Kurdish History Journal
Articles filed under Kurdish Art and Culture.
Çortu Aşı is a Kurdish sour winter soup from fermented turnip greens, cracked wheat, and bone-in meat. Part of the Kurdish preservation calendar — capturing one season’s greens to survive another.
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 is Kurdish clotted cream made from mountain goat milk. Served at every Kurdish breakfast with honey and flatbread. The twelfth dairy product in the Kurdish chain — twelve products from one flock.
Read article →Nanê Hewramî is a paper-thin Kurdish bread from Hewraman — a UNESCO World Heritage landscape with Kurdish habitation since 3000 BCE. 700 loaves per sack of flour. Experiencing a modern health revival.
Read article →Nokaw is Kurdish chickpea broth sold in winter bazaars. Nok means chickpea in Kurdish. The cheapest hot meal in Kurdistan — golden chickpeas in turmeric broth, held in both hands against the cold.
Read article →Niskene is the Kurdish name for red lentil soup. A food blogger ate it in a Kurdish home and called it “Turkish.” A Kurdish refugee had it documented as Kurdish. The naming depends on who writes it down.
Read article →Şilah and Maraga are the everyday Kurdish stew category — light tomato-onion base with seasonal vegetables and meat stock. The base recipe from which every named Kurdish stew is a variation.
Read article →Muhallebi is a Kurdish rose-cardamom milk pudding traced to medieval Mesopotamia. The Kurdish version is defined by the cardamom-rose aromatic signature and pistachio topping from mountain orchards.
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 is a Kurdish sweet saffron bread from Kermanshah. Wikipedia confirms its origin in this Kurdish city, yet every source labels it “Iranian.” The second Kermanshah food filed under “Persian.”
Read article →Ayran Aşı is a Kurdish cold summer yogurt soup of wheat and chickpeas in garlic-salted yogurt. Every recipe calls it “Turkish.” Kurdish names mastaw, qurraw, and danadwa are invisible online.
Read article →Nanê Sajî is Kurdish paper-thin bread baked on a convex iron griddle. Wikipedia records its Sorani name as nanî kurdî — literally “Kurdish bread.” International media calls it Turkish yufka.
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 is a Kurdish breakfast porridge of rice cooked in yogurt — warm, creamy, gently sour. The morning staple that starts the Kurdish day, from the same dairy tradition as berbesel.
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 →Ava Kişmîş is a Kurdish raisin drink — dried raisins boiled with cardamom and served cold after heavy meals. The seventh product of the Kurdish grape vine.
Read article →Xoşav is a Kurdish cold compote of dried apricots, figs, prunes, and raisins in cardamom syrup. The closing course of every Kurdish feast — served cold after heavy meals.
Read article →Kuki are Kurdish savoury pies — meat, vegetable, or herb fillings in flour pastry, baked in a clay oven (tanûr). Listed as a defining staple of Kurdish cuisine.
Read article →Birinca Sor is Kurdish red rice — basmati cooked in tomato broth with meat stock. The everyday rice of Kurdish households, served alongside every stew, kebab, and dolma.
Read article →Chichma is a Kurdish cracked wheat porridge specifically associated with Erbil (Hewlêr). Coarse wheat cooked with lamb into a thick, hearty porridge from one of the world’s oldest cities.
Read article →Khoresht Rivas is a Kurdish rhubarb lamb stew from Kermanshah — filed under “Persian cuisine” because Iran’s borders absorb Kurdish identity. The fifth souring agent in the Kurdish sour tradition.
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