Think outside the box: traditional meat desserts in the culture of Turkish cuisine

• Published in: Journal of Ethnic Foods
• Main Author: İbrahim Çekiç
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2023-09-01
• Subjects: Dessert; Meat dessert; Gastronomy; Tourism; Turkish cuisine
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-023-00196-1

Abstract Traditional culinary practices have the ethnic codes of the societies they belong to in terms of form and content features. These codes, which are shaped by many factors such as migration, war, famine, disaster, drought, social interaction, and religion from past to present, are also social indicators that separate cultures from each other. In traditional Turkish cuisine, there are many specific products that distinguish Anatolian society from other societies. One of them is the desserts made with meat. This study aims to identify the meat desserts in traditional Turkish cuisine and to make inferences on the content characteristics of the determined desserts. For the objectives of the study, firstly the Ottoman archives were examined and old cookbooks were reviewed. In this context, it has been determined that six desserts containing chicken, lamb, and fish (chicken breast pudding, neck dessert, anchovy dessert, quince dessert with minced meat) and fish and lamb glue (diamante dessert, diamante dessert with mutton legs) are included in traditional Turkish cuisine. As a result of the evaluations made on the current literature and old cookbooks, it has been understood that the desserts in question are on the verge of being forgotten and that ready-made jelly desserts have taken the place of diamante desserts. It is important for these desserts, which reflect the traditional taste of the Turkish nation, to be popularized and transformed into tourism products, in terms of protecting the ethnic and cultural heritage, adopting a sustainable structure, and promoting and marketing them.