EVENTS

28 January 2017
Mr. Ömür Tufan, Head of the Kitchen section at the Topkapı Palace Museum, presented the first seminar of the year. The seminar featuring the “helva” culture of the Ottomans was received very well by the participants.read more

6 December 2017
Mrs. Nazlı Pişkin, historian, and food culture researcher began the seminar by speaking about wheat and bulgur and the pilaf dishes made with bulgur which was the main staple in Anatolian culture.read more

7 November 2016
Food culture researcher and writer Aylin Öney Tan presented another seminar on a unique ingredient of Turkish cuisine; bulgur. This versatile ingredient has been an important factor of Anatolian cuisine for centuries. To summarize in Mrs.Tan's words:read more

20 October 2016
Diyarbakır is known to be as the “city of cultural transition” based on the city's geographical location. The Diyarbakır cuisine seminar was presented by Nilhan Aras, editor of Metro Gastro Magazine, author of “Bayram Çöreği” a book on Diyarbakır cuisine and researcher of Turkish folk cuisine.read more

21 September 2016
2016-2017 YESAM lecture period has started with a seminar on yogurt presented by food writer and researcher of Turkish culinary culture Mrs. Aylin Öney Tan. Mrs. Tan started the lecture by explaining the importance and significance of yogurt for the Turks and the daily life in Turkey.read more

7 Nisan 2016
YESAM hosted Dr. Zeynep Delen Nircan, who is the founder of Ege'de Atölye and a part-time instructor at Boğaziçi University for a lecture on “Culinary Aspects of Olive Oil.”read more

9 March 2016
Since 13th century B.C. the itinerants who have visited Anatolia has taken notes that gives us information about the food culture of that time period. Itinerants do not give recipes but tells us what was eaten in which period.read more

11 February 2016
Pileki bread making is one of the areas that Ms. Doğan has researched extensively during her studies. “Pileki” is the name of the stone that is found in mines of Eastern Black Sea Region. The stone is carved into a large bowl that is used to bake corn bread in a wood burning oven.read more

14 January 2016
Asst. Prof. Ahmet Uhri, started the seminar with the words of famous Food Historian Charles Perry, who is well known for his research on baklava. Mr. Perry has done an extensive amount of research outlining the origins of “yufka”, a thinly stretched dough that is the main ingredient in baklava.read more

18 December 2015
Mrs. Tan worked as the head curator of the gastronomy department of Antalya city museum. In doing so, she wanted to include the hinterland of Antalya as well, which included the city of Sagalassos. She got acquainted with the excavation team of the antique city and helped them research the culinary aspects of the foundings.read more

5 November 2015
Ottoman Empire's Topkapı Palace kitchens were an institution that worked for 24 hours and approximately fed about 5000 people daily. It is an important symbol of the palace that was clearly visible from the Bosphorus and also from the Anatolian (Asian) side of Istanbul.read more

8 October 2015
For cooking and serving the dishes, copper was an essential metal. Turkey is very rich in copper reserves therefore obtaining copper was never a problem.read more

15 September
Ms. Sema Temizkan, in YESAM's September seminar, spoke about the importance of pickles in Turkish cuisine. Ms. Temizkan who is the author of a book on pickles has done an extensive amount of research on pickles while writing the book which includes history of pickles, famous pickle sellers in Turkey, pickle recipes and her own memories about pickles from her childhood.read more

27 May 2015
YESAM hosted architect and Turkish coffee and food culture researcher Nihal Bursa for a seminer on “The Powerful Scent; Spice Market.” The seminar focused on the 350 year old commercial district called Spice Market (a.k.a. The Egyptian Bazaar), its architecture, history and the changes that took place over the years in the types of merchandise and stores located inside the market place.read more

21 April 2015
TCF-Culinary Arts Center (YESAM) hosted Prof. Dr. Evangelia Balta, Director of Studies in Hellenic National Research Foundation in Athens. Prof. Balta claims to be an “Ottomanist” who has worked in Turkey for 30 years in the archives of İstanbul and Ankara.read more

5 March 2015
İlhan Eksen, an author of books focusing on food culture, presented a seminar on “Multicultural İstanbul Cuisine.” Eksen started the seminar with a brief speech on how cuisine was created and the effects of history, geography and humans in the creation process.read more

