At the London Yunus Emre Institute (YEI), chef Ali Açıkgül introduced the forgotten tastes of Anatolia to interested visitors.
In the program prepared with the theme of "Anatolian Cuisine" as part of the "London Handcraft Week" organized by the London Yunus Emre Institute, Açıkgül made basil and zahter sherbet, cherry leaf wrap and roasted bastik, some of Malatya's forgotten delicacies.

In his statement at the event in London, chef Açıkgül, who himself is from Malatya, explained that in the past, these dishes were made with very few ingredients under difficult conditions in Anatolia.

Açıkgül stated: "These dishes convey a message: There are so many hungry people in the world, yet there is just as much waste. In the past, our ancestors in Anatolia cared to not waste even a crumb of bread, to make it into a meal. "This is what I tried to show today," he said.
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"THERE SHOULD BE NO HUNGRY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, NOTHING SHOULD GO TO WASTE"

Saying that his main goal is "making no waste" while preparing the dishes he cooks with a small number of ingredients, and that he makes use of even a single leaf, Açıkgül stated, "We want to emphasize that there should be no hungry people in the world, nothing should go to waste.”

London Yunus Emre Institute Director Mehmet Karakuş stated that they emphasized Turkish cuisine more within the "London Handcraft Week" since the Ministry of Culture and Tourism declared May 21-27 "Turkish Cuisine Week" last year, and noted:

"Making use of this opportunity, we focused on Turkish cuisine during the London Handcraft Week. We use this week as a tool to promote Turkish cuisine. At the same time, we also discussed the issue of zero waste this week. This way, we tried to show how Turkish cuisine leaves no room for waste, as a part of a project run by Mrs. Emine Erdoğan (wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan).

At the end of the event, the guests tasted the dishes prepared by Chef Açıkgül.