The gastronomy students of a technical high school from Turkish culinary hub Gaziantep, a city included in UNESCO’s "Creative Cities Network" list, won an award for combining traditional flavors with different cooking techniques and modern presentation.
Several students studying in the food and beverages department of Şehit Karayılan Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Gaziantep’s Şahinbey district with the support of their teachers participated in the "19th International Gastronomy Festival Culinary Days Cooking Contest," winning a gold and silver medal.
The contest, which was organized in cooperation with the Turkish Cooks and Chefs Federation (TAŞFED) and the World Chefs Association (WACS), took place in Istanbul between Dec. 23-25.
The students who won the awards by integrating traditional flavors specific to the region, using the "fusion" cooking techniques and modern presentation received the first place award for making a "firik risotto" dish, while their sour quince scallop took silver.
By taking part in the competition that gathered around 1,500 participants from 54 countries they had the opportunity to present various dishes including one named "Antepia," recalling the name of the city they are coming from.
They also prepared baklava souffle (pistachio waterfall), lamb delight, olive pastry and pirpirim appetizer, salmon with saffron sauce, beef shawl and apple kebab.
Fatma Alperen, the school's cookery and gastronomy teacher said in her interview with Anadolu Agency (AA) that Gaziantep is a gastronomy city and that students who are educated in private schools can come upon job opportunities as soon as they graduate.
Highlighting the intense interest in Gaziantep cuisine in the competition, Alperen said: "Gastronomy now demands innovation. This city has incredible business acumen. It has intelligence that has commercialized a chickpea wrap. We both appreciate it and work on how to improve it. All the medals we received were because of the city's local flavors.’’
The teacher also noted that they always look for innovation and new ideas, while trying to reflect everything they see onto the new dishes. ‘’For example, we made apple kebab,’’ she continued saying that they presented it with modern cooking techniques and on modern plates.
"We are looking for the results of how we can combine Gaziantep local flavors with different methods and techniques and open up to the international arena on the basis of gastronomy," Alperen suggested.
One of the students, Hasan Hüseyin Koca, currently a 12th grader shared his thoughts after winning the gold medal in the competition stating that they felt like they were in a private course even though it was a public school.
Explaining that they are constantly learning how to make new flavors from their teachers, Koca said: "We are entering the era where new-generation flavors are more popular. We try them because we believe in them. We combine the two and present them to regional cuisine and innovation lovers. That's the foundation of what our teachers want."