Yevgeny Yevtushenko About The Kind Pain-Relieving Armenian Hand

“When we were in the Tumanyan village, I got sick either from the serpentine road, or the wedding, or the pressure drop, or everything together.

Meanwhile, we were walking along the streets lined with tables where each family offered the guests its riches.

One old peasant Armenian woman noticed that I was pale and asked through an interpreter what was wrong with me. She then made a soothing sign with her hand and gave me a plate of greenery called aveluk. Indeed, when I tried the aveluk, everything went away – with the kind Armenian hand.

When I was preparing to leave Yerevan, my Armenian friends asked: ‘What should we give you?’ I replied: ‘Aveluk.’

And indeed, I was rewarded with a bunch of dried aveluk that I received a day later and took to Moscow with me. It’s also a talent – to feel in time that a person is in need and the moment when he is bad…”

P.S. Aveluk in Armenia is called “wild horse sorrel”. Aveluk is traditionally harvested for future use in summer and consumed in dried form. Though in some regions – for example, in Artsakh – salads from aveluk are more popular. Aveluk is also often used in soups with lentils, bulgur, or nuts. Aveluk is sometimes baked with onions and served as a warm salad with or without matsun.

Aregnaz