The thin slices of beef jerky covered with aromatic spices are an inseparable part of Armenian cooking. No festive feast can do without basturma.
The distinct aroma of basturma comes from spices – garlic, pepper, and cinnamon, due to which the delicacy acquires a characteristic refined taste and smell. Basturma is traditionally made from beef, and its preparation process, long and laborious, takes at least 25 days. But precisely because of this, basturma retains all its nutritious value.
Basturma is thinly cut and served as a cold appetizer, but you can use it not only cold. In the old days, whole dinners were prepared from this meat, and the tradition of making scrambled eggs with basturma has been preserved to this day.
A recipe for traditional fried eggs with basturma is very simple. You just need to fry basturma slices in a skillet for a minute or two, add well-beaten eggs, add plenty of fresh herbs to taste, and wait until the eggs are done.
Basturma is not a high-calorie food – 100 grams contain only about 200 calories. Note that due to the fact that the meat for cooking basturma is not subjected to heat treatment, it preserves all the vitamins and minerals that would disappear during normal cooking.
From the history of basturma and other non-perishable products
Remarkably, Armenians could sit for years in surrounded fortresses and not know hunger. There have been cases when fortresses have been besieged for as long as 4 years. Eventually, fatigued and having suffered heavy losses, the enemy would leave empty-handed.
You may ask – how could a whole city that was cut off from the outside world survive for several years? The secret is that the Armenians had learned to make nutritious products that could be stored for years while preserving their original taste.
Read more: Secrets Of Survival In A Besieged Fortress – Ancient Armenia
