The Feast of Saint Sarkis, a moveable celebration, falls on
Saturday, February 16th this year. Saint Sarkis, the Warrior, is one of the
most venerated Armenian saints and is considered the patron saint of love and
youth.
Two main recipes are associated with this feast day, St.Sarkis Halva – sweet treat, and Aghablit – a salty wafer or bread. Other traditional
recipes include Kumba Cake, Khashil Don – a pudding, and KLONTRAK –
a type of halva (These recipes are below).
Sonia Tashjian, who first shared the story of St. Sarkis with me years ago, sent word that she has finally found the ‘old’ recipe of St.
Sarkis HALVA. By that she meant that the recipe she found uses mastic powder or
mastic gum rather than the marshmallow fluff or crème that is often used to
make St. Sarkis halva today. NOTE: Mastic powder – or mastic
gum – is used in sweets (candies and ice cream), baking (choreg), and medicine. It can generally be found in Middle Eastern stores – and – be purchased
online.
#1. The authentic recipe for St. Sarkis Halva from Sonia Tashjian:
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| Sonia Tashjian’s authentic St. Sarkis Halva |
Make Syrup: Boil 1 cup of sugar with 1/3 cup of water; then add 1/2 tsp. of lemon juice & 1/2 tsp. of crushed mastic (mastic powder called ‘maztaki’ in Armenian).
Meanwhile spread 1 cup of sesame seeds & chopped
walnuts on a tray. Using a spoon pour small amounts of the syrup onto the sesame
seed-walnut mixture on the tray forming small mounds; allow it to sit until it
is lukewarm. Finally, pour extra sesame on them. After some hours, the halva
will be firm.
The following recipe for Kumba Cake comes from Sonia’s grandmother – a specialty from Musa Dagh. It is served on St. Sarkis Day and is also a great Lenten treat since it contains no dairy or eggs. This cake is very flavorful due to its combination of spice and sweet, but tends to be rather dense in texture.
#2. Kumba Cake
5 cups of all-purpose flour 1 cup of chopped nuts (walnut, almond, pistachio, hazelnut) 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon of ground
cardamom ½ teaspoon of ground
nutmeg ½ teaspoon of ground
mahlab
½ cup of white sesame seeds for the top
If you
desire, roast the flour, until it turns to pale. Mix the flour, sugar, baking
powder and the spices. Add the oil
& boiling water, stir until a thick dough is formed. Add the
honey, nuts & raisins. Spread the
dough in a large non-stick pan. Put the wrapped coin in it & cover with
dough. Dip your
hands in water and smooth out the surface of the dough. Sprinkle the
sesame seeds on the surface. Bake Kumba at
350° F, about 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
According to Sonia, this holiday is also known as Khashili Don, because the main dish served on this day is a pudding which has been boiled. (‘Don’ means holiday; ‘Khashil’ means boil, in Armenian).
Sonia also explained that wheat has been the main ingredient for Armenians
since Pagan times. So, each holiday it had been used in recipes to
honor the gods.
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| Sonia’s Khashil Don Pudding
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#3. Khashil Pudding Recipe:
Please Note: The amounts given for the pearled wheat and water are estimates.
Wheat Pudding Ingredients: 2 cups Pearled wheat (aka dzedadztsz – the same wheat that
is used to make harissa/keshkeg) Water: Start with 3 cups water and continue to add enough water
to create a creamy pudding-like texture
Yogurt Mixture Ingredients:
Topping Ingredients for Garnish:
In a dry, non-stick skillet, toast the wheat until it is
evenly golden. Let it cool, then grind with a coffee grinder. (In Armenian the
toasted wheat is called ‘aghants’; the ground toasted wheat is ‘pokhints’.)
Cook the wheat with water, stirring frequently, until you
get a creamy pudding consistency. Stir in salt according to your taste.
Meanwhile thoroughly mix an egg into about 4 cups of matsun
(plain yogurt), then bring it to a gentle boil.
To Serve: Pour the pudding in a bowl,
pour matsun around it & garnish with melted butter or fried onion in the
middle of pudding.
#4. The final traditional recipe is KLONTRAK – a type of halva.
Klontrak Recipe:
In a dry, non-stick skillet, toast 1 cup of pearled wheat
until golden – stirring often. Let it cool, then grind with a coffee grinder. Melt a few Tbsp. butter. Pour butter, some mulberry syrup
(or honey), into the ground wheat. Knead it with fingers, then form small
balls.
View Comments
Greetings, I love your site. My grandmother came from Turkey in 1900 and landed at Ellis Island. Her name was Anna Tashjian. Since all records were destroyed I cannot trace her family. Could Sonia Tashjian be related to my grandmother??You could give her my e-mail.
Hi Unknown.
Tashjian is very common family name. TASHJI means stone - cutter, very usual profession in whole Armenia. so there are a lot of people with the that surname. only if your grandma is from Musa ler we will be relatives, because there has been only one dynasty. thank you.