Fairs and Events

Balıkesir's Gastronomy Culture is on the World Stage!

The works "50 Cheese City Balıkesir", "Land of Olives Balıkesir" and "Bread City Balıkesir", prepared by Berrin Bal Onur and Neşe Aksoy Biber with the support of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality, broke new ground by receiving four international awards.

It was published

2 years ago

January 10, 2024

Elif Akin Yuksel

Balıkesir's Gastronomy Culture is on the World Stage! | HORECA TREND

Balıkesir has opened a new door in the world of gastronomy with the value chain created by three books describing its taste heritage and the international success achieved by the books.

With the support of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality The works of “50 Cheese City Balıkesir”, “Olive Country Balıkesir” and “Bread City Balıkesir” prepared by Berrin Bal Onur and Neşe Aksoy Biber, It broke new ground by receiving four international awards.

Selected as the world's best cheese book in 2019 at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards The book “Balıkesir, the City with 50 Cheeses” will be selected as the best of the last 2023 years at the 25 Gourmand Awards. "Bread City Balıkesir" is the best bread book in the world, “The Land of Olives, Balıkesir” was chosen as the second best book in the world in its category. The award-winning trilogy, which describes the city's cheese, olive and bread culture, was introduced to all stakeholders of the gastronomy sector with an experiential launch event held at Divan Kuruçeşme on January 9. Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality brought together gastronomy experts, chefs and members of the press in this special event and hosted the Balıkesir culinary culture experience that won the appreciation of the world.

Gastronomy Treasure of Balıkesir

The works prepared with the support of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality are known as valuable works that promote the city's rich cheese, olive and bread culture internationally. Mayor Yücel Yılmaz and writers Berrin Bal Onur and Neşe Aksoy Biber; He shared with the guests comprehensive information about the diversity and preservation of Balıkesir's local delicacies, how the micro-economy formed with gastronomic values will reach a level that will contribute to the country's economy, and the rich culinary culture of the city.

“These books were written with the inspiration of Balıkesir's fertile lands and hardworking people.”

Berrin Bal Onur, who spoke at the panel titled "Gastronomy Treasure of Balıkesir" at the launch event in Divan Kuruçeşme; “For the first time in Turkey, a city pays tribute to 3 ancient foods born in our lands - cheese, olives and bread - with a cultural series consisting of books. This pride belongs to Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality.” He thanked for the support provided by the municipality. Neşe Aksoy Biber is; “Our book series; It is the product of deep work carried out with Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality, which has a wonderful vision and a great team behind it. These 3 books are about the fertile lands of Balıkesir,

It was written with the inspiration of hardworking people. Our greatest wish was that these books would enable our country's riches to be talked about more, our local products to be valued and consumed, and to open the door to international studies..." he said, drawing attention to the importance of Balıkesir's culinary richness in the world.

“We are the city that feeds Turkey”

Emphasizing that Balıkesir has a rich food culture that brings together all the beauties of both the Aegean and Marmara, Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Yücel Yılmaz said, “We are the city that feeds Turkey with our honey, cream, cheese, olive oil and lamb meat. If a city's raw materials are good, its cuisine is also good. We have known and unproduced cheeses. By making separate sponsorships for each of these, we have our small operators produce them and put them into consumption within the supply chain. But our most original agenda right now is in the municipality's own dairy farm; We have now established production bases together with Balıkesir Governorship, South Marmara Development Agency and our NGOs. Their sales points are also visited the most by people; “We are establishing it in districts that also have a historical mission, such as Havran, İvrindi and Sındırgı.” said.

Cheese, Olives, Bread and Balıkesir

"25", which achieved great success by being selected as "Best in the World" in the "Cheese and Milk" category at the Gourmand Awards and won the title of "Best of Best" by being among the "best works" in the 50-year history of the same competition. The book "Cheese City Balıkesir" examines Balıkesir's unique cheese varieties in detail. 50 different types of cheese unique to Balıkesir are included in this book, and the history, production and cultural importance of each cheese are discussed. The book covers not only the stories of cheeses, but also the wide range of dairy products in Balıkesir and its surroundings. In addition to local cheeses, this work also describes other dairy products such as yoghurt, butter and cream and their place in Balıkesir culinary culture.

The book "Olive Country Balıkesir", which won the second prize in the "Mediterranean Books" category at the Gourmand Awards, offers an in-depth look at the olive and olive oil production of the region. This book, which describes the olive varieties in Balıkesir and its surroundings, olive oil production methods and how these products are used in the kitchen, reveals Balıkesir's rich history in olive production and the gastronomic value of these products.

"Bread City Balıkesir", which was chosen as the world's first in the "Bread Books" category at the Gourmand Awards 2023, focuses on Balıkesir's rich bread variety. The unique story, production methods and cultural value of 67 types of bread produced in different parts of the city are covered in detail in this book. This study, which reflects the sociological and geographical diversity of Balıkesir's bread culture, emphasizes the role and importance of bread in the regional cuisine.

As a result of the work done by Neşe Aksoy Biber and Berrin Bal Onur, Turkey's local value, "Balıkesir Kirli Hanım Cheese", which was awarded the bronze award in the World Cheese Competition, also gained significant success in the international arena. The authors continue to announce the richness and diversity of Turkish culinary culture to the world with their passion for gastronomy, their investigative approach, and their contributions to carrying Balıkesir's flavor heritage to the future.

Contribution of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality to Cultural Heritage

Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality; Under the leadership of Mayor Yücel Yılmaz, “50 Cheese City Balıkesir”, “Olive Country Balıkesir” and “Bread City Balıkesir”

He provided great support in the preparation of his books. Mayor Yılmaz, who attaches great importance to the preservation of local culinary culture, attended the launch event in Divan Kuruçeşme and personally emphasized his support for the projects and Balıkesir's global success in the field of gastronomy.

