"Most of Armenian cuisine have stories behind them. How do you honor tradition while changing your diet? It's about keeping the story behind the food alive. We can keep traditions alive in more modern ways.”
-Lena Tashjian, Founder of Vegan Armenian Kitchen
On this week’s episode of the Eat Green Make Green Podcast I sit down with the fabulous Lena Tashjian. Lena is the Founder and Author of Vegan Armenian Kitchen, a platform where you’ll find recipes for the plant-based staples present in Armenian culture, as well as some veganized Armenian classics. We begin by talking all about the tragic events taking place in Artsakh and what we can do to support humanitarian efforts there (please see links in the show notes below for how to help) and the history between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. We also talk about why Lena went plant-based, how she tackled creating plant-based versions of traditional Armenian foods, why the story behind the foods is so important, her favorite dishes from her book Vegan Armenian Kitchen, the growing vegan scene in Armenia, why food is a very important aspect of Armenian culture, the challenges of self publishing a book, and more.
