01/20/2020 | 54m 33s | Video has closed captioning.
Host Marcus Samuelsson arrives in sunny Los Angeles to meet with Armenians influencing the city's food scene. Armenian food is diaspora food — the community is widespread, building homes in countries like Turkey and Syria following the Armenian Genocide.
Aired: 01/20/20
♪♪ -All right, Chef, let me show you Armenian traditions.
Let's do this.
This is the way to do it.
-Wow.
-Cheers... To breaking bread.
-Nice.
That is breaking bread.
♪♪ Los Angeles is the ground zero of the Armenian immigrant experience on the West Coast.
Armenian food is ancient and delicious, been around forever.
But, like, what are typical Armenian ingredients?
-Being an Armenian means multicultural, lot of Middle Eastern food, Greek food.
-Armenians in Los Angeles come from about 80 places.
-All over the world.
Here you go!
Aah!
-We're making octopus shawarma.
-Octopus shawarma?!
This bread is delicious.
-3,000 year old.
Enjoy it.
-We have dolmas here and dolmas there.
-Dolmas everywhere.
Now I'm going to make it rain with pomegranate.
-Yes, please.
-That is beautiful -- I've never tasted anything like this.
-This is one of the most traditional dishes -- khash.
-Khash!
-You got to -- You got to -- [ Guttural throat sound ] You got to get the -- [ Repeats sound ] -The sense of personal pride in your food is amazing.
-If we didn't have the connection with our food and our culture, we wouldn't have survived.
-What are some of the characters that we know?
Like, "All Armenians are..."?
-We are all survivors, and that mentality brings us together like a family.
-Food is definitely the way that Armenians keep telling their story.
I need somebody to taste.
This the all-Armenian barbecue sauce.
-I'll give it a "okay."
-Yeah?
[ Laughing ] This is -- this is a tough crowd!
I'm Chef Marcus Samuelsson, and as an immigrant born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, food, to me, has always told a deeper, more personal story.
It's a path to culture, identity, and history.
♪♪ -Join me on a new journey across the country to learn more about America's immigrant communities and culinary traditions to see how food connects us all.
♪♪ ♪♪ -What I think people think about L.A. around the world, there is a mythology there.
You think about stars and Hollywood, movies and big dreams.
But I don't think most people understand Hollywood is also a neighborhood.
♪♪ When I think about Hollywood, I think about the great ethnic food that's there, the small strip malls that you're never sure what's gonna be behind that door.
You go from Filipinotown to Thai Town.
But one of the biggest communities that still might be unknown to a lot of people is the Armenian community.
♪♪ So, Armenia geographically is the Caucasus region, so it's part of the former Soviet Union.
What's interesting about Armenia is there are only 3 million people actually live in Armenia, and there's 7 million living in the diasporas, spread out in over 100 countries.
♪♪ Armenians in Los Angeles is actually the largest group outside Armenia.
♪♪ You grew up in Los Angeles.
So, how old were you when you came?
-I was 4 1/2 years old, and we came from the former Soviet Armenia.
-Yeah.
Yeah.
-East Hollywood is the ground zero of the Armenian immigrant experience on the West Coast.
-Today, East Hollywood is known as almost Thai Town, right?
-Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
-So it's changed from Little Armenia to Thai Town.
-Yes.
-But still, there are some iconic shops left, right?
-Absolutely.
And we're going to one right now.
-So, Eric Nazarian is a filmmaker/photojournalist, so he actually came to Los Angeles to work in the film industry, part telling the Armenian community stories, but, also, just grand, big stories.
This is L.A. for me, right?
-Yeah, yeah.
-These mini-malls, these amazing entrepreneurial -- you know, people coming with dreams.
-Everybody comes here fighting to survive.
-Yeah.
-Multiple jobs, for their kids to have what they never had.
-Yes, yeah.
-So all these working-class neighborhoods, you know, were born with the sweat of immigrants.
This is where we're at -- we're in the heart of the Armenian first community here on the West Coast.
We're gonna walk into one of the oldest, oldest establishments -- the "Last of the Mohicans" of Little Armenia right here -- Sahag's Basturma.
-Basturma -- uh, what is it?
-Mm-hmm.
-Where does it come from?
-It's basically the Armenian version of the bresaola.
-Okay.
-And it's pressed meat, incredibly well-garnished with garlic.
-Cured.
It can stay forever.
-Yeah.
You will fight off every single vampire around the world because there's a lot of garlic here.
-Nice.
♪♪ When you think about Sahag's, it's one of those strip malls that you've driven by a million times and never paid any attention.
And inside there is a master craftsman -- Harry.
Harry's family has been in the basturma business for over 300 years.
And here he is, in Los Angeles, tucked in.
You walk into his walk-in, and I look up in the ceiling.
And right away you see, there it is.
This is so beautiful!
Oh, my God.
-This is where the magic happens, right here.
-Yeah.
Amazing.
I love this.
There's like 500 years tradition in here.
-They're all the same size.
-Yeah.
Do you know how much pork it takes to butcher like that?
Unbelievable.
It's like a piece of art.
It's craftsmanship at the highest level.
-Here you go.
-I love the fact that Shaq was in here, getting his basturma on.
That's when you got it, 'cause he's a big man, so -- That's a good look.
-And here's the master.
Wow.
This is soujouk, and this is basturma.
-So, where does it come from?
-So, Western Armenia, which is the cradle of Armenian civilization.
-Today's Turkey.
-Today's -- yes, Eastern Turkey is Western Armenia.
And his family's from Kayseria, which is modern-day Kayseri in Turkey.
The one that makes the best basturma.
-Yeah.
-So if Hollywood is the Entertainment capital of the world, then the basturma capital of the world is Kayseri, yeah?
According to Mr. Tashyan.
-Yeah.
I love it.
That's what it is.
How many days does it take to make batsurma?
-At least 15 days.
[ Speaking Armenian ] -He thinks his way is the right way.
-Yeah, yeah.
Of course.
He should.
He's the boss.
[ Speaking Armenian ] -Yeah.
He -- You don't have this in the markets.
-Yeah.
And all the flavors are right there.
That's beautiful.
-It's a -- It's a very -- It's a -- It's a worker's craft.
It's a worker's trade.
You have to work.
It's physical, and you have to do it with love.
[ Speaking Armenian ] You see it's very transparent, you know?
[ Speaking Armenian ] -His rivals say he paints the basturma.
