What are your earliest food memories?
I grew up in Antakya in southeast Turkey and spent childhood holidays there at my grandparents’ 450-year-old stone house. They grew walnuts, figs and pomegranates that my grandmother would use to make molasses. I absorbed everything watching her and my mother cook. My uncle and grandfather were food merchants and would bring cases of fresh produce home, which were used in meals or preserved — nothing was wasted. And I loved going to the bakery and the farmers’ market with my father, handpicking produce and chatting to the vendors.
Are markets still a big part of life today?
Very much so, you’ll find one at the heart of every neighbourhood. Each is different, depending on its location, the local demographic and growing conditions. They have regional ingredients straight from the producers and often a huge variety of olives, pickles and cheese. The bakery is a central part of our culinary tradition — fresh pide flatbreads or somun loaves are bought daily. Bakeries are also hubs where locals gather, and many act as community ovens where people can take their bread to be baked instead of doing it at home.
