The U.S.
bishops’ conference issued a statement on Monday recognizing the upcoming
anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
“April
24 is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, marking the 1915 start of a campaign
that resulted in the death of as many as 1.2 million Armenian Christians --
victims of mass shootings, death marches to distant camps, torture, assaults,
starvation, and disease,” stated Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, chair of the
USCCB’s international justice and peace committee.
Thousands
of Armenian children were torn from their families and forcibly converted.
“This horrific tragedy was intended to eliminate the Armenian people and their
culture in what has been called the ‘first genocide of the 20th century.
Over the
span of eight years, the Ottoman Empire
targeted the mostly Christian Armenian minority for mass displacement, family
separation, death marches, mass shootings, starvation, and other abuses. An
estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the genocide.
Turkey has
historically denied that the genocide took place, claiming that the number of
Armenian deaths was lower than estimated, and that many deaths were due to the
First World War.
In April 2015, Pope
Francis called the genocide one of “three massive and unprecedented tragedies”
of the 20th century. In 2016, he
prayed for peace following his trip to Armenia. “A people that suffered so
much throughout its history, and faith alone, faith has kept this people on its
feet.”
In
a common declaration in 2000, Pope St John Paull II and Supreme Armenian
Patriarch Karekin II also recognized the genocide.
“The
extermination of a million and a half Armenian Christians, in what is generally
referred to as the first genocide of the twentieth century, and the subsequent
annihilation of thousands under the former totalitarian regime are tragedies
that still live in the memory of the present-day generation,” the declaration stated.
A genocide denied is a genocide repeated!
Why do I bring this all up?
As sad as it may be, and a period in history that did not effect my
family directly, my mother, the best cook I ever knew, grew up in Fresno with displaced
Armenians who came to this country for a better life. She literally learned to cook some of my
family’s favorite dishes from her neighbors.
One was the daughter of a world class cook, whose cookbook, written over
70 years ago, I still have and use.
I am speaking of GEORGE MAGAR MARDIKIAN (1903- 1977) who opened Omar
Khayyam's restaurant in San Francisco, in 1938. He was a nephew of
Armenian revolutionary Krikor
Amirian.
His small cookbook gives a glimpse of the man and his love for his country. Who in the US in the 40s and 50s ever heard of yogurt, but he says if you need it for one of the recipes, go to the phone book and look up a name that ends in "ian", and knock on their door with cup in hand! One of my favorite meals, and the one my mother always made me when I returned home for college breaks, was his lamb shanks. My two brothers and I would walk a mile for a good piece of lamb and my last thanksgiving at home with all the family included this lamb dish, along with the turkey.
But back to this great cook.
George’s
father, Magar, was of one of the approximately 250 ethnic-Armenian
intellectuals and community leaders arrested on April 24, 1915, known as Red
Sunday. After his arrest, the Amirians were driven out of their homes and
marched to Erzincan. George's maternal grandmother, Vartanoush Amirian,
committed suicide by jumping in the Euphrates,
while the rest of the Amirian family was either beaten to death or burned
alive. Witnessing the massacre of his mother's side of his family, George
wanted to avenge their deaths. He ran away from home and joined the Armenian
volunteer units, in which his uncle, Krikor Amirian, was a high-ranking member.
After the First World War ended, George returned as a war hero.
Due to
on-going political chaos, George’s mother told him to flee to the America
and join a sister already there. He arrived
at Ellis Island on July 24, 1922. When he was
able to take a shower, he stated, "I washed away the grime, I washed away
the years. I washed away the Old World, I
washed away all the hatred and injustice and cruelty I had known, all the
hunger, all the weeping, all the pain”.
He later
stated, "As I dried myself with the thick, heavy towel, and saw my clean
skin and felt my blood tingle, it was as though I had been reborn, as though I
were a completely new human being, a taller, a stronger, prouder man- an American”.
From that day, he proclaimed July 24 as his
birthday.
