TURKISH CUISINE

The mission of YESAM is to conduct research on Turkish culinary culture, past and present, record foods and food-related traditions both in Turkey and other regions inhabited by Turkish people; recreate traditional dishes and develop educational models so that this culture is passed on to future generations and brought to the attention of world gastronomy.

Every community and society has its own food culture and as an extension, a culinary culture. However some societies have taken the raw materials provided by nature and learned to process them to such an extent that they have taken their food cultures beyond the meeting of a need, imbued them with an aesthetic value and turned them into an artform.

The many-faceted nature of Turkish cuisine – that is, the vast geographical area over which it is spread, the many cultures with which it has blended, its relationships with local ecologies, and its position in political and social structures throughout history – is a subject that is only recently become a subject for research. When we refer to Turkish cuisine, we are referring to the entire culinary culture of Turks living on three continents and a cuisine that is taking its rightful place in the competition of the world’s leading cuisines.

Unfortunately, some nuances of this magnificent culinary art are on the verge of dissappearance. In modern Turkey’s changing social structure, culinary culture too is undergoing visible changes. Therefore, renewed attention must be given to researching and preserving this culinary treasure.

The Turkish Cultural Foundation created the Turkish Cuisine Portal based on this awareness and need. Turkish Cuisine Portal is the product of a comprehensive research project and adresses many different aspects of Turkish culinary culture, including its basic elements, history, social structure, beliefs, ingredients, cooking techniques and applications, as well as a selection of recipes. The work of YESAM will further enhance the Turkish Cuisine Portal as an online depository of knowledge on Turkey’s rich culinary heritage.