Armenia's Capital of Khash (aka, Boiled Cow's Feet)

By Aydin, via Wikimedia Commons

A Typical Khash Table

ArmeniaNow.com recently published a great feature about an extended Yerevan family that has cornered the market on khash, a traditional Armenian dish made out of boiled tripe and the lower part of a cow's leg. From the article:

Since the 1990s, the seven families of Vardanyan brothers who reside in 154 Mashtots Street are the initiators of this business that has become something of a tradition. In the town, it is well known as “khash district”.

Hasmik Makaryan, 53, wife of one of Vardanyan brothers (Arayik Vardanyan), says that her mother-in-law started their business, and later they – the daughters-in-law and their husbands continued it.

“This is how we earn money. We have all got education, but we needed to live, to survive somehow, therefore we started this khash business. People were telling our address so often that as a result the name of our district has become ‘Khashi Tagh’,” Hasmik says.

The brothers’ houses are next to each other. If Arayik does not have the product a client wants, then he sends him or her to Vardan’s house, and if Vardan does not have it, then – to Rafik’s house, and so on.