Following the book "Balıkesir, City of 50 Cheeses", which was selected as the best cheese book in the world at the Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2019, the books "Balıkesir, Land of the Olive" and "Balıkesir, City of Bread", which are the continuation of the gastronomy culture series in which Balıkesir's olive and bread heritage is recorded, also made it to the finals at the 2023 Gourmand Awards.
"Balıkesir, the Land of the Olive" and "Balıkesir, the City of Bread" were written by Neşe Aksoy Biber and Berrin Bal Onur with the vision and support of Yücel Yılmaz, Mayor of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality, to record the gastronomic cultural values and carry them to the future.
The aim of the books written between 2020 and 2023 is to shed light on the existence of our ancient foods, olives and bread, in Balıkesir, as in cheese, and to inspire pioneering works to ensure their transfer to the future and turn them into international values. Within the scope of the competition, the authors will present Türkiye's rich culinary culture and ancient foods through Balıkesir at the Food Festival Food Symposium. The award ceremony for the winning books will be held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on 27-29 November.
THE GOURMAND INTERNATIONAL
Organised since 1995, the "Gourmand Awards" is the only international competition for food culture in which 205 countries participate. Gourmand Awards, where the world's best books are selected every year, is one of the most important gastronomy events in the world, bringing together gastronomy writers, chefs, food culture experts, leading institutions, organisations and publishers. The international event, which takes place in a different country of the world every year, will be held in Riyadh on 27-29 November this year as part of the Festival of Saudi Eid Food. During the presentations to be held within the scope of the festival, Balıkesir will share Anatolian food culture through the ancient foods in the city.
BALIKESIR CITY OF 50 CHEESES
The book "Balıkesir, City of 50 Cheeses", in which the local and traditional cheeses of Balıkesir were recorded, was selected as the most successful book in the world in the cheese and dairy products category at the international book competition Gourmand Cookbook Award 2019. "Balıkesir, City of 50 Cheeses", which was prepared with two years of travelling, research and investigation in order to record the deep-rooted cheese and cultural diversity of Balıkesir, achieved the first place among 12 finalists including countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Canada and France. "Balıkesir, City of 50 Cheeses" was written with the support of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality and the research, travel and examination works of authors Berrin Bal Onur and Neşe Aksoy Biber in order to record the culture and traditions, deep-rooted history and cheese richness of the city in dairy products and to transfer them to future generations. With the book ""Balıkesir, City of 50 Cheeses", a scientifically based study based on original sources was put forward. During the studies, many local-traditional products were determined along with 50 cheeses, and these discoveries and determinations were supported by hundreds of written and oral sources and more than 250 visuals, together with the cultural textures created by the unity of history, geography and people. The book has also been published in English.
BALIKESIR, LAND OF THE OLIVE
The book, which was completed with a field study covering the years 2019-2021, was written to determine the current situation of olives in the region and to record its value, potential and cultural accumulation for Balıkesir. Hundreds of interviews were conducted in the entire value chain from small family producers to cooperatives, from olive enterprises to machine manufacturers, from crew to stewards, from tasting experts to laboratories, from wood workshops to soap houses, from pomace factories to museums, from sales points to restaurants where olives touch and are touched, and the olive world that Balıkesir keeps hidden behind was reflected on the pages of the book. Many poets, writers and valuable academics contributed to the book, which is supported by more than 300 written and oral sources. The information obtained from scientific studies and valuable books on olives was combined with expert and field interviews to reach a book content that will reflect the past, present and future. The book was completed in 2022 to take its place in international platforms with its English edition.
BALIKESIR, THE CITY OF BREAD
The book, in which Anatolian breads, which have been the homeland of wheat and the peoples living on it have mastered the secrets of bread with wisdom, have been the home of thousands of flavours, and have shaped the future of food from past to present, was completed with fieldwork covering the years 2020-2022. The book, which was prepared to record the value, potential and cultural accumulation of bread for Balıkesir by looking at the current situation of bread in the region, was published in 2023. The information obtained from scientific studies on bread and valuable books, combined with expert and field interviews, was prepared in a content that reflects the past, present and future. In the book, which includes the traditional bread recipes of different peoples living in 20 districts of Balıkesir through families and local bakeries, a total of 172 recipes for 62 breads were recorded. Bread, the most important narrator of the relationship between the soil and mankind, with its sourdoughs, mills and ancestral seeds that keep the secret of survival, will continue to preserve its magnificence on the pages of the book in the original recipes of Balıkesir.
AUTHORS
Berrin Bal Onur and Neşe Aksoy Biber started their cheese journey in 2000 with Antre Gourmet in Istanbul. The authors first represented Türkiye by being entitled to compete in the Gourmand Cookbook Award Best in the World with their book "Peynir Aşkına" published in 2015. Then, with "Balıkesir, City of 50 Cheeses", they realised a first in Türkiye, enabling the recording of a city's cheese diversity and the creation of a cheese inventory. The book " Balıkesir, City of 50 Cheeses" was selected as the first in the world at the Gourmand Awards in 2019. Balıkesir, the Land of the Olive-Balıkesir, the City of Bread books prepared by the authors were published in 2023.