[ Laughing ] [ Speaking Armenian ] -How do you -- I love it.
-He went to Caesarea -- Kayseri -- to kind of visit the cradle of his family and to basically go back to his roots.
And he found out his paternal grandmother's family also were in the basturma trade.
It's a very long, deep-rooted lineage of doing this work and passing it down generation after generation.
It's the preservation of your narrative to kind of avoid being forgotten.
-Does the next generation of Armenians -- do they know how to make basturma?
-Good question.
-After me, I don't know.
Because my son is a pharmacist.
-Pharmacist, yeah.
-Are you teaching anybody in your family?
-My son knows.
-Your son knows.
-Yes.
-Oh, good.
-Good.
This is important.
This is his family -- basturma makers.
You see the cuts hanging on the back?
-The basturma.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
And it's beautiful to think the tradition hasn't changed.
It's still the same process, right?
-Yeah.
I mean, this is funny.
Like, you see 1900, and 118 years later, you have the same, you know, workmanship.
♪♪ -Jonathan Gold was right.
"Basturma Boss."
[ Laughs ] -"Basturma Boss."
-That's good.
That's a good -- That's a good, good title.
♪♪ So, the Armenian community really started in East Hollywood, known as Little Armenia.
But if you keep driving sort of East, then you get to the real capital today -- Glendale.
The signs are all written in Armenian language.
The restaurants, the schools, the theater, the culture completely turns.
English become the minority, and Armenian becomes the majority.
♪♪ ♪♪ -Hello.
-Hello, Marcus.
-What's up?
How are you?
So, Andy Kozanian owns this beautiful Armenian market.
He goes back to Armenia a couple of times a year and makes sure he buys all the ingredients that you might not be able to get in Los Angeles.
-You want to see the whole place?
-Yeah, I want to see the whole place.
-All right.
Follow me.
-This shop is big -- almost as big as Andy's personality.
'Cause you're like Robert De Niro of Armenia?
-No, no, I'm not.
-That's what I heard!
That's what I heard.
-No, no, no.
They -- They lied to you.
-What do you mean, no?
-They lied to you.
-What do you mean, no?
-I don't know anything about the culture besides, like, I know Armenians in Ethiopia.
But, like, what are typical Armenian ingredients?
-Ingredients.
-Yeah.
-Everything's Armenian.
It's so beautiful, you know?
-Everything -- Come on.
-Right now you're just looking at some of the stuff.
-Yeah.
-You got the barbecues.
We got the cabbage leaves.
-Yeah, yes.
-You got 150 items that has been made in Armenia.
-And we bring it over here.
-And you bring it here.
-You can't compare the food that's been grown in Armenia with anybody else.
-Sure.
-Angle of the sun is totally different.
-They were telling me, you know?
-Water is totally different.
-Some Armenians came here to be farmers.
They grew persimmons.
They grew pomegranate.
-Pomegranate!
-Of course, yeah.
-Pomegranate has been introduced by Armenian in U.S. Grapes, Fresno -- 90% grown by Armenians.
Our cognac is better than the French cognac.
-Yeah.
-Whatever Armenia has, better than anybody, anyway.
[ Laughs ] -No, no, of course.
We know that, we know that.
You are the ambassador for Armenia.
When I think about the Armenian flavors, the food is a combination of ancient Armenian food and the food of the diaspora.
-So, being an Armenian means multicultural stuff.
And we enjoy everybody's nice dishes, and we grab every single one when it's beautiful and delicious.
You're looking at the Greek olives right now.
It's all from Greece.
-We have the tabbouleh over here.
-This is from -- in Uzbekistan, they make it.
-Yeah.
But you cannot think about Armenian food without thinking about lavash.
-You're gonna see the way lavash has been made.
-Look at the bread!
♪♪ Think about something as ancient as just flour, water, and salt, creates incredible bread.
-You can take one out of it.
-Show me, show me.
-Then just, like, open it up a little bit.
-Yeah.
-You open it.
So all you do is drop it here.
Now you made it beautiful than me.
That's it.
It takes about 15 seconds from there to here, and you're done.
Have some.
Grab it.
They're coming out it fresh.
-Beautiful.
-We make it all day long, and it's been sold out.
-I want to -- Can I taste?
-Go ahead.
Cleanest bread there is.
There's nothing in there -- no preservatives, no sugar, no oil, nothing.
No yeast.
-Mmm.
No yeast.
-3,000-year-old.
-This bread is delicious.
Delicious.
-Enjoy it.
-Was it from Armenia to Los Angeles right away?
-Yes.
I came in when the Soviet Union was in the picture.
-Yeah.
-So we ran away from a commie's rule.
July 21, 1980, I arrived to L.A. -Wow.
From -- From Armenia.
-From Armenia, yes.
-What a difference, right?
-Different, no.
It's -- It's not a different.
It's totally different worlds.
-Totally different worlds, right?
-And you go look around and say, "My God.
Such thing exists," compared to what you had over there and now -- now what you see here?
Totally different world.
-Wow, wow.
♪♪ -We are Papillon International Bakery in Glendale, California, and this is the home of the Armenians.
Our food is considered comfort food, but we made it more modern, and it also reminds you of home.
We're trying to bring all the stuff our grandparents used to love, even when the times were bad, when they were broke in the Soviet Union.
We took that and we made it something you can enjoy on a daily basis.
And, you know, it makes you feel good when you had nothing, and now it's so abundantly available.
Our signature, top two, is perashkis and ponchiks.
A lot of people say it's a -- it's a Armenian doughnut.
But doughnut is filled after it's baked or fried.
Ponchiks is fried with the stuffing in it, so it transforms what's inside of it.
We also have the Ferrero Rocher in a ponchik.
And they're putting Nutella over it so when you bite in, it's the whole candy experience in a whole different environment, which just makes it explode in your mouth.
We make it fresh all day from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., so you're getting the most amazing ponchik or perashki you can eat anywhere.
♪♪ Growing up in Armenia, I was part of the U.S.S.R., Soviet Union.
I think we've seen so many black and white and so many sad grays, it's so heartwarming to see color, to see positivity.
And I like to share that energy with people, because colors make life just so much better.
It just makes you breathe better.
♪♪ -So, the whole Armenian diaspora is held together by this one dish -- lule kabob -- which is this beautiful ground meat that is skewered, and then you grill it over fire.
No matter where you are in the world as an Armenian, you're eating lule kabob.
