Kurdish History Journal
Articles filed under Kurdish Art and Culture.
Savar, also written sawar, is a Kurdish name for bulgur: wheat cooked, dried and broken into grains of different sizes. It belongs to household food preparation, regional pilafs and shared meals, with methods and names varying between communities.
Read article →Çorti aşı turns preserved cabbage into a hot dish with meat and wheat. Muş registration records, Bitlis recipes and household interviews document both the shared ingredients and regional differences.
Read article →Keşke is a Kurdish sour-yogurt bulgur porridge served with melted butter. It shares its name with “keşkek,” a Turkish dish on the UNESCO heritage list since 2011 — but the Kurdish everyday version is invisible.
Read article →Kepari are Kurdish wild caperberries pickled in vinegar. Kurdish foraging is endangered by Turkish airstrikes and political instability. The pickle in the jar is evidence someone climbed a mountain and came home alive.
Read article →Kengerli Pilaf is a Kurdish spring dish of rice with wild kenger (Gundelia) shoots. The plant is facing extinction in Kurdistan from overharvesting. A dish that may not survive.
Read article →Kaymak belongs to Kurdish breakfast culture and a wider family of milk creams. Local reporting, a food writer’s account and dairy research show why buffalo, cow, sheep and goat milk need to be discussed separately.
Read article →Nanê Hewramî, also written nani Hawrami, is a thin Kurdish flatbread associated with Hawraman and baked commercially beyond the mountain villages. Field accounts describe skilled hand-stretching, hot metal griddles and women’s bakeries. Its living history connects local tools, household income and regional trade; UNESCO’s landscape inscription does not establish the date of the bread’s invention.
Read article →Nokaw is documented in Kurdish home cooking as a chickpea soup or stew, including chicken and plant-based versions. Named cooks show how onions, spices, broth and serving choices vary between kitchens.
Read article →Şorba nîsk, sorba niska and niskene appear in accounts of Kurdish lentil soup. Published family recipes range from a simple red-lentil bowl to substantial mixtures with rice, potatoes and other pulses. The cooks and circumstances behind them explain this variety.
Read article →Shla, also written shila or şilah, and maraga occur in accounts of Kurdish meals built around rice and a saucy accompaniment. Family recipes make this food tangible: beans simmered with tomato, versions with lamb, and different choices of onion, garlic and seasoning.
Read article →Muhallebi is a family of milk puddings with many regional names and recipes. This guide pairs a rose-and-cardamom variation with historical evidence, clear cooking quantities and practical texture advice.
Read article →Borakê Panêr is a Kurdish cheese-and-herb pastry made with Kurdish cottage cheese and wild mountain herbs. Distinct from kürt böreği — this is the homeland börek of Kurdistan.
Read article →Birinc bi Maş is Kurdish rice with mung beans — a rustic one-pot home dish. Labelled “Persian maash polow” internationally, the Kurdish name is invisible. The cheapest dinner that still feeds a family.
Read article →Nan-e shekari (نان شکری) is a sugar-topped sweet sold among Kermanshah’s food souvenirs. Bakery accounts document flour, fat, sugar, egg yolks and cardamom, with variations in texture and decoration. Its place in Kurdish regional food culture is best understood through actual workshops and markets rather than an unsupported story of exclusive invention.
Read article →Ayran aşı names more than one yogurt-and-grain soup. A chilled wheat-and-chickpea preparation differs from the hot Van version; Kurdish accounts of mastaw and churned dairy products add context without making every name interchangeable.
Read article →Nanê sajî is Kurdish flatbread cooked on a metal saj. Family testimony, regional food research and Kurdish Jewish memories document the tools, handling, ingredients and occasions that give griddle baking its varied forms.
Read article →Liver Taplama is Kurdish wedding food from Bitlis — lamb liver ground with bulgur, shaped into patties with a thumb-pressed centre, boiled and sauced. Relabelled “ancient Anatolian” by Turkish media.
Read article →Gilûl, also recorded as gulol, gulul and gilol, combines yogurt and grain with a rich butter accompaniment. Hakkâri recipes, a remembered village supper and recent field research show several ways of preparing and sharing it.
Read article →Ecîn is the Kurdish raw meat-and-bulgur dish the world calls çiğ köfte. Its Aramaic name Acin predates Turkish. Its soul ingredient isot is a Kurdish pepper from Riha.
Read article →A raisin-water preparation can be understood through Kurdish fruit traditions and the wider region’s juice and compote cultures. Reporting from Chwarta and Baghdad provides a documented connection, alongside a simple home version with optional cardamom.
Read article →Xoşav belongs to a wider family of fruit compotes also known by related names such as hoşaf. Kurdish culinary usage, regional recipe records and a simple apricot-and-raisin preparation show a dish with several forms and serving customs.
Read article →Kuki appears in published lists of Kurdish foods. Named recipes for kalaneh and kadeh show why the filling, dough and cooking method need their own description.
Read article →Birinca sor is Kurdish tomato rice. Published recipes show how onion, tomato and measured liquid flavour the grains, with variations in seasoning, cooking and serving.
Read article →Erbil and the surrounding Kurdish regions have rich traditions of grain cultivation and communal cooking. Local reporting helps distinguish documented dishes and methods from unsupported claims attached to the name chichma.
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