Village Life

aturayet diyyan kamta kat bekhkhayeva lakhkha etvalan bukra kham-uvva taveryay erbiyye morisha beshsheva bukra berash bitayeva. taveryate bekhlaveva. b-de-khalva bedrayeva ka-gane gupta. guptada raba samo beshvako ka-setva kat dant setva mendi khala lel vaya, b-de gupta p-urkha beshshena. savi guptet melkha etlan gupta tumerta.

Our Assyrians who were living here before, we had cattle, they kept cattle and sheep. In the morning the herd went out and came back in the evening. They milked the cows. With this milk they produced cheese for themselves. They leave a large proportion of the cheese for winter, because in the time of winter there is nothing to eat, they make do with the cheese. Apart from salted cheese we have buried cheese.

mur a mujjur tarusokh gupta? taverta bekhlavot. shakhenta shakhenta, bedrayet gavo RpepsinR. maya ki-tanakhvala, maya. kamta maya tarusuva b-mayet erbita. b-dayya maya taruseva. b-de marruvvekhva … gupta gav-gupta adiyya bedrayekh RpepsinR gu-shakhenta shakhenta khalva bedrayekh RpepsinR. vayela rita dakh karra henna al-masta bedmayela.

Say ‘How do we make this cheese?’ You milk the cow, while (the milk is) warm you put pepsin into it. We call it rennet, rennet. In the old days they used to make rennet with the intestine of a sheep. They made rennet with that. We used to set cheese with that. Now we put pepsin in cheese, in very warm milk we put pepsin. It sets, like butter, it resembles yoghurt.

bektayot kat-miyyo palti. b-masipana masyupekh, bekhlasekh, miyya platena. kharta bedrayekh alle melkha kat-kavini. men-bar dayen bedvakekh miyya melkha miyya melkha bedvakekh b-bita bitet kteta. gar khada oyani kat bita makh kappek atkha mabyennani al-pata kat la shor oyani lada pakhta oyani gupta kat-la kharva. e mumlekhta gupta bedrayokh gu-miyya melkha. anga bayyakh akhnan ka-setva khamakhkha, tumerta gupta.

You separate it so that its water comes out. We strain it with a strainer. We squeeze it and the water comes out. Then we put salt on it, so it becomes hard. After that we take salt water, we take salt water with an egg, the egg of a chicken. It must be thus, so that the egg appears on the surface like a kopeck, so that it is not over-salted nor insipid, so that the cheese does not go bad. We put the salted cheese in salt water. If we want to keep it for the winter (we made) buried cheese.

akhnan b-khalva bashulekh jajek. khalva mardukhukh, davve mardukhet. khalvada bektayele. melkha bedrayet gave. en davve, tanakh davve bektayena. anida masyupekh ani vayena dayke. bekhvatekh men-gupta. patputokh gupta men-da jajek bekhvatokh. men-turane mavekh … setra. keta gabuvvokh ya setra mabruzokh. brezta setra bekhvatokh gu-jajek gu-gupta. bekhlasovakh kulle gu kupshita.

With milk we cooked jajəc. We boil the milk. You boil yoghurt buttermilk. The milk curdles. You put salt in it. The buttermilk, let’s say the buttermilk curdles. We strain it and it becomes fine. We mix it with cheese. We break up the cheese and mix it with this jajəc. We bring thyme from the mountains. We gather this thyme in the summer and dry it. We mix the dry thyme in the jajəc, in the cheese. We squeeze it all into a pot.

kupshenta bi … tina k-odila, makkudona. biyyo tamurona tanakhen. ayya kulle bekhlaso gu-da-kupshenta, al-pato mat-tuvvet julla khvara bezze bezze marekh marla. kamta bakhtayet diyyan b-rishe ki-seriva. kekkashta k-odiva, marla RbintR khina kat-ide besyarena. men-do ketta arpa take vadet mattuvvot al-gupta. avva mattuvvena amra la mesya. kat-shekhtu la-azelni e julla khamuvvula.

They make the pot with clay and fire it. They bury it (the cheese) in it, we say. Squeezing it all in this pot, you put a white cloth on its top containing holes, we say gauze. In the old days our women used to tie it on their head. They used to make it into a headscarf, gauze, a bandage with which they bind their hands. From that piece you make four folds and put it on the cheese. (On this) they put unwashed wool. The cloth prevents dirt from going in.

men-bar day b-kha-julla khita besyaret. makhdurot al-pummo. gu-kha duka bedrayet kutma. kutmada kese kat makkudet, o-kutma bedrayet kha-dana kukha. ya kupshenta makhdurot gu-kutma kat miyyo kulle sepi. amra miyya begrashele. en miyya kulle atkha men-gu-gupta begrashele beshshena gu-kutma. khada makku-sot kupshenta palgo gar oyani b-kutma mkesta kat hava la-averni. setva beptakhot. en amre shule palutet. gupta tumerta raba basemta b-dayen jamahat p-urkha beshshela.

