1986_02 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper February 1986

              February 1986
Hye Sharzhoom
P«ge 9
Ensemble
Book Review
Continued from page 1
April 25th at the CSUF Satellite College
Union at 8:00 p.m.
In addition to the concert, Aram
Kerovpyan, the quartet's qanoun player,
will present a workshop-lecture of traditional Armenian music.
Aram Kerovpyan was born in Turkey,
where he studied under Saadettin Oktenay.
He plays Armenian, Turkish, Arabic, and
Iranian music. He has done extensive
research in Middle Eastern modal systems,
concentrating on Armenian liturgical and
folk music. He is a visiting lecturer at the
Istituto di Musica Comparata in Venice.
Kerovpyan was the musical director of
Arby Ovanessian's film How Mother's
Embroidered Apron Unfolds My Life,
which he also acted in.
Rouben Haroutunian, tar player and
vocalist, was born in Iran, where he began
his musical studies in violin and guitar. He
came to Paris in 1970 to study classical and
flamenco guitar, and has studied tar under
Dariush Talai'i. Haroutunian teaches
guitar and is also a member of an European
music ensemble and a flamenco duo.
Virginia Pattie, the ensemble's vocalist,
was born in the United States. She
studied music in Washington D.C. and
Kansas, as well as in Paris, France at the
Ecole Normale Superieure de Musique
and the National Conservatory. She sings
with several European Renascence and
Baroque ensembles, and has recorded on
CBS, Harmonia Mundi, and Arion labels.
In 1979 she received an N.E.H. youth
grant to research and translate Armenian
folk songs. She also sang and acted in
Arby Ovanessian's film.
Edmond Zartarian, dehol and dap
player for the quartet, was born in Soviet
Armenia. He studies classical percussion
at the Conservatorie National de Musique
de Montreuil in France. He has toured
with Armenian, Kurdish, and Azerbaidjani
music groups in Europe and North Africa.
He has recorded on the Arion label and is
a student and performer of jazz percussion.
The Ensemble de Musique Armenienne^
appearance in Fresno is part of the CSUF
Uiiiversity Lecture Series and is co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program
and Armenian Students Organization.
Tickets are available one week prior to
the concert at the College Union Information Desk or the night of the performance at the Satellite College Union.
For more information, call 294-2669/ 2832.
The 40 Days of Lent
ARMENIAN RECIPES: THE 40
DAYS OF LENT by Alice Antreassian;
published by the Ashod Press; $12.50.
By Cecelia Garabedian Baloian
Contributing Writer
Alice Antreassian's recipe books are
not just "cookbooks". They combine
history, culture, health, and folk tales;
which make Antreassian's books interesting reading at any time of day, not only
when you're in the kitchen. The Forty
Days of Lent is the third in a delightful
series of recipe books, preceded by Armenian Cooking Today and Classic Armenian Recipes: Cooking Without Meat.
In this new book, the author has given
recipes in which all animal and dairy
products have been eliminated.
I hope the title of the book does not
limit its audience. These recipes can and
should be enjoyed by everyone, regardless
of ethnic origin or religious traditions.
People are becoming more concerned
with the quality of the foods they eat and
are turning to the grains and the spices
that our Armenian ancestors had always
used. The elimination of dairy and animal
products from the diet would be healthful
for everyone as a method of cleansing the
body.
The recipes give refreshing variations
and combinations of vegetables, grains,
legumes, and lentils that have been overlooked in our everyday cooking habits.
The recipes do not require expensive
gourmet items, and substitutions are
graciously footnoted so as not to add an
extra shopping trip. Ms. Antreassian
supports this in her introduction when she
says: "I cannot emphasize enough the
flexibility of Armenian cooking. Our
mothers and grandmothers would substitute almost any kind of grain if the
preferred one was not available. If there
were not enough meat on hand, legumes
would be added or substituted." The
author's concern for detail helps the
readers who are totally new to working
with Armenian food products. The recipes
are also tastefully organized into 40 days
of menus which include the village origins
of many of the foods used. In this latest
book, Ms. Antreassian also devotes a
section to the meaning behind the religious
traditions of Lent as they were practiced
Cracked Wheat with Vegetables*
(Eetch)
Ingredients:
/ cup cracked wheat, fine, rinsed, and drained
lj2 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
I 114 cups boiling water
1 f 2 teaspoon salt
112 teaspoon ME red pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed sumac (Can be purchased in spice and Middle Eastern
grocery shops. The juke of half a lemon mixed with If 4teaspoon paprika is a good
substitute.)
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped red and green pepper
1 cup finely chopped onion
I f 2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 / 2 cup finely chopped scallions
juice of 2 lemons, squeezed and strained
Garnish:
lettuce leaves
cherry tomatoes
black olives
Directions:
l)Have wheat ready in a large bowl. Mix sugar and tomato paste with the boiling
water until well blended, then add to the bowl, along with salt, pepper, and sumac.
