Food & Home Entertaining

THE SPECTACULAR,
UNADORNED INTERIORS
OF THE VAST JUMA
MOSQUE IN SHAMAKHI,
EASTERN AZERBAIJAN
IN ARMENIA, WE TASTED
LONG STRINGS OF
ROEJEEG: WALNUTS
COVERED WITH A
COATING OF THICKENED
GRAPE JUICE
twasafeastlikeno
other. We’d stopped in an
Armenian village where
a colony of Russians
had made a home after
fleeing from the Tsar in the 19th
century. Our guide, Yue Chi,
hadbefriendedalocalcabbage
farmerwhohadinvitedusto
lunch.AbitliketheAmish,these
Russian communities are isolated,
traditional and deeply religious.
VasiliandVerawelcomedusintotheir
diningroomwhereatablegroaned
under the load of a peasant banquet.
Themealprovidedameetingoflavours
fromRussia,theMediterraneanand
Central Asia. There were stuffed
cabbages, home-made preserves,
pickled vegetables, latbreads, freshly
picked fruit from Vasili’s orchard,
proiteroles, tea from a samovar…
andabottleoflocalbrandythat
needed polishing off.
Therewesat,intheheartofthe
Caucasus Mountains, on an offshoot of
the Silk Road, and all of Asia presented
itselfonthetable–afeastfortheeyes
and taste buds.
Silk and rice pudding
Every August, a Canadian-South African
company conducts a three-month,
self-drive journey along the Silk Road
fromEuropetoChina.Thetripisledby
an intrepid Chinese woman, Yue Chi,
who manages to thread her way through
the complexity of border crossings and
opaque bureaucracy across the length
of Asia. Some guests do the entire
YUE CHI WAS THE INTREPID CHINESE
LEADER OF OUR GROUP. SHE’S MARRIED
TO A BLOKE FROM PIETERMARITZBURG
(IT’S A LONG STORY!)
journey, others ly in for sections. I joined
forthewesternend:thesilkyroadfrom
Turkey to Azerbaijan.
It’s an awkward time to be travelling in
these parts, particularly with a tidal wave
of refugees heading west, Kurdistan
rebelsoperatinginthehillsandISIS
insurgents along the borders. We’d
be avoiding strife-torn areas, but the
shadow cast by conlicts old and new
would prove a feature of the journey.
I lew into eastern Turkey, where
Imetthegroupasitpassedthroughthe
city of Van. I was still hot off the plane
fromSouthAfrica,butYuewhiskedme
straighttoaboatforacruisetoAkdamar
Island, a mustard-coloured mound in
the waters of Lake Van. A 10th-century
Armenian cathedral stood on top of
apromontory,paintedinrosylight.We
climbeditsstepstoviewthebas-relief
carvings of Biblical scenes on its walls.
Ringed by stark mountains and pewter
water,thechurchlookedlikealost
Christian ark in a Muslim sea.
As is often the case in these parts,
the church was vandalised by Turkish
rds, who have no
homeland. ISIS is sometimes supported
by Turkey against the Kurds, Syria’s
President Bashar Hafez al-Assad is
backed by Russia and Iran, America
isbombingISISaswellassupporting
the Kurds, and Iraq... let’s not even talk
aboutIraq.It’samess.”
Mount Ararat – where Captain Noah
grounded his ark – dominated the
landscape. Its snow-capped cone
towered 5 137 metres above the plains.
Once an Armenian mountain, it’s now
part of Turkey – a symbol of all that
Armeniahadlostinthewarsofthe
early 20th century.
110 JUNE 2016