Borakê Panêr: The Kurdish Cheese-and-Herb Pastry Made by Hand

Jamal Latif
May 29
5 min read

Borakê Panêr: The Kurdish Cheese-and-Herb Pastry Made by Hand

Borakê panêr is a Kurdish pastry filled with salted cottage cheese (panêrê kurdî) and wild herbs, wrapped in handmade dough, and baked or pan-fried until golden and crisp. It is not the same as kürt böreği — the fillingless butter pastry from Istanbul documented earlier in this series. Borakê panêr is the filled pastry of Kurdistan itself: cheese from Kurdish flocks, herbs from Kurdish mountains, dough from Kurdish hands. The word “borek” appears across Turkish, Balkan, and Arab cuisines. The Kurdish version is defined by two things that are uniquely Kurdish: the cheese and the herbs. The cheese is panêrê kurdî — Kurdish cottage cheese traditionally made from raw sheep’s milk, salted, and sometimes ripened in goat-skin bags. The herbs are the same wild mountain greens documented in kelane and çiriş: foraged, seasonal, specific to the Kurdish landscape. Together, they produce a pastry that is salty, herbal, and deeply regional — a borek that could not have been made anywhere except Kurdistan.

Key Takeaways

• Handmade pastry filled with salted Kurdish cottage cheese and wild mountain herbs

• Distinct from kürt böreği (Istanbul’s fillingless butter pastry) — this is the filled borek of Kurdistan

• Defined by uniquely Kurdish ingredients: panêrê kurdî (sheep’s milk cheese) and foraged wild herbs

• Differentiates Kurdish borek from Turkish/Balkan categories — the filling is the landscape

Quick Facts

Kurdish Name: Borakê Panêr (بۆرەکێ پەنێر) — cheese borek

Filling: Panêrê kurdî (Kurdish cottage cheese from raw sheep’s milk) + foraged wild mountain herbs

Dough: Handmade flour dough — not commercial phyllo. Rolled thin by hand.

Not to Be Confused With: Kürt böreği (fillingless butter pastry from Istanbul, banned by name in the 1960s)

Traditional Preparation

A simple dough of flour, water, a little oil, and salt is kneaded until smooth and rested. Meanwhile, the filling is prepared: panêrê kurdî (Kurdish cottage cheese) is crumbled and mixed with chopped wild herbs — the same herbs used in kelane and gathered from mountain meadows in spring. Common herbs include wild chives, dill, pichak (a mountain green), and kinval. A pinch of salt and sometimes nigella seeds are mixed in. The dough is divided into balls and each ball is rolled thin. The cheese-herb mixture is placed in the centre, the edges folded over to form a half-moon or rectangular parcel, and the seams pinched shut. The borek is either baked on a saji (convex iron griddle), baked in a tanûr, or pan-fried in butter in a flat pan until both sides are golden and crisp. The cheese melts and the herbs steam inside the sealed dough. The result is a pastry that crunches on the outside and releases a burst of salty, herbal, molten cheese on the inside.

Two Kurdish Böreks, Two Histories

This series has now documented two Kurdish börek traditions. Kürt böreği is a diaspora pastry: created by a Kurdish migrant from Bingöl in Istanbul in the 1800s, sold to Kurdish dock workers, banned by name in the 1960s by Istanbul’s governor, and renamed “ram pastry.” It is fillingless — layered butter dough dusted with powdered sugar. Borakê panêr is a homeland pastry: made in Kurdish kitchens from Kurdish cheese and Kurdish herbs, wrapped in handmade dough, and cooked on the same saji or tanûr that produces nanê sajî and kuki. Kürt böreği tells a story of migration and erasure. Borakê panêr tells a story of landscape and self-sufficiency. Together, they show that “Kurdish borek” is not one thing — it is two traditions, each shaped by different circumstances, and each carrying the name Kurdish in a different way.

The Kurdish Filled Pastry Family

Borakê panêr joins a family of Kurdish filled pastries documented across this series. Kuki: meat or vegetable filling in flour dough, baked in a tanûr. Kelane: herbs folded into flatbread dough, baked on a saji. Kulicha: date-walnut filling in cookie dough, baked in an oven. Şirin kaynana: sweet filling in fried pastry, served at weddings. And now borakê panêr: cheese-herb filling in rolled dough, baked or fried. The wrapper changes (thick dough, thin dough, cookie dough, fried dough). The filling changes (meat, herbs, dates, cheese). The cooking method changes (tanûr, saji, oven, pan). But the principle is the same: Kurdish cooking wraps what the landscape provides inside what the kitchen can make. The filling is the landscape. The dough is the kitchen. The dish is both.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is borakê panêr?

Borakê panêr is a Kurdish pastry filled with salted Kurdish cottage cheese (panêrê kurdî) and foraged wild herbs. The dough is handmade from flour, water, and oil, rolled thin, filled, sealed, and baked on a saji or pan-fried until golden. It is distinct from kürt böreği (Istanbul’s fillingless butter pastry) and from Turkish/Balkan boreks that use commercial phyllo.

How does borakê panêr differ from kürt böreği?

Kürt böreği is a fillingless, layered butter pastry created by a Kurdish migrant in Istanbul in the 1800s and banned by name in the 1960s. It is dusted with powdered sugar and has no filling. Borakê panêr is a filled pastry from Kurdistan itself: cheese and wild herbs wrapped in handmade dough. Kürt böreği is a diaspora story. Borakê panêr is a homeland story.

What is panêrê kurdî?

Panêrê kurdî means “Kurdish cheese.” It is a cottage cheese traditionally made from raw sheep’s milk, salted, and sometimes ripened in goat-skin bags. Kurdish cheese-making is part of the broader dairy tradition documented across this series (mast, torak, motal, jajî, lorik). The cheese provides the salty, tangy base that the wild herbs brighten in borakê panêr.

Conclusion

Borakê panêr is the sixty-ninth article in this series, and it closes a loop opened by article two. Kürt böreği was the diaspora börek: named after a people, sold in a foreign city, banned by a governor. Borakê panêr is the homeland börek: made from cheese that came from Kurdish flocks and herbs that grew on Kurdish mountains, wrapped in dough rolled by Kurdish hands. One is a story of what happens when Kurdish food leaves Kurdistan. The other is a story of what Kurdish food is when it stays home. Sixty-nine articles in, this series has documented both journeys. The filling is the landscape. The dough is the kitchen. And the name — borakê panêr, not “cheese borek” — is Kurdish.