DŪḠ, beverage made of yogurt and plain or carbonated water and often served chilled as a refreshing summer drink or with meals, especially with kebabs or čelow-kabāb. The term occurred in Persian as early as the 11th century, when it apparently meant skim milk to which yogurt was sometimes added (Dehḵodā, s.v.). Traditionally dūḡ was made by shaking a sheepskin (see CHURNS AND CHURNING) filled with milk and yogurt until the fat separated and could be removed. Today it is more often made simply by beating the yogurt with a spoon or in a blender, then adding still or carbonated water, salt, and dried mint, celery leaves, or other herbs. Carbonated dūḡ is also made commercially and sold in bottles.
Sometimes grated or chopped cucumbers, onions, and bread or dried flat bread are added to dūḡ and served as a light dish known as ābdūḡ-ḵīār.
According to the Safavid cook Moḥammad-ʿAlī Bāvarčī (p. 77), dūḡ was used as a substitute for yogurt in yogurt soup (māstbā), prepared with lamb, rice, and green herbs. The Qajar chef Mīrzā ʿAlī-Akbar Āšpaz-bāšī recommended using it to bleach cooked rice (p. 8) and also as an ingredient in various kinds of āš (pp. 33, 50, 68, 75, 80).
See also CHEESE.
Bibliography: (For cited works not found in this bibliography, see “Short References.”)
Mīrzā ʿAlī-Akbar Khan Āšpaz-bāšī, Sofra-ye aṭʿema, Tehran, 1353 Š./1974.
N. Batmanglij, Food of Life, Washington, D.C., 1984, p. 230.
Ḥājī Moḥammad-ʿAlī Bāvarčī Baḡdādī, Kār-nāma dar bāb-e ṭabbāḵī wa ṣanʿat-e ān, in Ī. Afšār, ed., Āšpazī-e dawra-ye ṣafawī. Matn-e do resāla az ān dawra, Tehran, 1360 Š./1981.
M. R. Ghanoonparvar, Persian Cuisine I. Traditional Foods, Lexington, Ky., 1982, p. 210.
N. Ramazani, Persian Cooking. A Table of Exotic Delights, Charlottesville, Va., 1982, p. 78.
(M. R. Ghanoonparvar)
Originally Published: December 15, 1996
Last Updated: December 2, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. VII, Fasc. 6, pp. 584-585
