to dry for the winter, so it was something tasty you could have in the dead of winter when fresh ingredients were hard to come by.
There are a number of savory yogurt soup type dishes in Armenian cuisine - I have two students working on Spas/Tanabour - which first seemed a little odd to my American palate. But then I remembered how much I adore any kind of yogurt garlic sauce, and the idea of that flavor for an entire bowl of soup now sounds amazing to me.
The students are amazing; they’re all so enthusiastic and smart. I was worried I’d be terrible at this, because I don’t think I have it in me to handle discipline or class control, but I haven’t had to do any of that. They’re all excited about the material and they’re super hard workers.
I don’t want to sound like I had low expectations, but comics take FOREVER, and I only have these kids for 3-4 hours a day for two weeks. I honestly was afraid it wouldn’t be enough time, but two of my students finished their recipes on Friday! And a few others will likely finish theirs by Tuesday. I have one extra recipe, plus the cover, and some good interstitial material to assign, so I have tasks for the overachievers to do. I prepared for this, but wasn’t really expecting it! TUMO students are amazing!
I’ve had an incredible time so far. I’ve gotten to see some of the sights: Garni Gorge and Garni Temple, Geghardavank Monastery, the dancing fountains at Republic Square, folk dancing at the Cascade Monument, Vernissage Market, and Kond Pedestrian Tunnel. I know my next week will fly by, and by the time my next newsletter comes around I’ll be back home! Two weeks sounded like a long time at first, but now it feels crazy short!
Upcoming things:
Right now: Still can’t believe I’m in Yerevan! I’ll be back in the states on 10/5. Please do not call or text me before then, I currently have an Armenian eSIM and I have no idea how these things work.
October 11: I’m leading a recipe comics workshop at the Logan Square Library in Chicago!
October 18: I’m exhibiting at SLICE in St. Louis!
October 24: I’ll be in Madison signing books and speaking at the Wisconsin Book Festival!
December 6: I’ll be speaking on a few panels and selling books at Sulzer Regional Library in Chicago!
What I’m into lately:
I have not had a ton of time for reading on this trip, obviously, but I have been enjoying the audiobook for Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin. My friend Corinne recommended it to me, and she has impeccable taste in books (even if she doesn’t like horror). Interesting Facts is not horror, but it has its spooky moments, and it’s engaging and charming.
What Toki’s into lately:
I don’t know!!! (T_T) Niles says he’s been extra clingy in my absence but I worry he’s just trying to make me feel better. I miss them both so much. Since I don’t have a new Toki photo for you, here are some cats I’ve met in Armenia:
