Record-breaking Van breakfast gets int'l promotion

Being Turkey's "most crowded breakfast table," the Van breakfast has been licensed and will be promoted as a special brand with the initiatives of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI).

Breakfast culture in the eastern province of Van is renowned across the country. A Van breakfast starts with traditional Turkish breakfast items, such as olives, omelets, menemen - scrambled eggs cooked with tomatoes, green pepper and spices - honey with kaymak (clotted cream), homemade jams, fresh cucumber and tomatoes, then an array of Van cheeses, herbs, the famous Van honey and pekmez - molasses made from the grapes of Van.

Faris Gül, a breakfast hall owner in Van, said the breakfast reflects the region's character. "What we serve in the Van breakfast is all our productions," he said, adding a breakfast table features at least 20 items and can be expanded to 30. Another breakfast hall owner in Van, Yusuf Konak said they are planning to have a breakfast festival in the near future. "We have another project to promote the Van Breakfast abroad. All preparations have been done for it. The first stage of it will take place in Germany and we will introduce and serve our breakfast culture there."

In 2014, Van set a world record for the most crowded table, surpassing the one belonging to the U.S. with 18,941 people. The record was broken with almost 52,000 people. In order to break the record, 25,000 chairs and 6,000 tables were set up in a field. Those who failed to find a table brought their own tablecloths to sit on the ground.