Kurdish cuisine (Kurdish: خواردنی کوردی or Xwarina Kurdî) consists of a wide variety of foods prepared by the Kurdish people. There are cultural similarities of Kurds and their immediate neighbours in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Armenia. Kurdish food is typical of western Asian cuisine.

Culinary customs[edit]

Traditional Kurdish food
Traditional Kurdish food

The Kurdish diet includes a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Lamb and chicken are the primary meats. Breakfast is typically flat bread, cheese, honey, sheep or cow yogurt, and a glass of black tea. For lunch, lamb and vegetables are simmered in a tomato sauce to make a stew usually served with rice and savory dishes are usually served with rice or flat bread (Naan). Kurdistan has a climate and soil suited to grapes, pomegranates, figs, and walnuts. Kurdish honey has a clear light taste and is often sold with the honeycomb. Kurdistan also produces dairy products from sheep and cow milk. Kurds make many types of Kifte and ''Kutilk'', dumplings filled with meat.

Kurdish kulere served with yogurt and Kurdish cheese

Kurdish cuisine makes abundant use of fresh herbs and spices.[1]

Traditional Kurdish bread, a crusty white loaf that is baked on a round hot iron, Hawraman

Sweetened black tea is a very common drink, along with bitter strong coffee. Another favourite Kurdish drink is "Mastaw" (Sorani) or "Ava Mast", which is yogurt and salt mixed with water. The fermented version of this is called "Do" (Doogh).[2] Both beverages are often served with the addition of dill, mint, pennyroyal or seeds from the Pistacia Kurdica tree.

Staples of Kurdish cuisine are Berbesel, Biryanî, Dokliw, Kelane, Kulerenaske, Kube, Parêv Tobûlî, Kuki (meat or vegetable pies), Birinç (white rice alone or with meat or vegetables and herbs), and a variety of salads, pastries, and drinks specific to different parts of Kurdistan. Other popular dishes are Makluba, kofta, shifta, shilah/maraga, spinach with eggs, wheat & lentil soup, beet & meat soup, sweet turnip, cardamon cookies, burgul pilaf, mehîr, hûr û rûvî, pel (yaprakh), chichma this dish is common in Erbil (Hewlêr), tefti, niskene and nane niskan.[3]

savarr, a traditional dish among Kurdish farmers, is made of wheat grain that is boiled, sun dried and pounded in a mortar (curn) to get rid of the husk. The wheat is then crushed in a mill (destarr). The resulting grain food can be boiled and served.[4]

Baklawa (Baklava)

Tepsî is a dish of aubergines, green peppers, courgettes and potatoes in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. Teşrîb consists of layers of naan in a sauce of green pepper, tomato, onions and chillies.[5] A typical Kurdish breakfast consists of cheese, butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, reçel/rîçol (jam/marmalade; a preserve of whole fruits) and honey usually consumed on top of kaymak/qeymax. Sausage, baked goods and even soups can be taken as a morning meal in Kurdistan. Perhaps more so than traditional breads such as pide, a crusty white loaf is widely consumed. A common Kurdish speciality for breakfast is called menemen, which is prepared with roasted tomatoes, peppers, olive oil and eggs. Invariably, black tea is served at breakfast.

Kurdish yogurt

Dishes and foods[edit]

Dairy products

In Kurdistan, yoghurt is called mast,[6] and is considered the most popular fermented dairy product. It is produced from cow milk or a mixture of sheep and goat milk using the traditional method. Dairy products comprise a large portion of traditional Kurdish food.

Keşk known as Kashk is a fermented and strained sour yogurt that can be consumed on its own as a cheese, or used as an ingredient in soups.

A traditional Kurdish dish[edit]

Parda plaw dish
Kurdish beans soup

parda plaw is the traditional Kurdish dish, found in 18th ceuntry in the kurdish city of Sine (Sanandaj), The dish consists of Kurdish-way seasoned Chiken Biryanî-plaw with Carrot, Raisins,and bazalia in it that is inside of a special dough that seasoned with salt some pepper and sugar. after that the dish will be put in the oven or a Deck Oven after it cooked it will be served with Kurdish Beans soup and Kurdish Mastaw.

Kurdish Mastaw

Some kurdish dishes[edit]

Cheeses

The Kurds produce many varieties of cheese, mostly from sheep's milk. Kurdish cheese has been traditionally prepared from raw milk and it is ripened in goat's skin bags.

Soups and ash

Bread

Kurdish kelane

In Kurdistan, bread can be found in various forms. Their ingredients differ as well as their shapes, densities, and textures.[7]

Kurdish nan

Pilav and pasta

Pastries

Vegetarian dishes

Vegetable dishes

Kebabs

Egg dishes

Meze and salads

Stuffed vegetables

Stuffed vegetables are widely known as Pelpêç (Sarma) or Pel (Dolma) [8] in Kurdish regions. It is slowly simmered and they fill the house with an irresistible scent of fresh herbs, aromatics, and tangy lemons.[9]

Meat dishes

As nomads and herders, lamb and chicken have been the main dishes of Kurdish cuisine for centuries.[11][12]

Fish

Desserts

Non-alcoholic beverages

Holiday celebrations[edit]

See also: Newroz as celebrated by Kurds

During the festival of Newroz, Kurds enjoy picnics in the countryside, eating traditional food, often with dolma, and danceing the traditional Kurdish dance called Halperke.

Kurdish people also enjoy Eid food such as chicken, rice, dolma, and biryani.

Related cuisines[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kurdistan's cuisine". Krg.org. 2010-06-27. Archived from the original on 2014-10-19. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  2. ^ "Kurdistan's cuisine". Krg.org. 2010-06-27. Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  3. ^ "Middle East". Web.archive.org. 2008-02-01. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  4. ^ "The food that launched civilization". saradistribution.com. 2012-05-05. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  5. ^ "Iraqi Kurdish, Life Style". London: Guardian.co.uk. 2007-04-07. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  6. ^ "Kurdish-English dictionary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Culture Tuesday: an Exploration of Kurdish Cuisine". 21 January 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Kurdische Spezialität". 6 December 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Vegan Kurdish Aprax / Dolma (Stuffed Vegetables with Herbed Aromatic Rice)". 19 March 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Kurdische Spezialität". 6 December 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  11. ^ "cooking my roots". Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Kurdish Food". Retrieved 28 July 2021.

Parda plaw Kurdish beans soup history of parda plaw [www.prasadrasal.blogspot.com Kurdish mastaw]

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]