It's basically what meatballs are for a Swede -- same thing.
Mini Kabob is this very simple store in the middle of Glendale, and it's such a humble place.
Ovakim, he's been doing lule kabob for over 50 years.
He became a really good cook in the Soviet Army.
It might not be the fancy French cooking school, but it got the job done, and the kebab is to die for.
When did you come over from Armenia?
Like, what year did you guys come?
-'87, September 4.
-Really?
-Seven -Seven -- no, seven?
No, no, no.
Anyway.
-Yeah, seven.
-Plus tax.
That's, uh -- I said 4 plus tax.
[ Laughter ] -That's brilliant.
I like that.
-Yeah.
-I've heard about lule kabob.
What is the lule kabob?
-Lule, it means "pie."
-Like a pie?
-Yeah.
Like, that's why it's round.
-So, they smoke it, basically.
-Yeah, yeah.
-I want to see how to make the pie kabob.
Okay?
-Which one, chicken or beef?
-You decide.
It's your show.
You're the boss.
Or, she's the boss, but like, she is -- She is the boss.
-Yeah, yeah.
I know, I know, I know.
-No, I'm not boss.
I'm not boss.
-I know.
♪♪ I love how you do it.
It's so nice.
You -- You can tell you've done it so many times.
It's beautiful.
♪♪ Were your parents both born in Armenia, or were the born --?
-No.
My parents, they're born in Egypt.
-Wow.
-You know, after Second World War, they immigrated to Armenia.
-And what about you, your parents?
-No, my -- my parents from Armenia -- Armenia Armenia.
-"A.A." -- Armenia, Armenia.
[ Laughter ] I love that.
Oh, wow.
Really long.
-It's big.
-Beautiful.
-Yeah.
-Nice.
♪♪ This is a perfect bite, you know?
It's not too big.
-Yeah, you can make -- you can drive and eat.
-Yeah.
-You're not making dirty on yourself, you know?
With some others, sometimes you eat -- -You're so American.
Who drives and eats?
Only an American drives and eats.
♪♪ This is so good.
-Right?
-So delicious.
-Yeah.
-Very nice.
When you were a kid coming up, this was your first job?
-Yeah, yeah.
I was 5, 6 years old.
I remember, uh, wrapping mini kabobs and getting tips from the old men.
I was taking like 9 bucks in tips a day.
-Yeah?
-I was like, "I want a gold watch."
And so I went and picked up on a 99-cent store, like, gold watch.
I was like, "Hell yeah."
-Yeah!
He's American.
He knows, right?
He's American.
[ Laughs ] -All right, let's skewer this puppy up.
-Nice.
I know I'm gonna love this.
Look at this, it has everything -- fresh tomatoes, beautiful rice, and then the cigar kebab.
-Yeah.
-Beautiful.
What about the yogurt here?
What do we have here?
-It's not yogurt.
This is a cool garlic cream.
-What?
-Not everybody make it.
-Wow.
-No dairy, no -- no mayonnaise, nothing.
-That is beautiful.
So you whip it?
-Yeah.
It's so hard, you know?
If you do mistake, it's like water.
-Whoo!
I've never tasted anything like this.
That is beautiful.
-Yeah?
-It's not often I taste something I've never, never had, right?
-Yeah.
Little bit -- take a piece of bread.
-Yeah.
-Little bit hummus, and like burrito.
[ Laughs ] -Mm-hmm.
It's so clean.
You described to me that Armenian culture's almost like magnet.
-Yeah, magnet.
-What do you mean with this?
-No, Armenians, they like to find more -- more each other, you know?
-Yes.
-It's -- I don't know.
It's our culture, maybe.
It's the blood.
I don't know.
-Maybe because it's a small country, but big diaspora?
-You know our history.
-Sure.
-We got many hard times.
Maybe that is -- makes us to come find each other together.
-Together, yes.
-Like magnet, you come together, find each other.
-Wonderful.
Well, thank you so much.
-Thank you, Chef.
-I really appreciate it, okay?
-Thank you, Chef.
♪♪ -The one uniting factor of the entire Armenian people in the homeland, in the diaspora around the world, is the Armenian Genocide.
♪♪ Century by century, the Armenian civilization has endured conquest.
It is the 20th Century that made Armenia a diaspora.
♪♪ In 1915, it was very clear that the Ottoman Empire was crumbling.
The Turks were trying to quell the Armenian call for self-determination, and implemented a system to cleanse the Armenian population under the pretext that they'd seen us as a threat to the Ottoman Empire's survival.
It began in ways that are too violent and vulgar to describe.
♪♪ Scholars attest to the fact that close to about 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
And this was the fragmentation grenade that created the Armenian diaspora.
Survivors went to India, to Iran, China, Russia, Lebanon, and other countries around the world.
My people were left with nothing, and they created diasporas, community centers.
It is survival.
The Armenian people have endured because they were able to create.
♪♪ -This has been around for the longest time.
-Yeah?
-This is Phoenicia.
This is the hub -- -Home base?
-Hub of the Armenian community in Glendale.
-Oh, cool.
Vahé is a writer, artist, a comedian.
He tells these stories about the Armenian community and the diaspora.
The Armenian community, they all come to Phoenicia... -Salpi.
-Hey, Marcus.
-...to gather, to share stories about the Old Country, about the journey, Soviet Union, Lebanese -- Ethiopia, even.
Ethiopia had to be in the house, right?
-You have Ethiopians right here.
-Oh, I see that.
-Okay?
-[ Ululating ] I see all the Ethiopians here, right?
-[ Ululating ] -Wonderful.
Enjoy.
♪♪ The table is so beautiful.
-Isn't it gorgeous?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tell me a little bit about, where are we?
It's a Lebanese restaurant, but it's Lebanese-Armenian.
-It's owned by Armenians.
-Owned by Armenians -- Armenians.
-And most everybody here is Armenian.
But the thing about this place is, just like all of L.A., you know, everybody from every country is in L.A. Every Armenian from every country is right here.
-So you are Armenian -- -From Syria.
-Syria.
-From Armenia.
-Armenia-Armenia.
Armenian origin?
-Ethiopian-Armenian.
-Ethiopian.
There's my Ethiopian.
Thank you very much.
-And Beirut.
I grew up in -- in an Armenian ghetto in Lebanon.
-Yeah, remember, these were the refugees, right?
These were the genocide survivors who clung together for dear life.
