An exclusive interview from Yerevan to New York. Baker Ben about lavash and his wish to visit Armenia

I baked my first focaccia bread after I watched a video I on Instagram. Charismatic Ben taught me how to bake an Italian bread step by step, and when it was ready, I shouted “YASSS” with the same enthusiasm as he did. A few days ago, when it was raining in New York and sunny in Yerevan, baker Ben introduced me to the magical world of bread. We talked about my favorite Armenian lavash and his plans to visit Armenia in near future.

– When did the passion of baking bread begin?

– I’ve been working in Israel for 3 years as a cook for the most known chefs in Israel. I started with no background, I just said; hey guys, I don’t know anything about food, literally I was a very picky eater, just fried chicken and pasta with tomato sauce, I just asked them if I could come and learn and that was an amazing experience, it worked for both sides. After working there for 3 years, never having experienced baking, I moved to Italy to study gastronomy at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. After my first year my dad called me, he started baking at home, and he fell in love with that, and he told me: look, you have to try it, it’s an amazing practice, super meditating, and you should just try. And I made it for the first time, I’m kinda a perfectionist, you know, I’m always trying to do the best, and I made bread, and bread, honestly, one of the most simple foods around the world. It’s a flour, water, salt, yeast, you mix it together and it’s getting into bread. But to make actual amazing bread, I was very challenged and passionate about it and it all started 3 years ago, as I said and since that I never stopped baking.

– Are you thinking about opening your own bakery?

– Absolutely. Now I’m focused on what’s going on social media, very overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Many plans I have, it’s just about time, to build a team around me, to help to move forward. Now I’m working alone, but I would love to get a team to make more projects.

– When you first did that famous “YASSS” exclamation, did you think it would become so popular?

– Absolutely not. I started uploading videos in that format a few months ago. At first I just wanted to make it mine, not just showing how to make it, it’s cool, but also giving a nice few minutes to express myself and who I am. And I remember that day I was thinking which ending to do, the Yas, or another thing, I tried many things, but honestly with “YASSS” I felt more confident. It just came up. People got very excited about this part of the video, you know, for me, as a baker, I see myself uploading and educating content. I try to educate people to bake bread, I’m teaching them. So for me, the value of the video was: ok, I give you a recipe, and you see how to make it, so, no, I discovered that most of the people are getting excited about me shouting at the beginning and at the end the “YASSS”, that the “YASSS” became my logo.

– What do you know about Armenian breads?

– I honestly don’t know from my personal experience. I know lavash and I know that you’re making lavash in a specific kind of oven, in a hole, and you’re touching the wall. I know it very well and it’s an amazing bread. I’m trying to bake bread that is easy for people to make at home. So, for example, this week the canelé that I made, the original recipe is very very expensive. And then I found the cheaper recipe, the reason is I want people to try it. So I can’t show people how to make lavash at home. It’s not the same.

– What is your favorite bread to bake and which one is your favorite to eat?

– Sourdough bread is one kind of bread, it’s not just bread, it’s a philosophy and the process is very slow, it’s taking a few hours, even a few days. It’s a very meditative process. It’s all about the observation of the dough, understanding what step it is now, and taking actions. It is a fascinating process, I feel like khala or pita is one of my favorite breads to eat absolutely, it’s very fun to make them, to shape them, but it takes 3 hours, it’s very quick for me. Sourdough is an emotional process.

– My apologies, this question may seem inappropriate, but for me it’s really interesting. Is baking beneficial financially there in New York? Because it’s not in Armenia.

– Armenia is still in the second wave of the development of bread. In the food world now there are three waves of how food develops in popularity Let’s take coffee as an example. Coffee in the early stage was a luxury, that was the first wave. The second wave is when it becomes popular and accessible for everyone, not special, but if you want to get a coffee you get it from everywhere for a little money. The third wave of the coffee is now, when people started to talk of the origin of the coffee. To talk about the origin of the coffee wasn’t a thing like ten years ago, no one really cares what the origin of the coffee is. Same happened to bread. At the beginning bread was something that was only in bakeries. Then it became something you can get everywhere in every form, and then it’s about health, natural processes. I feel that in Armenia you’re in a second wave. While here in New York, look, if you’re making bread that you can find everywhere, cheap bread, you might not get much money, or you’ll get more clients, so you will. Yes, I can say that bread is a good financial job. Because at the end of the day, I guess my wife said that, whoever knows how to bake, his family will never starve.

– What is the next country you would want to visit to explore local breads?

– Absolutely Armenia.

– Oh, I’m so happy about that.

– Absolutely Armenia. It’s on the list. I traveled to Georgia years ago with a friend of mine discovering the local cuisine. I would love to do the same with my wife in Armenia. Besides that I would love to go to Mexico, I have never been, it’s an amazing culinary country and Morocco in the near future.