Kurdish History Journal
Articles filed under Kurdish Art and Culture.
A firsthand account of a meal in Iraqi Kurdistan and Fadime Tiskaya’s savar recipe show how bulgur can accompany meat or become a vegetable dish with butter. The sources document specific cooks and meals.
Read article →Şexmahşî, also written Sheikh el Mahshi, brings meat-filled eggplant together with a tomato sauce or broth. Published Kurdish, Iraqi and Lebanese recipes show different ways of opening, stuffing and cooking the vegetables, with room for both stovetop and oven preparations.
Read article →Şekalok is a Kurdish lamb stew with spinach and dried apricots — savoury-sweet balance where the Kurdish sour tradition and Kurdish sweetness meet in one pot.
Read article →Sumac-soured stuffed cabbage is documented in regional cooking from Bitlis, Ahlat and Diyarbakır. The published recipes vary in grain, meat, herbs and other vegetables; they do not establish one fixed recipe under the name “Tirşıkli Dolma.”
Read article →Stuffed leaves and yogurt meet in several regional preparations. Malatya records document grain-filled rolls with cooked yogurt sauces, while recipes distinguish finishing in a sauce from pouring yogurt over a completed dish.
Read article →Meqlûbî, also written maqluba or makloubeh, brings rice and vegetables together in a pot that is turned onto a serving dish. Recipes from Iraqi Kurdistan sit within a wider tradition of Palestinian and Iraqi family cooking.
Read article →Green beans in tomato sauce belong to a wider repertoire of Kurdish rice-and-stew meals. Documented cooks use different ingredients; this guide explains those variations and offers a vegetarian adaptation without claiming one recipe for every Kurdish household.
Read article →Kaysefe is a Kurdish dried apricot dessert — sun-dried apricots rehydrated in butter and honey, topped with walnuts. Summer fruit preserved for winter, from the Zagros orchards.
Read article →Pelûl is a thickened grape preparation documented around Mardin. A producer’s account connects it to fruit leather and walnut strings, while regional food memories describe related puddings under other names.
Read article →Zalobiya is a Kurdish fried pastry carried from Kurdistan to Israel by Kurdish Jews. Prepared for Hanukkah, Purim, and Shavuot, it proves Kurdish food survives displacement.
Read article →Kurdish bakers’ accounts connect this layered pastry with Bilece and Istanbul’s working neighbourhoods. A historical newspaper clipping, a 1988 column and modern interviews show why its name matters—and what the evidence actually establishes.
Read article →Alka Aziz’s published taskababi combines lamb, onions, dried lime and cinnamon in a Kurdish winter stew adapted for a modern pot.
Read article →Tirşik is a Kurdish lamb and eggplant stew slow-cooked in pink sumac broth. Named from the Kurdish word for sour, it is the closest thing to a national dish for a people without a country.
Read article →Terxena is a Kurdish fermented herb preservation technique — spring greens shaped into disks, fermented, and sun-dried for winter stews. The most sophisticated food science in Kurdish mountain culture.
Read article →Gozbez is a Kurdish confection — wild mountain honey boiled with walnuts and cardamom, pressed into dense bars. The simplest expression of Kurdish mountain sweetness.
Read article →Flour halva appears in Kurdish family cooking and in the food traditions of neighboring communities. Named cooks document different fats, sweeteners and flavorings, while their family accounts connect the sweet with remembrance and everyday sharing.
Read article →Lorik is Kurdish whey cheese — made from re-boiled cheese liquid, the final product in a zero-waste dairy system. Documented in Rojava and Bashur, completing the Kurdish mast-to-lorik chain.
Read article →Shelkineh is a thin, soft Kurdish bread made from a pourable batter. Accounts from Iranian Kurdistan describe different spices and sweet accompaniments, while Jewish food traditions connect a butter-and-sugar version with Shavuot.
Read article →Kulicha brings date spirals, walnut-filled pastries and family memories to Kurdish festive tables. Named writers and an Erbil Eid report show how recipes, shapes and hospitality connect.
Read article →Glorik is a Kurdish meatball stew — beef-and-bulgur balls cooked in sour tomato, sumac, and mint broth. Part of the Kurdish mountain tradition of sour-broth cooking.
Read article →Kulere names a varied Kurdish bread tradition. Bakery interviews, a Kurdish dictionary and home recipes describe versions with different doughs, ovens and occasions.
Read article →Teşrîb brings torn flatbread together with hot broth and meat or vegetables. A firsthand meal account from Akre and published family recipes show how the dish changes between cooks.
Read article →Dokliw is a Kurdish warm yogurt soup with barley, rice, and wild mountain herbs. Listed as a defining Kurdish dish by Wikipedia, filed under “Persian” by recipe sites.
Read article →Jajeek is the Kurdish yogurt-cucumber dip the world calls tzatziki or cacık. Made from Kurdish mast (yogurt) and Mesopotamian cucumber, invisible under every name except the Kurdish one.
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