Migrant Food

Migration - Local Life

How traditional cuisine can help integration

by Tatevik Harutyunyan

What could be a better way to bring people together than food? Food making and sharing is a social act and a means of exhibiting respect for an existing or future relationship of reciprocity. Food making is about hospitality and connectivity. There is no better way to bring people together.

That is why when people go to another country to live they bring their food practices also. In Greece you can get to know the cuisines of many different countries. One of those cuisines that you can get to know is the Armenian cuisine. Armenian history is very important in Thessaloniki. After the Balkan wars the local Armenian community was the city’s third largest community after the Jews and Turks. That is why you can find many Armenian foods here. Erebuni Ethnic and Delicious restaurant can be one of the greatest places to try Armenian foods in Thessaloniki. If hungry, come here for nicely cooked dumplings, lamb kebabs and pasta. In accordance with the reviewers’ opinions, walnut roll is tasty. It’s a must while visiting Erebuni Ethnic & Delicious to drink good Armenian wine which is one of the old est wines in the world. The legends of wine in Armenia go so deep that it’s sometimes said the first vineyard was started by Noah. ”After Yaweh’s “drown every living thing on the planet” pilot scheme, Noah, it’s said, found land with his son’s Canaan, Shem, and the unfortunately named Ham just south of Armenia in modern day Mount Ararat. And, being that he had just spent 40 days and 40 nights shacked up with every animal on the planet (other than the fish, presumably), he built himself a little vineyard and got inebriated.

So, here you can try this oldest wine and deli cious beer. This also has some interesting history. Beer has been produced in Armenia since ancient times. In the 5th century BCE, after ar riving at a village in Ancient Armenia, Xenophon wrote in the Anabasis that “There were stored wheat, barley, vegetables, and barley wine in the craters (clay pots). In the upper level of vessels with the edges in the wine floated barley, and there was stuck a reed, large and small sizes and who wanted to drink, had to take a reed in his mouth and pull it through the wine. Not mixed with water, the wine was very strong, but for local people it was a very pleasant drink”. So you can try this beer brewed with ancient traditions too.

Since food is so important for the culture, people take those traditions with them when they are moving to another country. Migration helps people to improve their lives and learn new cultures, customs, and languages. Sometimes it is difficult to adaptate. They need to learn a new language, they must acquire new habits, and in general learn the rules of a new life. In this situation sometimes it seems that new people come only to improve their lives and have nothing to give to that new country. But they also have their habits, their social and cultural heritage. They come with their own unique culture, customs, and language and come to change that society by painting it with their colors. The new country should only be able to accept the fact that the new members of the society are different. It can only be achieved by taking the culture of new people and giving your own. True integration helps countries overcome divisions that impede the flow of goods, services, capital, people and ideas. It can help not only new comers but also the host country to develop. And in this concept food is a key component to express our culture and identity. The choice of food shows a cultural expression and practice that is influenced by economics, society, culture history and individuality. Maintaining the home eating and cultural food habits represent a strategy to recreate the “home” and the practical and metaphorical rituals for remembrance the imaginary unity which migrants tend to miss.