The foundations of the Gastronomy Village were laid in Vakıflıköy, Turkey’s last Armenian village. Founded under the leadership of Samandağ Municipality and partnered by the municipality, the Women’s Initiative Cooperative will become the center of local cuisine with Turkey’s first Gastronomy Village project.
Hatay was awarded the “Creative Cities Network” in the field of gastronomy by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2019 and was declared a gastronomy city with its rich cuisine. Hatay, the city of civilizations, which succeeded in keeping the culinary culture alive as well as 600 kinds of dishes and desserts in its cuisine, became the second city in Turkey to be awarded this award after Gaziantep, which was added to the list in 2015. After this step of Hatay Metropolitan Municipality, a Gastronomy House was established in the province. After the house where hundreds of kinds of dishes and desserts unique to Hatay are offered to the guests, a more comprehensive step came from the women’s cooperative in the Samandağ District.
MASTERS OF TASTE WILL BE RAISED
The Women’s Initiative Production and Business Cooperative has rolled up its sleeves for the construction of a “Gastronomy Village” in the Vakıflı Neighborhood of the district. The foundations of the gastronomy village, which has also received UNESCO approval and will house local cuisine, production, marketing and accommodation center, were laid. In the village, which will be built on a 25-decare high elevation slope overlooking the greenery and the sea, a meeting and training hall, home cooking restaurant, dessert house, breakfast house, restaurant with stone oven, fish house, meat cooking stove and accommodation houses will be built. In addition, an academy will be established within the scope of the project. Each staff member who will take part in the project will first receive vocational qualification training at the Village Academy.
LOCAL MEALS WILL BE PREPARED
In the home cooking section, many Hatay-specific dishes such as stuffed meatballs, borani kelle paça and mumbar dishes, tripe and ashur will be offered to the guests.
In the breakfast house, jams, surk, olives, zahter, tandoori bread, sheet bread and pastries unique to Hatay will be prepared and served. On top of all this, local products will be served in the dessert house, especially künefe, the first dessert that comes to mind when Hatay is mentioned.
The foundations of the Gastronomy Village were laid in Vakıflıköy, Turkey’s only Armenian village. Yeliz Beyaz, President of Women’s Initiative Production and Business Cooperative, said that the village will be a center of attraction for domestic and foreign tourists for this reason, and said, “As a cooperative, we are the owner of the project. Currently, many women produce and pack our local products in our production houses. With the completion of the Gastronomy Village, more women will be involved in the production and they will have the opportunity to present and sell to the guests.” Stating that they aim to make the Gastronomy Village a favorite of Hatay by preparing it for EXPO 2021, Beyaz said, “The abundance of nature, the beauty of the climate, the vitality of history and the peace of belief will come together at our Gastronomy tables in Hatay. We will be very happy to welcome everyone who wants to experience these beauties to our village, which will be put into service in 6 months.” (Sözcü)
