YESAM’s first English seminar on Turkish Cuisine

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.”

She continued by showing a map of Asia to explain the journey of the Turks from mid-Asia towards Anatolia. “These nomadic Turks mainly herded animals but as nomadic as they were, they were also involved in agriculture. They planted wheat, which was the basis of their daily diet. Wheat-based products they invented are the food that came all the way into our times.

Turkish people have a great history, a long history.  Because of this, Turkish cuisine is said to be one of the three largest cuisines of the world. Turks have mingled with other cultures, travelled a lot, and met different people from different cultures and climates.  They had time and lots of experience to have a chance to absorb and take it all with them throughout history.”

Mrs. Akın continued talking about the culinary history of Turks, from Anatolian Seljuks to Ottomans, and contemporary Turkish cuisine.

At the end of the seminar the participants had a chance to taste chickpea soup, börek (savoury pastry) with onions, beef stew with lettuce, red pepper relish, eggplant and egg fritters, flour halva with almonds, and sumac sherbet with rose fragrance.

06 Jun 2013