They would buy one forequarter of lamb to feed 6 adults and 4 children for the week. Sitting around the breakfast nook table, they took apart the forequarter -- my sweet mother Jennie, my Auntie Zabelle, my grandma Yepros -- separating the meat into piles for shish kebab (pure meat, no fat, no sinews -- no singir as we would say), lamb chops (Armenian style), kheyma (finely ground lamb meat with no fat), and lamb with some fat to be ground for dolma, sarma, tava, or lamejun.
Choosing the latter, my mother would grind the lamb by hand, putting it through the chekejek twice, once with the coarse blade, and once with the fine blade. Then she would wash and chop mountains of parsley, open quarts of sweet ripened tomatoes (tomatoes that my father had grown from seed in our backyard garden) that they had put by in the summer, chop up onions & garlic, add salt, pepper, & Aintab red pepper, and finally the freshly ground lamb. Set that aside in the refrigerator to marinate. Then beginning on the dough at the end of that day, Mummy would mix 5 pounds of white flour with water, salt and yeast, knead it in a large bowl and set it aside to rise overnight.
The actual putting together of the most wonderful meal in the world began the next morning and continued for 8 hours in our kitchen as my mother rolled out the circles of dough, placed them on the greased tray, lovingly patted the meat mixture evenly across the circles of dough, and placed the trays of lamejun (usually 4 on a tray) in the oven to bake. She would remove them from the tray to cool on brown paper (usually the insides of torn open grocery bags that she recycled placed on top of the washing machine & dryer-- the only empty space left in the kitchen) but we would never let them cool . . . we would eat them for breakfast, lunch and supper until there were none left!
Photo Courtesy of Eastern Lamejun Bakers, Belmont, MA
The night before my mother died, she told my father that she was going to get up early the next morning to make lamejun for us, as we had none left in our freezer. This was, of course, just after she had prepared a huge Thanksgiving feast for 40 people.
She was my tireless and selfless mother who cared so much for us, for feeding us, for keeping us happy. Because nothing tastes the same as Grandma Jennie's freshly baked lamejun, my son hasn't eaten lamejun since . . .
the very last words mom spoke to dad before going to sleep forever were: 'tomorrow morning i am going to make lamejun for the grandchildren'.
ReplyDeletethe lamejun were so good, i would eat them frozen, sometimes, too impatient to wait for them to thaw and then warm in the oven. also, the city of aintab was famous for it's lamejune, and mom's legerdemain was was the most famous rendering of the art of aintab lamejune.
the finished product was a reflection of the spirit of God within her. the lamejune were perfect.
it was interesting to compare her lamejune with the lamejune of other armenian matrons. if eyes are the windows to the soul of men, lamejune, certainly, are the windows into the souls of the matronly, maiden artist blending meat, vegetables and grain into a food that was at once, entree and dessert all wrapped up into one, and held in the thankful small hands of children who needed no coaxing to eat what was put before them. the children, inspired by the artistry of their mother would then create combinations of vegetables stuffed in lamejune. mother's kitchen was an eden reborn. she fed our bodies and souls with every good thing to eat.
What a wonderful post. I'm learning more about Aunt Jennie this way then I learned in all my years visiting.
ReplyDeleteWhen we went to Armenia to pick Sophie up, we lived on lamejun for the month we were there. It was heavenly to walk to the corner deli and pick up a dozen and a couple of beers for $3. I also remember my mom making them (she learned from my grandmother) and how we waited impatiently for them to be done.
Many critics concur that the Aintepsies have the tastiest recipes ever, and are considered the most talented Mediteranean Chefs . . . known for using fresh wholesome ingredients for appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, as well as exquisitely prepared light and delicate deserts.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Mummy's (aka Jennie's) parents were from Aintep? Now you know where Marash Girl's culinary talents developed. Perhaps a name tweak (such as Aintep-Marash Girl} would be appropriate?