-Absolutely.
-Armenians in Los Angeles come from about 80 places.
-All over the world, huh?
-And it's the first time in history that all of these subcultures are right here, living next door to each other in the same restaurant.
-Mind you, in the beginning, it was apprehension, you know?
Um, "Who are you?"
"How would --" "How are we connected?"
And so on.
Now you don't see that at all.
-How -- How do we say "cheers" in Armenia?
-Genatset.
-G enatset.
-It means, "to life."
-G enatset.
-Good.
-And by the way, pass the hummus, 'cause I -- like, we're talking and eating at the same time.
♪♪ -This is poor man's food.
It's -- -I love poor man's cooking all over the world.
-It's lentils and rice and fried onions.
-Oh, nice.
-Every Friday, this was our meal.
-Whoa.
There's food everywhere!
I love this.
What is that in the middle there?
Yeah.
-That's a Syrian concoction.
It's ground walnuts, bread crumbs, pomegranate sauce.
-Beautiful!
-Thank you.
-Is that Armenian wine or Lebanese wine?
-It is.
It's Armenian wine.
That's ostensibly where the first wine was made.
Armenians and Georgians argue about this, but -- -You know what?
Africans would argue about that, too.
-There you go.
-You know how it is?
Yeah.
The food is so good.
-It is, it is.
-I love this place.
You're Armenian-Armenian -- what culture do you feel like you belong to in terms of food?
-Well, my parents are from Armenia, so a lot of the food is affiliated with the Soviet Union and then sort of Eastern European.
-Yeah.
Yeah.
-You know, cabbage and beets and potatoes and all of that.
-Sauerkraut and all that.
You were born in L.A. You have Ethiopian origin and Armenian.
-Berbere was a staple in our home.
-I love that.
Yes, yes.
-There was a marriage of the spices of the different diasporas that we belonged to.
-Sure.
It's interesting because in many ways, it's almost like a double identity, right?
-Very much.
-And, you know, it's a dual immigration/migration.
-Very much.
-But when you talk to an Ethiopian person, "back home" means going back to Ethiopia.
For you, does that mean go back to Lebanon, or does it mean to go to Armenia?
-That's a million-dollar question.
-Exactly.
-And the answer is always changing.
-And it can be both.
You know, for some things, you seek Lebanon, and -- or Syria.
And for other things, you definitely seek Armenia.
There are people who know nothing except the food, and that defines them.
-Hey, that's a good way.
-Which is fine with me.
-As an artist, how does being an Armenian express itself in your work?
-When I do comedy, a lot of people tell me, "You should concentrate on how funny the differences are between the communities," you know?
What is funny is how similar we are, but we think that we're different.
-And Vahé was one of the first that let us laugh at ourselves, because, you know, you're a refugee, you're an immigrant.
Oh, gee, how sad.
-Yeah.
-Vahé pointed out to us how funny we are, how unique we are, how I say something one way and she says something another way.
And sometimes we look at each other, and we go, "Wait a minute," you know?
And he just kind of held up a mirror to us.
-For somebody that does not know Armenian, what are some of the characters that we know?
Like, "All Armenians are..."?
- Entrepreneurial and extremely resilient.
-I think maybe it was because of the genocide.
We are all survivors.
And that mentality of survivor mentality brings us together like a family.
So if I see an Armenian in Amsterdam, if I see an Armenian in -- or in South America or South Africa for that matter, that's it -- we're family.
-The genocide decimated more than 1.5 million people.
It killed culture, it killed a way of life, and so it's both very understandable and, also, very unfortunate that it took two generations for people to pick themselves up by their feet.
But you can't underestimate the impact of devastation and loss and dislocation like that.
More and more, though, this culture is blending in the most amazing way.
-That's beautiful.
You know, when Vahé and I walked over here, I saw that the Armenian consulate is across the street.
But I believe, like, the Phoenician probably, like, the real consulate, right?
-You run over there to get your stamp, and you come back here to get it done, right?
♪♪ In Glendale, you have institutions like Phoenicia that brings the whole Armenian diaspora together.
But in the last few years, you started to see small places popping up that bring in Armenian culture and food to a whole new audience.
Alissa Asmarian is an amazing woman.
She's the head chef, the head server, and the owner of Heritage Eatery -- this beautiful, modern café in the center of Glendale.
-We've been open less than two years.
-Oh, wow.
Congratulations.
-Thank you.
We wanted to give a highlight to, uh, recipes from Grandma and Mom, but in a way where it's gourmet.
-A little bit more modern.
-Yes.
-But it's really inspired from back home, right?
-Yes.
-Beautiful, stunning.
-We have eggplant caviar.
-Do you have a little bit of paprika in here?
-Yes, it's paprika.
This is kamadz madzoun.
It's strained yogurt topped with mulberry sauce that comes all the way from Armenia.
-It's so delicious.
-It is.
Thank you.
-That's the last piece you're gonna get.
I'm gonna finish it.
You know, I've learned about this incredible diaspora, right?
Your grandmother, your mom is from --?
-My mom was born in Beirut, Lebanon.
My dad was born in Damascus, Syria.
I basically speak four languages.
Of course, I speak Armenian and English.
-Armenian and English, yeah.
-And because I lived in Russia, I grew up in Russia, I speak Russian.
-Spacibo.
-Ah.
[ Speaks Russian ] [ Speaks Russian ] And the fourth language was Turkish, believe it or not.
-Mm-hmm.
And who's your customer base?
Armenian community?
Is it anyone in L.A.?
-So, we get people from every culture, because Glendale is a melting pot.
-I would say half of Glendale is a melting pot, because I'd say like 70% is Armenian.
-Yeah.
Well, first language spoken in Glendale is Armenian, then English.
-Yeah.
Another Armenian?
-I'm like, "Hmm, maybe not a melting pot."
But melting pot from the Armenian diaspora, yes.
-Yes, yes.
♪♪ -With Armenian food, you will have the heavier dishes that are very often kebobs, heavier on meat.
Then the other thing is you have almost a vegan element, which is the bulgur and the pilafs and the -- and, you know, the rice culture.
It's bright.
It's floral.
It's super, super delicious.
-One dish that we're gonna make, it's called and ghapama, and -- -Ghapama.
-Ghapama, and it's, uh -- it goes back centuries.
-Ghapama.
Armenian dish?
Russki dish, what?
-Armenian dish.
No.
