What it means
کره (kare) means butter, the solid fat churned from cream or whole milk. The word descends from Middle Persian karag and is a native Iranian word, cognate with Kurdish and Talyshi equivalents, not borrowed from Arabic. In everyday Persian, کره (kare) almost always means the familiar dairy butter you spread on bread or melt into rice. It is distinct from روغن (roghan), which refers to oil or any rendered fat more broadly.
How to use it
- کره رو از یخچال در بیار. (Kare ro az yakhchal dar biyar.) “Take the butter out of the fridge.”
- نون و کره صبحانهامه. (Noon o kare sobhaname.) “Bread and butter is my breakfast.”
- یه تیکه کره تو ماهیتابه آب کن. (Ye tike kare to mahitabe ab kon.) “Melt a piece of butter in the pan.”
- این کیک با کره درست میشه، نه روغن. (In keyk ba kare dorost mishe, na roghan.) “This cake is made with butter, not oil.”
Cultural note
Butter has been part of the Iranian table for centuries, most often paired with fresh sangak or barbari bread at breakfast alongside honey or jam. In northern Iran, particularly in Gilan and Mazandaran, locally churned butter made from water-buffalo milk is considered a prized regional specialty. Iranians also use کره (kare) in rice dishes and pastries, though ghee and vegetable oils have largely replaced it in everyday cooking over the past few decades.