Food and fellowship around food is a huge part of Kurdish culture
The evening meal generally begins right after the sunset call to prayer; that means before 5pm in the dead of winter, and as late as 7:30pm in the heat of the summer. Meals are eaten while sitting on the floor around a plastic ‘sifra’1, cut small for a small gathering or cut long to include many guests. Rice is a staple to the meal, as well as some sort of tomato-based stew. Salads, fresh bread, olives, pickled vegetables, and yogurt drinks are a common addition as well. Meat is often reserved for special occasions or guests. Spices are mild and used sparingly; food may be surprisingly salty and oily for some unused to Kurdish cooking.
A local Kurdish family setting up the sifra1 for an evening meal.
As a guest, expect to be scolded many times for not eating enough; your bowl will likely be re-filled even if you’ve already refused extra. After everyone has eaten his or her fill and the dishes and scraps have been whisked away, hot black tea, often very sweet, comes next. At the end of the evening, sharing seasonal fruits will be the parting activity before everyone warmly and enthusiastically parts ways.
1A sifra is a reusable oilcloth or disposable plastic tablecloth that is usually laid out on the ground.
Different dishes and accessories you will encounter in Kurdistan
Brinj u Shla
Rice and stew, the classic meal you most often find at a Kurdish dinner. Though perhaps a bit salty and oily for some, it is filling, and there is nearly always a salad or some fresh greens served on the side to balance it out. The rice is prepared by first heating oil at the bottom of a large pot, then adding the water, and then the rice and salt. Other possible additions are split peas, boiled with the rice, or onions, golden raisins, or tiny pasta (vermicelli) fried and spooned over the top. A tomato-based stew is usually served in a separate small bowl next to each guest’s dish of rice, and is spooned gradually into the rice in bite-size portions. Some classic types of stew are okra, potato, white bean, green bean, zucchini and apricot, to name a few. It is generally served with a portion of boiled red meat and/or chicken on the side. Serving meat is a great way to show honor and respect. It’s considered shameful if meat is not served to a guest.
Tea is often enjoyed many times throughout the day. After meals, at late morning and early afternoon “cha breaks,” and even during late-night visits, are great times to imbibe this sweet brew.
Yaprax or Dolma
Perhaps one of the most common dishes for special occasions, conjuring up feelings of celebration and togetherness, this dish can take hours of preparation. If prepared with friends or family, it’s a wonderful opportunity for lively chatter and sharing life.
There are generally 3 types of yaprax – either grape leaves, chard leaves with other mixed veggies, or cabbage. With each one, a prepared rice mixture is used to stuff the vegetable or greens of choice, then layered in a pot, covered with broth and cooked long and slow on the stove until all the flavors have melded together. It’s then flipped out on a big platter and served as a finger food, often with some thin bread to scoop it up. Meat may or may not be included in the pot for extra flavor.
Yaprax with grape leaves is a dish common around the middle eastern world, with each culture having its own preparation method. In Kurdistan, yaprax from grape leaves is stuffed with a rice mixed that has an abundance of fresh dill and green onions; a pleasant sour taste comes from the addition of sumac, citric acid, and/or a soured yogurt. This is normally made in the spring when grape leaves are plentiful and in season.
Yaprax with chard leaves and mixed vegetables is enjoyed any time of the year. The mixed vegetables that are stuffed along with the chard leaves may include eggplant, tomato, zucchini, onion, potato, and green pepper. The rice mixture includes a healthy amount of tomato paste, special yaprax spices, and finely chopped greens such as parsley.
Yaprax with cabbage leaves is the least common type but still delightfully delicious in its own right. The cabbage leaves must be well-boiled prior to being stuffed to avoid a tough, chewy outcome. If prepared correctly, the end result is very tender and flavorful. The rice mixture for cabbage traditionally includes raisins.
Kifta is a special, filling meal that consists of large meat-filled dough balls, cooked to perfection in a savory soup.
Dough for the kifta takes a lot of elbow grease to prepare, starting from cracked wheat, and kneading it thoroughly with water, salt, and a bit of oil, until it’s a nice, elasticky dough. The meat that’s spooned inside is cooked up with tantalizing additions such as almonds, raisins, parsley, tomato paste, and a bit of curry powder and cumin. The cooked meat is closed up inside of the dough and then carefully placed into the boiling soup to cook gently. The soup may be red or yellow, depending on if it’s a tomato paste base or more colored from turmeric powder. It may include chickpeas or rice, or a variety of other possible additions.
Parsley, onion, tomato paste, curry powder, ground cumin, and a bit of flour are mixed thoroughly in with the ground beef, patted out by hand to form something akin to an elongated, thin burger patty, and then shallow fried in oil. If eaten in a sandwich, fresh greens and vegetables, and often some sort of sauce like ketchup, dress it up to make it a special snack, picnic food, or meal by itself.