20 February 2015
This is a seminar on history of wine, in Anatolia and Thrace. However to draw the origins further back, we have to go beyond Turkey and we will start from more remote origins of wine and then we will come to the Republic period.read more

29 January 2015
Ayfer Yavi, who is a Classical Archeologist has worked in excavations when she first started her profession. Her passion for food has increased upon close contact with wine amphoras, food containers and glassware found through excavations.read more

23 December 2014
Tuba Şatana, started her career in hotels and worked her way up to become the director of food and beverage in one of the leading hotels of İstanbul when she called it quits.read more

27 November 2014
Asst. Prof. Ahmet Uhri, head of Archeology Department at 9 Eylül University in İzmir, presented a seminar on “Bread and Civilization.”read more

22 October 2014
Winter preparations are a very important task that is taken very seriously in the Anatolian villages of Turkey even today. Some of these preparations include jams and marmalades made from summer fruits, ‘tarhana' (dried yoghurt with spices and vegetables used to make a popular soup), pickles and dried vegetables.read more

4 September 2014
Offal is a part of Turkish culinary culture that has unfortunately lost its popularity over the years. Pelin Dumanlı, a chef and a researcher of Turkish culinary culture, based in Bodrum, who has done an extensive research on the offal culture in Turkish cuisine, shared her knowledge with the audience.read more

12 June 2014
The famous humor magazine “Karagöz”, has published its first book “Karagöz in the Kitchen”in 1913. This book was published with the purpose of raising the awareness of the public about life in general.read more

3 May 2014
Prof. Dr. Arif Bilgin, who teaches at Sakarya University's History Department, was the guest of YESAM in the month of May, presented the “17th Century İstanbul Cuisine”.read more

5 March 2014
Aylin Tan together with Fuchsia Dunlop has written an extensive paper on the topic of “Mantı” and its journey from China following the Silk Road where they presented together at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery in 2012. Mrs. Tan started her seminar at YESAM by first explaining this journey.read more

12 February 2014
When someone utters the word “Boza” (the fermented millet drink) needless to say the first thing that comes to mind is “Vefa Bozacısı.” Chairman of the board Mr. Sadik Vefa was the guest speaker at YESAM's “Boza” seminar, which got a great response from the audience.read more

16 January 2014
YESAM hosted food historian Asst. Prof. Özge Samancı of Yeditepe University, gastronomy divison for a seminar on “Sherbets in Ottoman Culinary Culture.” Asst. Prof. Samancı shared some really interesting information regarding the sherbet culture.read more

18 December 2013
YESAM hosted Priscilla Mary Işın once again for a seminar on Ottoman Desserts, again based on her book “Sherbet and Spice.”
Mary Işın started her speech by explaining “aşure” one of the most significant desserts of Ottoman culinary culture, that contains wheat and pulses like chickpeas, white beans and various dried fruits.read more

27 November 2013
Priscilla Mary Işın is an English food resarcher, who has been living in Turkey since 1973. She has published several books on culinary culture of Turkey, and her latest book “Sherbet and Spice” explains the history behind the Ottoman Sweets and Desserts. On November 27th, YESAM hosted Mary Işın for a seminar on Traditional Ottoman Confectionary; Sweets.read more

14 November 2013
In the month of November, YESAM hosted Asst. Prof. Ahmet Uhri, from 9 Eylül University head of Archeology - Prehistory Department .   Asst. Prof. Uhri shared some interesting facts with his audience regarding the roots of Anatolian culinary culture.read more

10 October 2013
YESAM hosted Aylin Öney Tan on October 10th for the seminar on the importance of wheat in Anatolian traditions.  The participants thoroughly enjoyed the seminar.read more

26 September 2013
YESAM hosted Dr. Nihal Bursa during the seminar “Turkish Coffee: More than just a frothy hot beverage.” She started by explaining the history of coffee. “Thanks to goats, who were the first ones to eat coffee beans off the trees, effects have made humans aware of coffee's existence. Initially considered medicine, it has come a long way to become the hot frothy beverage we enjoy today”.read more

27 June 2013
Prior to the approaching holy month of Ramadan, YESAM hosted Nedim Atilla, a journalist and food culture researcher, once again for his seminar titled “Where have old Ramadan traditions gone...” in which he talked about the old Ramadan traditions in Istanbul and Anatolia.read more

