A chef prepares ingredients at a restaurant in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep on July 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Zhenbei)
In a blend of the East and the West, the rich culinary heritage of Gaziantep has a wide variety of dishes on a global scale to offer to foodies from all over the world.
GAZIANTEP, Turkey, July 10 (Xinhua) -- In a traditional restaurant in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, chefs, like all their counterparts in any other restaurant in the Turkish gastronomy hub, have been perfecting their craft to remold centuried recipes to satisfy modern palates.
"Our cuisine is ancient and rich. We have about 500 recipes and here we serve about 80 of them to our customers," Taner Olca, the third-generation owner of the locally renowned Yesemek restaurant, told Xinhua.
In a blend of the East and the West, the rich culinary heritage of Gaziantep has become a mainstay of the local economy.
A chef cooks at a restaurant in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep on July 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Zhenbei)
"In Gaziantep, we live for the food. At breakfast, we think of what we are going to eat for dinner, and at dinner, what we are going to eat later at night," the young restaurant owner said.
The richness of ingredients and spices, and the exchange and fusion of various cultures have generated Gaziantep's unique gastronomic cultural traditions, he added.
One of the culinary masterpieces in the city is beyran, a spicy soup often served as breakfast, where tender strips of lamb topped with rice are drowned in a rich and fiery broth teeming with red pepper flakes.
"I have been cooking beyran for 35 years. It is made of an entire lamb except the head. The meat is cooked for 14 hours on a special stove one day prior to serving," Okkes Babacan, the chef from the Metanet restaurant located in the heart of Gaziantep's old city, told Xinhua.
"This is a recipe inherited from the Ottoman period," the veteran chef said.
Declared a Creative City of Gastronomy by UNESCO in 2015, Gaziantep holds a very special place in the Turkish cookbook.
Photo shows a spice market in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep on July 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Zhenbei)
"We attach great importance to Asian, and particularly, to Chinese visitors who come to Gaziantep for cultural and gastronomy tourism," Fatma Sahin, mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, told Xinhua.
Sahin said her city has a wide variety of dishes on a global scale to offer to foodies from all over the world.
About 60 percent of professionals in Gaziantep are employed in the food industry, and nearly 50 percent of its enterprises operate in food manufacturing, according to local official statistics.
A man eats breakfast at a restaurant in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep on July 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Zhenbei)
"Gaziantep is a hub, a melting pot of civilizations that draws foodies, history lovers and those looking for a rich and diverse culture," said Osman Turgay Baloglu, a local retired teacher. ■