Guests attending the event had the opportunity to discover the stories and cultural context of these products by experiencing cheese, olives and bread varieties prepared with Balıkesir's local ingredients and traditional techniques. At the "Open Buffet Breakfast" prepared by Divan chefs, delicacies inspired by Balıkesir culinary culture were offered.

Books

Balıkesir, the City with 50 Cheeses

“City with 50 Cheeses”, where Balıkesir's local and traditional cheeses are recorded. Balıkesir” book is in the international book competition Gourmand Cookbook Award 2019 It was chosen as the world's most successful book in the cheese and dairy products category. Rooted in Balıkesir It took two years of travel, research and research to record cheese and its cultural diversity. “Balıkesir, the City with 50 Cheeses”, prepared by examining, competed in Germany, Switzerland, It came first among 12 finalists, including countries such as Canada and France.

With the support of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality, authors Berrin Bal Onur and Neşe Aksoy Biber's "City with 50 Cheeses", where research, travel and review studies were carried out Balıkesir”, the city's culture and traditions in dairy products, its deep-rooted history and cheese It was written to record its wealth and pass it on to future generations. “50 The book "Cheese City Balıkesir" is a scientifically based study based on original sources. was presented as. During the studies, many cheeses and cheeses numbered up to 50. local-traditional product was identified; These discoveries and findings, history, geography, human Hundreds of written and oral sources, together with the cultural textures created by their unity, It was conveyed with the support of more than 250 visuals. An English edition of the book has also been made.

Balıkesir, Land of Olives

The book, completed with field work covering the years 2019-2021, covers the olive market in the region. By determining its current situation, its value, potential and cultural background for Balıkesir It was written for the purpose of recording.

From small family producers to cooperatives, from olive businesses to machinery manufacturers, From its crew to its steward, from its tasting expert to its laboratories, everything touched by olives from wood workshops where it is woven to soap factories, from pomace factories to museums, from sales Hundreds of interviews were held throughout the entire value chain from points to restaurants, The world of olives that Balıkesir keeps hidden behind is reflected on the pages of the book. Written and Many poets, writers and valuable writers have contributed to the book, which is supported by more than 300 oral sources. Academicians contributed. From scientific studies on olives, Information obtained from valuable books was combined with expert and field interviews, The content of a book that reflects today and the future has been reached. English edition of the book It was completed to take its place in international platforms.

Bread City Balıkesir

As the homeland of wheat, the people living on it have knowledge of the secrets of bread. It has been the home of many kinds of delicacies and has influenced the future of food from past to present. The book, in which Anatolian breads, which lead the way, are explained through the city of Balıkesir, It was completed with field work covering the years 2020-2022. Bread in the region looking at its current situation, its value, potential and cultural heritage for Balıkesir. The book, prepared for recording purposes, was published in 2023.

Information obtained from scientific studies on bread and valuable books past, present and future by combining information with experts and field interviews. It was prepared with a content that reflects the 20 through Balıkesir families and local bakeries It includes traditional bread recipes maintained by different people living in the district. In the given book, 67 breads and a total of 172 recipes were recorded. The secret of survival with its sourdoughs, mills, heirloom seeds, the soil's connection with human beings. The most important narrator of the relationship is bread, in the original recipes of Balıkesir. It will continue to preserve its glory in its pages. English translation studies of the book It is ongoing.

Authors

Berrin Bal Onur and Neşe Aksoy Biber started their cheese journey in 2000. They started with Antre Gourmet, which they opened in Istanbul. The authors first wrote in 2015 Gourmand Cookbook Award Best in the "For the Love of Cheese" books published

They qualified to compete at the World and represented Turkey. Then “City with 50 Cheeses” Balıkesir” broke new ground in Turkey by recording the cheese diversity of a city. They made it possible to purchase cheese and create a cheese inventory. “City of 50 Cheeses His book "Balıkesir" won first place in the world at the Gourmand Awards in 2019, "Land of Olives" Balıkesir” ranked second in the world at the Gourmand Awards and in the “Bread City Balıkesir” category He ranked first in the world. He has many studies on Turkish cheeses. Authors actively participate in national and international symposiums, fairs, trainings and events. They continue to work on local and traditional food.

Source: HORECA Trend and Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality

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Gulfood 2026 Launches Gulfood Logistics, Reflecting the Strategic Importance of Supply Chains Shaping the Global Food Economy

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Gulfood 2026 Launches Gulfood Logistics, Reflecting the Strategic Importance of Supply Chains Shaping the Global Food Economy | HORECA TREND

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🔗 For more information and registration: www.gulfood.com/logistics

Source: HORECA TREND and Gulfood 2026

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Dubai Achieves 100% Scaling Up in Food Trade with Gulfood 2026 | HORECA TREND

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Dubai Achieves 100% Scaling Up in Food Trade with Gulfood 2026 | HORECA TREND

100% Larger Scale: Two Mega Locations, One Global Food Universe

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Dubai is defining a new model for global food trade.

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Dubai Achieves 100% Scaling Up in Food Trade with Gulfood 2026 | HORECA TREND

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For more information and early registration: www.gulfood.com

About Gulfood

Gulfood 2026, taking place from January 26–30, represents the 31st edition of the world's largest and most influential F&B sourcing and innovation event.
With over 8.500 exhibitors, 195 countries, a total area of 240.000 m² across Dubai World Trade Centre and Expo City Dubai, and five new sectors, Gulfood 2026 further strengthens Dubai's position as a global food trade and food intelligence hub.