ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -- A long line of people wait in front of a shop in Erbil. The owner knows he does not have enough yogurt for all of them, so he tells his customers, "Please, buy only 1 kilo so that none of you return home empty-handed."
But the customers want two or three kilos of yogurt each. "I will not buy any other kind of yogurt as long as there is Erbil yogurt," says one.
Many things have changed in Erbil, but the taste of its yogurt remains the same. Currently the price for 1 kilo of Erbil yogurt is 5,000 Iraqi dinars, or around US$4. It is more expensive than imported yogurt and sells out first thing in the morning because of the high demand and low production.
Khidir Kareem, 54, has been selling yogurt in Erbil for 30 years. "Erbil yogurt does not go bad easily and has a distinct taste,” he said. “We get our yogurt from the villages of Erbil and Khoshnawati at around 5 a.m. Customers line up in front of our shop at 7 a.m. and it sells out quickly.”
According to the yogurt venders in Erbil, production of yogurt in the villages has declined and there is not enough of it to cover the demand.
Some residents of Erbil province prefer not to buy imported yogurt. Akram Hussein was among the customers queuing in front of Kareem's shop waiting to buy some Erbil yogurt. "We only buy Kurdish yogurt and do not consume other types of yogurt,” he said. “I bought imported yogurt only once and stop buying it after I tasted it."
Erbil yogurt has a long history. It has become one of the defining characteristics of this city and has been mentioned in literary works and folk songs. Kajal Ahmedi, a poet, praised Erbil yogurt in her work.
Apparently, a letter was once sent to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense addressed to "Ministry of Defense, opposite to Erbil yogurt." This was because a yogurt market called Laban Erbil – “Erbil Yogurt” in English -- was in front of the Ministry of Defense building in Baghdad.
The markets and malls in Erbil have been invaded with imported food and vegetables. Yogurt is imported to Erbil from Iran, Turkey and Greece. But, the imported yogurt has not been able to compete with local yogurt, whereas other local goods lost the battle against imported goods long ago.
Erbil yogurt’s fame extends beyond the borders of the province. Its quality is known in all Iraqi cities. Those who have been to the other Iraqi provinces often see Erbil yogurt written in restaurant menus and advertised on windows.
According to Erbil’s yogurt sellers, the fame has spread to other continents as well. Sangar Sayid Tayib’s family has been selling yogurt since 1947 in the Qaisary bazaar of Erbil. He said, "There are customers who buy 10 kilos of yogurt to take to Sweden, Germany, London or sometimes to the United States."
Currently, the yogurt is in high demand due to diminishing pastures. This has led many shepherds to abandon this business. This famous product is now in scarce supply despite the high demand and increasing competition in the market.
Karzan Qadir, 35, was a shepherd who sold all his sheep and went to Kasnazan Township. "There weren't any pastures and the profit from what we could produce was less than the cost," he said.
Abbas Ali, general director of animal resources in the Ministry of Agriculture, told Rudaw, "The government has no plans to can yogurt that is locally produced. But there have been requests to open five private canning companies for local yogurt: three companies in Erbil, and the other two in Sulaimani and Duhok."
Finally, something produced in Kurdistan, I can imagine it is better than turkish and Greek yogurt.
In Denmark, government gathered small producers under one umbrella in 1910's, that lead to products like lurpak. Kurdistan's Government should promote local products, as they did with fruit and vegetables.
Her tist bi kurdi xwese
i know its youghurt we call it "mast" at least. thats why i asked, are we talking about the same mast, or the erbil mast has some other tecnique ?
