By Azatouhie Khachatryan

Spud lovers descended on a strip of land between the villages of Saroukhan and Karmir to taste the “Kyavara Potato”, grilled in the smoldering ashes of local barn waste.

The colorful stalls and smoke rising from the fireplaces served as a visible marker for those travelling to the site named Tzaghkavank.

This is the third year that the Kyavara Potato, now being marketed in Armenia, has been promoted to the public at the Metz Pour Festival (Big Oven).

The festival, the brainchild of local residents, is organized with the support of World Vision Armenia (WVA). It aims to link consumers with farmers, and to display locally grown produce.

Astghik Hoveyan, coordinator of the WVA’s economic projects in Gegharkounik Province, told Hetq that potato farmers from the villages of Gandzak, Saroukhan and Karmir, in addition to 24 individual and group growers in the province, are participating this year. There’s also a stall manned by growers from Javakhk, Georgia.

Contests are held for the best foods in several categories. A potato mouraba (preserve) was selected the best item to be made from potatoes. Also on display were potato flour bread, potato vodka and cognac, and dried potato chips.

Vigen, a master potato griller, lets us in on his secret.

“You first have to light the dung, and then place the potatoes in the ash and cover them. Some guys place the potatoes in from the start. They burn this way,” he explains.

Last year, Vigen won first place for the largest potato grown – a whopping 1,680 grams.

Hoveyan says that the locally grown Kyavara potatoes will be sold at Yerevan’s Kasyan Street market starting on October 15.