After that, you tie it with another cloth. You turn it upside down. You put ash in a certain place. The ash, when you burn wood, you put the ash in a pile. You invert the pot in the ash so that all its water drains. The wool draws the water. It draws all the water in this way from the cheese and it goes into the ash. You cover the pot thus so that half of it is covered in the ash so that air does not enter. In winter you open it. You take off the wool and so forth. Buried cheese, very tasty—with this the community subsists.

pyayena lavasha. lakhmet diyyan lavashele. gu-tanuyra ki-payyakhkhe. roba ganay lena myasa lavasha payyini. gerdeye k-odiva. halam savi men-gerdeye etvalan bi mashe k-odivalun muina mara? jalle pyayeva jalle. gave bedrayeva busle mashe smuke. al-tanuyra ki-makhivalun. roba basimeva. adi atkha jilet diyyan kulle munshiyyena. nanuntet diyyi k-odava harisa gu-kupshenta. ki-mattavala gu-nuyra, gu-tanuyra bi nuyra ki-maksavala.

They bake flat bread. Our bread is flat bread. We bake it in the oven. Many people are not able to bake flat bread. They used to make loaves. Still other than loaves we used to have what they made with beans. What do they call them? +jallə. They bake +jallə. In these they put onions, red beans. They put them on the oven. They were very tasty. Now our young people have forgotten all these. My grandmother used to make harisa (meat with crushed boiled wheat) in a pot. She put it in the fire, in the oven. She used to cover it with fire.

kupshenta etvala atkha kerreshka makkusova bi tina beshyapova kat miyyo radkhiva la tapkhiva. kher bekhzayet harisa b-kteta vaduna bi perda vaduna. perda naya betrapuna o-kalpu palutuna. khette khette mkhayena kalpe platele vayela perda naya. lekh bashule bashule avun perdele. amman o naya, bedraya gu-kupshenta men-busret kteta, katkutet bedraya gavo. miyya bedrayet pummo makkusut mattuvvot gu-tanuyra. bshalela vayela atkha kasha. atkha kuya vayela khina. atkha beshkalet b-chamcha, beshkalot atkha beryakhela. ka-dayya marena harisa. raba basemtela.

The pot had a lid like this, which covered it. They smeared it with mud so that the water, when it boiled, would not spill. Well, you see they make harisa with chicken and they make it with grain, with husks. They pound the raw grain and they take off its husk. Wheat, they beat wheat, its skin comes of and it becomes raw grain. We do not cook it, what we cook is the grain, but as for the raw grain, you put in some chicken meat, you chop it up and put it in it. You put in water, you cover its mouth and put it in the oven. It cooks and it becomes like porridge. It becomes thick like that. You take it in a spoon; when you take it, it stretches out like this. They call this harisa. It is very tasty.

kharta medre gu-kupshenta bashulekhva mashe smuke. mashe smuke bedrayekhva miyya b-rishe. manit etvale goze, goze mracheva bedrayeva gavo. kha tikada meshkha, medre pato makkusova b-tina, beshyapova, mattuvva gu-nuyra. bi nuyra makkusona. har berdakhela henna ptakhela khina beddayekhva kat bshileva. palutekhva, mshayekhva palutekhva men-gavo.

Again in the pot we used to cook red beans. As for red beans, we used to put water on them. Whoever had walnuts would crush walnuts and put them in it. A little oil, again they cover its top with soil and smear it, then put it on the fire. They cover it with fire. As soon as it boils, the thing opens and we know that it is cooked, we took them out, we scraped them out of it (the pot).

kharta vadekhva ghabama. karra beshkalekh gavu tammuzukh. mlayena gavu rezza, duysha, anget byayena bi khlita odini, keshmishe mat-tuvvena gavo. pummo makkusuna medre bi nuyra makkusona. bshalela. kulle begrashela gavo vayela pullu.

Then we made +ġabama. We take a pumpkin and we clear out its inside. They fill it with rice, honey, if they want to make it with something sweet, they put raisins in it. They cover its top and again cover it (and put it) on the fire. It cooks. It draws everything inside it and becomes pulp.

etten pullu har-atkha bikhalona bi meshkha etten khalva bedrayena b-risho, bikhalena. e karra kat pramona same samela. al-de-sama palga vayela rezza bikhalet, roba basemtela. ka-dayya marekh ghabama. len bedda adiyya akhtokhun vadetun letun vada len bedda. khina jurre mendiyyane tanakhen dolmet tarpe vadekh et-anve, tarpet anve. tarpet anve karmukhekh dolma kalameda iten tarpeda iten. gu-tarpe shebbet bedrayena amma gu-kalama kulle kazanchada ki-khotilun en gellale jurre jurre gellale bedrayena. amman gu-dayya kha shebbet bedrayena men-tole mendi khina lena bedraya.

There are some who eat the pulp with oil, there are some who put milk on it and eat it. When they cut the pumpkin, and it is in layers, in the middle part there is rice, you eat it, it is very tasty. We call this +ġabama. I do not know whether you now do it or do not do it, I do not know. Well, various things, let us say we make dolmə of vine leaves, vine leaves. We roll vine leaves into a dolma, there are also cabbage (leaves) as well as vine leaves. They put dill in the vine leaves, but in cabbage dolma they mix all the herbs into the pot, they put in various types of herbs. But in that one (dolma of vine leaves) they put a sprig of dill together with coriander, they do not put in anything else.