“Sou Barag” is an Armenian dish by many names in many places: Sou Boereg, Sou Boreg, Sou Boeregi, Sou Burek and Sou Barag to name but a few. However, the many variations in the preparation of this dish is due in part to the travels of the Armenian diaspora and in part to the availability of ingredients.
Armenian is considered — I am told — to not be a highly spiced cuisine; something , I am sure, my Swedish father-in-law would have approved. However, this is not to say it isn’t wonderful or flavorful. The real challenge is to find a guide to how to make Armenian food without all of the substitutions and shortcuts found in so many recipes today. It is hard to talk to someone knowledgeable who doesn’t starts the conversation by saying,” this takes a lot of work… so this is what I do…” For example, the dough layers are made with egg, flour and a water mixture that is ‘paper thin’ and somewhere between a lasagna noodle and filo dough. Many recipes call for one or the other, but mostly Filo.
There is some agreement on what constitutes the cheese layer. This contains a mixture of egg, cheese and parsley. I am sure there is an inclusion of some seasonings; salt, pepper and garlic at least. This would be my choice.
This recipe as it stands today is a bow to vegetarians everywhere; however, I suspect that the original recipes had a meat and tomato sauce layer ( Tomatoes came to Armenia late in the game). And although pork was a well used meat in austere Soviet Armenia, I suspect that lamb is preferred being widely used today and historically in and around Armenia. As with South African “Bobotie”, I think a blend of pork and lamb would be a nice change of pace with some of the commonly used Armenian spices, including Basil.
I still have a few questions on this dish… but it is coming along!
Roger