The registered flavors of Bursa, the city where Ottoman palace cuisine was born, were showcased at the Gastronomy Festival, organized by the Metropolitan Municipality with the theme of 'Silky Tastes'. Within the scope of the festival, which started with a colorful cortege walk, Merinos Park transformed into a giant kitchen, and the guests had the opportunity to taste the unique flavors of Bursa cuisine.
Bursa Gastronomy Festival, prepared with rich content in order to reveal the gastronomic culture of Bursa, started with the cortege on Cumhuriyet Street. In addition to Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş, Bursa Deputy Hakan Çavuşoğlu, district mayors, presidents and representatives of gastronomy associations attended the cortege, colored with a mini concert by the mehter team and a sword shield show. After the cortege, which ended in Victory Square, the official opening of the festival was held in Merinos Park, which turned into a giant kitchen. The opening ribbon of the festival; Bursa Governor Yakup Canbolat, Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş, Bursa deputies Emine Yavuz Gözgeç, Ahmet Kılıç, Osman Mesten, Refik Özen and Atilla Ödünç, Moldova's Ambassador to Ankara Dmitri Croitor, district mayors, AK Party Provincial President Davut Gürkan, Provincial Culture Tourism Director Dr. Kamil Özer, Director of National Education Serkan Gür, Chief of Police Tacettin Aslan and Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Hamit Aygül cut together. Protocol members then toured the stands set up in the festival area where Bursa's proprietary flavors were exhibited.
heaven table
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş, in his speech at the opening of the festival, reminded that throughout history travelers and gourmets have called Bursa table 'heavenly table'. Expressing that there is a taste of labor, taste, art and fertile lands at Bursa's table, President Aktaş said, "Our Bursa is one of the most important cities of our country in terms of culinary culture besides all its features. Bursa's star shone especially during the Ottoman Empire period. Today, it still maintains its influence. The interaction of Central Asian and Anatolian lands with the blended culture makes itself felt clearly in the kitchen. Bursa cuisine, which has a very rich tradition in terms of ingredients and recipes, has a wide range of dishes from olive oil to meat dishes, from fish to desserts. It takes its inspiration from the traditions of hundreds of years ago," he said.
Proprietary flavors
Reminding that Bursa has many geographically marked products in different categories, Mayor Aktaş said, “Cantık, cevizli Turkish delight, chestnut candy, Bursa Kebab, meatballs with pita, Bursa black fig, milk halvah, pita with tahini, grape juice, Bursa peach, Gemlik olive, deveci pear, Hasanağa artichoke, Karacabey onion, Kemalpaşa dessert, Gedelek pickles, İnegöl meatballs and İznik Müşküle Grape is among the products with geographical indication. Especially Bursa kebab, İnegöl meatballs, Kemalpaşa dessert, pita meatballs, lamb tandoori, cevizli Turkish delight, pita with tahini, künkü, Bagdat date dessert and chestnut candy are among the delicacies associated with Bursa. In short, the climate and geography being suitable for agriculture in Bursa enabled all kinds of vegetables and fruits to be grown here. This is one of the main reasons for the enrichment of Bursa's culinary culture. Based on all these facts, we organized this festival, which is one of the projects we have been working on for a long time. In addition to accelerating the gastronomic tourism of our Bursa, our festival will perhaps remind us of values that many of us do not remember. Our aim with the festival, which we have brought to life with a rich content, is to both reveal the gastronomic culture of Bursa and contribute to the revival of our tourism. Because gastronomy means tourism, culture and trade. I believe that our festival will be a very important opportunity for the development of Bursa in the field of gastronomy with the support of academics, chefs, opinion leaders and people from all over our country.”
Gastronomic Mall
Bursa Governor Yakup Canbolat also said that in every period of history, Bursa brought together different cultures with migrations, population changes such as population exchange. Governor Canbolat noted that those who made Bursa their homeland from the Balkans, Central Asia and Anatolia enriched their cultural heritage by sharing their cuisine and different tastes at the same table. Noting that Kayhan Bazaar, where you can find every flavor from meatballs to cantik shops, can be considered the first of the Gastronomic Shopping Malls, Canbolat said, “Of course, we will have the opportunity to see the prominent cuisines of the Turkic republics, members of TURKSOY, along with Bursa, within the scope of the festival. I hope that with this festival, products unique to Bursa will be recognized both nationally and internationally. Thus, Bursa's culinary riches will be the attraction power for tourism. I wish the festival to lead to beauties for our city," he said.
kitchen big power
Speaking on behalf of the Bursa deputies who attended the ceremony, Emine Yavuz Gözgeç said that today the sphere of influence of gastronomy is gradually expanding. Stating that cuisine has started to become an important power even in relations between countries, Gözgeç said, “Maybe the cuisine has a special place in terms of getting to know each other and cultural exchange among the citizens of the countries. Now, when we go to a country, we are looking for the flavors of that country other than the places to visit and see. I wonder where are the ethnic restaurants? We wonder 'Which flavors will we meet'? At the same time, the kitchen has become a force that allows people to communicate with each other. That's why I believe that our country has a very rich culture in terms of tourism in this sense. I wish our festival to be beneficial, I congratulate those who contributed” she said.
Protocol in the kitchen
After the opening speeches, Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş, Bursa deputies Refik Özen and Osman Mesten, AK Party Provincial Chairman Davut Gürkan and Deputy Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality Halide Serpil Şahin put on an apron and took over the kitchen counter. One of the protocol members who showed their skills in the kitchen, President Aktaş made stuffed artichokes, Deputy Refik Özen made kirte kebab, Deputy Osman Mesten groom's trotter and AK Party Provincial President Davut Gürkan made meatballs with pita and Halide Serpil Şahin roasted plums. The members of the protocol then offered their meals to the citizens.
Festival with rich content
During the festival, gastro stages, talks about taste stories, award ceremonies and concerts will be organized on the main stage. Many competitions for the public and industry professionals will be held in the competition tent. Children will also have a pleasant time with the playgrounds, tracks, various activities and competitions determined during the festival. Many famous names will be with Bursa residents throughout the festival. Artist Buray, Chef Danilo Zanna, Chef Hazer Amani, Chef Arda Turkmen, Chef Omur Akkor, Academic Chef Esat Ozata, Sahrap Soysal, Şükran Kaymak and many other famous names will take part in the festival.
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