Lack of promotion hurts Turkish cuisine
Thursday, April 10, 2008
ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency
Cuisine professionals share the same opinion that the unique tastes of Turkish cuisine, which is regarded as one of the world's richest cuisines, is not promoted well enough at home and abroad.
�Fairs and festivals are very important for the promotion of Turkish cuisine but what should be done is to hold well-managed events,� said gourmet Sevim Gökyıldız, vice president of the Turkish Association of Gourmet Friends (Association Amicale Des Gourmets En Turquie.)
Gökyıldız said she attended many culinary festivals abroad and taught Turkish cuisine in the cooking school Le Cordon Bleu in France, and added, �if you know what to promote, you can do it well. You should love your country and your people in order to do it.�
She said she has witnessed many errors in the promotion of Turkish cuisine abroad. �This promotion should not be carried out by the state but by those who love and know Turkish cuisine.�
Contribution of cuisine to country's promotion
Gökyıldız said people's interest in different countries' cuisines has been growing more and more, and it presents a very good opportunity for the country's promotion. �Turkish cuisine is one of the leading ones among world cuisines. Variety, cooking methods and flavors of Turkish cuisine are number one for me. One can find anything in Turkish cuisine. But I think that it is not promoted well. A meal can be a tool to become closer to other countries. We can highlight our cooking culture. It can be a tool for us to repair our image in Europe.�
Noting that many restaurants abroad, which claim to offer Turkish cuisine, were far from serving traditional Turkish meals, Gökyıldız said, �these places should be chic and clean, and make guests feel the atmosphere of Turkey. They are very important in Turkey's promotion. But unfortunately, we cannot promote ourselves. This is a defect we have.�
Another gourmet Ahmet Örs said he felt ill at ease that Turkish cuisine had been promoted with shish kebab, döner, rakı and meze. 'When you look at Anatolian cuisine, you see a legend,' he said.
Örs said people did not have chance to know Turkish cuisine, and added, 'Turkish cuisine is the third-richest one in the world. But you cannot find what you like to eat anywhere. That is why you don't get to taste every meal.'
He said millions of tourists visiting Turkey were served low-cost meals in hotels' open buffets but those meals are not traditional Turkish ones. "We should know the meals of our regions first and promote them to tourists. Later, they can be promoted abroad. Otherwise, our restaurants abroad will not be effective in the country's promotion. This is the same everywhere. Italians, for example, eat their own meal in their own country at first. Then they open their restaurants abroad. These restaurants cook the best Italian meals and introduce their cuisine to foreigners. But Turkish cuisine is limited to döner in Germany. That is why Turkish cuisine cannot be promoted in the world."
Support needed
Örs said local administrators could support restaurants serving authentic meals in order to keep Turkish cuisine alive and that the Culture and Tourism Ministry should set a condition that big hotels add Turkish meals to their menus.
He said culinary festivals organized in Turkey are not well managed and are like a fairground. "The 'Traditional Flavors Festival' that will be held for the third time this year in the Black Sea city of Karabük's Safranbolu district, is one of the rare examples which promotes real Turkish cuisine," he added.
© 2005 Dogan Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr
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