AVC Multimedia e-Book Series eBook#4: Vayots Dzor | Page 65

Lavash dough balls (Photo by Sossi Madzounian, My Armenia Program, Smithsonian Institution and USAID)

Some of Armenia’s myths are related to preparing the lavash. Many of Vayots Dzor’s residents believe in the mystical and healing properties of lavash. One belief is tied to the final stage of lavash production. When lavash is pulled out of the tonir, it must be placed on the ground with its “right” side up, the side not stuck to the tonir.

If this placement strategy is not followed, the older women in the baking crew immediately start slapping their knees and demanding that the positioning of the lavash be fixed in order to not bring bad luck upon the family of the tonir tender.

Woman using a white baking pillow (Photo by Sossi Madzounian, My Armenia Program, Smithsonian Institution and USAID)

Lavash also plays an important role in ceremonies, including weddings, where ribbon-decorated lavash is placed on the shoulders of the bride and groom in order to ensure the welfare of the new family.

In Rind, villagers use the leftover flour from lavash baking to reveal the genderof a baby. The leftover flour is made into two dough balls, which the pregnant woman must pass through her clothes and throw into the tonir. If the dough explodes, the future child will be a girl, and if the dough takes longer to open, the child will be a boy.

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