12 June 2013
The seminar that took place on June 12th, was called “A Breeze from Ilgaz Mountain.” The seminar, presented by Nedim Atilla, a journalist and food history researcher, included the following information: read more

6 June 2013
Engin Akın’s seminar on “A General Look into Turkish Cuisine,” was YESAM’s first seminar held in English. Mrs. Akın mentioned in the beginning of her speech that “foreigners who visit or live in Turkey eat Turkish food, and fill their stomachs, but it is important for them to know more about the food they are eating so they can satisfy their intellects as well.” read more

25 May 2013
Gaziantep cuisine researcher and writer, Filiz Hosukoglu, held a seminar that captured the interest of the participants.  Mrs. Hosukoglu started the seminar by talking about the history of Antep. “Antep being one of the oldest settlements in Anatolia, has hosted many empires and kingdoms in its time.read more

8 May 2013
Nilhan Aras, the editor-in-chief of Metro Gastro Magazine, together with Nedim Atilla, a jounalist and food culture researcher, held a meeting about honey.read more

24 April 2013
A “Tastes of Slow City” seminar was held at YESAM - Culinary Arts Center, introducing the tastes from Seferihisar, the first “Cittaslow” of Turkey. Journalist and Slow Food Izmir Bardacik Convivium leader Nedim Atilla, started his presentation by explaining the principles of Slow Food and requirements to become a “cittaslow.” Following his speech...read more

15 April 2013
History and archeology tells us that wheat has appeared in different parts of the world. The famous quote of  Pythagoras, the famous mathematician who lived on the island of Sysam right across from us.read more

26 March 2013
Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Balkan Wars, YESAM - Culinary Arts Center hosted the third seminar of the series, Albanian cuisine. Journalist and food researcher Nedim Atilla talked about the Balkan wars first...read more

6 March 2013
Prof. Dr. Artun Unsal, who is an author of many books on food culture of Turkey, gave a seminar on pastirma the traditional cured beef of Turkish cuisine. Prof. Unsal was also accompanied by pastirma producers from Kastamonu, who use traditional methods for producing their pastirma. read more

28 February 2013
YESAM - Culinary Arts Center- celebrated the arrival of spring, with traditional spring flavours. Journalist and Food Culture Researcher Nedim Atilla discussed the topics of artichoke and lamb meat.read more

21 February 2013
Journalist and food culture researcher Nedim Atilla hosted a seminar called “Olives of Anatolia” at YESAM - Culinary Arts Center. During his presentation he mentioned that olives play a very important part in the biological diversity of Turkey.read more

14 February 2013
The seminar was held on Valentine's day, therefore before getting into the topic of chocolate, Mr. Gursoy told the story of an etching called  “Le Bain” (The Bathroom) created by Swiss artist Sigmond Freudeberg, and printed by Antoine-Louis Romanet. The story goes:read more

31 January 2013
YESAM seminar was conducted by Assistant Professor Dr. Ozge Samanci, who teaches at Yeditepe University, Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department. Dr. Samanci, who has been studying and researching 19th century Ottoman Cuisine for many years, is an expert on Ottoman and Turkish culinary culture and history.read more

22 January 2013
Based on the book with the same title, “When Cheese Sleeps,” the seminar was about cheese and how it's made.  During the seminar, Artun Unsal shared some really interesting facts about how cheese was invented, types of cheese and how cheese is made.  Mr. Unsal started his speech by explaining the etymology of the word “peynir” (Turkish word for cheese), and continued speaking about “how the milk is put to sleep” as a reference to how the cheese is made. He explained the process as follows:read more

27 December 2012
YESAM (Culinary Arts Center) hosted the seminar “New Year Celebrations from Santa Claus's Homeland” presented by journalist and food culture researcher Nedim Atilla.  Mr. Atilla started his presentation by explaining the significance of holly. He mentioned that holly is actually a Turkish (Central Asia Turks) tradition, as is the tradition of decorating evergreen pine trees.read more

17 December 2012
The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 were followed by the forced exile of Turks from the Balkans to the East, resulting in the introduction of Macedonian cuisine into Anatolia. This month's seminar at YESAM featured food and food culture with Macedonian origins.read more