It's a very, very traditional Armenian dish, so -- -Okay.
Just checking.
-It's usually done for a festive occasion, whether it's a wedding or New Year's or Christmas.
-So basically like a beautiful, big pumpkin.
-Precooked rice.
-Yeah.
-Of course, apricots -- honey and apricots.
-Raisins.
-Raisins.
-I like it already.
-Another ingredient that we use is Aleppo chili peppers, yeah.
-Aleppo.
So now you're goin' across the border.
-My dad's side is from Syria.
Lots of honey.
-Yeah.
-Fresh, cracked Armenian walnuts.
And then I'll put it in the oven.
Uh... -Okay.
-Alicia, can you put it in the oven, please?
-Alicia, how are you?
All right.
You got it?
It's heavy.
-I don't speak English.
-Oh, you don't speak English?
Okay.
Alicia, let's do this.
An hour and a half.
-She speaks Russian and Armenian.
-Oh.
-There you go.
All right.
-Wow.
-This is awesome.
-I've never seen a dish like this.
This is stunning.
-It's a beautiful dish.
-Do we put pomegranate on this?
-And -- yes.
-Okay, I want to make it rain with pomegranate.
-Yes, please.
-Nice.
I don't know if you know, Armenians will crack a pomegranate when it's a wedding engagement, a new home, a baby is born.
-Yeah.
This is delicious.
This is absolutely delicious.
-Isn't good?
Well, I'm glad you like it.
-And it's kind of communal, 'cause no one can kind of eat this by themself.
-Yeah.
-I'm gonna -- I'm gonna -- Are we gonna pass it around?
-Yeah, to the guys.
-Yeah.
Does anyone want to try?
Have you had it before?
-Yes, of course.
-It's so delicious.
I've never had this dish.
How 'bout you?
-No.
-Thank you.
You're my people.
Yeah.
Everybody else has had it before.
What does it mean to be able to be more open and celebrated, but also by non-Armenians?
-I think as a woman, as a restaurateur, someone who is a minority, someone who came to this country as an immigrant, the success story is when you cook something from your heritage.
-Mm.
-I love the idea that, "Oh, my God!"
-Yeah.
-"You really liked it!
You finished it."
-What a great story, also, to tell your kids.
You can come as an immigrant and work really, really hard, and together as a family create something that is bigger than yourself that now other people are reaching out to, so -- -I hope so.
-Yeah!
No, but this is awesome, to put this together.
-Thank you so much.
Thank you, Marcus.
♪♪ -I spent most of my time in Los Angeles in Glendale, which is really like the center of the Armenian community.
But to see how big the Armenian influence, culture, and community is, I also branched out to San Fernando Valley, Burbank, and Pasadena.
♪♪ -Hi.
My name is Sarges Yegiazaryan, and we're here at the Monta Factory in Pasadena, California.
-My name is Evelina.
[ Laughs ] I'm nervous!
[ Laughing ] [ Sighs ] Hello.
[ Laughs ] I can't!
-"Hello."
-[ Laughing ] I can't.
-Monta is a Middle Eastern/ European specialty dish.
It's a boat-shaped dumpling which consists of just dough that's rolled out, cut into little squares, a piece of ground beef put into each square.
Everything that we make every day is made from scratch.
It's made fresh.
I put the meat, and she pinches.
And, then, as soon as I'm done putting all the meats, I pop in, and I start pinching while she starts lining them up in the tray.
The dough is cooked to a crisp.
The beef gets nice and juicy.
Every single day, we prepare about 10,000 pieces of monta, all by hand.
-All by hand.
We've been eating monta in our home all the time since I grew up.
We started this business 14 years ago.
-It was wholesale.
I took over 4 1/2 years ago and opened it to the public.
-That was Jack's idea, to open the doors to the public.
He was saying, "Mom, you know what?
This is very good food.
I want all the generations know about it."
-90% of the diaspora are familiar with the dish itself, uh, whether it's one style or another.
A lot of people like it just plain, to eat it like a finger food.
A lot of people like it plain with just the yogurt sauce.
But here at the Monta Factory itself, we serve it either tomato, tomato hot and spicy, and/or garlic cream.
There's so many different variations.
There's a place in Glendale who specializes in a different style.
It's not monta.
It's called khinkali.
-Khinkalis are Georgian-Armenian.
-There you go.
It's Georgian-Armenians that make the khinkali.
She wants to give everyone their credit.
[ Laughing ] I guess that's the cool part of living here in Los Angeles, is that you -- no matter where you go, you're able to find that traditional food that you're craving from back home.
♪♪ ♪♪ -What's up, guys?
How are you?
-Hi.
-Hi.
-Arthur.
-What's up, man?
How are you?
-Great.
Nice to finally meet you.
-It's nice to be here.
Arthur Grigoryan is this young kid that used to work for Nancy Silverton.
Nancy's an icon in American food, specifically in Los Angeles.
-Originally, my intentions were to excel in classic French cuisine.
-Yeah, I mean, you work with one -- one of the best ever -- Nancy, right?
-Yeah.
Yeah, the queen.
-Down in -- down at Mozza's.
And, then, how did the Texas barbecue style come into play?
-All it took was a trip to Texas with my girlfriend.
We decided to go try Franklin's Barbecue... -Yeah.
-...and it ended up being so good that I decided to change my ideas that I had for my career.
-Arthur has really become a barbecue master.
He throws these secret dinners in the back yard of his parents' house.
How do you do your events now?
-So, I mainly do it back here.
So, I'll have, like, 15 people back here, just sitting at the bar right there.
-Yeah.
So it's like a secret restaurant in the back.
-Yeah.
Yeah, it's kind of like a speakeasy in my yard, so -- -I love that.
I love that.
-And he's really figured out this way to do it in a way that both honors the barbecue culture, but also his heritage about being Armenian-American.
What is Armenian barbecue, Texas-style, in Southern California?
What does it taste like?
What does it look like?
-It's mainly the rubs and, uh, the techniques.
-Yeah?
All right.
So what did you want us to start cooking with?
-Let me walk you through the barbecue sauce real quick.
Right here, it's just the base.
It's, uh, ketchup, balsamic vinegar, and champagne vinegar.
-So, you got a little bit of that L.A./French in you, right?
I see you.
-Yeah, exactly.
And then we're gonna add some more acid.
-What is that -- molasses?
-Uh, this is pomegranate molasses.
-Of course.
