Turkey's Hatay boasts 600 local tastes

By Salim Tas

HATAY, Turkey (AA) - Turkey's southern province Hatay, which was chosen for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network, boasts over 600 local tastes.

"Hatay cuisine will be introduced in the domestic and international area," Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas told Anadolu Agency.

The city's cultural and historical background has served to inspire several types of cuisine, he added.

He stressed that the municipality had been working hard to make Hatay the city of gastronomy since 2010.

"We organized several roadshows to introduce Hatay cuisine and we will export them internationally, especially in Europe and the Middle East."

Sedat Inanc, the chairman of the Hatay Chefs Society, said that Hatay cuisine boasted Arabic, Anatolian, Asian and European influences.

Hatay does not have enough facilities to serve all the taste varieties, he underlined.

"We want to publish a book to document our foods," he added.

UNESCO said: "With its mild climate, the region encompasses an extremely rich flora, allowing for the growth of medicinal and aromatic plants, an industry which now provides 60 percent of Hatay’s GDP."

"Hatay provides several opportunities to empower women and supports people with disabilities with Down Cafe -- established in 2016 -- that employees only people with disabilities and volunteer mothers," it added.

Within the scope of the Creative Cities Network, cities are listed according to seven areas -- design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, music, and crafts and folk art.

From Turkey, three more cities -- Istanbul (design), Kutahya (crafts and folk art), Gaziantep (gastronomy) -- habe been placed on the list.

*Gokhan Ergocun contributed to the story from Ankara.