Mix thoroughly and set aside.
2)Add 4 tablespoons of oil into a 7- or 8-inch skillet, add half the peppers and
onion, and gently saute for about 10 minutes; turning often to prevent browning.
When ready, add skillet contents to wheat mixture arid blend.
3)Add remaining peppers, onions, parsley, scallions, and lemon juice; and mix
again.  Taste to adjust seasonings—should be tart and spicy.
4)To serve, place a lettuce leaf on each plate, spoon the wheat salad in the center,
drizzle some of the remaining olive oil on top, and garnish with tomatoes and olives.
Serves four (Ifyou need only 1 or 2 servings, refrigerate remaining wheat salad in a
covered container; it willkeep well for a week or more.)
* The cracked wheat with vegetables (eetch) is a variation of an original
recipe from the city of Marash. Once you taste it, you will understand why
its fame has spread over the years.
Armenian Recipes: The Forty Days of Lent
in the Armenian villages. The reader
cannot help but appreciate the love and
research which Ms. Antreassian puts into
her books. I definitely recommend treating
yourself or a friend today, and
Bon Appetite or Anoush Ullah!
Armenian Recipes: The 40 Days of
Lent may be ordered from Gordicks
Bookstore in the Fig Garden Village, or
directly from Ashod Press, P.O. Box
1147, Madison Square Station, New York,
NY.  10159.
Church Unity
Continued from page 3
with the exchange of letters, an agreement will be
reached on all issues for the realization of the unity of the
Armenian Church and the Armenian people." These
were lofty words which stirred many people—including
myself—into believing that a comprehensive agreement
was imminent.
Yet the results of these meetings were actually
meaningless as far as the local levels of the church were
concerned. Many youth were deeply disappointed at the
vanishing consensus only so recently achieved. Bishop
Torkom Manoogian had sounded the warning in the
January 11, 1980 issue of Hye Sharzhoom when he said,
"Youth should maintain an interest in the progress of
Church Unity," but later he warned against direct
involvement: "Do not become involved in issues that are
beyond you. Don't waste your time on issues and
problems where you are not the ones to make the final
decisions." Prophetic words for the youth and also for
young adults left out of the unification process. The
decision should be left to those with ultimate authority.
But when those ultimate authorities don't act, what is
left?
The situation is particularly intolerable in California
where competition is the norm in communities such as
Pasadena, where a new Prelacy church has begun
services, and where the question may be asked—are more
churches better?
So the actions which speak louder than words continue,
and no solution is in sight. It seems political solutions are
needed to solve the problem of church unity. But when
the Catholicos of All Armenians is centered in the
U.S.S.R., and the Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia is headquartered in Lebanon (read Free World by
some), there will always be an inherent conflict until the
larger question (i.e., the superpower conflict) can be
solved. Instead partisans will choose their sides based on
self-interest and not on national interests.
Some will even argue that the Armenian Church is
stronger with two Catholicoses and four Dioceses in the
U.S. Why not a Patriarchate of America to balance
power, independent and safe? This head of the Armenian
Church would be in the strongest position vis-a-vis the
growing community of America.
Seven years have passed since the latest attempts at
unity. Before that there were attempts at some sort of
mutually acceptable solution. Unity is a paper solution
for some segments of the community to push, though
they do not truly support it or want it to succeed. The
greatest obstacle to church unity took place with the
formation of the Western Prelacy of the United States,
effectively solidifying the split in the California community. Before that there was some hope for reconciliation. Now with two power structures in place, the
chances for action are dim.
Where are we now? What are the prospects for unity?
Unity will not be discussed in the near future. It is an
issue used only for camouflage, to hide a deeper desire for
domination, and not for true reconciliation. Church
unity is only pressing because the larger questio'n of the
future of the Armenian diaspora is inextricably tied to it.
Although the divided church may externally appear
healthy, internally it would continue to weaken. Today's
heads of the California Diocese and Prelacy were fellow
participants in the unity conference of 1979. Do they
regularly communicate with each other? It was at that
conference where Archbishop Hovsepian declared: "We
were really brothers ... We ourselves, the ten of us (unity
conference participants), know exactly what we want.
Our concerns were on the local level" (Hye Sharzhoom,
January 11, 1980).
My concern is also on the local level where people's
lives are affected by the current situation. A call for unity
on my part? I don't think it is necessary for me when the
issue will be decided out of my hands. A possible new
solution? There are no new solutions. There are only the
hard steps to be taken to reach the designated goal, steps
not presently ready to be taken. Let unity stay on the
back shelf. The long term is bleak.
MANUFACTURING
EMK combination dewatering
A air cleaning unit.
Designers and manufacturers of quality
machinery for the food industry
2655 S. Cherry • Fresno, CA 93706
(209) 264-1552