And Armenian was the one who brought the pomegranate, too.
-Exactly.
To California, yes.
-See?
I've done my -- -Pomegranates, figs -- we all brought that stuff here.
-Yeah.
-And, then, this right here is -- this comes from Nancy -- Calabrian chili.
So these come from Italy.
-Nice.
Nice.
Beautiful.
You know what this reminds me of?
The Armenian Diaspora.
-Yeah.
-All these places.
-Exactly.
It's like a melting pot.
-And it comes back.
Exactly.
I need somebody to taste.
You get V.I.P.
treatment.
Yes, you go here.
We're gonna taste what uncle did.
It's a little bit spicy.
Be careful.
This is all Armenian barbecue sauce.
-I'll give it an "okay."
-Yeah.
[ Laughs ] This is -- This is a tough crowd!
We like, right?
Nice.
-So, I'll give you this end to try first.
That's where all the flavor's at.
-The cue end is where all the flavor is.
Wow!
This is really, really delicious.
It's moist.
You know, it's hard to get the meat that juicy, but you really succeeded in that.
If you ever want a taster -- I mean, a professional taster -- I'll come out -- I'll come through, anytime.
-Oh, I feel honored.
-Who taught you how to cook?
-Uh, it all started with my grandmother, honestly.
-Yeah.
-I mean, uh, my parents, growing up, you know, immigrant families, they got to work all the time, so, um, growing up, I mainly spent time with my grandmother.
-Oh, nice.
So, if Nancy was his mentor to understand the modern kitchen, his grandmother is his real mentor.
So, we're gonna make dolmas?
-Yes, dolma.
-I had the opportunity to actually roll some dolmas with her -- she doesn't speak a lot of English.
Who taught her how to cook?
Was it her mom or her auntie?
-My mom.
-Your mom, right.
Show me.
I want to know how to do it.
[ Speaking Armenian ] -That's opal basil.
-Opal basil.
I love the amount of herbs in there.
-She's saying you did a good job.
-Thank you.
♪♪ Do I have enough meat or not enough?
-Good, good.
-Okay, good.
Being in Grandma's presence and watching Arthur and her back and forth -- they have this really close, beautiful relationship, something I can relate to.
I grew up with my grandmother being the biggest influence on me, so watching Arthur and his grandmother working together, it's really special.
When you were a kid, did you and your sisters and brothers, did you help grandma with this?
-Uh, mainly me.
[ Laughs ] I would always be by her, watching her doing everything, and whatever question I would have, she would always answer and help me with the techniques and everything, so... -[ Laughs ] -I love that.
♪♪ -Have dolmas there and dolmas here.
-Yeah, and dolmas everywhere.
-Dolmas everywhere.
[ Laughs ] -Dolmas everywhere.
♪♪ It's ready?
-You taught him well.
-Yeah.
-Congratulation.
Nice!
[ Laughs ] ♪♪ Thank you so much for showing me your culture.
Beautiful.
-Me very happy.
-Me too.
Thank you so much.
Mwah!
You do three times in Ethiopia.
Mwah.
-Mwah!
-Mwah!
There you go.
-Okay.
-Thank you, Chef.
-That's awesome.
He's super talented.
-Thank you.
-Arthur has really followed the traditional roots that his grandmother gave him, but he's also taking his own Armenian-American experience and putting those two experiences into his food.
♪♪ Armen is telling the Armenian-American story in the most iconic way.
He's going from lule kabob to taco.
What could be more Los Angeles cuisine than that?
With that comes a place like Smorgasburg.
It makes total sense.
His audience meets there, it's a marketplace that is popular, and his dishes are clever enough to fit in next to the barbecue place, next to the Korean taco, next to... And those are also some of the things we love about Los Angeles.
♪♪ How long have you been here now?
-Uh, Smorgasburgs?
About a year now.
-A year?
-You want to go through his system?
Maybe I'll show you how often -- -We have a very eclectic bunch.
-I love it.
-We all go back, too.
Danny and Tal and myself, along with Sapun, we all used to do ramen together.
-Of course.
-Danny's Vietnamese.
This is Kevin.
He's my neighbor, actually.
-Oh, what's up, Kevin?
I'm Marcus.
Nice to meet you.
-Kevin's mom actually taught me how to make the masa.
-And is Kevin Armenian?
-No, Kevin is Mexican.
His family -- Kevin, your family's from Durango?
-Mexico City.
-Mexico City, yes.
-Mexico City?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But, also, look at your staff here.
They're learning about Armenian culture, right?
-Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
-Like, you're actually passing on what American-Armenian today, 2019, what that's about.
I want to go deeper here.
I want to know -- the meat is -- is over here... -Yeah.
-But to make a good taco... -Yeah.
-The tortilla is key.
The masa is key.
-Is proper, yes.
Masa is key.
-So I want to go over and talk to the engineer over here.
-Let's go.
After you, Chef.
Ms. Patricia's actually knocking out the tortillas.
-Okay, cool.
This is like the MVP.
-She's so fast that she puts everybody else to shame.
-Where in Mexico are you from?
-Jalisco.
-Jalisco.
I love Jalisco.
I love Guadalajara.
Show me, mama.
-Let's do it.
-You got to show me.
You and me together.
We're gonna do it together.
All right, we go down.
We press?
-Yes.
No, no, no, no.
-Oh!
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!
And then we go back twice trip or one trip?
Oh, nice.
-So, she preps out anywhere from 500 to 600 tortillas.
-500, yeah.
-Wow.
-Yeah, and, um -- -No, no, no, no, no, no.
Wait.
-Nice.
Leave it alone, leave it alone.
-[ Laughs ] -Dish it up.
-MVP.
-MVP, definitely.
All right, thank you.
Gracias.
All right?
-Picture?
-I see you.
Of course.
Later on we'll do it.
Later on.
I'll come back.
I got you.
-I seen on tel-- TV.
-Okay, see you.
♪♪ -Listen, I want to order.
What are we gonna order?
What are we gonna order?
What are we gonna have?
-Let's do it.
Do you want to make tacos?
-Yes.
What are we doing?
Hummus in the bottom?
-Yes.
-I mean, this is just delicious flavors.
-Yeah.
This is just great flavors.
-And right before we send it out, yes.
-Chef, ticket up.
And what do we have -- a little sumac?
-A little -- nice, little drizzle to give it a nice, little color to finish.
-That's beautiful.
Great.
Mmm.
