Turkish Trade Office in Taipei Representative Fikret Turkes yesterday hosted a luncheon at his official residence in Taipei to celebrate Turkish Cuisine Week.
Turkish Cuisine Week is an annual event held in May in Turkey and by its overseas missions.
This year’s event, the theme of which was “The Heritage Table,” was initiated by Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan, who published a book titled Turkish Cuisine With Timeless Recipes in 2022.
Photo: Esme Yeh, Taipei Times
The book includes many famous Turkish dishes, Turkes said.
“We are choosing some menus from this book every year to serve to foreigners and our citizens abroad in celebration of Turkish Cuisine Week,” he said.
Turkish culinary heritage is inclusive of many different cultures, he added.
“Our cuisine is an Ottoman palace cuisine, so we have influences from many cultures in our cuisine,” Turkes said. “We have Armenian food, Greek food, Asian food, Russian food, Mediterranean food, Arabian food [and] African food. All this is a mixture of all cultures.”
Cultural events such as Turkish Cuisine Week help promote Turkish culture in Taiwan, he said.
“We will develop our cultural and educational relations with Taiwan. That’s why we are organizing such events every year,” he added.
Asked whether he thinks Taiwanese have become more familiar with Turkish culture, Turkes nodded.
More Taiwanese are also traveling to Turkey since Turkish Airlines opened direct flights between Taiwan and Turkey, he said.
“About 80,000 Taiwanese people are visiting Turkiye every year,” he added.
Several classic Turkish dishes often presented at ceremonies or celebrations were served at the luncheon, including stuffed vine leaves with olive oil and sekerpare, a traditional dessert made of semolina cookies and syrup.
Sasser Turkes, the luncheon’s hostess and wife of the representative, said she selected dishes from different regions of the country.
For example, they included local specialties from the Aegean and Mediterranean regions and Istanbul, she said.
However, the luncheon did not include dishes from the Black Sea region, which is known for its fish-based cooking, as they are usually made with hamsi — commonly known as European anchovy — an ingredient that cannot be found in Taiwan, she added.
Chen Yun-bo (陳詠博), deputy director of the Department of West Asian and African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the event helps promote exchanges between Turkish people and Taiwanese.
Attendees at the event included Saudi Arabian Trade Office Representative Mohammed Sadi A. Alghamdi, Jordanian Commercial Office Director Ekram Hasan Fayyad Alsukkar and Brunei Darussalam Trade and Tourism Office in Taipei Representative Sia Ai Ching.
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