Kashk (Persian: كشك), keshk, kishk, kishik or chortan (Armenian: չորթան chortan, from Armenian: չոր - dried and Armenian: թան - tahn) is a large family of foods found in Armenian, Iranian, Lebanese and Syrian cuisines. There are three main kinds of food with this name: foods based on curdled milk products like yogurt or cheese; foods based on barley broth, bread, or flour; and foods based on cereals combined with curdled milk. In Turkish and Greek cuisine, there are closely related foods called tarhana or trahana.
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Chortan is mentioned in the Armenian epic poem, Sasuntsi Davit, as an oral tradition dating from 8th-century, which was first put into written form in 1873. Kashk is also mentioned in the 10th-century Persian poem Shahnameh.
In modern Iran, kashk is a thick whitish liquid similar to whey (a dairy product) similar to sour cream, used in traditional Persian/Iranian cooking. It is available as a liquid or in a dried form, which needs to be soaked and softened before it can be used in cooking. Kashk was traditionally produced from the leftovers of cheese-making (more specifically, the milk used to make it).
In Lebanon and Syria, Kishk is a powdery cereal of burghul (cracked wheat) fermented with milk and laban (yogurt). It is easily stored and is valuable to the winter diet of isolated villagers or country people. Kishk is prepared in the early Fall when the wheat crop is harvested. Milk, laban and burghul are mixed well together and allowed to ferment for nine days. Each morning the mixture is thoroughly kneaded with the hands. When fermentation is complete the kishk is spread on a clean cloth to dry. Finally it is rubbed well between the hands until it is reduced to a powder and then stored in a dry place.