THE ROLE OF ETHNIC CUIINES IN THE FORMATION OF THE GASTRONOMIC IDENTITY OF IZMIR: THE SEPHARDIC CUISINE
İZMİR DESTİNASYONUN GASTRONOMİK KİMLİĞİNİN OLUŞMASINDA ETNİK MUTFAKLARIN ROLÜ: MUSEVİ (SEFARAD) MUTFAĞI

Author : Erşan YILDIZ
Number of pages : 220-233

Abstract

The fact that Izmir was a multicultural city which enabled the coexistence of the Turks, Greeks, Sephardic Jews, the Levantines, Armenians, and other ethnicities for more than 500 years has contributed to the formation of its gastronomic identity. As for gastronomic identity, it refers to the studies carried out in order to determine how the culinary culture of a destination is formed. Meanwhile, ethnic cuisine pinpoints the culinary culture of a nation, a community, or a region. The essence of this study consisted of the Sephardic cuisine, which is an ethnic cuisine in Izmir. The aim of the study was to determine the role of the Sephardic cuisine in the formation of the rich cuisine and the gastronomic identity of the city. Literature review and document analysis were employed in the study. The study has confirmed that the Sephardic cuisine, with its unique food such as Boyoz, Sübye, and roasted seeds of watermelon and melon, has indeed contributed to the formation of the gastronomic identity of Izmir. This finding, in turn, has revealed that the multifaceted and multicultural nature of Izmir cuisine has a significant part in its rich gastronomic identity. Future studies can enrich the subject by means of carrying out research on other ethnic cuisines.

Keywords

Gastronomic Identity, Ethnic Cuisines, the Sephardic Cuisine, Izmir

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