“World Central Kitchen” helped Feed Artsakh refugees after Sept. 2023
Parts of the Nagorno-Karabakh region were seized by Azerbaijan in late September, forcing thousands of families to flee into Armenia. World Central Kitchen’s (WCK) Relief Team was on the ground working alongside local partners to serve hot meals to people who were impacted.
WCK’s culinary teams set up a Relief Kitchen in Yerevan where they cooked nearly 10,000 meals daily, while restaurant partners provided thousands more hot meals. Meanwhile, the Community Outreach Team scouted all eleven regions of the country to ensure no one in need of food was overlooked.
As our teams arrived in Armenia, they found roads clogged with thousands of cars fleeing for safety. Many families packed as many of their possessions as they could fit; there was a painful sense that they might never be able to return to their homes.
WCK has strong culinary partnerships in Armenia, which helped provide warm meals, sandwiches, and water to families as soon as they crossed the border into the country. Chef Corps member Aline Kamakian and volunteers from the Armenian General Benevolent Union began serving meals to families in Yerevan as the Relief Team made its way to the country. They worked alongside Chef Aline in 2020 when she supported WCK’s work in Lebanon following the Beirut explosion that devastated the city.
Aline is a writer and Lebanese Armenian culinary ambassador who is a member of WCK’s Chef Corps. She was on the open ground in Armenia ahead of WCK and helped guide the work in the country. Despite sustaining injuries as a result of the massive explosion that rocked Beirut in early August 2020. Aline and her team worked alongside WCK to cook thousands of meals for families impacted by the disaster.
Lavash is traditional Armenian bread that we served with many of our hot meals. Making proper lavash requires skill, coordination, and experience. First, you roll out the dough into thin layers. Then, it is stretched over an oval cushion before being slapped onto the walls of a clay oven. After, the lavash is pulled from oven wall and lies flat to cool before being folded.