♪♪ Mmm.
♪♪ -[ Laughs ] Good, right?
-It's -- It's fantastic.
Only in America can you have an Armenian taco, right?
-[ Laughs ] Yeah.
-That's pretty cool.
I mean, you're in business with your parents, as well.
Like, what do they think about this?
-Mom -- I showed them the line from last week's service... -Yeah, yeah.
-...and they were geeked out.
Like, it was the most exciting thing for them to see.
-Nice.
But I love that, that your level of pride and passion really come through.
-I love it.
You know, it -- it's -- for me, to be able to do this is honestly something that I wanted to do to satisfy a lot of my parents.
And I want them to retire.
That's the one reason that I work so hard is because I want Mom and Dad to hang out.
-Exactly.
But that's beautiful, you know?
-They're my -- they're my number-one fans, man, at the end of the day.
-Nice.
-Here, let me show you something we do traditionally.
Let's do Armenian traditions.
Grab one.
-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Now you -- this is not a tortilla.
Then you cheat!
-This -- I got -- I got to give you the roots.
-I love this.
-We grab a piece of meat and just, like, wrap it with the lavash and just eat it.
-Oh, my God.
This is the real deal.
This is the way to do it.
-Hey, Chef, cheers.
-Wow.
-To breaking bread.
-Nice.
That is breaking bread.
Yeah.
-Right?
-Oh, my God.
-That's yummy, right?
Mmm, the spices -- -I think you got another taco going.
-You got to use the lavash.
Damn, this is so good.
Mmm.
♪♪ So, I'm up at dawn, driving on this dusty road into the hills of Altadena.
For a minute, I don't realize that I'm just outside Los Angeles.
♪♪ I finally arrived at this magical ranch built by an Armenian in the 1940s, and I'm here for one of the oldest and most traditional meals in Armenian culture, the khash feast.
-Hey, how's it going?
-What's up?
How are you?
-Doing good.
-Ara is this typical L.A. kid.
Like, he's a surfer.
He's a skateboarder.
He's got an Armenian-American cookbook coming out.
He does Armenian cooking classes in Armenia.
So he really has his feet in both countries, right?
-So, right there, we got the khash.
-The khash.
-[ Throaty ] Khash.
-[ Throaty ] Khash.
-You got to -- You got to "kh" -- you got to give it the "kh," okay?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
-It's cow foot soup.
-Yes.
-Back in the day, when they didn't have a lot, they had to use every part of the animal.
-Yeah.
-You'd take this cow's foot.
You'd singe the hair, pluck it, and then you boil it for about four to five hours.
One of these best times I've ever had this, I was on the top of Aragats, which is, uh, one of the highest peaks in Armenia... -Yeah.
-And they serve you khash, and it's this empowering feeling where you're eating this cow foot soup on the tallest mountain in Armenia.
And it was an insane moment for me.
-Many of the younger-generation Armenians who grew up in L.A., they actually never been to Armenia itself.
They really grew up with this idea that was told to them by their grandparents or their parents, but more than ever, they started to go back to Armenia, back to their roots.
-I grew up in an Egyptian-Armenian household.
My dad was, uh, Armenian from Jerusalem.
And I was like, "Yeah, this is Armenian."
And then I come to realize that most of the stuff actually wasn't Armenian.
-Yeah, yeah.
-And I didn't find that out until I went to Armenia for the first time.
-Mm.
You're an L.A. kid, right?
-Yeah, born and raised.
-Yeah.
And then you're, like -- you're flying into Armenia.
Was it a little bit of a culture shock for you?
-You know what?
It's kind of crazy.
I was told the first time you go to Armenia, you get this -- you get this feeling, the sense of being home, you know?
And I was like, "There's no way."
But honestly, the first time I stepped foot, I got that feeling.
Going through Armenia started getting me to question, like, what actually was Armenian cuisine, what Armenians in Armenia were eating constantly.
And what we found was nothing short of amazing.
-You were diving into, like, old-school Armenia.
You're on -- almost on this, like, journey on finding out what is the O.G.
sort of Armenian cuisine.
That takes time.
That's, like, almost historical work, right?
-Exactly.
-Khash has to start at 6:00 in the morning, and goes all day with a lot of food, but even more drinking.
And I'm talking shots.
-Normally, we would be pounding 20 to 25 shots by 10:00 or 11:00.
-20 to 25 shots?!
-Yeah.
-Good to see you.
-In the morning.
-Nice.
-To the goodness of the light and all of us here together.
Cheers.
-Cheers.
-Cheers.
Genats.
-Genats.
How do you guys keep Armenia alive right here?
-I think in L.A., it's not that difficult.
[ Laughter ] -It's almost that there are more Armenians in Glendale than there are in Armenia.
-Yeah.
-You know, there's a little, uh, area in Armenia called Glendale Hills.
-Oh, no!
-There's a big population of Armenians in Glendale, Arizona, too, and I feel like people just got the wrong memo.
-They landed.
"We're in Glendale."
They're like, "No, you -- you missed it by a couple."
They're gonna annex Glendale.
-Yeah.
Absolutely.
-All right, you guys ready?
-Yeah.
-With khash, you're kind of seasoning it to your own palate and enjoyment.
You know, to each his own, right?
-Yeah.
-You add a little bit of garlic, salt, we do Aleppo pepper.
They don't really do Aleppo pepper.
I do a little bit of lemon juice, as well.
-Yeah.
Definitely.
I mean, the garlic.
-Yeah.
-Yeah, yeah.
There you go.
You crack in the lavash.
-Yeah.
What a fun way of eating.
-This is probably one of the most perennial and ancient dishes.
-You can find a reference to khash in a 12th-century medical encyclopedia.
This comes way before the genocide and the official diaspora.
This being something that the Armenian people have looked to for comfort, for healing, whether it's to cure your hangover -- mind you, some Armenian men swear by khash.
Of course, they drink throughout.
-I think we need to -- we're overdue for a toast.
Cheers?
-Cheers.
I traveled to Armenia recently, and manta, which I thought was a very, very traditional Armenian dish -- it's, like, little dumplings with meat in it -- I grew up knowing that as Armenian.
I went there, and I taught a class, I was like, "We're gonna make manta."
And five of the students were like, "What's manta?"
-"What's that?"
-And I was like, "What's -- Where am I?"
-But, see, I had the exact opposite experience.
