Cooking is an art and all great chefs create art. Allen Alexanyan is a great chef. He was born and currently lives in France, where he has opened his restaurant called “Alexandrin”. Citizens of Leon dine at “Alexandrin” just to try the food prepared by Allen. A. Alexanyan is the first Armenian cook to have received the highest culinary arts award-the “culinary arts star”. He received that award in France, known for its centuries-old cookery and cooks. To this day, 400 chefs have received that award and it’s an honor for any chef to be among them, just like the “Oscar” for any actor or director. Allen Alexanyan, an enchanting and fun-loving professional chef, comes to Armenia often. His good friend, co-director of “Parisian coffee” Valerie Asatryan-Gortsunyan has managed to “make him contagious” to Armenia. Allen Alexanyan has fallen in love with Armenia and the custom of using natural products for cooking. But he doesn’t understand why Armenian cafes and restaurants are that big and try to look so elegant. Allen Alexanyan considers the art of dining the most important and the look and size of restaurants as secondary. “I can take a small corner and prove that you don’t need a lot to make tasty, healthy food. All you need is the culture of dining and preparing food.”
– My restaurant in Leon, France is not that big; there are only 30 seats. I offer three types of menus-Armenian, French and a menu for ecologically pure, organic food. I call the Armenian menu after my grandmother’s name “Hripsime”. I really got into cooking after eating the food prepared by my grandmother.
– Can we say that Armenian cuisine doesn’t have a lot to offer?
– Armenian cuisine does offer a lot and we can even call it simple. But all cuisines of the world are poor, if they follow-up on traditions. National cuisines are all about the sense of time and history.
– Is there such a thing as fashion in cooking?
– Of course there is and the first with fashion is France. Until 1968, French cuisine was mixed, but then a revolution happened. When the political “left” wing came to power in the 1980s, culinary arts changed once again just like the government. Bad products became new-fashioned and they used to put, for example, caviar on them. By the end of the 1990s, the “right” wing government came to power and culinary arts changed again. French cuisine went back to the traditions and chefs cooked national dishes with less calories because at the time, everyone wanted to keep a slim figure.
– It turns out that national cuisine goes along with politics…
– No, cuisine isn’t politics, but the people choose both politics and the cuisine. After all, people nowadays don’t dress and think like they did a couple of years ago…So, people change and so does the cuisine. Nobody will eat the food prepared 20 years ago. Now everyone worries over how clean the food is, all political parties of France talk about ecologically clean products. So, people have to pay attention to the quality of food. People are in more in favor of telling the truth and not trick customers. That’s why it’s no longer allowed to pour sauce on the food; chefs leave the sauce under the plate so the person can see what he’s really eating. Before, people only cared about eating hard foods because they only thought about eating a full meal and show others that they can eat a lot. Today, they want to eat light foods and foods prepared by natural produce because health is more important. They also follow up on their physical appearance. After all, you can’t eat a lot and keep a slim figure at the same time. People pay more attention to their bodies now than before.
– Do the French like fast-food and “McDonalds”?
– The French don’t go to “McDonalds” as much as people in other countries because they have understood the advantages of food prepared with natural products. Unfortunately, American products made their way to France and I’m certain that if we didn’t have a “McDonalds”, then we French cooks and the French, for that matter, would gain from that.
– Do you agree that quickly prepared dishes lose their charm? After all, cuisine is also a ritual.
– French cuisine had reached that level and now we’re working on making things simpler because there is no more room for development. We have already reached the highest level of preparing food as a “ritual”. Let’s not forget that our ancestors used to cook food using what they grew in their gardens, our fathers used national products, as for us, we now have everything we need and can import food from all corners of the world. But things will change in the future because as oil prices increase, people won’t have that much money to spend. We’re going to make the transition from getting products from different countries to using what we have. Fifty years from now, we’re all going to eat the food prepared with the products in the region and our surrounding. In other words, we will soon face hunger and won’t be able to import food from other countries. I will only be happy because I place high emphasis on ecology.
– Armenian cuisine doesn’t include light foods; most of it is oily because we Armenians use a lot of meat.
– I love the natural products used for Armenian cuisine. Armenian cuisine differs in every region. For example, people in Karabakh not only eat barbecue meat, but also bread with “zhingyal” (herbs). I ate that and loved it. Bread and herbs-what’s healthier… Man mustn’t forget that human beings are not carnivores and that we don’t hunt. We don’t need to eat meat every day. It depends on how people eat. I would like to see bread with herbs as the symbol of Armenian cuisine, but unfortunately, today’s symbol is barbecue, which Armenians are ready to eat day and night. But the most important thing is that Armenians only use seasonal products-in the fall they eat the food they prepare with products grown in the fall, in the summer they eat the fruits and vegetables grown in the summer.
– Perhaps the reason for that is because, for example, strawberries are expensive in the winter and not many people can afford it.
– It’s good that they don’t buy it. Our organism is structured in a way that we can eat seasonal products and stay healthy and strong. We must feel that wherever we live. That’s why we shouldn’t eat the food prepared by Africans in other countries. We won’t get any healthier. It was great to see how people got acquainted with different national cuisines because they no longer ate the same type of food, but the national dishes must be eaten in the given country.
– What types of Armenian dishes do you prepare for your French customers at the restaurant in Leon?
– Of course dolma (made of peppers or wine leaves with a savory filling), but I make it with grape leaves. Now since it’s that season, I mainly prepare food with eggplants. My restaurant menu also includes the eggplant stuffed with meat.
– It’s a custom for the chef to do the shopping, prepare the food, mix, cook…Do you do that?
– The best thing is to have the chef do everything because he has to pick the produce, but now we have the telephone and you can call to order. Unfortunately, that’s the way it is. Sometimes you don’t know how that product made it to France and its expiration date. I’m a chef who tries to find out the quality of the product. I need to know whether the product was brought by plane or not, because if the product is brought by plane, it makes its way through the ozone layer and it’s no longer natural. I prefer going to the market myself and pick the right produce for my restaurant.
– Perhaps you need your own garden.
– I don’t have my own garden, but I know 49 villagers living near Leon and I always buy produce from them. I trust them and their gardens are my gardens. I hope that people will soon stop calling and ordering.
– Haven’t you considered preparing dishes using products from Armenia?
– That’s impossible because once again we have the problem with planes and the ozone layer. I can’t transfer food by plane. But I would like to lend a helping hand to Armenian restaurants and advise them to include more dishes prepared with vegetables in their menus. That will help the villagers and restaurant chefs will buy products from them. Armenians living in Armenia have to make that change. When you go to any restaurant, order food prepared with vegetables and the chefs will directly contact the villagers.
– That’s why you have to stay in Armenia for a while so that you can set an example.
– I’m ready to come and stay as long as I like because I fell in love with Armenia. I’ll even learn how to speak Armenian if necessary (I already know a little but not that well) and I’ll work in any small or large restaurant. But Armenians have to start the revolution.
– Armenians mainly eat at home and rarely go to restaurants.
– I’m sure times will change because Armenian youth prefers dining at restaurants and cafes. The new generation will change things around. They’ll even change Armenian cuisine and eat whatever is tasty, healthy and not too expensive.
– People are of the opinion that only men can be good chefs. Do you agree with that?
– Men are better chefs when that’s their profession. But women are better chefs at home because they don’t work in the kitchen, rather they think about serving tasty food for the family. Being a chef is very hard. The cook is like a soldier-he has to work fast and well, not let his customers wait or complain. So, he needs to be strict and have the will like a soldier.