18 October 2012
YESAM (Culinary Arts Center), an affiliate of Turkish Cultural Foundation, presented Cuisine of Kayseri in Regional Food Cultures of Turkey's October seminar.Nedim Atilla, a journalist / food culture researcher, and Isik Ersin, who has spent many years researching cuisines of Kayseri, gave a presentation on Kayseri cuisine and food culture. After the seminar, guests enjoyed the dishes prepared by Isik Ersin and chefs of Nar Lokantası.read more

21 June 2012
Giresun - The Hidden Cuisine of Black Sea” seminar, presented by Nedim Atilla, a journalist and food culture researcher.After the seminar guests tasted local dishes prepared by Ummuhan Aydin, a teacher from Giresun.read more

17 May 2012
Nedim Atilla, a journalist and food culture researcher gave a presentation titled: “Mardin: The city of Stone, Faith and Flavor” at YESAM (Culinary Arts Center) to a packed audience who sampled traditional Turkish dishes prepared by Guler Yazicioglu, including sumac juice and wine produced by Assyrian clergymen.read more

3 May 2012
Nedim Atilla and olive oil manufacturer Selin Ertur gave a lecture titled “Quality Olive Oil” to chefs at YESAM (Culinary Arts Center). Chefs learned proper techniques - while tasting various types of olive oil - to better differentiate between high and low quality products.read more

25 April 2012
Olus Molu, Board Member at Vinolus Wines, organized a seminar on “Organic Agriculture and Wine Production,” followed by a wine tasting featuring Vinolus products.read more

18 April 2012
The Azeri song of the Kars region (see above) compiled by Ihsan Tafrali announces the coming of spring and the excitement it brings along. After all, if spring - which signals the end of winter's blustering winds and announces the arrival of blooming trees and growing vines - isn't happiness, then what is?  Many Turkish poets have celebrated spring with odes to nature's awakening.read more

29 March 2012
The focus was on Turkey's culinary heritage as an accumulation of influences not only by numerous civilizations that flourished in Anatolia (such as Sumerians, Hittites, Pontus and Phrygians), but also by neighboring empires of Persians, Egyptians, and Arabs. Centuries of cultural interactions that led to intriguing names for various dishes were mentioned.read more

23 March 2012
Nedim Atilla organized a seminar titled “From Rumelia-I Bosnian Cuisine” at YESAM (Culinary Arts Center). Following the seminar, participants had the opportunity to sample Bosnian dishes prepared by Ayse Karadan, the cook and administrator of the Izmir branch of Aysa Bosnian Pastry and Home Foods.read more

29 February 2012
Nevin Halici discussed “Turkish Cuisine through the Ages –The Republic Period” at YESAM (Culinary Arts Center). Following the presentation, participants sampled dishes from the early Republic period prepared by Ms. Halici.read more

22 February 2012
The seminar focused on modern Turkey's Mugla province, also known through the centuries as Karia (Caria) of ancient Greece, Mentese Principality of the post-Seljuk Anatolia, and the Sigla County of the Ottoman era. Simply put, the lands of the Meander River and beyond – especially the fertile grounds in between Meander and Dalaman (Indos) – gave rise to numerous civilizations through the centuries.read more

15 February 2012
During the seminar held at YESAM (Culinary Arts Center), Nevin Halici covered ‘Turkish Cuisine through the Ages - The Ottoman Period”. Following the presentation, seminar attendees sampled Ottoman dishes prepared by Dr. Halici.read more

7 February 2012
Nevin Halici's seminar titled “Turkish Cuisine through the Ages: The Seljuk Period” was followed by a tasting of Central Asian cuisine samples prepared by Ms. Halici.read more

26 June 2012
Nevin Halici discussed ‘Turkish Cuisine through the Ages' at YESAM (Culinary Arts Center), followed by a sampling of Central Asian dishes prepared by Dr. Halici. Many of the natural food products we consume today originate from a large geographical swath spanning from the Mediterranean all the way to Central Asia.read more

18 January 2012
Nedim Atilla discussed Culinary Cultures of Bartin, Amasra and Safranbolu at YESAM (Culinary Arts Center). Participants later sampled traditional dishes from 5 regions prepared by expert Hanife Yenidogan.read more