I was born in Armenia, moved here when I was 10 right after the Soviet Union collapsed, and what I associated as Armenian food was so different from what L.A. presented as Armenian food, because L.A. is so special in that you have Armenians from all over the world.
-And so it was my first time having manta, and I was like, "What is this?"
-So you're getting, like, United States of Armenia.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Exactly.
-Exactly.
And I think what makes L.A. so special is that -- that you have this global Armenian stage to have all kinds of Armenian experiences.
-Would you say that L.A.'s home now?
-Well, home will always be Armenia.
Once you step foot there, you understand that, you get that feeling.
I'm a born-and-raised L.A. guy.
I love L.A. L.A. is home.
But Armenia is where I'm from.
-Yeah.
-You know?
And you're never -- that's never gonna depart.
-Yeah.
-It's amazing.
-Toast is to the hands of the master that prepared this lovely khash.
-G enats.
-There's a very old saying that when you eat the fruit, do not forget who planted the tree.
-Genats.
-So to all our ancestors, toasting the timeless, eternal tradition of Armenia.
-Cheers.
-Genats.
-Genats.
♪♪ ♪♪ -For my last night in L.A., I'm back in Glendale.
♪♪ So, I'm in front of this kind of random flower shop, and then I knock on the door... and I get invited into this other world, like, filled with art, food, fashion.
-Marcus.
-What's up, man?
How are you?
-What's up?
-Good to see you.
-Welcome.
-It almost looks like a Hollywood set in a way, right?
You go from room to room.
They're creative, all gathering, all Armenian, and just enjoying life together.
-My mother, Mary Kay.
-I'm Marcus.
So nice.
-Hi, hi, hi.
-This -- I love this space.
-Yeah, welcome to our spot.
-Where's the flower shop?
-You're in the flower shop.
♪♪ My partner, Chef S.T.
-How are you?
-Great.
Great to have you here.
-Boys, I want to introduce you to my friend.
-Oh, now, this is the stuff, right?
Nice.
And we got a little tartare over here?
-Yeah.
This is, like, a classic chi kofte.
Uh, Chef, what do we do with this?
-It's, like, our version of a steak tartare.
-Yeah.
Nice.
Some quail eggs?
-Yeah.
-Cool.
And that come to Armenia through Lebanon, you think?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
-What else are we making here?
-We're making octopus shawarma.
-Octopus shawarma?
There you go.
-So I sous-vide it for five hours so it's not too silky, but it holds.
-And then we're just gonna quick-char these, then, to get some char on them, some flavor on them.
-Yes.
Some crisp.
-Nice.
That's the duck?
-Correct.
-The duck lule?
-Yep.
-It looks nice.
-So, I think we adopted this from Iran.
And then what we ended up doing is going French and incorporating, um, like, the duck meat and the duck fat.
-Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, you guys are smart.
You know the fat content with the duck is a better fit maybe.
You know what I mean?
-But your heritage is from Cyprus, right?
-My grandfather went to Cyprus and married a Cypriot.
-Yeah.
-So I'm a quarter Cypriot.
-Okay.
-And then he did -- he d-- he did what Armenians do and stole her and took her to Armenia.
-Yeah.
And took her back, okay.
One of the things that I think Armenians do really well, you guys have this old, old culture that's kind of like, "Yes, it's Armenia."
-Uh-huh.
-But this feels, also, very young and forward-thinking, right?
-Yeah, yeah.
-And so this is borderline graffiti.
This is house music.
It's all young expressionists, right?
-How did that come about?
-We're still being Armenian, but the Armenian of now is an Armenian that's left from Armenia, gone to Lebanon, visited cousins in France, came to America, figured it out, and now here we are.
We've been pretty much, like, running, you know?
And we never stayed somewhere long enough to be able to go from catching up to thriving.
So, like, we've been in American for like 45 years now.
-So, like, now we're kind of, like, pioneering stuff, you know?
-Yeah.
Cool.
♪♪ -Marcus, so, you spent, like, the last couple days with some, like, other people, right?
-Beautiful.
I've seen so much of the culture.
And I know it's -- just in a week you can't see everything, but you feel the pride, you feel, like, the hustle, how hard people are working.
Everyone is so patriotic about the place.
Uh, even if the kids haven't even been there, they still have this very clear sense of, uh, place, "I belong to this culture."
-Cheers.
Welcome to the family, man.
-Really nice.
Thank you.
-You're Armenian now.
-I love the duck lule.
♪♪ -Although Michael Kay and S.T.
are two young Armenian boundary pushers, really, the core meaning of the party is to bring young Armenian culture together to learn about the traditions from the old country and from what the parents gave them.
-Chef S.T.
and I have kind of found a way of creating modern renditions of the food from our past.
So I want to, um, propose a toast to my parents.
You know, we're that new Armenian generation, um, of people that, like, have the luxuries that we have in America, because they're the ones who really sacrificed.
So cheers, Mom and Dad, and to each and every one of your parents, cheers, okay?
-Nice.
Thank you.
[ All cheering ] -Thank you.
Food is definitely the way that Armenians keep telling their stories, right?
They've preserved it and today are telling a modern story, and the final chapter is not written yet.
It's an evolving story.
Okay, so, I just want to say, um, thank you so much to Michael and Michael's parents for inviting us, and to all the chefs that worked really, really hard.
This is an amazing space for me to learn about Glendale's Armenian culture.
So to that I want to say... [ Speaking Armenian ] -[ Laughs ] -Yes!
-Nice.
Nice.
So, Armenians, they've been pushed around all over the world, but yet they come back together here in Los Angeles and created their own world, their own culture, and now the Armenian community has finally found permanent residence.
♪♪ -Next time on "No Passport Required"... -Philadelphia's the second-largest Italian community outside of New York.
-This is where my grandparents came when they emigrated over from Italy.
-The culture's built around food.
-Dishes that we all had -- mozzarella, pasta -- we're making it from scratch.
-Each generation passed on values to the next generation.
-Really old school, traditional cooking.
That smells delicious.
-Salute.
-Here's to 120 years.
-Hey, if I get to half of that, I'll -- I'll take it.
I'll take it.
-Salute.
-To order "No Passport Required" on DVD, visit Shop PBS or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
This program is also available on Amazon Prime Video.
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Official Website
Take a virtual tour of cities across the U.S. to discover the wide-ranging diversity of immigrant traditions and cuisine. Get recipes and learn more about the faces and places from Marcus' journey.
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