Nan-e Shekari: The Kurdish Sweet Bread That Kermanshah Gave the World

Dala Sarkis
May 29
4 min read

Nan-e Shekari: The Kurdish Sweet Bread That Kermanshah Gave the World

Nan-e shekari is a golden sweet bread made from flour, eggs, sugar, Kermanshahi butter, brewed saffron, cardamom, and vanilla, baked in an oven and decorated with sugar. Wikipedia identifies it explicitly as originating from Kermanshah and describes it as “one of the souvenirs of this city.” Kermanshah is a Kurdish city in Rojhilat — eastern Kurdistan within Iran’s borders. This is the second food this series has documented from Kermanshah, after khoresht rivas (rhubarb stew). Both are labelled “Iranian” or “Persian” by every source. Neither is identified as Kurdish. Nan-e shekari belongs to a family of Kermanshah confections that also includes nan-e berenji (rice cookies) and nan-e badami (almond cookies) — all served during Nowruz (Kurdish and Persian New Year) and all originating in the same Kurdish city. Kermanshah is one of the great confectionery cities of the region. Its sweets travel across Iran as “souvenirs.” Its Kurdish identity stays behind.

Key Takeaways

• Golden sweet bread with flour, eggs, sugar, Kermanshahi butter, saffron, and cardamom — sugar-decorated

• Wikipedia confirms Kermanshah origin — “one of the souvenirs of this city.” Kermanshah is a Kurdish city in Rojhilat

• Second Kermanshah food after khoresht rivas — same city, same erasure, same “Persian” label

• Part of a Kermanshah confectionery family: nan-e shekari, nan-e berenji (rice cookies), nan-e badami (almond cookies)

Quick Facts

Name: Nan-e Shekari (نان شکری) — “sugar bread”

Origin City: Kermanshah — Kurdish city in Rojhilat (eastern Kurdistan, within Iran)

Type: Festive sweet bread — served at Nowruz and celebrations, sold as a city souvenir

Labelled As: “Iranian sweet” / “Persian pastry” — Kurdish origin invisible

Origins: Kermanshah, the Kurdish Confectionery Capital Filed Under “Persian”

Kermanshah is one of the oldest cities in western Iran. Its population is overwhelmingly Kurdish. Its language is Kurdish. Its food traditions are Kurdish. And yet it is also one of the great confectionery cities of the Persian-speaking world, producing sweets that are sold across Iran as “Kermanshahi souvenirs.” Nan-e shekari is one of them. Nan-e berenji (rice flour cookies with cardamom and poppy seeds) is another. Both originate in confectionery workshops in Kermanshah. Both are served at Nowruz tables across Iran. And both are labelled “Iranian” or “Persian” by every source. The word “Kurdish” does not appear. This is the same erasure pattern documented in khoresht rivas — also from Kermanshah, also filed under “Persian cuisine.” Kermanshah’s food is acknowledged as being from Kermanshah. But Kermanshah’s Kurdishness is not. The city is named. The people are not.

Traditional Preparation

Eggs are beaten with sugar powder until light and fluffy. Kermanshahi oil (a local clarified butter with a distinctive nutty flavour) or regular butter is incorporated. Flour is sifted and folded in gradually. Brewed saffron is added for colour — turning the dough golden. Cardamom and vanilla provide the aromatics. The dough is mixed until smooth, then shaped into rounds or decorative forms. The surface is decorated with sugar before baking. The sweet breads are baked in an oven until golden and fragrant — the saffron, cardamom, and butter perfuming the bakery. The finished nan-e shekari is soft, rich, golden, and gently sweet — more pastry than bread, despite the name. It is sold in boxes in Kermanshah’s confectionery shops and carried by travellers as gifts. The sugar decoration on top gives it its name: shekari, “of sugar.”

Nowruz and the Kurdish Sweet Table

Nowruz — the spring equinox New Year — is a Kurdish celebration as much as a Persian one. Kurdish families set a Nowruz table with seven items, including sweets. Nan-e shekari is one of those sweets. So are nan-e berenji, nan-e badami, and baklava. This series has documented Kurdish sweets across dozens of articles: halva (sweet roux), kulicha (date-walnut cookies), şilkena (sweet crepe), gozbez (honey-walnut bars), pelûl (grape molasses pudding), kaysefe (dried apricot dessert), and şirin kaynana (mother-in-law pastry). Nan-e shekari adds the Nowruz dimension — a sweet bread made specifically for the Kurdish New Year table, carrying the fragrance of saffron and cardamom into the first days of spring. It is the taste of a new year in a Kurdish city.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is nan-e shekari?

Nan-e shekari means “sugar bread” and is a golden sweet bread made from flour, eggs, sugar, Kermanshahi butter, brewed saffron, cardamom, and vanilla. It originates from Kermanshah — a Kurdish city in Rojhilat (eastern Kurdistan within Iran). It is decorated with sugar, baked until golden, and sold in confectionery shops as a souvenir of the city. It is served at Nowruz celebrations and other festive occasions.

Is nan-e shekari Kurdish or Persian?

Wikipedia identifies nan-e shekari as originating from Kermanshah. Kermanshah is a Kurdish city — its population is overwhelmingly Kurdish and its language is Kurdish. The sweet is labelled “Iranian” or “Persian” because Kermanshah is inside Iran’s borders. This is the same erasure pattern documented for khoresht rivas (rhubarb stew), also from Kermanshah, also filed under “Persian cuisine.”

What is Kermanshahi oil?

Kermanshahi oil is a local clarified butter with a distinctive nutty flavour, produced in Kermanshah. It is sometimes used in place of regular butter in nan-e shekari and other local confections. The fat gives the sweet bread its rich, distinctive taste. It is a Kurdish dairy product from a Kurdish city, even though it is marketed and sold as an Iranian regional product.

Conclusion

Nan-e shekari is the sixty-seventh article in this series and the second from Kermanshah. Two dishes, one city, one pattern: the food is acknowledged, the Kurdishness is not. Khoresht rivas was the sour dish. Nan-e shekari is the sweet. Together they show that Kermanshah is not a footnote in this series — it is a major Kurdish food city producing both savoury traditions (rhubarb stew with the fifth souring agent) and confectionery traditions (saffron-cardamom sweet bread for Nowruz). The sweets of Kermanshah travel across Iran in gift boxes. The Kurdish identity of Kermanshah does not travel with them. Sixty-seven articles in, this series is building the archive that should have existed all along: a record of what Kurdish cities produce, in Kurdish names, for Kurdish reasons.