Turkey - We feast our way through the UNESCO City of Gastronomy Gaziantep

Warning: this article may contain traces of calories! So if you are already gaining weight while reading, don't read any further!

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We are finally in Gaziantep. We say Antep, of course, because we know our way around. This city really is a dream, but unfortunately not for our waistband. They are getting tighter by the day.

Its gastronomic diversity is remarkable and has been recognised by UNESCO as part of its Creative Cities Network. Gaziantep was named a "Creative City of Gastronomy" in 2015, which emphasises the importance of its culinary traditions and innovations.

And we are right in the middle of it. Travelling means so much to us: people, nature, history, art and also cuisine. While simple but tasty dishes tend to be served on Turkish streets, in Antep we feel like we're stumbling from one gourmet restaurant to another. During the four days we spend here, our own kitchen remains cold and we feast our way through the city.

Gaziantep is known for its long gastronomic history, which has been a central part of its cultural identity since the Iron Age. Today, gastronomy remains the main driver of the local economy, with around 60 per cent of the workforce employed in this sector. Almost half of the city's businesses are involved in food production, including spices, cereals and dried fruit. The cuisine is a symbol of festivity, intercultural dialogue and social cohesion, we read.

We spend Sunday morning (or rather the whole morning) in a caravanserai with a typical Turkish breakfast. The table bends and we can only marvel at what is served here. Just when we think we've had enough, the friendly waiters arrive with another round. We watch the neighbouring tables moaning, but this cosy brunch, as we would say, is just great. We later learn that people only eat so lavishly here on Sundays. It's a good thing it's Sunday. (The following pictures are only the breakfast. https://hsvhn.com/)

The city's cuisine holds a special place in the Turkish cookbook, mainly because of its traditional richness of flavours and spices. Famous dishes of the region include baklava, katmer (a breakfast of layered dough with pistachios and cream), various kebab variations and the use of pistachios in numerous desserts. Gaziantep is also known for its exceptional pistachios, which are a key ingredient in many of the city's famous dishes, especially baklava. Incidentally, pistachios are called Antep nuts in Turkey, i.e. Gaziantep nuts.

You can see pistachios on every corner here, and as we leave the city, we drive through kilometres of pistachio groves. Unfortunately, it's winter and the trees look like our fruit trees in winter: bare.

Turkey produces around 200,000 tonnes of pistachios worldwide, making it the second largest producer after the USA (400,000 tonnes) and Iran (106,000 tonnes). In total, these three countries produce 90 % of the world's pistachios.

So we indulge once again in Katmer, our favourite dessert (which is also served for breakfast here), and leave the city with full bellies and happy hearts. Because we know: "Food is the sex of old age." Even if we don't feel that old yet, we are looking forward to our old days. Maybe we'll only go on gourmet holidays then. Who knows!

Sources: https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/gaziantep & https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1086456/umfrage/erntemenge-der-fuehrenden-erzeugerlaender-von-pistazien-weltweit/

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Merci for "travelling with us

We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.

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