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In Savur, a district of Mardin in southeastern Türkiye, residents are continuing the production of traditional fruit leather and walnut sausage after finishing the grape harvest.
Fruit leather is a thin, chewy sheet made from dried fruit paste, while walnut sausage, despite its name, is a sweet made of walnuts coated in a thickened fruit mixture and contains no meat.
The grapes used in both products are collected from vineyards in the area and first processed into grape juice, which forms the base of the sweets.
The grape juice is then transformed into fruit leather and walnut sausage through labor-intensive work carried out communally by local residents.
Because the process requires many hands, the tasks are shared among the people taking part, which makes production a group effort rather than an individual job.
For walnut sausage, walnuts are typically strung on thread and dipped repeatedly into the thickened grape mixture, so that the coating builds up in layers around them.
For fruit leather, the thickened mixture is generally spread out in thin layers and left to dry until it can be peeled off in sheets.
Once the sweets have dried and set, they are stored so that they can be eaten through the winter months, which is the purpose of the tradition.
The production is a traditional practice that turns the autumn grape harvest into food that can be kept and consumed during the colder part of the year.
Together, the vineyards, the grape juice, and the communal work show how the harvest in Savur continues after picking, through to products made to last through winter.
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