I was recently contacted by a reader (which I love by the
way – via link at right) commenting on one of my Armenian recipes, and we
started chatting back and forth via email. At some point, we got onto the topic of where we source our ingredients,
missing certain items when moving, etc. Debby commented that her brother-in-law does not do much by
way of cooking, and since he doesn't live close enough to enjoy the benefits of
her time spent in the kitchen, he came up with an emergency craving substitute for one of his favorites
- Cheese Bouregs. He tops Triscuits with
Muenster cheese, sprinkles the black seeds we use in Choreg and Simit (nigella sativa
/ black sesame in a pinch) over the top, and then nukes them for about 30
seconds until bubbly/melted.
Since I happened to be on my way out the door to the grocery
store, I naturally added Triscuits and Muenster cheese to my list. I have never had bouregs with seeds on them, so I didn't relate to it in that nostalgia sort of way, but it was a tasty snack. What it actually reminded me more of was
string cheese – not the mozzarella sticks you find by the cheddar and American
cheese, but the real string cheese they hide over by the fresh mozzarella. Nine out of ten times, that will be an Armenian string cheese (the other time you'll find Italian), seasoned with the black seeds and mahlab (also used to flavor Choreg). Now I'm wishing we had this conversation
before I made the Sujuk Pizza a while back and couldn't find the string cheese!
NOTE: Although their
version did not include tomato, because the commercials tell you to top
your cracker with three items, I was afraid the Triscuit Police might come
after me if I only used the Muenster and seeds, so I thin-sliced a few small
tomatoes and blotted some of the juice before topping some my crackers with those as well. Shhhh, don't tell the Triscuit Police, but I made them again since then and broke the cracker law by adding a fourth ingredient - sprinkling dill over the tomatoes. Yummm! I think dill is my favorite herb.
What's your favorite Triscuit topper??
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