Jajî: The Kurdish Mountain Cheese Sold Under a Turkish City’s Name
- Dala Sarkis
- May 27
- 5 min read
Jajî: The Kurdish Mountain Cheese Sold Under a Turkish City's Name
Jajî is a traditional Kurdish herbed cheese made from raw sheep's milk mixed with 20 to 25 varieties of wild mountain herbs, brined and aged underground for months. It is produced almost exclusively in Kurdish-inhabited villages in Van Province, by Kurdish women who gather the herbs by hand from the surrounding mountains each spring. Yet it is marketed and sold worldwide as "Van Otlu Peyniri" — Van Herbed Cheese — a Turkish geographical name that erases the Kurdish hands, herbs, and knowledge that create it. Major Turkish dairy brands sell jajî commercially with no mention of its Kurdish identity. Wikipedia lists the Kurdish name alongside the Turkish, but the commercial world uses only the Turkish.
Key Takeaways
• Jajî is a semi-hard Kurdish cheese made from raw sheep's milk with 20–25 wild mountain herbs mixed into the curds
• Produced in Kurdish villages in Van Province — Kurdish women collect wild herbs from the mountains each spring
• Herbs are processed using a centuries-old Kurdish method: yellowed with whey in tandoor cauldrons, then salted and preserved in drums
• Sold commercially as "Van Otlu Peyniri" (Turkish) by major dairy brands — the Kurdish name jajî is never used in commercial contexts
• The herbs have natural antibiotic properties that extend the cheese's shelf life — a feature of Kurdish mountain food preservation knowledge
Quick Facts
Kurdish Name: Jajî
Rebranded As: Van Otlu Peyniri (Turkish: Van Herbed Cheese)
Type: Semi-hard brined herbed cheese, aged underground 2–3 months
Milk: Raw sheep's milk (traditional); cow or goat milk also used
Herbs: 20–25 wild varieties including sirimo, sirik, mende, kenger, heliz, wild thyme, alliums
Region: Kurdish villages in Van Province (Bakur)
Status: HIGH — Kurdish product sold under Turkish geographical naming
Origins and Ecology
Jajî exists because of two things that converge in the Kurdish highlands around Lake Van: pastoral sheep herding and an extraordinary diversity of wild mountain herbs. The high-altitude meadows of Van Province — historically part of the Kurdish heartland — support a rich flora including wild alliums (garlic, onion, leek relatives), wild thyme, Silene vulgaris (known locally as sirik or sirmo), Chaerophyllum, kenger (wild artichoke), and heliz (wild celery). Kurdish women have gathered these herbs each spring for centuries, and the knowledge of which herbs to pick, when, and in what combination is passed from mother to daughter.
The cheese is a product of transhumant pastoral life. Kurdish herding families move their flocks to high pastures in summer, where the sheep graze on herb-rich mountain grasses. The milk from these pastured sheep is richer and more aromatic than lowland milk. The herbs gathered from the same mountains go directly into the cheese. Jajî is, in this sense, a product of the entire mountain ecology — not just a recipe, but a relationship between a people, their animals, and their landscape.
Traditional Preparation
The process begins in spring with the herb harvest. Kurdish women collect wild herbs from the mountains, then process them through a traditional method: the herbs are first "yellowed" by boiling them with whey in large cauldrons set in tandoor ovens. This yellowing process preserves the herbs and softens their flavour. The yellowed herbs are then salted and packed into large drums for storage.
For the cheese itself, raw sheep's milk is coagulated with rennet. The preserved herbs are mixed into the curds, which are then drained, pressed, brined, and placed underground to mature for two to three months. The underground ageing provides a stable, cool temperature. The herbs' natural antibiotic properties extend the cheese's shelf life — a practical feature developed over centuries in a region without refrigeration. The result is a semi-hard cheese with a complex, aromatic flavour: salty, tangy, and deeply herbal.
Contested Names: Kurdish Cheese, Turkish Label
The naming pattern is familiar. A product made by Kurdish people, from Kurdish land, using Kurdish knowledge, is sold under a Turkish geographical name. "Van Otlu Peyniri" tells you where the cheese is from and that it contains herbs. It does not tell you who makes it, what language the cheesemakers speak, or what they call it in their own homes. The Kurdish name is jajî. It appears on no commercial packaging.
Van Province is overwhelmingly Kurdish in population. The villages that produce this cheese are Kurdish villages. The women who milk the sheep, gather the herbs, process them in tandoor cauldrons, and age the cheese underground are Kurdish women. The entire chain of production is Kurdish — from the pasture to the curd to the underground cave. Yet when the cheese reaches the market, it carries only a Turkish city's name. Major Turkish dairy brands sell it nationally and internationally with no acknowledgement of its Kurdish makers.
The herb names themselves tell the story. The herbs used in jajî are known by their Kurdish names — sirimo, sirik, mende, kenger, heliz. These are not Turkish words. They are Kurdish names for Kurdish mountain plants gathered by Kurdish women. Even when the cheese is described in Turkish food writing, the herb names often revert to Kurdish because no Turkish equivalent exists for some of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is jajî?
Jajî is the Kurdish name for herbed cheese made from raw sheep's milk mixed with 20–25 wild mountain herbs, brined and aged underground. It is produced in Kurdish villages in Van Province and sold commercially as "Van Otlu Peyniri."
Is jajî the same as Van Otlu Peyniri?
Yes — same cheese, different name. Jajî is the Kurdish name used by the people who actually make the cheese. "Van Otlu Peyniri" is the Turkish commercial name. The Kurdish name does not appear on any commercial packaging.
What herbs are in jajî?
Between 20 and 25 wild herbs gathered from the mountains around Van, including sirimo, sirik (Silene vulgaris), mende, kenger (wild artichoke), heliz (wild celery), wild thyme, and various alliums. Many of these herbs are known only by their Kurdish names.
Where can you buy jajî?
Sold commercially under the name "Van Otlu Peyniri" by Turkish dairy brands in Middle Eastern grocery stores worldwide. The authentic village-made version is available in Van Province and through Kurdish producers, but labelled in Turkish.
Conclusion
Jajî is Kurdish cheese. The sheep are Kurdish sheep. The herbs are Kurdish herbs, known by Kurdish names. The women who make it speak Kurdish to each other while they work. The knowledge of which herbs to gather, when, and how to process them is Kurdish knowledge passed through Kurdish generations. The only thing that is not Kurdish is the name on the label. That is the problem this article exists to address.
References and Further Reading
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