Van cheese otlu peynir is available in shops in Hewlêr. (Who knows the name of otlu peynir in Kurdish?)I took this picture of otlu peynir some days ago. The same day I received an e-mail from a reader of Sahmaran who wishes to stay anonymous in internet. She is interested about Kurdish cooking and plans to write Kurdish cookbook. Here are parts of her e-mail:
I am particularly interested in Kurdish cooking and have been collecting recipes from my friends, cookbooks, the Internet and even from friendly people I have never met before.
In the interest of preserving this part of the Kurdish cultural heritage I want to collect these recipes into a cookbook.
I came across Sahmaran blog and see that we have a common interest. I was wondering if I can ask you some questions about Kurdish cuisine, especially on the more ancient recipes. Also, are there any Kurdish cookbooks in any of the Kurdish or Turkish dialects? I can't read Kurdish but I know someone who does. My interest lies not only with the recipes but where these recipes originated and the stories.
I am interested in the origins of the recipes and would like to know the differences, if any, that exist between the recipes from various villages and cities in Kurdistan. For example, Northern Kurds use more red pepper flakes in their food.
I am also very much interested in edible plants. My friends use a poisonous wild plant called Arum in their cooking. It contains calcium oxalate crystals which dissolve only after heating in an acid like lemon juice or citric acid. Have you ever eaten it? Today I went to visit my Kurdish friends, they were cooking Arum. Some people eat it but its not as popular with the younger generation. Of course I was given a huge bowlful of Kubba to eat as well.Well, I can answer only that I enjoy eating the Kurdish food, but I do not know much about making it. I can hardly make dolma, the food which is always given to visitors here in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan.
Kurdish cooking culture is very rich. In Turkish part of Kurdistan local variations are very big because people use very much local products and they are very different in mountain areas and in plain lands.
I can answer only one of her question: there is at least one Kurdish cookbook in Turkish language, Cemcid Bender's "Kürt Mutfak Kültürü ve Kürt Yemekleri (Kurdish Kitchen Culture and Kurdish Foods). Look at the third picture in Sahmaran's post the 16th March 2007 ("Shopping in Van"). Because of technical problems I can put here a hyperlink. I do not have the cookbook here in Hewlêr, only thing I remember about it is that is very thick, maybe 300 pages, and everything is text, there are no pictures, only some small drawings.
I hope this idea of Kurdish cookbook will come true and it will translated to many languages, including to English. If some readers of Sahmaran can help this friend, please send your advices as comment to this post or e-mail to me (koivunen.kristiina@gmail.com) so I forward them to her. And please, forward this request further, it is important that this kind of things about Kurdish culture are collected in addition of discussing the political issues.
