EVENTS

24 April 2013
“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 accross from us. read more

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

06 Mart 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. The seminar started with Prof. Unsal’s speech on history of ‘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 hold a very important part in the biological diversity of Turkey. read more

Seminar was held on Valentine’s day, therefore before getting into the topic of chocolate, Mr. Gursoy told a story of an etching called “Le Bain” (The Bathroom) created by Swiss artist Sigmond Freudeberg, and printed by Antoine-Louis Romanet. The story goesread more

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

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

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 the holly. He mentioned that holly is actually a Turkish (Central Asia Turks) tradition, as well as the tradition of decorating the evergreen pine trees. read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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