He took the train
to San Francisco and found a job working as a
dishwasher at Coffee Dan's and later at Clinton's
Cafeteria. He was later appointed restaurant manager by Eugene Compton.
In 1930, he
moved to Fresno where he joined the vibrant Armenian
immigrant community. He opened a lunch counter called "Omar Khayyam's", named
after the famous Persian poet. He both cooked and waited on tables. His wife Nazenig
(which means dainty in Armenian) was the greeter and cashier.
Despite the ongoing Great Depression, customers
filled his diner to enjoy his clam chowder, chili con carne, and pot roast. As
he frequently noted, his dream was to teach Americans how to eat well.
He would
later move his restaurant to two other large buildings in Fresno
and then, in 1938, to the old Coffee Dan's building in San Francisco, where he earned praise from
critics and locals alike.
In 1942, George
was appointed as a food consultant to the Quartermaster General of
the United States Army, a position that he would hold until 1954. He
would receive presidential commendations
for the drastic changes that he made to the United States military. In 1944, he
published a cook book, Dinner at Omar Khayyam's, that was reprinted
numerous times over the next two decades.
In 1945, he
donated his services as caterer for the United
Nations Conference on International Organization that was held
in San Francisco
and established the United Nations.
George made great efforts to bring his family
to the US as
well as other Armenians. Over 5,000 Armenians immigrated to the United States because
of his efforts.
In 1951, George
was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Harry S.
Truman for his work as a consultant to the Quartermaster
General of the United States Army- his salary was $1.00 a year. A portion of the citation reads, "With
vigorous energy, keen powers of observation and analysis and a dynamic
personality, he enlisted the enthusiastic interest of commanders and soldiers
alike in the preparation and service of food under varying conditions in the
combat zone."
He
contributed to entrepreneurial and philanthropic causes, including the American
National Committee to Aid Homeless ArmeniansOmar
Khayyam's' was located at 200
Powell Street in San Francisco in the basement of a building
on the northeast corner of Powell
Street and O'Farrell Street. Diners would
descend into the cavernous, sumptuously decorated restaurant below.
Tables in
the restaurant were contained in curtained chambers out of the Arabian Nights decorated with
wall-hangings and inscriptions from The
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
The menu
was exotic (for the time), featuring a mix of Armenian, Middle Eastern, and
African cooking adapted for American palates, yet foods that I was familiar with, even as a small child. I was probably seven when my Aunt Jean (who often took me on business trips - having no children of her own). I remember the scene well. I wanted dolma and there were no dolma on the menu. My Aunt told the waiter my request and his reply, any child this age who knows dolma, will have dolma. And so I did!
George was
known as a culinary artist, but also as an American whose heart was filled
sincerely and 110% with love for his adopted home. He was always grateful for the opportunity to
share this love with others. “Over here
the people don’t fight all the time. Look! When I came here I couldn’t speak
the language. I had no money. Now I have money and fine homes. In my country I
would be humiliated to be a cook; in America I am proud.” He can be an example to not only new
immigrants to our country, but to those born here, who take all its goodness for granted! He was buried at the Ararat cemetery in Fresno where the great American-Armenian writer William Saroyan rests.
We probably
owe some of our favorite foods- shish kebab, dolma, and pilaf to this remarkable man.
“This
wonderful land has been good to me. It has given me friends by the hundreds in
all walks of life. I believe that in this society where love and mutual respect
are fostered and encouraged, I must do more than contribute my share towards
the material and the spiritual well being of all. I believe that friendship,
which grows out of love and true humility, is the most important thing in life”.
The recipe: KOUZOU KZARTMA (Roast Shank of Lamb)
4 shanks of
lamb
4 large
pieces of potato
2 tomatoes,
quartered (you can use canned)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp.
paprika
2 cupfuls
water
Place
lamb in roasting pan: add tomatoes, salt, paprika and water. Cook 375 for ½ hour, turn meat and cook another 1/2
hour. Now add potatoes to same pan and roast with shanks for 30 minutes. Meat should
cook for 2 hours all together. Serve with its own juice as gravy.
