What to eat in Armenia: the dishes that matter

Armenian food is what happens when Persia, the Mediterranean and the Caucasus share a kitchen for three thousand years. Here is what to order, roughly in the order you will meet it.

The non-negotiables

• Lavash — the UNESCO-listed flatbread, slapped against the walls of a tonir clay pit. Eat it warm, wrapped around cheese and herbs.
• Khorovats — Armenia's barbecue and its national pride: pork, lamb or vegetables grilled on vine wood. Sunday khorovats is a family institution.
• Dolma — grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat. In summer, try the Udoli version with vegetables.
• Spas — a warm yogurt and wheat soup, the dish every Armenian grandmother believes cures everything. She is right.
• Gata — a sweet layered pastry; every region bakes its own shape and will tell you theirs is the real one.

At the table

Drink like a local

Soorj (Armenian coffee) closes every meal. Then there is wine — the oldest in the world, from Areni — and the famous brandy that Churchill allegedly preferred to French cognac. Toast with genats! and never put an empty bottle back on the table: it goes on the floor.

Our honest tips

• Portions are enormous. Order half of what seems reasonable.
• The best meals are in villages: if a guesthouse offers dinner, always say yes.
• Vegetarians eat surprisingly well — Lent shaped a whole repertoire of pas (fasting) dishes.