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.
From wheat kernel to bulgur
Bulgur production includes cooking the wheat, drying it, removing part of the outer layers, and milling and grading the kernels. A 2020 review by Andrea Stone and colleagues compares household and industrial approaches, including sun drying, hot-air drying and different cooking technologies. [1] The order and intensity of processing affect the finished grain. Its defining preparation therefore involves more than breaking raw wheat into pieces. Fine and coarse grades give cooks different textures and uses; the particular grade should match the dish being prepared.
Rooftop preparation in Amuda
In a September 2026 interview with Kurdistan24, farmer Suad Nassan, originally from Afrin and living in Amuda, described cleaning and boiling wheat before spreading it on rooftop carpets to dry. Neighbours and children helped, and the grain was turned over during drying before milling. The report records the local terms Dan for boiled wheat and Destar for a hand-operated stone mill. It distinguishes coarse Savar from finer grain used for dishes including kibbeh. [2] This account preserves named people, tools and actions within a living household practice.
A dish recorded in Van
The Van Traditional Foods Inventory, reproduced by Turkey’s Culture Portal, records a vegetable dish called savar. Its ingredients include bulgur, green beans, green lentils, potato, onion, pointed pepper, tomato, fat or oil, and salt. The beans and lentils are boiled separately first. Onion is fried in the cooking fat, then bulgur and beans are added, followed by the remaining vegetables, lentils, salt and hot water; the mixture is cooked together. [3] This is a particular regional preparation, with no fixed quantities supplied in the inventory entry. It shows how the grain’s name can also identify a finished dish.
Sawar at an Ezidi table
Berivan Can Emmez’s fieldwork in Batman’s Ezidi villages, conducted from April 2013 to June 2015, places sawar alongside meat, yoghurt and cheese among commonly preferred foods. The study documents a guest meal at Üçkuyular, also called Feqîra, on 5 July 2013, where bulgur, rice, lamb and salad appeared together. It also records sîrim, a garlic-like wild plant, used in bulgur pilaf and cheese, with some stored after gathering for later use. [4] These observations locate sawar within the foodways of a specific Kurdish-speaking religious community and its seasonal gathering practices.
Household stores and shared harvests
Nassan described keeping part of the crop for family consumption while selling much of it through mills and factories. She also explained the distribution of wheat to neighbours without land and her family’s preference for homemade bulgur despite ready-made alternatives. [2] Production continues alongside changing markets and machinery. The food-science review adds a practical qualification: processing methods can cause losses of water-soluble vitamins and alter fibre content through debranning. [1] Neither boiling nor tradition makes a grain immune to spoilage, and a single guaranteed storage life cannot be inferred from these accounts.
Sources and further reading
- Andrea K. Stone et al., “Processing and quality aspects of bulgur from Triticum durum,” Cereal Chemistry 97(6) (2020), pp. 1099–1110, DOI 10.1002/cche.10347; abstract and bibliographic record in FAO AGRIS.
- Kurdistan24, “How Kurdish Families Turn Wheat into Living Tradition,” 1 September 2026; interview with Suad Nassan in Amuda.
- Turkey Culture Portal, “Savar (Bulgur Yemeği) – Van,” from Van Geleneksel Gıdalar Envanteri, p. 39; ingredients and method.
- Berivan Can Emmez, “Plants and foods as identity markers,” Journal of Ethnic Foods 7, article 5 (2020), DOI 10.1186/s42779-019-0038-y; Batman fieldwork, food observations and figures 12–13.