History of Yoghurt Chips “Tarhana”

The emergence of the tarhana dates back to the period of the Ottoman Sultan Yavuz Selim Han at the beginning of the 16th century. During the Dulkadiroğlu principality, Yavuz Sultan Selim started preparations for the needs of Ottoman’s army before the expedition to Egypt started.

The Sina desert must be crossed to conquer Egypt. There was a need of special food to meet the needs of the army for weeks. The characteristics of the food that will meet the nutritional needs of the soldiers in harsh desert conditions are: It should be light in load, have high nutritional value, fell full, suitable for practical and fast consumption, and be durable enough to not spoil in hot temperature and cold weather conditions.

Based on this need, Gülbahar Hatun from Kahramanmaraş, who is the mother of Yavuz Sultan Selim, conducts long research to produce a food that has all these qualities. As a result of her research, the unique formula was found.

Cracked wheat is boiled with plenty of yoghurt. It is flavoured with thyme and salt. Boiled mixture is cooled down for long hours, then it is laid on a special surface and finally dried in the sun. This dry food is tarhana.