Full Circle with a Bowl of Soup

I arrived at Zee’s home in early January, eager to begin my Alliance for California Traditional Arts apprenticeship and quickly deflated when she met me at the door nursing a cold. “Come in, honey,” she said. “I am not feeling good, so I am making myself a lentil soup before our lesson. Do you mind waiting?”

I immediately perked up at the mention of a lentil soup, but I had no intention of waiting on the sidelines while she prepared it. So, I perched on her kitchen counter, and thus began my training.

Looking back, it’s fitting that we started with lentil soup because it appealed to me most as a child. I absolutely loved eating my Aunt Mary’s lentil soup at The Peach Tree, Aunt Mary and Uncle Jack Shirejian’s Fresno Armenian restaurant. It had carrots, tomatoes, and nice beef broth.

Tasting Zee’s get-well rendition with layers in mint and hot pepper paste, filled me with a determination to finally learn my Aunt Mary’s recipe since life had brought full circle back to Fresno. But, the demands of caregiving, followed by a long pandemic lockdown at the Armenian Home where Mary lived, got in the way of our intended visit. Two years passed before I saw her again, and she passed away shortly thereafter.

Standing graveside at Mary’s funeral, I felt devastated by the loss of that warm-hearted lady and the culinary heritage she embodied. Fortunately for me, my regret at missing the opportunity to learn her recipe propelled me forward. I went around after the service, perhaps inappropriately, asking cousins about the lentil soup recipe. Did anyone have it? Who knew how to make it? I was rewarded by a recipe card in the mail from her niece Susie, who had once jotted it down.

I have since worked it up in my kitchen, filling in gaps like how many ounces of lentils to use in a recipe that calls for “a bag,” and this labor of love is what Jul’s Armenian Kitchen is all about. Head over to my recipe tab to see Mary and Zee’s lentil soup recipes and join me in raising your spoon to those who came before us, whose precious knowledge strengthens our heritage, one recipe card at a time.

https://actaonline.org/program/apprenticeships/