Kurdish cuisine

Kurdish cuisine[a] consists of a wide variety of foods prepared by the Kurdish people. There are culinary and cultural similarities of Kurds and their immediate neighbours in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

Culinary customs

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

Sweetened black tea is a very common drink, along with bitter strong coffee. Another favourite Kurdish drink is Mastaw (ماستاو) or Ava Mast, which is yogurt and salt mixed with water. The fermented version of this is called Dô (Doogh).[2]

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

Sawar (ساوەر), 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]

Tepsî (تەپسی) is a dish of aubergines, green peppers, courgettes and potatoes in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. Teşrîb (تشریب) consists of layers of naan in a sauce of green pepper, tomato, onions and chillies.[5]

Dishes and foods

Dairy products

Yoghurt, or mast, as it is called in Kurdish,[6] is considered the most popular fermented dairy product in Kurdistan.

Rice dishes

  • Perde pelav
  • Biryanî
  • Birinca sor (red rice)
  • Birinc bi maş (mung beans and rice)

Stews

Bread

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

Stuffed vegetables

Stuffed vegetables are widely known as pelpêç or îprax (sarma) or pel (dolma) [8] in Kurdish regions.

  • Pel (dolma)
  • Pelpêç[8] or îprax (yaprak or sarma)

Meat

As nomads and herders, lamb and chicken have been the main dishes of Kurdish cuisine for centuries.[9] Dishes with meat involved include:

  • Kutilk, also used in the following stews:
    • Tirşik
    • Kutildewk
    • Avşirînk
  • Putête çap
  • Kebab
  • Qelî, Kurdish stir-fry
  • Meqlûbî
  • Skewered meat (i.e. chicken, mutton, beef, etc.)

Dessert

  • Gilûl, cooked yoghurt and rice topped with a layer of date molasses
  • Xebîse, brown cookies unique to the city of Amedi
  • Kade, ceremonial cookies usually with a date, walnut, or coconut filling
  • Arxavk, a paste made from flour and water which can be done savory or sweet
    • Kurds also use arxavk as a kade filling
  • Apple salad (chopped apples in mayonnaise) is a popular appetizer in Kurdish cuisine
  • Peqlave

Non-alcoholic beverages

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sorani Kurdish: چێشتی کوردی, romanized: çêştî Kurdî; Kurmanji Kurdish: پێژگەها کوردی, romanized: pêjgeha Kurdî

References

  1. ^ "Kurdistan's cuisine". Krg.org. 2010-06-27. Archived from the original on 2014-10-19. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  2. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "Kurdische Spezialität". 6 December 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Kurdish Food". Retrieved 28 July 2021.

Bibliography

  • Barzinji, Ala, Traditional Kurdish Food: An insight into Kurdish culinary heritage, 2015, ISBN 1784624144.
  • Sinjari, Emel, The Kurdish Cookbook, 2016, ASIN B01LZ0DZ5I.
  • Zebari, Chiman, My Life, My Food, My Kurdistan, 2015, ASIN B0793Q93R8.
  • Nikolovski, Goce, Taste of Kurdish Cuisine: Part 1, 2016, ASIN B01LXXAEUQ.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kurdish cuisine.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.