Pistachio Museum under construction in Gaziantep’s Fıstık Park

GAZİANTEP – Anadolu Agency

The Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality will tell the history of its most famous taste, pistachio, at a new museum. The pistachio-shaped museum will display the history and process of pistachios before they arrive on the shelf. 

The visitors of the museum, which is located in Fıstık (Pistachio) Park, will be able to see the process pistachios undergo with specially-designed wax sculptures. 

Speaking to the press at the museum, Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Şahin said pistachios added richness to the unique Gaziantep cuisine. 

Şahin said when she had taken up the position, she realized children had grown up in the city without seeing pistachios and with a protocol signed by the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, they had established Pistachio Park on 50,000 square meters of land belonging to the Antep Pistachio Research Institute. 

Children would able to see pistachio trees here and could reach information about pistachios, said the mayor. 

“We are about to finish the pistachio-shaped museum. Each stage of the pistachio will be featured at the Pistachio Museum. Along with types of pistachios, the museum will show things like how pistachios are inoculated, how they are planted, how women break pistachios and how turpentine coffee is made from the pistachio tree,” Şahin said. 

“We want people to feel pistachios, to smell them and see the difference in its taste. We want them to experience an atmosphere where they can taste pistachios while listening to local barak music. Works are about to be finished. The museum is set to be completed in 15-20 days,” she said. 

The mayor said pistachios were included in all parts of life in Gaziantep. 

“When I was a child, we used to crack pistachios with my mother. Pistachios have contributed to our economy and my education. This job still exists even though it has become mechanized. Women’s small touches add a different taste to pistachios. Now, we will maintain this culture with the museum,” she said. 

Şahin also said the Pistachio Museum would be the first in the world in terms of its design and content.