Food for thought, drinks for taste

The coming weekend, Dec. 3-4, will be painful for the gastronomy circles in Istanbul. People will be torn between two major events, a very dense, thought-provoking symposium with distinguished speakers, and a massive wine-tasting and judging event, which is like an annual meeting ground for wine connoisseurs from around the country. The first one is the second edition of Sapor Istanbul, and this year’s theme is Food & Migration, the second is the sixth edition of Sommelier’s Selection, the foremost wine event in Türkiye, which I happen to be a devoted follower every single year. Hard to choose, I will be religiously listening to Charles Perry, the guest of honor in the first event and also giving the closing speech, but will try to sneak into the other, to toss my glass with the amazing guest judges, and try not to miss checking their favorite bottles. Wish this weekend could be replicated or relived twice!

Fork of the Week:
The second edition of Sapor Istanbul will be held at the so-called Red School, the name tagged to the Fener Greek School because of its deep red brick walls. Tuba Şatana, the founder of Sapor Istanbul, likes to name her event as an old-school symposium, differentiating it from the other popular events, where there is a two-day marathon of thought-provoking talks focusing on different angles of a chosen theme. This year’s theme is Migration and the keynote speaker is food historian Charles Perry, his title “Evolution, Diffusion, Consumption: How Culinary Ideas Are Like Domesticated Crops.” Other speakers include Pierre Raffard, who examines the world journey of doner kebab, and Nevin Halıcı, who will tell about the food on the migration routes from Central Asia to Anatolia. Sapor’s founder, food researcher Şatana, was inspired by Nevin Halıcı’s symposiums on Turkish Cuisine many years ago. That’s why she tags the event “old school,” and defines food as a culture and a sociological and anthropological phenomenon that connects the lives of societies from the past to the future.

The most important aspect of this year’s symposium is that it will be bringing Charles Perry and Nevin Halıcı together after years. Charles Perry is a very important name in the history of Turkish cuisine, a favorite figure for both food historians and Antep baklava makers. If you ask why, you are opening the doors of an interesting story. Known for his command of the history of Middle East geography and known for his direct translations from Arabic to English, Perry has carried out many in-depth studies. He has numerous articles on the history of Turkish cuisine. He is the one who did the correct translation of the book Al Baghdadi, on which the cookbook of Shirvani is based, which is the first important source of Ottoman cuisine. He is one of the authors of the most important book on Medieval Arabic Cuisine. The translation of the anonymous book Al-Andalus, the most important food source of Andalusian Spain, is also by him. This part concerns food historians, on the other hand, the fact that it is in the heart of the people of Gaziantep is his eye-opening research on the cultural origin of baklava, which has become a national cause among many countries. Perry has previously presented this article in one of the symposiums organized by Nevin Halıcı, where he attributed the development of baklava to the Turkish tradition of thin-dough yufka making, and with this thesis, he won the hearts of everyone. It is very exciting that 81-year-old Charles Perry is coming back to Istanbul after so many years, meeting old friends in this old school symposium and fascinating us as ever.

Cork of the Week:
Ready for swirling, sipping and spitting? Welcome to an aromatic journey that will feature a whopping number of Turkish wines this weekend at the Hilton Bomonti Hotel. Sommelier’s Selection, the most awaited event of wine lovers will be back in Istanbul again. Due to restrictions in advertising wine and alcoholic beverages, the Sommelier’s Selection remains as one of the very few events where wine enthusiasts can discover about vintages, new brands, and exciting bottles new in the market. It is also a ground to get to know the producers, taste their wines and talk about their products. Appropriately named as “Taste & Talk,” a huge hall will be devoted to over 300 products from over 50 participant producers such as wineries, breweries and artisan food producers/importers such as olive oil, cheese, bread and delicatessens.

The “Taste & Talk” hall is the annual meeting ground for wine people from across the country where labels from different wineries are presented according to their density and grape variety and in their ideal tasting order meant to guarantee a perfect tasting and comparing experience. Starting with sparkling and on to light-bodied Whites, medium-bodied Whites, full-density Whites and then the Roses which are then followed by light-density Reds towards big reds, and making the finale with fortified wines, all labels will be grouped and placed on tables according to their color, density and grape variety. This enables the visitors to compare a particular grape variety, especially when it comes to the Monosepage bottles, produced by different wineries from different terroirs. To admit, towards the end of each day, the T&T area becomes a noisy discussion ground where people discuss their best finds, in contrast to the quiet start in the morning, it turns into a big party.

Though the T&T hall attracts most of the visitors, the seriously constructed tasting section hosts big names, three judges consisting of two MS’s Master Sommeliers, namely Ronan Sayburn and Andreas Larsson, and one MW, Master of Wine Sarah Jane Evans. They will be blind tasting and judging a set of local wines in 4 different Master Classes. MC-1 and MC-3 will be held by MS. This is where the event takes its name, Sommelier’s Selection. Becoming a Master Sommelier is no easy achievement. This title is regarded as the toughest title in the world that a person can garner when it comes to wine tasting and serving. There are only 273 people who have achieved the right to put the title next to their names. We are lucky to have Ronan Sayburn MS from the U.K. and Andreas Larsson MS from Sweden back in Türkiye, both very knowledgeable about Turkish wines. They will present around 15 labels chosen from among the best wines available in Türkiye, tasting them together with the participants while explaining the technical and sensory merits of their wine choices. Think of it as a great opportunity to taste and train with two of the top sommeliers in the world.

MC-2 and MC-4 will be held by Sarah Jane Evans MW from the U.K., who travels the world on epicurean adventures. She is a highly accomplished and award-winning wine writer and journalist, Co-Chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards, and a former Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine (2014-16). Winner of the Robert Mondavi Winery Award for the highest overall marks in the MW Theory exam. We are lucky to have her in Türkiye for the first time, hopefully, she will be focusing on Turkish wines in the future, possibly only after she finishes her book on “The Wines of Central and Southern Spain” which she is currently writing, adding to her former books “Seville” and “The Wines of Northern Spain.” Last but not least, in another section, one can also listen to the best professionals in the wine business on how they make their choices in each category so you can learn and do a tasting with them.

Tickets are available at www.sommeliersselection.com, or contact taner.ogutoglu@gustobar.com, 0532322259, program link at https://www.sommeliersselection.com/Program.pdf