Hasmik Zarineh Oganyan was born in Artaskh, a rural region of eastern Armenia. She grew up on a village and lived the traditional village life, meaning everything was homegrown and homemade. Even as a young girl, Zarineh was expected to contribute her fair share to the household chores. The number and size of her responsibilities only grew as Zarineh grew up, and eventually she, with the help of h
er husband, took over the family traditions. Thereafter, Zarineh and her husband started their own family and continued to reside on the village until the turn of the millennium, when they moved to America, and they now live in Surprise, Arizona. While they may have left behind the village, they did not leave behind their cultural customs and traditions or their hard work ethic. To this day, Zarineh makes her own bread, cheese, wine, and—of course—delicious desserts, and everything she makes, she makes from scratch. She is able to endure the long hours that these homemaking processes demand because she loves what she does and believes that, “Whatever you do with love, you don’t have the tiredness." So Zarineh’s reveal of her secret ingredient comes as no surprise: it’s love (with a dash of sugar!).
