Tarhana

Name variations

 * trahanas (Greek τραχανάς) or (xino)chondros ((ξυνό)χονδρος)
 * tarkhīneh / tarkhāneh / tarkhwāneh (Persian ترخینه، ترخانه، ترخوانه)
 * trahana (Albanian)
 * трахана/тархана (Bulgarian)
 * kishk (Egypt)
 * kushuk (Iraq)

About tarhana
Tarhana are dried foods based on a fermented mixture of grain and yoghurt or fermented milk, usually made into a thick soup with water, stock, or milk (Persian Ash-e tarkhina doogh آش ترخینه دوغ). As it is both acid and low in moisture the milk proteins keep for long periods. Tarhana is very similar to some kinds of kishk.

The Turkish tarhana consists of cracked wheat (or flour), yoghurt, and vegetables fermented then dried. The Greek cuisine trahana contains only cracked wheat or a couscous-like pasta and fermented milk. In Cyprus, it is considered a national specialty, and is often served with pieces of haloumi cheese in it. Ordinarily like many other foodstuffs which originated from the need to preserve food—cured ham, smoked fish, and the like—tarhana soup is often eaten as a matter of taste and choice where fresh food is abundant and refrigeration available.

Tarhana may be stored and sold as the small cakes or coarse lumps. It is usually available in packets in shops, selling food products from the regions where tarhana is eaten.